KENYA: Lent Drive to Focus on Justice, Reconciliation, Peace
NAIROBI, January 27, 2009 ( CISA) -The Catholic Church says that though Kenya is in urgent need of reconciliation and peace after last year’s violence, little has been achieved because there are still displaced persons in camps, and the perpetrators of the chaos have not yet been brought to justice.
To underline the importance of national healing, the church has chosen ‘Justice, reconciliation and peace’ as its theme for season of Lent this year which starts on Ash Wednesday, February 25.
The Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC) has published a booklet that will guide Christians in their reflections on the throughout the five weeks of Lent.
“We believe that we must focus and act on justice and reconciliation issues. We need to heal and reconstruct the human and moral fibre of our country and rid it of impunity,” Archbishop Peter Kairo of Nyeri, the CJPC chairman writes in the booklet’s preface.
Archbishop Kairo will launch the national Lenten Campaign in the Diocese of Lodwar on February 22. The booklet, which will be available in the dioceses has five sub-themes, covering the weeks of Lent.
The first week focuses on inculcating moral values in society, starting with the children. “Failing to bring up children in a moral way is an injustice. What the we witnessed last year in the more than 300 cases of student riots was mainly a result of this negligence,” the booklet says.
In the second week, issues Christians will reflect on governance. Archbishop Kairo writes that with good governance, citizens respect their leaders. Leaders have a responsibility to guide people to follow and respect the Constitution and the rule of law.
Christians are invited in week three to meditate on their role protecting the environment. The effects of climate change resulting from environmental degradation are being felt in Kenya, where some 10 million people are facing starvation due to prolonged drought.
During the fourth week, focus will shift to on lack of affordable food that continues to plague the country. “As Christians we are called upon to seriously address our habitat, the environment, food security and affordability,” writes Archbishop Kairo.
And in week five, the challenging issue of reconciliation will be the subject of attention. A special tribunal is being set up to try the masterminds of the post-election violence. “We must be ready to face justice in the eyes with a spirit of honesty and courage so that peace may reign in our land. It is only with a sincere spirit and acts of genuine reconciliation, modelled on Jesus Christ that we can genuinely reside and live in this beautiful nation as Kenyans,” Archbishop Kairo counsels.
