WCC NEWS: South Sudan Council of Churches releases statement on nonviolence

After receiving a pilgrimage of global religious leaders, the South Sudan Council of Churches released a statement on 10 March echoing the church leaders’ call for nonviolent means to solve the nation’s problems. Two men shake hands on the bridge in Kuron, a remote community in South Sudan's Eastern Equatoria State where the Catholic Church has established the Holy Trinity Peace Village. The region has been plagued by cattle raiding and child abduction in recent years. The Catholic Church-sponsored Holy Trinity Peace Village, centered in Kuron, has worked for years to foster reconciliation and peace in the region, and the bridge was constructed to facilitate better communication between different ethnic communities. Photo: Paul Jeffrey/Life on Earth 13 March 2023 “Deeper than simply avoiding war, nonviolence calls us to a new way of life which respects the dignity of every person and the integrity of creation,” reads the statement. “Nonviolence names a core value of the Gospel, in which Jesus combined an unmistakable rejection of violence with the power of love and truth in action for justice and peace.”  The statement notes that nonviolence is broader than pacifism. “It is much more than the absence of violence and it is never passive,” reads the text. “It is a spirituality, a constructive force, an effective method for social force, an effective method for social transformation, and a powerful way of life committed to the well-being of all.” With the statement, the South Sudan Council of Churches recommits itself to Gospel nonviolence. “It rejects any form of violence and commits itself to a prophetic stance against violence and injustice,” reads the statement. “This is not a passive approach, not simply submitting to or colluding with violence, but is active and prophetic in responding to all forms of violence, amongst individuals, families, clans, tribes, and political and military factions, and including systemic violence embedded in our cultural, societal, and political life.”   South Sudan Council of Churches WCC member churches in South Sudan See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland