International Forum on interfaith and transcultural peacebuilding
People all over the world took part in the International Forum 2024.
Keynote speakers
Fr. Michael Lapsley (SSM)
Father in South Africa, Niwano Peace Prize Laureate 2021 and currently President of the Healing of Memories Global Network.
Prof. Oluwafunmilayo Para-Mallam
Professor of Gender and Development. She is Chairperson of the African Women's Leadership Network and one of the 100 Leading Women 2024 in Nigeria.
Dr. Martin Sinaga
Theologian, national instructor in the religious moderation program of the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs.Â
International Forum 2024
For many of Mission 21's partner churches and organizations, interreligious and transcultural peace work is an existential issue, as they live and work in crisis and conflict regions. In 2023, Mission 21 therefore launched the International Forum for Interreligious and Transcultural Peacebuilding. The second edition of the International Forum took place on September 19 and 20, 2024, once again bringing together over 200 participants from four continents for an intensive exchange of ideas.
The two-day online meeting entitled "Daring Reconciliation?!" - "Daring Reconciliation?!" focused on the topic of reconciliation and its challenges. This dossier contains the videos of the presentations as well as documents on the presentations by the speakers from South Africa, Nigeria, Indonesia and other countries.
Reconciliation as a risk? What is the challenge?
Initially, reconciliation is recommended and demanded as the basis for a peace process. Reconciliation is probably understood by most people as a resumption or resumption of a broken relationship or a rapprochement between conflicting parties with the intention of making it more positive and peaceful. What can stand in the way of this?
"In the end, reconciliation is a spiritual process, which requires more than just a legal framework. It has to happen in the hearts and minds of people."
Nelson Mandela
"It is not "forgive and forget" as if nothing wrong had ever happened, but "forgive and go forward", building on the mistakes of the past and the energy generated by reconciliation to create a new future."
Alan Paton
"Overcoming the poison of bitterness needs more personal effort as to retain our relationship with God through forgiveness and reconciliation."
Father James Oyet
"It would be too naive for the wounds caused in 100 years to be healed within 5 years"
Father Michael Lapsley
Session 1
In addition to keynote speaker Father Michael Lapsley, three other experienced speakers spoke in this session.
All of our speakers have been involved in reconciliation processes. These include Father James Oyet Latansio (on the role of reconciliation in the deadlocked conflict in South Sudan), Carmen de los RÃos (on the hope for reconciliation in Peru) and Pastor Dr. Jerda Djawa (Indonesia).
Session 1 took place on Thursday, September 19. Here you can find the video recordings in English and Spanish as well as information about the speakers including their texts and presentations.
"How is reconciliation possible after the trauma of apartheid in South Africa?"
Fr. Michael Lapsley (SSM)
Fr. Michael was involved in the South African anti-apartheid movement and supported the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). He was chaplain of the trauma center for victims of violence and torture in Cape Town and founded the Institute for Healing of Memories there in 1998. He has six honorary doctorates and was awarded the Queen's Service Medal by New Zealand. From 2014-2017 he was Vice President of the South African Council of Churches. In 2021 he was awarded the Niwano Peace Prize. Today he is President of the Healing of Memories Global Network.
"Reconciliation and peace: a path to relief"
Father James Oyet Latansio
Father James is a Roman Catholic priest, has a doctorate in philosophy and was the Secretary General of the South Sudan Confederation of Churches (SSCC), where he has been in charge since April 2015.
"Reconciliation in the context of the Halmahera conflict in Indonesia"
Reverend Dr. Jerda Djawa
Jerda Djawa is a pastor of the Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera and teaches Old Testament hermeneutics and contextual theology at the East Indonesian Seminary of Theological Philosophy in Makassar. Rev. Djawa is the former head of the Women's Department of the Community of Churches in Indonesia (CCI).
"Let us not lose hope ... for a reconciled Peru"
Carmen de los RÃos
Carmen de los RÃos has a Master's degree in Social Management with a focus on programs and projects. She is the founder and director of the Loyola Center of Ilo (Moquegua) and the Loyola Center of Huamanga (Ayacucho).
Program information as downloads
Session 2
Professor Oluwafunmilayo Para-Mallam was our second keynote speaker at this year's International Forum. She spoke about gender harmony for reconciliation and peacebuilding.
Session 2 took place on Thursday, September 19, at 19:30 CET. Here you can find the video recordings in English and Spanish and information about the speaker and her presentation.
"An exploratory talk on gender harmony for reconciliation and peacebuilding in a multicultural world."
Prof. Oluwafunmilayo Para-Mallam
Funmi Para-Mallam is Professor of Gender and Development and the first female Director of Studies at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Nigeria. She is the Chairperson of the African Women's Leadership Network and was named one of Nigeria's 100 Leading Women in 2024.
Session 3
In addition to keynote speaker Dr. Martin Sinaga from Indonesia, three other international experts shared their experiences with us on Friday. Dr. Andrés Pacheco Lozano spoke on "A Pilgrimage of Reconciliation in Colombia", Pastor Nam Ki Pyung (South Korea) on "Eighty Years, Division and Reconciliation" and Mónica Treviño Alvarez (Mexico) on the integration of queer people in the church.
Session 3 took place on Friday, September 20. Here you can find the video recordings in English and Spanish as well as information about the speakers and their texts and presentations.
"From conversion to reconciliation: Why religion is important in a polarized society"
Dr. Martin Sinaga
Martin Lukito Sinaga is a public theologian who works in many fields, for example as a lecturer and as a national trainer in the religious moderation program of the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs. After the end of his tenure as a special expert on the national inculturation of Pancasila ideology (2018-2020), he has devoted himself to research on social conflict and social cohesion. He was ordained in the Simalungun Christian Church (GKPS) and wrote his doctoral thesis in the field of postcolonial studies.
"Pilgrimage of Reconciliation: Transformative Spiritualities of Communities in Colombia"
Dr. Andrés Pacheco Lozano
Andrés Pacheco Lozano is co-director of the Amsterdam Center for Religion, Peace and Justice Studies (ACRPJ) and lecturer at the Dutch Mennonite Seminary. Andrés Pacheco Lozano is a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Theology of Peace Churches at the University of Hamburg.Â
"Eighty years of division, reconciliation and the challenges that follow"
Reverend Nam Ki Pyung
Nam Ki Pyung was Secretary General of the Ecumenical Youth Council in Korea. In 2022, he became a member of the Executive Committee of Korean Peace Action for two years. Since 2021, he has been working as the Program Director of the Reconciliation and Reunification Department of the National Council of Churches in Korea.
"God, I am a lesbian. Please help me to build a church where I can be at peace."
Mónica Treviño Alvarez
Mónica Alvarez has a Master's degree in Human Rights and Peace and in Gender Critics Studies and Theology. She is currently the regional secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean World Student Federation and part of various international youth groups.
