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AFRICA Aug-3-2006 (380 words) xxxi
Peace efforts seen making progress in Africa's Great Lakes region
By Evan Weinberger
Catholic News Service
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (CNS) -- As peace makes slow progress throughout Africa's Great Lakes region, the Catholic Peacebuilding Network, or CPN, met in Bujumbura, Burundi, to discuss ways to promote peace and prevent the outbreak of war and conflict.
"The holding of this CPN conference is a chance, or rather a grace, a gift from God for our sub-region, so often misdirected by repetitive and interminable wars," said Bishop Jean Ntagwarara of Bubanza, president of the Burundi bishops' conference.
The Third International Conference of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network came at a critical time for Africa's Great Lakes region, which includes Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, among others.
Congo recently held what appeared to be successful elections for the first time in more than 40 years. The Catholic Church took a leading role in educating Congolese and promoting the elections.
The Burundian church has been working for reconciliation and healing from the trauma of the country's brutal decade-long civil war. A peace agreement was signed in 2003 and elections were held last fall, but political instability and periodic attacks by the National Liberation Forces, the country's last active rebel group, continue to plague the country.
In Rwanda, the church has engaged in similar efforts in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, where the country's Hutu majority slaughtered nearly 1 million Tutsi and moderate Hutus.
Participants from 20 countries, including Rwanda, Congo, Uganda, Colombia, the Philippines, Croatia, South Africa, Mozambique, Nigeria, Germany and the United States, gathered for the conference in Bujumbura from July 24-28.
The conference covered issues such as building community-based reconciliation in Rwanda, trauma healing in Burundi and political stability in Congo, said a Catholic Peacebuilding Network statement.
The U.S. bishops' conference has been helping churches in the Great Lakes region promote peace, including a multiyear peacebuilding plan for Burundi. Bishop John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., a member of the U.S. bishops' International Policy Committee, applauded the participation in reconciliation efforts around the region.
The Kroc Institute at the University of Notre Dame and Catholic Relief Services founded the Catholic Peacebuilding Network in 2004, along with support from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other Catholic organizations.
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