General secretary of the World Council of Churches, Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, told participants gathered at an international conference in Boston, U.S., at the end of last month to recognise their “common calling” to overcome violence.

|TOP|“Violence does not recognise differences between Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox or Pentecostal. Violence is our common plague, and non-violent love, peace, justice and reconciliation are our common calling,” Kobia told participants at the conference.

The conference, sponsored by the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in cooperation with the WCC and the Boston Theological Insitute, focused on “Violence and Christian spirituality”.

The WCC general secretary said that the Council’s goal in declaring the 2001 – 2010 Decade to Overcome Violence has been “not so much to eradicate violence as to overcome the spirit, the logic and the practice of violence by actively seeking reconciliation and peace”.

Kobia referred to global terrorism and the war on terrorism, political conflict and war, as well as interpersonal and domestic violence before turning his focus to resources for peace.

|QUOTE|According to Rev. Kobia one vital resource is inter-religious dialogue. He cautioned, however, that, “Dialogue is not and can never serve as an ambulance in a sudden crisis or conflict. It is more like a prophylactic medicine, which when often and regularly used, will sustain health even in difficult situations.”

He also included spirituality as an equally powerful resource for peace that “inspires and shapes our individual and joint actions”. He added that, “prayer and contemplation together form the foremost discipline for overcoming violence”, emphasising that “the Orthodox traditions have much to offer” in this area.

“This is the deeply rooted and long-standing vision in Orthodox faith and life for a spirituality of holistic peace, integrating creation, human life and the Trinity, working together for salvation and reconciliation,” Kobia concluded.