“Disarming dialogue”

An ecumenical initiative aimed at promoting dialogue between the parties involved in the trafficking of legal weapons. The “Gothenburg Process” was founded in the 1990s in Stockholm, following the initiative of a layman, Peter Brune, concerned about the trafficking of legal weapons after the decline that ensued the end of the Cold War. “Legal weapons are the main cause of violent death. The Churches ought to address this issue – declared Msgr. William Kenney, international president of the Process and Bishop Emeritus of Birmingham – According to the United Nations, the States have the right to defend themselves with the use of weapons, which also serve to prevent criminal acts when life is threatened. But unfortunately an excessive number of weapons is circulating, which can be only reduced by resorting to dialogue. In this way, the people involved are led to take a critical stand towards their activity. If the number of circulating weapons were not increased it would already be a good result”. Silvia Guzzetti, for SIR Europe, interviewed Msgr. William Kenney on this issue. What is the task of the “Gothenburg process”?“We promote dialogue between key players in the four sectors involved in arm trafficking: producers i.e. the war industry, those who purchase weapons – notably Countries’ armies -, supervising authorities and the representatives of what we call critical civil societies: in other words, the Churches, along with ecumenical and inter-religious bodies. Our conferences are open only to those who have been invited – not more than 25-30 people. It’s important not to exceed for the dialogue to be fruitful. These sectors firmly uphold entrenched stances. However, when they are involved in the debate, they reconsider their position from a critical standpoint. Dialogue changes people, it compels them to question the legitimacy of certain stances”.Does this dialogue that you promote have a specific target, like cutting down the number of weapons?“No. Our purpose is to bring together people who never confronted each other before, in the full respect of their different stances. Mutual fears and dislike often hamper dialogue. For instance, arm dealers dislike the Churches’ critical view of them. But they do manage to engage in a debate with our help”.What are the main difficulties you have encountered in your mission? “Enabling the different protagonists to understand one another, find common points of reference. At times contacts are interrupted. In this case, our greatest result has been the achievement of dialogue”.How are you organized? “We don’t have an office nor salaried staff, since it would be too expensive for us. Funding comes from Western Countries’ governments, which is not always easy to obtain. Sweden’s “Christian Peace Movement”, an ecumenical movement for the promotion of peace, does administrative work. We also use their address while they coordinate our website. The commission of the Gothenburg Process convenes in Sweden twice a year and involves five or six persons. There are also groups that represent our organization in different Countries, which at times are affiliated with other associations. Germany and the United Kingdom are particularly interested in reducing the amount of weapons”.How many conferences do you organize each year and where are these held? “We organize two or three conferences per year in each continent. We deliberately decide to change the venue of the meetings since the encounter involves also the hosting Country. This is why we hold our conferences in different Countries. We promoted three important World meetings, two in Gothenburg and one in Nairobi. A conference in Colombia is being planned for next May and another is scheduled for 2010-2011 in the United Kingdom. During the rest of the time we organize lessons and we keep in touch with the people who attended our meetings. In fact, last summer I was invited to speak at a United Nations conference that addressed the issue of the Weapon Treaty”.Are many Churches involved in your organization? “The Vatican has been present since its foundation, along with the Council of Churches (WCC), that represents Protestant and Orthodox Churches. Churches view human beings from an ethical angle, they are not involved in arm trafficking and therefore they are not in competition with anyone. Therefore the other parties involved have faith in them”. The “Gothenburg Process” has strong ties with Sweden. Why? “Sweden is one of the major weapon producers, along with China, Russia and the EU. In order to defend its neutrality it has put together an impressive arsenal. It can also count on top-rate engineers”.