Church conference to help revive peace talks - World - National Council of Churches in Guatemala - Brief Article

National Catholic Reporter, May 3, 2002 by Gill Donovan

GUATEMALA: The National Council of Churches is pledging to work with religious and government leaders in Guatemala to revive that country's stalled peace accords.

The Rev. Bob Edgar, council general secretary, recently traveled to Guatemala City, to meet with local officials on ways of reviving the 1996 peace agreement between the government and rebel forces. During the country's 35-year civil war, more than 200,000 people were killed or disappeared and presumed dead.

The council, a federation of Christian 36 denominations, is working with the Latin American Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches. During his April 10 meeting in Guatemala City, Edgar also met with Catholic Bishop Rodolfo Quezada Toruno of Zacapa.

During the bloody civil war, Catholic leaders were on the front lines in speaking out against human rights abuses on both sides. In 1998, just days after releasing a report documenting such abuses, Auxiliary Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera was assassinated (NCR, May 8, 1998).

Staff from the New York-based council plan to continue talks when the Latin American Council of Churches meets April 22-26 in Ecuador and when the World Council of Churches Central Committee meets in August.

Briefs, gathered from news services, correspondents and staff, are compiled and edited by Gill Donovan.