Question at Lambeth Press Conference on Nigeria.
Statement due on Saturday.
The following question was asked by the Church of England Newspaper at the Evening Press Conference on Thursday August 4th following the plenary on Relations with other Faiths.
CEN This is a question about inter-faith relations that were discussed today. Archbishop Welby spoke yesterday on the contribution of climate change to the violence against Christians in Northern Nigeria. (See here)
Julia Bicknell: I know that Archbishop of Canterbury has been to Nigeria and I know that there are many Christians in Nigeria believe that the violence and conflict they are increasingly experience is rooted in climate change but it is manifesting in religious context. Could the Archbishop comment on the link?
Justin Welby: I’ve been to Nigeria over 85 times and have worked extensively on mediation and conflict mitigation and management in various parts. All conflicts, and particularly in Nigeria even if I was to give an hours explanation, I would have to end by saying it is not as simple as that. So this is going to be wildly oversimplified. You have inherited issues, you do have religious clash going right back to the beginning of the 19th Century… and the movement of mission up from the Atlantic but it has been wildly exacerbated by the expansion of the Sahara in the north meaning that the clashes that go back to the story of Cain and Abel between pastoralists and farmers is made worst by pastoralist having to drive their cattle further south to get fodder and having to therefore drive their cattle into heavily populated areas where they go across the crops. Well… it’s not as simple as that but that is a very very clear example, where it is not only climate change. But that climate change catalyses and fuels and increases the chance of the most savage conflicts and in Nigeria it is truly savage. The number of Christians killed in the last few years – they tend to be farmers – is in the tens of thousands.
CEN: The Special Rapporteur for the Primate of Nigeria on the attacks against Christians was reported in the previous issue of the Church of England Newspaper to say that 3000 Christians have been killed by Islamists in Northern Nigeria this year alone. Their aim is to drive Christians out of the middle belt of Nigeria with the backing of Saudi Arabia, and the collusion of the police and army. The only graves there are of Christians, not of Fulani herdsmen.
The rapporteur, speaking for persecuted Christians in Nigeria, would like to see the British Government which sends millions of pounds to Nigeria and trains its army put pressure on the Government of Nigeria to get people to sit at the table as an umpire and address the problem together.
With the focus on reconciliation at this conference might the Anglican Communion call out the Nigerian Government on this issue and also call the British Government to engage in such a process?”
I also ask this as a canon of the Church of Nigeria.
Richard Sugworth: There are Nigerian Muslim leaders who do not want this to happen. There is a gradual breakdown of the country. We will be praying for Nigeria and hearing a statement they will be raising on Saturday. The important voice to be heard on this is the voice of the Nigerian church.
William Adams: Archbishop Justin has spoken of the ecumenism of blood and when Christians are subject to violence in different parts of the world, they are not asked if they are Presbyterian, Roman Catholic or Anglican. They ask ‘ Are you Christian?’ There have been several statements of solidarity and the importance of standing with the persecuted church.
The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani: We talk of reconciliation and suffering for the name of Christ being a natural part of our calling. In Peter’s first letter which we have been studying these themes are very much alive. We do work for peace and reconciliation; we are forgiving; we do want to be hospitable and generous. BUT all of that is alongside the calling to be people who work for, act and speak for justice. We do have a responsibility to do that as well. This is a paradox. One does not exclude the other. The Freedom of Religion and Belief Report chaired by Bishop Philip Mounstephen looks at all kinds of religious minorities who are persecuted.
There is a role for Governments to play in putting pressure and challenges to be brought legally, or at least support to nations where illegal behaviour is going on to see how their legal system may better engage with some of these issues. Justice is a very important Christian theme which sometimes gets buried and forgotten under those of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Bishop Bernard Longley, Roman Catholic Bishop of Birmingham: The engagement with the Nigerian Bishops Conference is also important. Witness to issues of justice and peace are that much stronger when we do witness and work together.
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