Bishops offer mediation

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Supporters of Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement, on the poster, took to the streets in Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 2. An explosion of tribal violence over a disputed presidential election had claimed the lives of more than 300 people, including 30 burned alive at a Pentecostal church in Eldoret. Fr. Vincent Wambugu, secretary-general of the Kenya Catholic Episcopal Conference, said the crisis has displaced 75,000 people of various faiths. "Half of this figure is being sheltered within the Eldoret Catholic diocese," he said. Churches in Eldoret established an interreligious coordinating committee, and Eldoret Bishop Cornelius Arap Korir asked his fellow Catholic bishops for aid, especially food, bedding, tents and supplies for sheltering the rapidly increasing number of needy people. The episcopal conference issued a statement Jan. 2 appealing to political leaders to make every effort to engage in dialogue to resolve the crisis. The bishops offered to mediate the crisis and proposed a review of the election results.

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