change language
estás dentro: home - selecciÓn de prensa newslettercómo contactarnoslink

Ayuda a la Comunidad

  

Washington Post

7 Junio 2010

Hope for Guinea - FAITH IN ACTION

 
versión imprimible

These are exciting but tense times in the West African nation of Guinea. A presidential election is fast approaching, on June 27, with legislative contests to follow six months later. The elections are playing out against a 50-plus-year history of dictatorship, a current military regime that came to power in a coup d'état, and memories of horrific violence last September when over 150 people died in clashes and many women were raped in broad daylight.
The anniversary of President Obama's June 4, 2009 speech in Cairo, addressed to the Muslim world, has prompted a fresh examination of where and how democracy and Islam are linked. So it's worth looking at Guinea, a country of more than 10 million people, some 85 percent of them Muslim. It's a country that has not known much democracy, but the reasons don't have anything to do with religion. It's an old and familiar tale of nasty politics, large egos, and contending great power interests. It's created bitter memories and sharpened ethnic and other divisions. Yet Guinea's story also has the seeds of a hopeful story of dialogue and cooperation. African leaders and international organizations seem to be working together to give this nation and its people a chance to make a fresh start.
Part of this effort played out recently in Rome, in the beautiful former convent that is the headquarters of the Community of Sant'Egidio, the lay Catholic movement that is a world mover for peace and justice. Guinean leaders -- men and women, military and civilian, representatives of victims of oppression and of those who hold power now -- met within these cloistered walls with mediators from Sant'Egidio and others close to various governments. They thrashed out a detailed, 17-page political agreement. Perhaps more significant, they issued an appeal for the future of their country, committing themselves to a new reign of dialogue, respect and justice.
"The memory throws up high and dry, a crowd of twisted things," wrote T.S. Eliot, and, for peacemakers, painful memories lie at the heart of the challenge. Memory is the bane of those who yearn for peace because it threads its way through the angry narratives of different sides, stifling hope. Guinea has its share of bitter memories, and those who came to Rome included women who were raped and parents who lost their children. Part of the reason why the Community of Sant'Egidio can help in healing memory is its deep and long-term commitment to listening and caring for those involved. Another is a gift for creating new memories, as a group of very different Guineans joined hands in a beautiful Roman garden where memories of other successful peace accords serve as inspiration that, this time, hopes will be fulfilled.
Frédéric Mounier described the Sant'Egidio negotiations in the French Catholic paper La Croix. He acknowledged that peace appeals are often met with cynicism and doubt. But why, he asked, sulk and criticize when the peacemakers hold out such hopes? He is (as am I) an obvious admirer of Sant'Egidio's capacity to link peacemaking with a determination to work against poverty, and its commitment to stick with a cause for as long as it takes. The reason that Guineans from many very different political persuasions came together in Rome was because the Community had been a friend to them over 20 years, working in their country through the toughest times, in prisons and in hospitals. Why, Mounier asks, should we doubt the power of dialogue? Why brood on problems in the face of hope? Sure, the future is uncertain, ethnic divisions still lurk, but there's also a real chance that the sincere commitments will translate into reality.
Guinea's national assets include vibrant and diverse people, remarkable music, storytelling traditions and mineral resources. But the current lot of most people is a short life, limited economic opportunities and a growing reputation as a drug transit point (the son of Guinea's former president and dictator, Lansana Conte, is in jail, listed as a drug kingpin). My daughter served there in the Peace Corps and fell in love with the country. But her former students constantly remind her that no matter how bright and enterprising they are, their prospects are grim. So watch the coming elections with fingers crossed and hope that the spirit of Sant'Egidio will infuse Guinea's leaders as they leave the peaceful garden in Rome and face the legacies of the past and the current realities of the political campaign.

Katherine Marshall is a senior fellow at Georgetown's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, a Visiting Professor, and Executive Director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue.


 LEA TAMBIÉN
• NOTICIAS
30 Enero 2018
BANGUI, REPÚBLICA CENTROAFRICANA

Chantal, Elodie y las demás: historias de niños y adultos que siguen tratamiento con el programa DREAM en Bangui, capital de la República Centroafricana

IT | ES | DE | FR | CA | NL
25 Enero 2018
ROMA, ITALIA

República Centroafricana, el presidente Touadera en Sant'Egidio: continúa el proceso de paz; empieza la nueva fase de desarme

IT | ES | DE | FR | PT | CA | ID
15 Enero 2018

Ya está en las librerías “Fare Pace - la diplomazia di Sant'Egidio”

IT | ES | DE | PT
9 Enero 2018
BANGUI, REPÚBLICA CENTROAFRICANA

La República Centroafricana recibe ayuda humanitaria mientras continúan las operaciones de desarme

IT | ES | DE | FR | PT | CA | NL
1 Enero 2018
ROMA, ITALIA

El papa Francisco dirige unas palabras de saludo y de aliento a los participantes en la manifestación “Paz en todas las tierras”

IT | ES | DE | FR | PT | NL | HU
30 Diciembre 2017
ROMA, ITALIA

'PAZ EN TODAS LAS TIERRAS': 1 de enero, una marcha por un mundo que sepa acoger e integrar

IT | ES | DE | FR | CA | NL
todas las noticias
• PRENSA
26 Febrero 2018
Roma sette

Congo e Sud Sudan, Gnavi: «La liberazione ha il nome di Gesù»

23 Febrero 2018
Domradio.de

"Wir können Frieden organisieren wie andere den Krieg"

22 Febrero 2018
Famiglia Cristiana

La preghiera sia un urlo contro le guerre

21 Febrero 2018
Vatican Insider

Sant’Egidio si unisce alla Giornata di digiuno per Congo e Sud Sudan indetta dal Papa

21 Febrero 2018
SIR

Giornata preghiera e digiuno: Comunità di Sant’Egidio, adesione all’invito del Papa. Veglia nella basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere a Roma e in molte città italiane

7 Febrero 2018
Vaticannews

“Fare pace”: la diplomazia della speranza cristiana di Sant’Egidio

toda la revista de prensa
• NO PENA DE MUERTE
2 Diciembre 2014

Guinea: Sant'Egidio chiede l'abolizione della pena di morte

ir a ninguna pena de muerte
• DOCUMENTOS

''Entente de Sant'Egidio'': Political Agreement for Peace in the Central African Republic

Libya: The humanitarian agreement for the region of Fezzan, signed at Sant'Egidio on June 16th 2016 (Arabic text)

Nuclear Disarmament Symposium on the 70 th anniversary of the atomic bomb. Hiroshima, August 6 2015

todos los documentos