wfn.org | WACC Tutu praises, challenges at opening ceremony

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

> Tutu praises, challenges at opening ceremony

> By Rebekah Chevalier, Canada

To the heart-pulsing beat of Burundian drummers, through hymns and multi-media images and with words of praise and challenge from Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other dignitaries, the World Association for Christian Communication opened its 2008 Congress in Cape Town, South Africa, 6 October.

The 300 participants and honoured guests gathered in Life Church were welcomed by WACC President Musimbi Kanyoro, who addressed the Congress theme
?Communication is Peace.? ?Genuine communication-the kind that sees your neighbour as your keeper and you as your neighbour?s keeper-communicates a mutual concern for one another, the kind of concern our world and its people really need today.? As the international community marks 60 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Kanyoro noted that communication plays a fundamental role in ensuring the right to information and the right to freedom of expression in languages that are accessible.

Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille welcomed participants and noted at the start that she doesn?t mince her words. ?There?s always the temptation to live in the past because it gives you a good feeling,? she said in relation to South Africa. ?We know the price of freedom is constant vigilance.? Zille noted that acts of courage aren?t confined to the past, but are needed today. Referring to South Africa, she said that ?our big thing is to move from liberation politics to constitutional politics. The church is an essential check and balance. So is the media.?

A highlight of the opening session was a time to pay tribute to a ?cloud of witnesses??eight people whose words, actions and artistry were instrumental in overcoming apartheid. Honoured at the ceremony by standing ovations were Florence de Villiers, Helen Kotze, Zubeida Jaffer and Diana Ferrus. Also honoured in absentia were Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, Peter Magubane, Bernard Spong and Cedric Mayson.

?Those who forget where they come from won?t know where they are going,? Kanyoro said in marking the contributions of these journalists, writers, artists, and photographers.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu closed the ceremony by paying tribute to the long-standing support WACC provided to South African partners in the past in the struggle against apartheid and today in the continuing need to speak truth to power. ?The injustice of the past still haunts us,? said Tutu. ?As long as our community remains divided there will be no peace.?

The opening session ended on a festive note as Tutu was presented with a chocolate birthday cake to celebrate his 77th birthday tomorrow by 13-year-old Lieven Kop, the youngest participant at Congress.