Ecumenical Consultation on Social Advocacy
Towards a Culture of Peace in the 21st Century
(Consultation jointly organised by the Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs,
Christian Conference of Asia and the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences,
held on 4th - 8th October 2001, at the Redemptoris Centre, Pattaya, Thailand)

Introduction

At the beginning of the new Millennium, we as Christians in Asia-Pacific, are perturbed by the numerous situations of violence and conflicts that are threatening many nations and even the whole of humanity. We are being confronted by a multitude of forces, both global and local that attack the core of the human person and the human community. We are being challenged to be faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and address these issues in and through the Ministry of Social Advocacy. We as Christians are called to be promoters of peace in the context of violence and conflicts through education for peace and social advocacy.

It was the urgency of this task before us that moved us as Christian organisations to come together to foster new Ecumenical endeavours in order to address the our current global crisis based on the culture of death and violence. Thus Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCA’s, the Christian Conference of Asia and the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences organised this Joint Consultation on Social Advocacy, from 4-8 October 2001, at the Redemptorist Centre, Pattaya, Thailand. We, twenty-nine participants, in Asia and Pacific, through a process of dialogue deepened our common understanding of the realities of our peoples and the societies that we live in. Without Faith there can be no new and creative actions, and it is for this reason that we reflected on the meaning of our faith so that we would be able to translate these into actions. Our commitment to social advocacy, we believe is based on our determination and willingness to journeying together as Christians, committed to working for the Kingdom (Reign) of God. We hope through this process to foster greater collaborative efforts in the building up of new network of committed Christians to meet the challenges of the new Millennium. This is indeed our common and concerted response to the call of the Lord in the context of Asia-Pacific.

1. The Context of the Challenges Today

    1. Our analysis of Asian-Pacific realities point to the numerous negative effects of the impact of globalisation and the subsequent economic and political, social and religious and ethnic upheaval. With the emergence of various forms of Neo-Liberalism, accelerated by the process of Globalisation, the role of the Nation State is being undermined and diverted from its basic responsibility of promoting the common good and protecting the basic human rights of individuals. We believe that the State is not the servant of the Market Driven Economy but has the sacred duty of being the Protector of the People.

    2. In the area of economic life, the phenomenon of mega-mergers has led to the concentration of wealth in the hands of the few and has given rise to gross inequalities so evident in our Region. These trends take away the very life support systems from the majority of our peoples so that they are no longer able to live with dignity as human persons. Science and technology, knowledge and information and communication technology, seem to give priority to the growth and expansion of capital and investments for profits, rather than satisfy the basic human needs of persons and communities including food, health services, sanitation and education. The subtle promotion and pursuit of a culture of individualism, materialism, consumerism, and excessive competition move people and communities away from the fundamental values of the respect for human dignity and stewardship of the ecology and a way of life that stresses the transcendental and spiritual.

    3. It is this lack of political will, to engender policies for the common good, that breeds inequality and creates an increasing gap between the rich and the poor in our nations. It is also clear that this emphasis on the material and economic aspects of development is creating communities that are slowly being marginalised and sidelined, becoming breeding ground for division and fragmentation of our communities. Various forms of religious fundamentalism often related to the negation of ethnic and fundamental human liberties and rights by both the global forces and national governments are emerging. Violence of the People is justified as a response to both Global and National Violence. Often such volatile situations bring misery and sufferings to millions of people in the Region. Furthermore, there is a growing sense of insecurity when ethnic and religious communities become targets for each other’s anger and revenge.

    4. A new social scenario is emerging before our very eyes. We see the gradual erosion of the agricultural base of our economies, the displacement of millions of people internally and externally, the situation of millions of migrant workers who have to leave their homes and families to work as contract labour with little security and under deplorable conditions. There is the gradual and blatant increase in the trafficking of women, girls and boys and the feminisation of poverty accompanied by violence on women. The rapid deterioration of ecology and environment is largely due to the pace of unethical and unsustainable development resulting in the indiscriminate destruction of natural resources and the environment.

    5. The prevalence of Greed in an organised manner within the systems that promote various forms of neo-liberalism based trade and capital liberalisation has created inequalities and institutionalised injustices in the economic, political, ethnic and religious spheres. This leads to feelings of oppression or hopelessness, hatred, prejudice, and desire for vengeance, resulting in violence. The lack of good governance and social structures that deal effectively with political, economic and social inequalities in our society has resulted in a culture of intolerance where people lack respect and understanding of each other and there is domination of one race, caste over the other. Historical grievances have also caused individual violence, violence of the people, and violence of the State. Declining religious values and increasing religious fundamentalism have also brought about clashes and conflicts.

2. Our Faith Reflections in the context of Asia-Pacific

    1. We believe that the Gospel calls us to speak and act for social justice. To advocate on behalf of the poor, oppressed and marginalised is an integral part of the practice of our faith. As Christians, we are committed to non-violent means such as the use of spiritual force or moral pressure. The subject matter and means of our advocacy should be informed by and give expression to our faith. We see the need to a return to an authentic spirituality that revitalises our relationships as members of the community of Jesus, so that we will be the salt, leaven and light for the transformation of the world. We realise that our journeying together has to be with people of all faiths and believers so that peace can become a reality for us and for the future generations.

3. Our Understanding of Social Advocacy

    1. Social Advocacy is seen as an on-going process of influencing decision-makers with a commitment in the pursuit of TRUTH and thus bring changes to social policy or to enforce laws or to repeal them if they violate norms of UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS. It is also a process of offering alternatives by enacting new laws and influencing behaviour and changes in lifestyle.

    2. The Process of Social Advocacy thus begins with identifying the needs and rights of the disadvantaged in society, involving a comprehensive, in-depth social analysis and reflection, including faith analysis. It calls for justice and solidarity with the suffering, and works towards the creation of equitable power structures.

    3. The Levels of Social Advocacy include the Global, Regional, National and Local.

    4. The Dimensions of Social Advocacy should include awareness education and communication about issues and strategies for appropriate actions, such as, creating networks and alliances, techniques for monitoring and lobbying of decisions-makers, to organise public campaigns, and consumer actions. The creation of alternatives is indeed the greatest challenge for promoters of social advocacy.

  1. Our Responses as Christians to Social Advocacy

As members of the Ecumenical Partnership in the Asia and Pacific we can by engaging in Social Advocacy, make peace a reality and nurture signs of hope among our people through

  1. Education in linking Faith and Life, giving priority to all the People of God to foster greater Christian involvement in the transformation of the world.

  2. Proper training in the values, change of attitudes and acquire skills required for Social Advocacy.

  3. Recognising the importance of this formation for promoting Social Advocacy within each of our Churches/Ecumenical Organisations, and the total Christian Community.

  4. Building a new network of collaboration and co-operation in the area of Social Advocacy.

  5. Inculcating a new spirituality based on the Gospel of Jesus that will bring persons and communities to be involved in social advocacy.

5. What can we do as Ecumenical Partners?

We can work towards promoting a common understanding of Social Advocacy in the context of Asia and Pacific today as Ecumenical Partners by :

a. Sharing the Church’s teaching on ethical and social issues today and in dialogue keeping in mind the inter-religious perspectives :

  1. Sharing and exchanging of practical experiences in the area of advocacy, including human rights, migrants, rights of women and children, ecology and environment, etc.

  2. Being involved in the formulation of programmes and processes for formation and education of pastors, the laity particularly youth and women, and families.

  3. Working together on the processes and programmes to integrate Advocacy into the pastoral plans of the local church and the Bishops’ Conferences, and local units of the organisation.

  4. Deepening the knowledge and practical skills in the area of communications, publications, use of Internet and web sites, education campaigns, international and local campaigns , etc. to spread the message of social advocacy.

  5. Identifying new like-minded partners for collaboration in the area of advocacy in order to promote greater justice and peace.

  6. Intensifying the efforts of individual organisation in Social Advocacy as planned during the Consultation.

6. Urgent Tasks Ahead for Peace and Non-Violence

Being deeply concerned about prevalent situation in the world today, the participants identified some key causes of violence and conflicts in the world today. We see the urgency to create a culture of peace with justice. In the context of the conflicts among civilisations and the clash of civilisations we are being challenged to promote a Dialogue of Civilisations through the building up of a Civilisation of Love and Peace. As Ecumenical Partners committed to building communities characterised by justice, love and peace, we can :

  1. Focus on dialogue and education to create understanding of the other views be it in economic, political, racial, religious issues, directed at root causes

  2. Work in partnership among the Ecumenical Partners, including people of other faiths, to educate our constituencies and others for transformation. This can be in the form of the exchanges of our publications and documents.

  3. In order to be promoters of peaceful and non-violent methods in conflict resolution, we can look into the possibilities of developing some modules for Peace Education for use among the members of the Churches and Ecumenical Organisations.

  4. Play a more prominent role of mediators or reconcilers in conflicts, ensuring healing and reconciliation. This can be through the Ecumenical networks that we can promote in each of our countries.

  5. We can work more closely with other Interreligious groups and NGOs that are also promoting human dignity and human rights. In this way the Ecumenical Network can make Social Advocacy for Peace as an affirmation of life.

  6. Look for more creative ways in which we can incorporate spirituality as an integral dimension of our responsibility of promoting social advocacy.

Conclusion

We hope to continue the journey that we began through this Consultation by ensuring that we will more consciously share our resources by keeping each other informed of our programmes and activities and strengthen this informal network that we have developed at the level of the Asia and Pacific Region. The Organising Committee of this Consultation thus sees as its responsibility the need to meet from time to time, to search for ways and means to further follow-up on the deliberations of the Consultation

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