Enns and Shikiya
SWITZERLAND-
In two letters addressed respectively to Colombia’s president Gustavo Pietro, and to the peace commissionate, Danilo Rueda, the World Church Council (WCC) expressed its suppport and solidarity to building peace in Colombia and confirmed the representation of the WWC in the dialogue process between the Colombian government and the Colombian Liberation ARMY (ELN, in Spanish), as a response to a prior invitation. The Council will be represented by two men: Dr. Humberto Martín Shikiya, from Argentina, and Prof. Dr. Fernando Enns, from the Hamburg University’s Church Teology Center for the Peace.
In a message addressed to President Petro, the General Secretary of the WCC, Reverend Professor Dr. Jerry Pillay, gladly embraced the commitment entered into by the Colombian president to resume negotiations with the ELN.
“I take this opportunity to ensure the WCC’s renewed constant commitment and solidarity , and our support and faciliation in the search of peace in Colombia,” the letter communicated. “Let God give you wisdom and stength to face the heavy leadership responsibilities that are to be assumed in this crucial moment of the Colombian history.”
In the letter addressed to the members of the Dialogue Table between the Colombian government and the ENL, the director of the International Affairs WCC Churches Commission, Peter Prove, remembered that, for many years, the WCC has joined the Colombian people’s and churches’ efforts to reach a peace based on justice.
“After asking our member church, the Colombian Presbiterian Church and DiPAZ (the Colombian intereclesiastic dialogue platform for peace), I wish to propose jointly two people to represent the WCC in this process:
Dr. Humberto Martín Shikiya, from Argentina, Secretary General of Qonakuy, a Network of Protestan Universities from Latin America and the Caribbean, and Good Will Ambassador of the ACT Alliance for Sustainable Development.
Prof. Dr. Fernando Enns, from the Hamburg University’s Church Teology Center for the Peace, VU Amsterdam Lectured on Ethics and Teology, and member of the Executive Committee of the WCC.
At a national level in Colombia, the WCC is represented by is member church, the Colombian Presbiterian Church, and our main associate in the area of peace building is DiPAZ. We give great importance to the proper participation of these two representatives key to the WCC in the activities of the Rounded Table.”
“By means of this document, I confirm it will be a great honour for the WCC to be represented at the Dialogue Table between the National Colombian Government and the ELN, with the goal of offering our experience in the peace building efforts through the seventy four years of history of the WCC,” as stated in the letter. “Together with our member churches and worldwide associates, we pray and expect that each step towards peace creates an environment where the injusticies and offences long back dating that have insuflated the conflict in Colombia can be addressed peacefully and corrected sustainably.”