Nairobi, Kenya - The war on terror will "never" be won "as long as there are conditions in the world that make people desperate," like dehumanizing poverty, disease and ignorance, Nobel laureate and former Archbishop Desmond Tutu told ecumenical participants at the start of the 2007 World Social Forum (WSF) in Nairobi.

God is weeping," Tutu told the ecumenical gathering at Nairobi's Holy Family Roman Catholic Basilica, at the sight of the awful things happening in the world today. "God weeps and says: 'Who will help me so we can have a different kind of world, one in which the rich know they have been given much so they can share and help others?'" A creation that was very good has "turned into a nightmare".

Presiding at the event along with Tutu were His Holiness Abune Paulos, patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and Archbishop Zaccheaus Okoth, president of the East Region of Caritas Africa. Kenyan Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai also participated in the 20 January ceremony.

Tutu emphasized that the "fundamental law of our being" is that "we are bound to one another". Because of that, "the only way we can make it is together, all of us". Only together can we be free, safe and secure. According to Tutu, this rule applies also to politics. "Not even the only superpower can be totally self-sufficient; it needs other nations."

As the WSF takes place for the first time in Africa, Tutu called Africans to be proud of their legacy. "We are not God's stepchildren," he said, recalling that it was an African who helped Jesus to carry his cross, and as Africans were also the first doctors of the early church. He mentioned overcoming slavery, colonialism and apartheid among African accomplishments.

After the prayers guided by Archbishop Okoth and the blessing of Patriarch Paulos, the participants went in procession to the All Saints Anglican Cathedral, where a second part of the ceremony took place before participants joined the official opening of the WSF at Nairobi's Uhuru Park.

Members of the 2007 global ecumenical coalition at the WSF include the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), APRODEV, Brazil Ecumenical Forum, Caritas Internationalis, International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity (CIDSE), Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), Frontier Internship in Mission, Koinonia, Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Pax Romana, World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), World Council of Churches, World Student Christian Federation (WSCF), the YWCA and YMCA.

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto:

Comments (1)

1. Defenceless Ethiopian Children under Att Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 30-08-2007 10:30 Selam Dear Ethiopians,    In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One GOD, Amen!     We urge His Patriarch Paulos Patriarch of The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church to watch the following video link in youtube and consult with your soul and check the facts from the ground and see how innocent Ethiopian citizens "mothers, women, men, girls, boys and children are invaded by foreign religious cults.     We urge His Holiness Patriarch Paulos of The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church to inform the public about this crime in the name of religion against Ethiopians and invasion of Ethiopia by neo colonizers and mind control cults that are ruining the mind of the young children of Ethiopia. History will judge all of us, if we don't stand against such national invasion by foreign invaders and their domestic mercenaries and cults.     You Tube invasion of Ethiopia by neo colonizers and mind control cults     http://mahder.com/i-pleae-you-to-watch-this-and-stop-supporting-meles-from-getachew-reda.html     http://www.debteraw.co.uk/Article-u-tube-invasion.htm     http://amelna.blogspot.com/2007/08/ethiopians-pentes-21st-century.html    http://www.ethioguardian.com/comment.php?comment.news.1149    http://www.cyberethiopia.com/warka4/viewtopic.php?t=23756      others Related videos       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubvNhvq7CBk    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz6bmyd6zPk    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdE8trXQbKA    http://www.youthtube.com/watch?V= - 5NR9wk-NnM     http://www.trinityfi.org/press/GodsMillionaires.html     http://video.google.de/videoplay?docid=-4959011700060703439     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz6bmyd6zPk     http://www.saveethiopians.net/     http://mahder.com/i-pleae-you-to-watch-this-and-stop-supporting-meles-from-getachew-reda.html     http://www.debteraw.co.uk/Article-u-tube-invasion.htm       ECIC is an educational ethiopian community Providing informations for victims of cults, their families and friends, researchers and the media.It is the first educational organisation focusing critical concern on the harmful methods of the cults to be granted charitable status for Ethiopians we don't have the finance to pay and promote our site world wide. We, therefore, kindly request you to promote our website by any means he/she thinks is appropriate. We thank everybody in advance for your kind cooperation    ECIC offical Homepage:    http://www.saveethiopians.net/     May God be with us to fight this crises.We Ethiopians are known being the first African country for accepting Orthodox Christianity.      God bless His Holiness Patriarch Paulos of The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.