Archbishop of Southern Africa joins peace initiatives in Rome

[Anglican Communion News Service] The Most Rev. Thabo Makgoba, archbishop of Southern Africa, joined a range of discussions in Rome last week on how religious communities can help initiate and promote peace-making efforts.

First was an “International Meeting for Peace: Religions and Cultures in Dialogue” with the theme “Daring Peace,” which he attended at the invitation of the Community of Sant’Egidio, best known in Southern Africa for its important role in ending the Mozambican civil war.

During the meeting, Makgoba was among faith leaders from the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Budhist, Hindu and other religious traditions, who took part in a Meditation for Peace.

Held at the Colosseum in Rome, the meeting was presided over by Pope Leo XIV, who renewed the church’s call for reconciliation, dialogue and fraternity among all peoples, saying, “We have prayed for peace according to our diverse religious traditions, and we are now gathered together to proclaim a message of reconciliation. Conflicts are present in all parts of life, but war is no help in dealing with them or finding solutions. Peace is a constant journey of reconciliation.”

At the International Meeting for Peace, the Community of St. Egidio, invited Makgoba to address a forum about Africa and the future of young people, titled. “An Unequal World: What Alternatives?”

The speech addressed the crisis of inequality and youth unemployment, particularly in Africa but also with reference to a global picture. The archbishop’s address explored the challenges of wealth becoming detached from justice and compassion. He called for people of faith to ensure resources serve the common good, saying, “Our crisis is not merely political or economic; it is spiritual. When wealth becomes detached from justice, it ceases to be a blessing and becomes a temptation. When power forgets compassion, it turns prosperity into oppression.”

He added, “The key questions we need to ask are not only for Africa, but for the world. How can our riches serve the common good? How can we ensure that the young inherit not debts and disillusionment but dignity and direction? We must transition from accumulation to allocation, from privilege to participation. This will not fall out of the sky, it has to be struggled for. We need to ensure that we use every pulpit and platform to instruct, to teach and to prioritise this quest for justice for the young.”

In subsequent days, Makgoba pursued an interfaith initiative begun after the outbreak of the war in Gaza to promote peace in the Middle East.

In a message to the church before leaving Rome, he summed up the week. “These last four days first combined the peace meeting co-sponsored by the Vatican and St. Egidio with their celebration of 60 years of interfaith dialogue. Then we continued our Abrahamic faith initiative at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, where a South African team including Jewish rabbis looked at our plans to action a uniquely faith intervention in the Holy Land. These activities represent activities which are close to my heart, and central to working eyeball-to-eyeball for peace with justice and the pursuit of truth and reconciliation.”

He added, “The highlight of the week was sharing a platform with the pope, saying a sentence of blessing in Italian, lighting a peace candle and sharing it to thousands gathered at the Colosseum. Most importantly, we passed on a statement on peace to young people, who in turn passed it on to leaders in main audience.”