African churches can play a key role in addressing the crisis in the Middle East, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, has said.

"This is also a call for you as African churches," Tveit said, in addressing the All Africa Conference of Churches in Nairobi.

"You have something to contribute in the reflection about access to land as a matter of justice and they [Palestinian Christians] also are very encouraged by your way of expressing your faith, that it is possible to pray and see results."

Tveit, a Norwegian Lutheran was in Kenya and Ethiopia in late September as part of his first visit to Africa as WCC general secretary. He noted the vibrancy of Christianity on the continent. He said, during his 23 September speech in Nairobi, that the Middle East is a region where many conflicts in the world get constant fuel.

ENI