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Work for peace, reconciliation, Vatican official tells refugees
2005-07-23 07:28:51
By Guardian Reporter
Vatican president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace Cardinal Renato Martino celebrating a mass in Kigoma for refugees has said despite the horrors of war that led them to flee their homes, they must learn to recognise they are brethrens and work for reconciliation.
”Refugees from Africa’s Great Lakes region must learn to recognise all people as their brothers and sisters and work for reconciliation,” he said.
The cardinal celebrated mass and administered the sacrament of confirmation to 445 refugees recently near Mtabila and Muyovosi refugee camps in the outskirts of Kigoma.
In his homily, the cardinal emphasised how God pours his love out on all people, calling them to recognise their common bonds as children of the same God according to a report released by Catholic News Services.
Cardinal Martino said Christians, and especially those who were about to receive the special sacramental grace of the Holy Spirit, must work ’to restore life in common with our brothers and sisters because we are all children of the same heavenly Father.’
Reconciliation, he said, is the essential first step toward peace and stability in the region that has faced waves of violence for more than 30 years.
Cardinal Martino met with government officials in Kigoma and later with bishops and members of diocesan justice and peace commissions from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Tanzania.
A statement from the cardinal’s office said more than 500,000 refugees from Congo, Burundi and Rwanda are living in camps in Tanzania.
’Some people have been there since 1972,’ the statement said.
Several attempts at voluntary repatriation have failed because of continuing violence and instability.
Many people who at one time left Tanzania in order to return to their homes found it necessary to return to the safety of the camps.
One goal of the meeting, the statement said, was to promote dialogue, co-operation and collaboration among members of the Catholic Church throughout the region, particularly since the safety of the people of each individual country often has relied on help and shelter provided in a neighboring nation.
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