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West African Church Leaders Plead for Help in Peace Efforts

Episcopal News Service. March 13, 2003 [2003-058]

James Solheim

(ENS) A high-level delegation of eight church leaders from West Africa--including two Anglican bishops--is spending several weeks in the United States, at the invitation of Church World Service, for intensive consultations with government and church officials, pleading for help with peace efforts in their troubled region of the world.

The ecumenical leaders are from the Mano River Union countries of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, accompanied by delegates from the Gambia and Ghana, on a common mission to mobilize support for resolution of civil conflict and poverty in the region.

Until 1989, West Africans felt immune to the strife plaguing other parts of Africa, but then civil war erupted in Liberia and soon engulfed next-door neighbor Sierra Leone and most recently Ivory Coast. The conflict has displaced millions of people, severely damaged the infrastructure, and precipitated some of the worst human rights atrocities in recent history.

"Our children, who make up nearly half of our populations, have known nothing but war," said Anglican Bishop Tilewa Johnson, a member of the delegation, who chairs the Gambian Christian Council. He said that the region won't have peace until the ongoing crisis in Liberia is resolved. "When you put out a fire, to get it to stay out, you have to put it out at its source. In our region, the fire started in Liberia and spread," he said. He added that the proliferation of small arms and light weapons is complicating the search for peace, convinced that the area is a testing ground for new weapons.

Prince Porte, moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Liberia, agreed, arguing that the international non-governmental organizations "put the cart before the horse" when they sponsor refugee assistance and development projects in West Africa without addressing the most important question--the need for peace. "If we don't stop the war, we will always have refugees," said Porte. "To have sustainable development, you have to stop the fighting and sustain the peace."

A gift and a blessing

In welcoming the delegation to the Episcopal Church Center, Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold noted that the church leaders "bring peace as the dominant concern in your part of the world as we here in the United States deal with the hideous potentialities of war. Your own experience can help us develop a different consciousness as we try to become better and more responsible global citizens. Your visit is a gift and a blessing."

In comments following a luncheon, Bishop Johnson said that he was impressed with "the strength of your networking as you work together to transform unjust structures--and do something about the sinned-against people of West Africa. We are here to give you first-hand information and encourage you to continue to act cooperatively because you have what it takes to make things happen. You have the capacity to discipline wayward, stubborn political leaders in the world," he added with a smile.

Both Griswold and Johnson praised the Africa Initiative of Church World Service, the relief and development arm of the National Council of Churches. "CWS gets us beyond ourselves--as does the Anglican Communion," said Griswold.

"Your visit reminds us that this is both a larger world and a very complex one, but also very small," said the Rev. Patrick Mauney, executive director of the Episcopal Church's Office of Anglican and Global Relations, who chairs the CWS board. Noting that "Iraq is taking so much of our attention," he said that "this may be the most crucial month in the history of the United Nations." And he observed that Africa is a major player, since the current president of the UN Security Council is from Guinea.

Shuttle diplomacy

Anglican Bishop Albert David Gomez, president of the Christian Council of Guinea and chair of the Interreligious Council of Guinea, reported that the churches in the region are taking seriously their role as a "voice of morality." Since there is often no dialogue between political opponents, the religious community has used its trust to bring both sides together in places like Liberia, sometimes using a type of "shuttle diplomacy" between different opponents.

At one time Guinea, a nation of eight million, was hosting a million refugees, many living alongside the local population. "Our churches are doing their best to bring back peace, give refugees a better quality of life, and provide work for youth and women so they can live in dignity," Gomez said.

A CWS delegation visited Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Gambia last July and in September brought together in Nairobi, Kenya, the leaders of 31 national ecumenical councils in Africa.

Shortly after their arrival, the delegation addressed a forum at St. James Episcopal Church in New York and were guests at a reception at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York. "You come here at a very important moment," said CWS Executive Director John McCullough, "because of events that will shape how we understand each other as a community of nations around the world. It's a particularly volatile time and I look forward to our engagement with leaders of the United Nations, the US government, and the churches on what is the quality of the world we want and how we will support each other."

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