Catholic Peacebuilding Network // Catholic Peacebuilding Network

Leaders address the future of Catholic peacebuilding in Rome

2011-07-12T10:13:00-04:00

Program and Biographies
Streaming Video Session 1. Session 2.
The heads of several of the international Catholic organizations most deeply involved in peacebuilding joined scholars in Rome on June 30 for a conference on the Future of Peacebuilding: Contributions from Catholic Theology, Ethics, Praxis.

“If Catholic Social Teaching is the Church’s Best Kept Secret, Catholic peacebuilding may be Catholic Social Teaching’s Best Kept Secret,” according to Gerard Powers, Director of Catholic Peacebuilding Studies at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and coordinator of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network. “From South Sudan and Central America to Congo and Colombia, the Catholic Church is a powerful force for peace, freedom, justice and reconciliation. But that impressive and courageous peacebuilding work of the Catholic community is often unknown, unheralded and under-analyzed.” Full text

Held at the Christian Brothers’ Casa La Salle in Rome, the meeting was organized by the Catholic Peacebuilding Network (CPN), based at Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, and co-sponsored by 9 other academic institutes, development agencies, and peace organizations affiliated with the CPN.
With an audience of diplomats, aid workers, peacebuilding practitioners and academics, the conference focused on three questions: What constitutes effective and authentically Catholic peacebuilding? How can Catholic peacebuilding practices inform and be informed by Catholic theology? And what are future challenges for Catholic peacebuilding?

In the keynote address, Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, gave a personal reflection on insights he has gained from his peacebuilding work in his native Ghana and, more recently, in Cote d’Ivoire. Without underestimating the importance of peacebuilding skills and strategies, he emphasized the personal dimension of peacebuilding. “Blood is thicker than baptismal water” is a refrain he’s heard in ethnic and tribal conflicts that have flared in Ghana, Congo, Sudan, the Balkans and elsewhere. “Violence manifests itself through people,” said Cardinal Turkson. “So peacebuilding starts with changing the heart. We have the tools and systems to develop peace on the ground. As Christians we have faith and grace to change hearts.”

In his first public address since being elected to head Caritas Internationalis, Michel Roy said that Caritas, which is in over 200 countries, “fulfills its mission when it integrates its relief, development, and peacebuilding work.” As an example, he highlighted Caritas’ support for the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative in Northern Uganda. He noted that this initiative was distinctive for undertaking peacebuilding from the village level to the United Nations. Full text

Noting the link between peacebuilding and policy, he urged the international community to do more to control the proliferating trade in the small arms so readily available to violent groups like the Lord’s Resistance Army and to take stronger measures to stop the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and elsewhere.

Marie Dennis, co-president of Pax Christi International, provided an overview of Pax Christi’s long-standing support for the multi-faceted peacebuilding work of the Catholic Church in Sudan. With its “extraordinary” moral credibility that resulted from “close accompaniment of the people throughout the long years of war between the north and the south,” the Church (working with other churches) “set the framework for peacebuilding in their country.” As violence flares with the approach of the formal independence of South Sudan on July 9th, the “Catholic community is present and fully engaged, using international networks to expose brutality, accompanying communities caught in the violence, making strong public statements in an effort to protect those being harmed, promoting reconciliation, [and] encouraging the development of just political processes and structures.” Full text

A common theme of the speakers was that peacebuilding is an integral part of the Church’s mission and the vocation of faithful Catholics. Fr. Robert Schreiter, C.PP.S., a professor at the Catholic Theological Union, stressed that peace “is more than something the Church can do” because of its global reach and ubiquitous presence in many areas of conflict. “It is something the Church must do if it is to be faithful to its Lord, … an utter requirement for our participation in God’s reconciling action in the world.” Full text

Reflecting on lessons learned from Sant’Egidio’s peacebuilding work over the last two decades, Claudio Betti, Director of Special Operations for the Community in Rome, noted that the “Church does not see other actors as a threat [but] considers the creation of a sense of communion, a synergy, as the only way to achieve lasting peace.” That is why Catholic peacebuilders must be prepared to dialogue with everyone, even the worst killers. “Peace is ours,” he emphasized. “It is too great a gift to be left only in the hands of politicians and diplomats…. [yet] the Church is not and never will be only part of ‘civil society’.”

He also emphasized that while the Church is, indeed, universal in its outlook and presence, it has a distinctively Roman dimension which is often forgotten or considered a liability. But the Roman perspective includes essential ingredients for peacebuilding: the sense of responsibility to preside in charity, a belief that “everything is possible,” and being rooted in a particular tradition.

Addressing the contribution of Catholic social teaching to peacebuilding by political institutions, Maryann Cusimano Love, associate professor of political science at the Catholic University of America, noted the “good news” that the idea of peacebuilding is now taken more seriously and has given rise to new institutions, such as the UN Peacebuilding Commission and new offices at the U.S. State and Defense Departments. The “bad news” is that these new initiatives suffer from “severe capacity gaps,” due to lack of adequate funding and staffing. She contrasted the $343 million given to the UN Peacebuilding Commission over 5 years with the $5 billion annual budgets of Caritas agencies around the world. Moreover, the government programs have an understanding of peacebuilding that is far less robust and lacks the “moral imagination” of Catholic peacebuilding. Full text

Fr. William Headley, CSSp, Dean of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego, drew lessons from the Church’s peacebuilding in Burundi, including the engagement of Catholic Relief Services and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops with the Church in Burundi. One lesson is that “ethical reflection, theology and spirituality are not project activities, skills or management tools” of the peacebuilding NGOs. He added that, while Catholics “make our unique contribution to this emerging field and draw our inspiration from our grounding in Catholic social thought,” we must humbly acknowledge that many of the “practical resources we use for conflict analysis, mediation, trauma healing, [and] reconciliation were developed outside of the Catholic context.” Full text

Schreiter cited several challenges for future Catholic peacebuilding: “shaping policies and practices for ius post bellum”; giving greater attention to social forgiveness; and translating a theology and ethics of peacebuilding into terms intelligible to peacebuilders of other faiths and the secular world, and making it accessible to grassroots communities.

The text of the talks and video of the conference are available at http://cpn.nd.edu/. For a fuller treatment of the topic, see Peacebuilding: Catholic Theology, Ethics, and Praxis. (Orbis 2010), the product of an intensive 4-year research project sponsored by the CPN, Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute and Catholic Theological Union’s Bernardin Center.

The conference was sponsored by the Catholic Peacebuilding Network • the Bernardin Center for Theology and Ministry, Catholic Theological Union • Caritas Internationalis • Catholic Relief Services • the Center for Human Rights and International Justice, Boston College • the Institute for Policy Research, The Catholic University of America • the Institute for Theology and Peace, Germany • the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, University of San Diego • the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame • the Order of Friars Minor • and Pax Christi International.
For more information: Gerard Powers; gpowers1@nd.edu; 574-631-3765.

Photo: Michel Roy with Cardinal Peter Turkson
Credit: Patrick Nicholson/Caritas

Event on Future of Catholic Peacebuilding to Be Held in Rome on June 30

2011-07-01T09:56:00-04:00

Event Program Italian (pdf) Spanish (pdf)
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. FREE. NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Simultaneous translation (English-Italian-Spanish) will be provided

From South Sudan and Central America to Congo and Colombia, the Catholic Church is a powerful force for peace and reconciliation. This often untold and unheralded dimension of the Church’s mission has not been systematically examined by scholars and is often ignored or misunderstood by policymakers.

• What constitutes effective and authentically Catholic peacebuilding?
• How can Catholic peacebuilding practices inform and be informed by Catholic spirituality, theology, and ethics?
• What are future challenges for Catholic peacebuilding?

Please join us:
June 30 (Thursday)
The Future of Catholic Peacebuilding: Contributions from Catholic Theology, Ethics, Practice
Casa La Salle, Via Aurelia, Rome

Speakers Italian (pdf) Spanish (pdf)
9.00 Welcome and Introduction: Gerard Powers, University of Notre Dame
9.30 A Reflection on Catholic Peacebuilding: Cardinal Peter Turkson, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
11.00 A Peacebuilding Church I
Engaged: How the Church engages in peacebuilding in conflict areas: Michel Roy, Caritas Internationalis
Strategic: How the Church’s rich diversity of peacebuilding resources can be integrated: Fr. William Headley, CSSp, University of San Diego
Local and global: A global view of local peacebuilding: Marie Dennis, Pax Christi International
Noon A Peacebuilding Church II
Catholic: Being authentically Catholic – and catholic – in peacebuilding: Claudio Betti, Sant’Egidio Community
Serving the wider society: A Catholic contribution to peacebuilding policies: Maryann Cusimano Love, The Catholic University of America
A developing tradition: The future of Catholic peacebuilding: Fr. Robert Schreiter, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago
13.00 Adjourn

Sponsors:
Catholic Peacebuilding Network • Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame • Bernardin Center for Theology and Ministry, Catholic Theological Union • Caritas Internationalis • Catholic Relief Services • Center for Human Rights and International Justice, Boston College • Institute for Policy Research, The Catholic University of America • Institute for Theology and Peace, Germany • Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, University of San Diego • Order of Friars Minor • Pax Christi International

More information:
Gerard Powers, CPN/ Kroc Institute, University of Notre Dame at gpowers1@nd.edu; 574-631-6970, Casa La Salle at 06-66.69.81.

Becoming a Peacebuilding Church

2011-04-06T11:27:00-04:00

A panel convened at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame on “Becoming a Peacebuilding Church.” Panelists were Scott Appleby, John M. Regan Jr. Director; Professor of History, Kroc Institute, John Katunga, Regional Technical Advisor for Peacebuilding and Justice, East Africa Region, Catholic Relief Services and Kroc Institute Visiting Scholar, John Paul Lederach, Professor of International Peacebuilding, Kroc Institute, Margaret Pfeil, Assistant Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame. Drawing on a recently completed four-year research project, the panel discussed current examples of effective Catholic peacebuilding in war-torn regions and how the practice of Catholic peacebuilding can inform and be informed by the further development of a Catholic spirituality, theology, and ethic of peacebuilding. Click for the audio recording of the panel.

Church Conference Proposes Guidelines for Common Plan for Peacebuilding in Great Lakes Region

2010-11-01T10:32:00-04:00

In an unprecedented joint effort, delegates from the six national and two regional bishops’ conferences in the Great Lakes Region of Africa have agreed on guidelines for the elaboration of a common strategic plan for promoting peace and reconciliation. The guidelines were approved at a conference in Bujumbura, Burundi, October 19-21, which included some 125 representatives from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, as well as ACEAC and AMECEA.

In a final declaration issued on October 27, the conference identified four major challenges facing the region: “bad governance; ethnic and tribal conflicts; widespread and profound trauma; and plundering or uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources together with the subsequent destruction of the environment.” These challenges coincide with three cross-cutting challenges facing the Church: “underutilization and insufficient awareness of the Church’s unique potential to promote peace and reconciliation; the lack of pertinent information on the underlying causes of our problems; and insufficient coordination of the Church’s initiatives for peace and reconciliation.”

In order to address these challenges, the conference delegates agreed on a formal proposal that will be submitted for review and approval by the six national and two regional episcopal conferences within the next six months. The proposal calls on the bishops’ conferences (1) to create and provide the necessary resources for a mechanism for regional coordination for peace and reconciliation; (2) to promote closer collaboration among universities, research centers, justice and peace commissions, Caritas agencies, and social communications services; and (3) to engage in constructive collaboration at the ecumenical and interreligious levels.

The “Conference of the Catholic Episcopate of the Great Lakes Region for Peace and Reconciliation” was a response to the call of the Second Synod of Bishops for Africa for more “effective and affective collegiality” on behalf of reconciliation, justice and peace (prop. 3). It was also an outgrowth of the work of the Joint Commission for Refugees of the Burundi and Tanzanian episcopal conferences; the 2006 Catholic Peacebuilding Network conference, held in Burundi; and a peacebuilding initiative of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Relief Services, and the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Burundi.

A working group convened by the Catholic Peacebuilding Network and regional peacebuilding specialists from Catholic Relief Services worked closely with the Conference Steering Committee over the past three years. Conference partners included the Catholic Peacebuilding Network, the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Africa Solidarity Fund, Catholic Relief Services, the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, the German Civil Peace Service (AGEH), Cordaid, Missio-Aachen, and Misereor.

Final Declaration in English
Declaration Finale en Francais

Strategy Conference held in Central Africa

2010-10-25T12:00:00-04:00

According to Fides News Service, “On October 19, 2010, a conference began in the Great Lakes Region opened in Bujumbura, capital of Burundi. It will be dedicated to the issues of peace and justice. According to a note sent to Fides, the conference, which ends October 21, is being attended by delegates of the two regional conferences of bishops, ACEAC (Association des Conférences Episcopal de l’Afrique Centrale) and AMECEA (Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa) in addition to those from the national bishops’ conferences of Burundi, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania. The aim is to undertake a joint action to make the Church in the region a greater sign and promoter of a culture of peace and reconciliation.

The conference was originally commissioned by the Episcopal Conferences of Tanzania and Burundi, on a proposal from the Joint Commission for Refugees formed by the two conferences. Tanzania has, for a long time, been home to hundreds of thousands of Burundian refugees. A few years ago, they started the repatriation of these people, with the assistance of several organizations, including the Catholic Church in the two countries. The proposal was echoed by the other episcopal conferences mentioned above. The Catholic Peacebuilding Network of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame University in the United States has offered technical help in the preparation of the event. Among the participants are the Presidents and General Secretaries of the Bishops’ Conferences organizing the conference, the Presiding Bishops of the respective Commissions for Justice and Peace, and the bishops of the dioceses bordering Burundi. There will also be delegates from the CPN, from the United States Bishops’ Conference, including Catholic Relief Services (CRS), from the Civil Service for Peace (AGEH), Missio and MISEREOR of Germany, and CORDAID of Holland. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 19/10/2010)

Sudan: Peace in the Balance

2010-09-23T13:41:00-04:00

Sudan: Peace in the Balance, a presentation by Sudanese Bishops, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
In January 2011, southern Sudan will hold a referendum on independence from Sudan. Will this lead to peace or new violence and instability? The Sudanese Bishops have issued a message about the referendum (PDF File). Three representatives of the Catholic bishops of Sudan spent October 5 and 6, 2010 at Notre Dame. You can hear their perspectives on this streaming video. This event was sponsored by the Catholic Peacebuilding Network; Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Center for Civil and Human Rights, Center for Social Concerns, Ford Family Program in Human Development Studies & Solidarity, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, Program in Catholic Social Tradition, and Mendoza College of Business; Catholic Relief Services; and, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of International Justice and Peace.

Pull out AFP forces from Mindanao

2010-09-15T08:39:00-04:00

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales has urged the Government of the Philippines to withdraw troops from Mindanao, where there has been decades of inter-religious violence. Filipino troops have resumed operations against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in Mindanao. For further information, see Rosales: Pull out AFP forces from Mindanao; Rosales says military, MILF must lay down arms,; AFP seeks closer collaboration with Church; and, AFP rejects military pullout in Mindanao.

Semana por la Paz - Peace Week

2010-08-30T11:31:00-04:00

This September 5-12 the Catholic Church in Colombia is celebrating Semana por la Paz – Peace Week in honor of the thousands of victims of the Colombian conflict under the heading “Integral Reparation; because no victim is a stranger.” The aim of the annual Peace Week campaign is to raise awareness in Colombian society for the plight of the victims of the armed conflict and promote solidarity and a comprehensive reparations plan for them. The Catholic Church believes that to achieve a lasting solution to Colombia’s internal armed conflict it is vital to give voice to the many thousands of victims of paramilitary, guerrilla, state, and other violence in Colombia and ensure their active participation in the road to constructing peace.

Engaging Religious Communities Abroad

2010-03-08T12:39:00-05:00

The Sudanese Church has issued an official position paper that reflects the Church’s stand on current issues both pre- and post-referendum, disseminated on May 5, 2010 (PDF document). It opens with this preamble and background: "This is a historic period in the history of Sudan. After the referendum in 2011 Sudan will never be the same again, whether it remains united or becomes two countries. Time is short and urgent reflection and action are needed to ensure a peaceful future. This is Sudan’s Kairos Moment. It is time to choose life. We have no time to waste.

Our country Sudan is blessed with many resources, human and natural. As is inherent in the
meaning of the name Sudan, we belong together in this vast land in spite of our multiplicity of
ethnic groups, languages, cultures, religions, gender, age and status. We are the people of God
in Sudan, endowed with dignity and bound by destiny.

But history has shown over and over again, that we are marred by conflict and violence both
before independence (1821-1955) and after independence to the present (1956-2010). War,
suffering, poverty, sickness and ignorance have been our unwelcome and unfriendly companions. The historical root causes of conflict in our land have been lack of agreement on national identity, wealth sharing, power sharing and governance and more recently on issues of natural resources, in particular oil revenue. Attempts to resolve these issues included many agreements that were not honoured until the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005.

Although the CPA offered the best alternative to address the conflict in Sudan, the Sudanese
Church is however concerned that some of its key provisions have not been implemented up to
now, with only 8 months remaining to the referendum. The provisions in question include
north–south border demarcation, and the establishment of commissions for the referenda and
popular consultations. Similarly, not much has been done on post-referendum arrangements
such as citizenship of southerners in the north and northerners in the south, trans-boundary
rights, the currency, international treaties and conventions, foreign debt, protection of the
rights of religious minorities and the issue of resource management, especially oil and water, in
the event that the south opts for independence.

The Sudanese Church in her prophetic role has always accompanied the Sudanese people in
times of peace and war. Our position papers during the war (Here we Stand United for Peace
and Let My People Choose ) show this. Our member churches have also been involved in
addressing issues affecting our society before, during and after the signing of the CPA. We
have advocated for peace and reconciliation among communities, provided social services such
as schools and health clinics besides sharing the gospel. It is in this context that the Sudanese
Church leaders from 14 church denominations throughout Sudan gathered in Juba with their
international partners from 23-26 March 2010 to review the current situation in Sudan and to
prepare for the future. Church leaders from Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Rwanda and South Africa
and partners from the international community were present in solidarity with the Church and
people of Sudan. Representatives of the Muslim community attended part of the meeting.

The Sudanese Church is concerned at increasing violence within the south and Darfur, at
delays in implementing the CPA, and at the lack of an international political consensus on the
next steps. The Church cares about the freedom, dignity and human rights of all the people of
Sudan, whether in the north or the south, and encourages a spirit of good neighbourliness and
cooperation.

Concerns:
The Sudanese Church is particularly concerned about the following:

Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile must be put at the top of all stakeholders’ agendas as a
matter of priority. Their situation requires special status and a new way of looking at them.
The Church fears that failure to address the aspirations of the people of these two states could
derail any peaceful post-2011 transition.

The two areas occupy a unique position in Sudan. They are north of the 1956 boundary and
thus form part of northern Sudan. For this reason, although a considerable number of people
from the two areas fought alongside Southerners for a “New Sudan,” the Government of Sudan
(GoS) refused to negotiate about their choices as part of the IGAD process. As a result, they
were provided a separate forum for negotiations under the auspices of the Government of
Kenya, leading to a protocol which was then included in the CPA. They were not granted the
right of self-determination (as called for in the Church’s Let My People Choose ), but were
instead granted a “popular consultation” about their form of government within the north
which has not given them the options of joining the south or autonomous rule of themselves.
However many people in both states, who fought alongside southerners during the civil war
and who feel culturally and politically closer to the south than the north, may not be satisfied
with this arrangement. The concept of popular consultations is unclear to most stakeholders,
and even the Popular Consultation Act of December 2009 does not provide the necessary
clarity. It also lacks a mechanism to deal with possible different views of the people and the
commission to be set up.

In addition, the contested results of the census led to the postponement of the most important
election in Southern Kordofan which is the key in the process of Popular Consultation. The
Church calls upon the presidency to ensure that the census dispute is resolved and elections
conducted within 60 days, as decided by the National Elections Commission.

The Sudanese Church calls upon the presidency to urgently establish the independent
evaluation commissions for Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states as stipulated by the CPA.
The Sudanese Church also calls upon both State assemblies, once constituted, to timely
establish a parliamentary assessment and evaluation commission, and to enable a broad based
consultation, dialogue and reconciliation process of all stakeholders.

Referenda 2011: The Sudanese Church calls for peaceful and full implementation of referenda
in the South and Abyei areas as agreed in the Referendum Acts of December 2009. In that regard, the Church calls for the speedy appointment/establishment of referendum commissions
for South Sudan and Abyei. Having learned valuable lessons from the aftermath of the recent
national elections, the Sudanese Church calls upon all stakeholders to ensure that the referenda
in 2011 are peaceful, free and fair. This is an opportunity for the south Sudanese and Abyei
people to exercise their democratic rights within the framework of the CPA.
The Church calls upon the stakeholders to ensure that logistics, registration of voters, voter
education, scrutiny of voter registers and security arrangements are all put in place before the
referendum day. Following the voting, all parties must accept the results. If there are grievances
and disputes, these must be solved by legal means, not by violence. The Church calls for
international monitoring of the referenda, as stipulated in the CPA.
In the event that southerners and the people of Abyei choose secession, expert opinion suggests
that there needs to be a transition period. In order to avoid confusion which may lead to
violence, the Church urges that post-referendum mechanisms to manage the transition period
be negotiated well in advance and be communicated clearly and transparently to the
population.

South-south and Darfur conflicts: The church is appalled by the increasing number of inter-ethnic clashes in Southern Sudan, most prominently in Jonglei, Upper Nile, Lakes and Warrap States, the ongoing attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Western Equatoria and the continuing violence in Darfur. In addition, we are particularly alarmed by the increase of violence in some parts of Southern Sudan and Darfur including the abuse, rape and killing of women, elderly and children, aimed
at destroying the social fabric within and between communities. We strongly condemn these
atrocities and any other form of violence and urge both the Government of National Unity
(GNU) in Khartoum and the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) in Juba to take
responsibility, to fulfil their obligation to protect their citizens and bring to justice those
responsible for committing and encouraging such attacks.

The infiltration of arms has also recently compounded the situation. The Church calls for
urgent general disarmament of warring communities and provision of security by the
government. At the same time, the introduction of alternative means of livelihood is essential.
We believe the provision of socio-economic infrastructure, social services and development will greatly reduce community conflicts.

It is our responsibility to call for peace and reconciliation among these communities. The
Church therefore urges the Government of National Unity, the Government of Southern
Sudan and those of the states to fulfil their obligations in that regard so that the CPA is truly
realised among these communities. We also urge the international community and NGOs to
play their role in solving this problem by supporting income-generating projects, food security,
skill training and peace-building programs.

The Church and southerners in the north: Life has not always been easy for Christians and the
marginalized people living in the north. There is a great deal of uncertainty about their future
in the advent of the referenda. The Sudanese Church is concerned and therefore calls upon all
the stakeholders to put in place appropriate measures to protect Christians and the
marginalized people in the north, most especially the southerners and also northerners in the
south, to assist IDPs, and to safeguard the rights of the Christians in the north, most especially
if the results of the referenda opt for secession.

Conclusion and the Way Forward

The Sudanese Church undertakes:

• To roll out a new People-to-People Peace and Reconciliation Process of dialogue to
counter internal conflicts in the south, the marginalised areas and other parts of Sudan.
This new People-to-People Peace and Reconciliation Process will deliberately involve
communities at the grassroots, as well as other levels, to make and maintain peace. We
believe that our communities desperately need peace and will respond to this process as
they did in the 1990’s before the CPA. The new People-to-People Peace and
Reconciliation Process began with a Church Leaders’ Forum (March 2010) and
includes a dialogue between the Church and government (June 2010), dubbed “Kajiko
2”, in light of the first historic dialogue between the Church and SPLM in Kajiko town
in 1997. It will be supplemented by other programs to bring peace, reconciliation and
healing in the nation.

• To set up a task force to analyse the situation in Sudan and advise the Church on howto respond quickly to events.

• To engage with national, regional and international bodies, including the Governments
of National Unity and Southern Sudan, neighbouring governments and churches, AU,
IGAD, Arab League, EU, UN, and key governments such as USA, UK and Norway,
for lobby and advocacy to explain the feelings of southerners and people from the
marginalised areas and their likely reaction to events, and provide guidance on what to
do.

• To inform and work with these international and regional partners on the position of
the Church in northern Sudan; to empower the Church in the north to sustain itself,
whatever the result of the referenda; and to review the structure of the Sudan Council
of Churches in the light of the emerging situation.

• To engage with all stakeholders within Sudan, including traditional authorities,
political parties, civil society, and other faiths.

• Having learned from the recently concluded national elections, we appreciate the civic
education which was done at the grassroots and other levels but there is need to do
much more in preparation for the referenda. Lessons have been learned. As it became
clear during elections, there was confusion in some voting centres, difficulties in
registration of names, confusion of election symbols and huge logistic problems. We as
a church therefore undertake to increase our role in civic education, awareness raising
and monitoring on referenda and popular consultations.

The Sudanese Church commits itself to speak the truth fearlessly, and to continue its Gospel-led
mission to give a voice to the voiceless, the poor and the marginalised, and addressing
issues of national concern. We would like to assure the Sudanese people and the world at large
that we shall continue to fulfil this God-given role as a prophetic voice and a positive
instrument of peace, equality and justice for all.