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27 February 2012 Muslims, Christians and tribal leaders learn the way of peace:
Peace is at the core of Islam and is invoked in every greeting of ‘salaam’ says Ms. Awilya Alonto, Director of the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies, in her comprehensive presentation on ‘Islamic perspectives of Peace’ at the week long School of Peace conducted at Davao City, Mindanao, from January 31 to Feb 4, 2012 by the Christian Conference of Asia and hosted by ‘Initiatives for Peace’ Mindanao. “In the logic of Islam” she said, “peace is submission to the will of Allah and the use of force is never a factor in Islam.” She emphasized that Jihad embodies individual as well as collective liberation seen as a solution to human transgression.
Other presenters in the School include Bishop Felixberto Calang of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente who presented the current peace negotiations between the Government of the
posted by communications on Monday, February 27, 2012 CCA accompanying churches in peace and human rights advocacyThe last quarter of the year saw the Christian Conference of Asia engaged in supporting its member churches and Councils in advocacy work in peace, (human) security, and human rights advocacy. Consultation on Asian Realities in Bangkok In collaboration with the World Council of Churches, CCA held a Consultation on Asian Realities in Bangkok to consult and resource its constituency in engaging in human rights and democratic governance, migration and migrant rights, internal displacement, peace building and conflict resolution, and the exercise of religious freedom. An analysis of the geopolitical realities in Asia was presented by Dr. Michael Vatikiotis, a visiting fellow with the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, in “The Geopolitical Realities in Asia” in a keynote presentation. Other theme presenters were Basil Fernando (AHRC), Carmencita Karagdag (Peace for Life), Carlos Ocampo (CCA-JID), Matthews Chunakara (WCC-CCIA), and Yin Yin Mau and Shwe Lin (Myanmar Council of Churches). Bible studies were led by Dr. Roger Gaikwad (NCC India) and Dr. Joseph Komar Peter (STM Malaysia). An exposure visit to refugee camps in Mae Sot by a group of seven (7) church representatives preceded the Consultation and was helpful in setting the tone and in providing the context of ecumenical work in the Mekong region. CCA Delegation to Jeju island, South Korea On the invitation of the National Council of Churches in Korea, CCA organized an advocacy visit to support the Korean churches’ opposition to the construction of another US navy base in Jeju Island. The Rev. Dr. Roger Gaikwad, NCC India General Secretary, and the Rev. Alistair Macrae, Uniting Church in Australia President were accompanied by CCA’s Carlos Ocampo left for Seoul on 7th August 2011 for briefings and then to the Kangjeong Village in Jeju Island where they visited the site of the proposed navy base, worshipped with the community, and attended a candlelight vigil, all expressions of the growing people’s opposition to the naval base. The CCA delegation was accompanied by representatives from NCCK, PROK, PCK and the Korean Methodist Church to Jeju Island on 9th and 10th August. Back in Seoul on 11th August, NCCK hosted a press conference where the delegation presented a CCA Statement supporting the Korean churches’ opposition to the navy base. Third International Conference on Article 9 and Peace in Asia On 5th to 7th October, the third “International Conference on Article 9 and Peace in Asia” was held at the Christian Institute in Naha, Okinawa in Japan, hosted by the NCC Japan. More than 220 people joined exposure groups and participated in the Conference. They heard stories of suffering from loss of dignity, native culture and traditional livelihood resulting from the presence of US bases in Okinawa. A peace march was organized through the main streets of Naha, and a press conference was held at St. Barnabas Anglican Church in Kagurazaka, Tokyo, where a panel composed of Cory Bently, Jonathan Frerichs, Takao Takeda, Junaid Ahmad, Jeong Jin Woo and Carlos Ocampo met with the media and reported insights from the Article 9 Conference. General Assembly of the Korean Christian Church in Japan From Okinawa, CCA’s Carlos Ocampo went to Fukuoka, Japan to represent CCA in the 51st General Assembly of the Korean Christian Church in Japan on 10-12 October 2011. He gave greetings from CCA and shared reflections from the 3rd Article 9 Conference and met with Korean church leaders in Japan and their American counterparts. CCA Human Rights Advocacy Training Course The Christian Guesthouse in Bangkok was the venue for a CCA Human Rights Advocacy Training Course from 17-21st October 2011 attended by eleven (11) trainees nominated by churches in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. The training program introduced the trainees to the UN system in dealing with human rights advocacy, country human rights situations, biblical reflections and practical advocacy experience by resource persons including – Wong Kai Shing (Asian Human Rights Commission), Rev. Revelation Velunta (Philippine Union Theological Seminary ), Debbie Stothard and Anelyn de Luna (ALTSEAN), and CCA’s Carlos Ocampo. The training took place in the midst of the flooding in Bangkok but the training nevertheless inspired the trainees who were coming from situations of conflict and provided opportunities for networking and lessons in advocacy. North American AGAPE Poverty, Wealth and Ecology Consultation As a member of the WCC Reference Group on AGAPE Poverty, Wealth and Ecology Program, Carlos Ocampo represented CCA in the North American Consultation on Poverty, Wealth and Ecology, held in Calgary in Canada’s Alberta Province. More than 60 church leaders, theologians and social activists gathered at the FCJ Retreat Center on 6-11th November. The Consultation had hearings on contextual theology, indigenous people, the industrial sector mainly the oil industry, and a study on poverty in North America given by resource persons including Dr. Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty (US Bellarmine University), Dr. John Dillon (Kairos Canada); while the planning committee for the Consultation was led by Joy Kennedy of the United Church of Canada, and Dr. Rogate Mshana and Athena Peralta from the WCC AGAPE Program. United Church of Canada General Council Executive Meeting Immediately after the PWE Consultation, Carlos Ocampo went to Toronto, Canada to be at the United Church of Canada General Council Executive Meeting on 12-14th November as a corresponding member. A major decision was taken for the UCC Offices to stay in Toronto after a long period of consultation and looking at alternative locations. Other major agenda items in the meeting include the UCC Moderator’s accountability report, the General Secretary’s supervision, nomination of UCC representatives to the 2013 WCC Assembly in Busan, South Korea, and other committees within and outside the UCC, and strengthening the ministry to the Francophone constituency. In one of the sessions, Carlos Ocampo did a power point presentation on the emerging geopolitical trends in Asia and CCA’s role in resourcing and accompanying the Asian churches in conflict situations and invited the churches in Canada’s support and solidarity. Gumersindo Garcia Memorial Lecture in the Philippines Representing CCA at the 23rd General Convention of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines along with Dr. Henriette Hutabarat-Lebang, Carlos Ocampo was also invited to present the Gumersindo Garcia Memorial Lecture, a public event in every NCCP convention, where he made a presentation, “To Hunger and Struggle for Justice – a Continuing Journey with the Filipino People”. The Convention elected a new set of officers for 2012-2015 and gave the Rev. Rex Reyes of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines another 4-year term. The last quarter of 2011 activities were preceded by a Planning Meeting of the Program Area Committee for Justice, International Affairs, Development and Service in efforts to plan and implement the Assembly program mandates given at the 2010 Assembly in Kuala Lumpur. Present were eight (8) members of JID PAC and two (2) church representatives. Program priorities were identified, focusing on the training for peace and human rights advocates along with supporting and strengthening the member churches’ advocacy on ecological justice and migrant workers rights. It was a very participatory and engaging planning process. Carlos Ocampo posted by cbs on Thursday, December 15, 2011 THERE’S A NEW WORLD IN THE MAKING This document arises from the North American consultation on poverty, wealth and ecology sponsored by the World Council of Churches and held in Calgary, Alberta from November 6 to 11, 2011. This consultation that included representatives from Christian confessions in This document borrows from indigenous Cree wisdom presented to us as the “Standing Stones.” There are four primary quadrants represented by the four directions. It begins in the East where we welcome the rising sun, recognize our relationship to the Creator and confess our identity as part of Creation. It progresses to the South where we seek Wisdom from Scripture and from the teachings of our Elders. It then moves to the West where we ask for healing from the hurts we have caused and the hurts that have been done to us. It ends in the North where we give thanks for the many blessings the Creator has provided for us in our lives. These quadrants have been written as a prayer. Following the “Standing Stones” there is a concluding call for vision and action. ************ Confession We confess that the whole of Creation bears the marks of God. God is our Creator; we love God, all of Creation and one another. We see that God wants the world to be a circle where everyone has a place. However, in While we have failed to live out our love, corporations have pursued violent development grabbing air, land and water; drowning islands; desertifying lands; violating human rights; and creating conditions of war. While we have failed to live out our love, international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organization have enforced finance and trade policies which have indebted nations and forced them to service social and economic debt rather than their people and Earth. In our limitless pursuit of individual and national wealth and power, we are complicit in a market system that exploits natural resources and people within and beyond our borders: · When temporary foreign workers care for our children and grandparents, work on our farms, receive low wages, work long hours, live and work in harsh conditions, are vulnerable to abuse, have their human rights violated, fill other jobs that the common excuse says “no North American would do.” We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done. · When companies designate landfills and chemical dumps in the neighbourhoods of poor and marginalized people; · When US and Canadian corporations extract minerals and resources from other countries in order to operate without environmental safeguards or labour codes, do not pay their fair share of taxes and royalties, and use paramilitary forces against protesters and to displace indigenous communities; We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done. · When those who have contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions are the first to suffer the effects of climate change, and we demand that they reduce their greenhouse gas emissions without taking care of our own; · When we have watched the increased reliance on the military to pursue national self-interest, defend corporate interests, and cause forced migration in the rest of the world; We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done. For too long, we have said and done too little. We have prioritized profit at the expense of clean air and water, devastated species and ecosystems, devalued people and their cultures, enriched the wealthy few and impoverished the poorest in our society and the global family. These examples demonstrate the ecological debt we owe to the Earth and the ecological indebtedness of the rich to the poor. The cry of the Earth and the poor are one. Wisdom Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1-2) We are compelled and inspired by this vision of hope with respect to poverty, wealth and ecology, a new vision of Earth and the people who are dependent upon its abundance. The great tree, echoing Genesis description of an idyllic garden, spans the river of the water of life. This image evokes not a singular tree but a vast, verdant forest that provides twelve kinds of fruit. In this way, the tree will bring food for all of God’s people every month of the year. The vision of a redeemed Creation is one of a healthy Earth that will bring healing to the nations. We have heard the wisdom of the worker, the scientist, the ancestor, the great tree, the river of the water of life. We have heard the wisdom of Your whole Creation calling us toward healing. There is a new world in the making. You are working on behalf of Your people and restoring the good Earth You created. This world matters as do people’s concrete struggles within it. It is our reminder to care for each other and all of Creation. You are a God of redemption, not of destruction, and invite us to participate in redemptive acts. Healing Creator, You endowed all of Your Creation with dignity, including human beings, a shining strand in the glimmering web of life. Yet today, Creation is not the way it is supposed to be. We’ve seen the toxic pools, the gouged Earth, the forecasts of increased global average temperatures that will permanently change life on Earth. Climate change is the enveloping reality we live in. We are alarmed by the increased concentration of wealth owned by a few. We know that poverty strips dignity away. We have put our faith in what we have created – idols of gold and silver, luxury and consumer goods, markets and technology - rather than in You, our Creator. Creator, enliven our imaginations to restore Your Creation. Heal our broken lives and communities. Redeemer, save us from our greed, and the structures, policies and laws we’ve established that sustain and protect unearned privilege. We have heard the indictment in the gospel of Luke: “we take what we did not deposit, we reap what we did not sow.” Already, we are taking more than Earth can offer, and returning more waste than Earth can absorb. Save us from a “prosperity” gospel that neglects Your radical gospel of justice and hope for all. Redeemer, grant us the courage to restore Your Creation. Heal our broken lives and communities. Holy Spirit, come quickly. We are poor, we are rich; we are oppressed, we are oppressors. Reconcile us to one another, reconcile us with Earth. May the churches we represent be agents of reconciliation, centres for caring communities and shared sacrifice, models of an ethic of solidarity with future generations and our neighbours. Light us with a passion for justice, peace and solidarity. Holy Spirit, breathe into us the passion to work together, to restore Your Creation. Heal our broken lives and communities. Thanksgiving We give thanks for young people who are inventing new forms of resistance to greed and injustice through forums like the Occupy movement and the “people’s microphone.” We give thanks for the prophets among us who challenge our idolatry of the unregulated Market and who confront us with our addiction to the carbon economy. We give thanks for the elders among us, who help us remember a time when it wasn’t always like this; who call on the community’s invisible heart to counter the Market’s invisible hand; who help us to remember what a moral economy looks like. We give thanks for the witness of those of our ancestors who have taught us our rightful place in Creation and who have spoken truth to power; who understood that Christ is found among those who are hungry, homeless, imprisoned and downtrodden. We give thanks for our ecumenical partners who continue to deepen our common witness based on ecojustice principles of solidarity, sufficiency, sustainability and equity in the economy and Earth. We give thanks for the power of being together, and for all those friends and allies who help us to remember who we are as a justice loving people. ************ Vision & Action Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision (Habbakuk 2: 2-3) We see a time of new beginnings, of Jubilee, when greenhouse gases in the atmosphere no longer threaten life, when the carbon economy has been transformed, and we no longer mortgage our children’s future. We see a time when unsustainable development has been rejected in favour of just, participatory and sustainable communities. We see a time when Earth has begun its regeneration and like God with Noah, we have covenanted with God and Creation to never destroy it again. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? (James 2:14) We commit ourselves to lives of integrity and justice where we share all God’s resources equitably, reduce our carbon footprint, seek right relationship in our economic transactions and strengthen the campaign for climate justice. We call on churches, interfaith partners and all people of goodwill to work together to achieve this timeless and compelling vision. In order to mobilize appropriate resources and as a first step we call on the World Council of Churches, its member churches, and its sister ecumenical bodies to undertake a decade of action on ecojustice encompassing both ecological and economic justice. We call on our North American churches to take action to transition from carbon-based to renewable energy, to narrow the gap between those of us who are rich and those of us who are poor, to respond to the needs of climate refugees, to hold their pension fund and investment managers accountable for the ethical implications of their investments, and to advocate for policies that will restore ecological balance. We call on businesses and industries to commit to principles of integrity by complying with human rights codes; by shifting investments from carbon-based to renewable energy; and by showing leadership in reducing the gap between the rich and the poor by paying fair wages and paying their fair share of taxes. We call on our governments to govern with integrity by implementing a moratorium on further development of the tar sands; compelling corporations to operate with the highest available environmental and labour standards wherever they do business on the globe; prohibiting excessive interest rates; legislating an international financial transactions tax to begin to make restitution for ecological debt; reallocating budgets from the military and systems of death and destruction to systems that promote the abundance of life; working for a new financial architecture; and ensuring that commercial banking is clearly separated from investment banking (speculative investments and financial transactions). It is the 11th hour. Make haste. The cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor are one.
posted by cbs on Tuesday, November 15, 2011 |
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