KENYA: Catholic Church campaign calls for Peaceful Coexistence and Justice for all
The Lenten campaign for 2018 will be launched in the Archdiocese of Kisumu at Uzima University Grounds on February 10, 2018. The theme for this year’s campaign is “Reconciliation for Peaceful Coexistence and National Integration, Justice for All.”
The Catholic Justice and Peace Commission Chairman and Archbishop of Mombasa, Most. Rev. Martin Kivuva has called on Kenyans to reconcile with one another for the sake of peaceful co-existence and national integration.
“Reconciliation means bringing back together what had been separated, restoring friendly relations between parties or causing communities to coexist in harmony,” Archbishop Kivuva noted in his preface for the Lenten Campaign Booklet, 2018.
The Chairman called on Kenyans to rise above ethnicity and act rationally to restore the dignity that is in each and every person.
“As Kenyans from diverse backgrounds, communities and cultures, we must acknowledge that we have similarities and differences occasioned by numerous factors,” he observed. “However, if we concentrate on our differences we shall be doomed.”
Quoting from the bible, Archbishop Kivuva emphasized that as Christians and believers, Christ should be the starting point.
“His prayer, ‘that they may be one’ (John 17:21) came deep from his heart, knowing the kind of squabbles he experienced with his apostles, arguing over who amongst them was greatest,” he said.
He appealed to Kenyans to uphold reconciliation, peaceful co-existence and national integration by truthfully reflecting on the pertinent issues that affect communities and the country at large.
The Lenten Campaign is based on weekly themes; week one focuses on Good Governance and how to address incompetence and corruption in the counties and the country as a whole. It emphasizes that with good governance, citizens receive satisfactory services from their National and County Governments.
The second week talks about Reconciliation. There is need to create a reconciled community. Archbishop Kivuva stresses that to have reconciliation, children must be raised in a reconciled environment.
The third week focuses on Youth and Development. It spells out how the youth can be empowered and how to create opportunities for them.
The fourth week is concerned with Security and examines how security can be enhanced in the community.
The last week focuses on Child Protection and examines how to ensure that the fundamental rights of children are respected.
The Lenten Campaign is an annual national event that brings together the Bishops, the Clergy, Religious men and women and the lay faithful from all over Kenya to pray and prepare themselves to enter into the Lenten season.
It is also a time of repentance, of fasting and of sharing with the less fortunate in imitation of Jesus Christ who gave His life for men.
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By Virginia Kabugu; National Mirror Newspaper, KCCB
