WCR logo
  

Thursday - 05/23/2013

Click for Edmonton City Centre, Alberta Forecast

St. Paul - Mundare St. Paul
Jubilee
2008-2009
Catechism Logo Exploring the
Catholic Catechism
Compendium-Cover
Compendium
of the
Social Doctrine
of the Church

Last Updated: Friday - 09/24/2010

Week of October 11, 2004

The Church in Canada must say no to violence

By ART BABYCH
Canadian Catholic News
Ottawa

Violence in the world comes in many forms, including through indifference to poverty, says the Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

"Indifference to poverty is the moral equivalent of mass destruction," said Kobia, guest preacher Oct. 3 - Worldwide Communion Sunday - at an ecumenical service in Southminster United Church in Ottawa, marking the 60th anniversary of the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC).

Ordained as a Methodist minister in Kenya, Kobia became general secretary of the WCC at the beginning of 2004. His first official visit to Canada from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4 included public lectures in Winnipeg, Toronto and Ottawa.

In his talk in Ottawa, Kobia, 57, said the task of the Church in Canada - as elsewhere - is to become "a community that will insist that at whatever cost we bear, it will say no to violence."

Destruction of nature

He also decried "the destruction of nature through policies based on greed," and said churches need to call on governments to "embrace" responsibility for the environment. The Kyoto Protocol, "is the best we have in dealing with climate change," Kobia said.

"We must speak that truth to the powers that be today."

As well, the WCC general secretary called for Christians to cooperate with Jews and Muslims to help bring an end to violence throughout the world.

"Memories of war and genocide echo in every corner of the world," he said. "Generations have been mutilated and abased."

The churches in Canada and elsewhere are challenged to "transform" the world in love, said Kobia.

The WCC was founded in 1948 and is currently a fellowship of 342 churches in more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member of the WCC.

Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 -- Western Catholic Reporter

Our mission: To serve our readers by bringing the Gospel to bear on current issues in the Church and in secular culture through accurate news coverage and reflective commentary.