WCC message after visit to Nicaragua

Moment of prayer - delegation with president of national assembly. ©Sean Hawkey/WCC

"We have sought to support dialogue as a means to resolve differences, and to reaffirm and strengthen calls for justice, peace and respect for diverse ways of thinking in contemporary societies", reads a message issued by the members of an ecumenical delegation organised by the World Council of Churches (WCC) that visited Nicaragua on 28-29 August.

The visit occurred in the framework of the WCC's Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, with the objectives of offering pastoral accompaniment to the churches in the present context of pain and trauma suffered by many people, and in the midst of their efforts to find solutions.
"Given what we have learned in these two days, we re-affirm the Christian vocation to build peace in the midst of conflicts and social tensions", the delegation stressed.

The two-day agenda in Managua included meetings with WCC member churches, representatives of several local evangelical churches, the ACT (Action by Churches Together) Alliance national forum, the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference, the Nicaraguan foreign ministry, the president of the national assembly and representatives of the civil society.

The message from the delegation also emphasises that the presence of the churches in all parts of Nicaragua represents an opportunity and capacity to respond to the Christian vocation for peace and justice.

Moreover, as the message says, "sister churches and church-related organizations outside of Nicaragua convened through the WCC and ACT Alliance are committed to working together to support the role assumed by national churches in this process".

Members of the delegation that visited Nicaragua on 28-29 August were Rev. Douglas Leonard, WCC representative to the United Nations in New York; Rev. Cora Antonio Matamoros, from the Moravian Church in Nicaragua and member of the WCC executive committee; Damaris Albuquerque, vice-moderator of the executive committee of ACT Alliance and executive director of the Council of Protestant Churches of Nicaragua (CEPAD); Dr Humberto Shikiya, representative of ACT Alliance; Jim Hodgson, from the United Church of Canada; and Sean Hawkey, from WCC communication.

Read the full message here: www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/message-from-the-delegation-of-the-world-council-of-churches-and-act-alliance-to-the-churches-and-people-of-nicaragua/