Reconciliation and Just Peace ─ Impulses of the Theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer for the European and African Context

The book marks the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. The churches play a central role in the process of reconciliation in Rwanda. The theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer offers fresh impulses, generating intensive discussions in Rwanda, especially in view of the many parallels to his context in the Nazi period. Moreover, the underlying conflict ultimately remains unresolved, especially in Eastern Congo in the region of Lake Kivu, where fighting continues between former Hutu units, other militia groups and government troops. In such a context, the search for a "just peace" is central, and Bonhoeffer's peace ethics offer important orientational points of reference. The volume documents the Bonhoeffer conference "Reconciliation and a just peace - impulses for the African and European contexts", held in Kibuye, Rwanda, in February 2014. Heinrich Bedford-Strohm is the head of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. Pasal Bataringaya is Vice President of the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda. Traugott Jahnichen is Professor for Christian social ethics at the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum.