Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - “We need to offer healing of people’s souls: this is one of the most common headlines in Kenya’s newspapers,” Agenzia Fides was told by Fr. Roger Tessier, Canadian missionary of the White Fathers (Missionaries of Africa), who works in Kenya. The signing of the agreement that placed an end to the most dramatic crisis in the history of free Kenya (see Fides 28/2/2008), has in fact, been a necessary, yet insufficient, condition for the country’s return to normal life.
The mediator in the agreement, former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, in leaving Kenya, reminded the public that “there is still a long way to go.” Fr. Tessier names some of the priorities: “On a political level, there will need to be an immediate amendment to the Constitution, creating the role of Prime Minister and his two ‘Vices.’ On a social level, there is a need to face the situation of the 300,000 refugees, who have been forced to flee because of violence. There are problems of logistics - their houses have been destroyed - and of a psychological nature - how will they re-adapt to living in those same areas where their neighbors became their enemies?”
“Another problem is the economy. The tourism industry has suffered a heavy blow from the crisis. In the Rift Valley, which is the breadbasket of Kenya, quite a bit of the harvest has been lost, as farmers were forced to abandon their crops.”
The deepest wounds are spiritual and psychological, because the people must now learn to trust their neighbors and work together. “The Catholic Church and the other religions of Kenya are well-aware of this problem and have already begun initiatives for reconciliation,” says Fr. Tessier. “Fr. Daniele Moschetti, Combonian missionary working in a ghetto of Korogocho, has organized a meeting with other missionaries in order to discuss ways of approaching the spiritual, moral, and psychological healing of the people. A group for interreligious dialogue, that includes Muslims and Hindus, is promoting a strategy in the healing of souls and for a careful following of government politics. The political world cannot be left on its own in making the decisions in the transition period following the crisis; civilians should organize themselves and become active and participate in government,” the missionary said.
The urgency of these decisions to place public order and to heal the psychological wounds of the people was manifest in the bloodshed on March 2-3. In a small town in the Rift Valley, 15 people were killed in an assault lead by an armed group. “The problem of the redistribution of land is still evident in Kenya, especially in the Rift Valley. This is one of the key controversial points on which the fate of the country and its return to peace rest,” Fr. Tessier concluded. (LM) (Agenzia Fides; 3/3/2008; righe 34, parole 465)
