Eldoret, Kenya, Jan 10, 2008 / 14:41 pm
Following a meeting of the entire Kenya Episcopal Conference, John Cardinal Njue, the archbishop of Nairobi, and the 22 other bishops of Kenya, are urging peace and justice as a solution for the crisis caused by the recent violence.
“We wish to express our support of the ongoing mediation efforts of President Kufuor of Ghana and pray for the success of these meetings," the church leaders wrote in their letter, written to all Kenyans.
"We add our voice to the call of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to our leaders to seek dialogue and specifically pray and hope that both President Mwai Kibaki and Hon Raila Odinga will open and take seriously the results and resolutions they will reach during the mediation. We believe that these talks will help the truth to come out about the contested election results because it is on this truth on which justice shall be built,” the prelates wrote.
“While these talks are going on, we single out the issue of Land as one of the underlying problematic issues that has to be addressed in the long run,” the bishops said.
In the most recent development, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has agreed to take over talks to end the deadly turmoil linked to Kenya's presidential election, after days of international pressure resulted in nothing more than a fresh round of accusations from both sides, the AP reports.
With over 500 people dead from post-election violence, the bishops are calling on all Christians and Kenyans of good will to “continue praying for Peace and pleading for God’s mercy on us all, and on our country. We ask you to observe a National prayer day on 20th January 2008, and will send you a prayer that we should use during this time. We continue to be very close to all those afflicted, both in the loss of life and property and are praying for you all.
“We also urge all Kenyans to try and give material assistance to all these suffering brother and sisters. We are confident that Jesus the Prince of peace will bless our country with lasting Peace!”