A Christian campaign for peace
This month I take a break in the series on the Church’s social teachings and introduce you to a remarkable ecumenical campaign for justice, peace and reconciliation led by the Catholic and Anglican bishops from Burundi, Congo and Rwanda.

Delegates from Rwanda at the launch of the Peace in the Great Lakes campaign in Goma, Congo (Photo: Fr Evans Chama)
Peace in the Great Lakes, the poetic name of the campaign, aims to build peace by conversion of heart, to consolidate the peace acquired by the recent cessation of war in the eastern DRC, and to promote reconciliation and fraternity.
These will be achieved through concerted effort between Anglicans and Catholics in spearheading peace initiatives, lobbying and sensitisation, as well as by joint social, cultural and productive activities.
Peace in the Great Lakes was launched in Goma, where I am currently based, on the first Sunday of Advent, December 1, during an ecumenical prayer of Catholics and Anglicans from the three countries.
The ceremony began at the Congo-Rwanda border of Gisenyi, where delegates from Burundi and Rwanda were welcomed as a sign of brotherhood without barrier. From there the procession traversed the town of Goma to the John Paul II Grounds where the prayer took place. At each of the three stations a prayer was pronounced for a specific intention.
At the first station, on the border, Bishop Theophile Kaboy of Goma, prayed: “Lord God, your people start a walk towards the project of peace for the Great Lakes, we ask you to bless this walk and be accompanied by you.”
At the second station, another Congolese Catholic bishop prayed: “Lord God, your people are ready to be protagonists of your project of love and fraternity. We pray that we offer no resistance especially by not giving room to divisive ideologies.”
And at the third station an Anglican bishop from Burundi prayed: “Lord, we acknowledge that you have created us different but we are all your children. We pray that these differences do not become a point of division but mutual enrichment, so that this region becomes an expression of a floral arrangement of your wisdom.”
Indeed, such floral beauty manifested itself when double files of both Anglican and Catholic priests and bishops, in their proper robes but same stoles, ascended the podium.
Bishop Fridolin Ambogo of Bokungu-Ikela, coordinator of the campaign, presented the project. The penitential rite was followed by the word of God: the first reading was taken by an Anglican priest from Rwanda, the second reading in French by a Catholic from Burundi, and the gospel by a Catholic deacon of Goma.
Then followed the joint message of the bishops read in four parts by Anglican and Catholic bishops, one after the other. Here are some elements of the message:
“By this peace initiative the bishops responded to the people longing for peace after traversing the horrors of the genocide of over a million persons in Rwanda, the murders in Burundi, and the massacres of over six millions Congolese.
“Thus, Advent is the ideal occasion, a period of awaiting the prince of peace who comes to inaugurate the new social order where instruments of war are transformed into instruments of production (Is 2:4) and the people invited to abandon totally the acts of darkness (Rm 13:12).”
The bishops called on the perpetrators of conflict to cease evil and on the entire population to move ahead despite their situation.
They noted that “the people are tired of the recurring violence and bloodshed, fuelled by manipulation of tribal and national identities for selfish motives. They are tired also of the paradox of their lives; in the midst of abundant riches they live in abject poverty.”
Therefore the campaign calls for a conversion of hearts, especially in naming things as they really are instead of settling on systematic deceit.
The bishops also noted that there is no enmity between the people of the three countries; the problem lies on the level of politicians and the elite who profit from the conflict. Hence, the heads of states are invited to commit themselves honestly in the pursuit for peace.
By this campaign the bishops hope for a new generation of Burundians, Congolese and Rwandans, not opposed as enemies, but looking in the same direction as brothers and sisters, despite their different ethnic identities.
After this message from the bishops, the apostolic creed was recited, then the prayer of peace: Make me an instrument of peace.
The intercession took the form of a message of one country to another, exposing the situation as it is, then concluding into prayer of hope for a new relationship.
The campaign was launched with a release of six doves, then the final blessing was given by all bishops together.
The next rendezvous will be in December 2014 in Goma, to close this year-long campaign.
“Lord, consolidate peace in our land”, is a catch phrase of this ecumenical prayer. Indeed, wherever we are, let us pray for peace in this region.
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