Churches to visit Tivoli on anniversary of incursion

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is hoping to start the healing process in Tivoli Gardens, west Kingston, on the one-year anniversary of the security forces' incursion that left 73 civilians dead.

As part of their International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) slated for May 17-25, the 1,000 delegates coming to Jamaica from 126 countries plan to visit several inner-city communities under the direction of the Violence Prevention Alliance headed by Dr Elizabeth Ward, and May 23 will be set aside as a special day for Tivoli.

Yesterday at The Courtleigh Hotel, New Kingston, Dr Matthews Chunakara, director of commission of the churches international affairs of the WCC, officially launched the convocation, which will be held for the first time in the Caribbean and Jamaica.

Convocation's purpose

The purpose of the IEPC will be to recognise and affirm the work of the WCC's 'decade to overcome violence', which began in 2001 and ended last year.

It will also provide an opportunity for network building and recommitting the church to peacemaking by offering a weeklong series of sessions, workshops, seminars and worship services.

"We will try to create small ripples in the big ocean and hopefully it will converge into a big one to create some sort of impact," said Chunakara.

The IEPC will be hosted at the University of the West Indies under the theme 'Glory to God, Peace on Earth', and is being coordinated by the Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC).

The Reverend Gary Harriot, general secretary for the JCC and chairman for the local planning committee for IEPC, said the convocation was a time to celebrate God's peace, working on a theology of just peace and relinquishing any theological justification of violence.

There will also be a peace concert in Emancipation Park on May 20 and peace tree planting on the World Sunday of Peace on May 22.