Najla Kassab, the president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), this week spoke to dr Gustav Claassen, general secretary of NG Kerk, about faith, justice and ecumenism during a week in which the the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) supported the relaunch of the “ZacTax Campaign” at a conference held this week in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“The event offered faith-rooted African perspectives on just taxation and reparations; shared concrete proposals to advance corporate and wealth taxation as well as social and ecological reparations; and relaunched the ecumenical Zacchaeus Tax campaign for tax justice and reparations in the Africa,” according to a press release.
“Among the poor we already find systems of sharing and credit that lie outside mainstream systems of economics. We need to learn what is happening on the margins. The ZacTax campaign seeks a just taxation and looks to the margins of life to do this,” said Philip Vinod Peacock, executive for justice and witness of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the statement read.
In the interview (see video above) with Claassen, Kassab shared her own life story and vision with Claassen, who also asked her about the role she feels the Dutch Reformed Church could play in the WCRC, an organisation comprised of 100 million Christians in Congregational, Presbyterian, Reformed, United, Uniting and Waldensian churches in over 105 countries.
The ZacTax Campaign is a part of the New International Financial and Economic Architecture (NIFEA) initiative promoted by the Council for World Mission, Lutheran World Federation, World Communion of Reformed Churches, World Methodist Council, and World Council of Churches. Funding for it comes from Otto per Mille. The campaign lost momentum during Covid pandemic.
Dr Claassen (second from right) and fellow delegates during a break in this week’s WCRC conference in Johannesburg. Photographs: Kerkbode
African economies lost between $597 billion and $1.4 trillion in illicit financial flows—nearly equal to the entire continent’s current GDP—in the last three decades, according to WCRC. “Just imagine if the government can counter these illicit financial flows and channel them into other areas,” Ganief Hendricks, a member of the South African Parliament, was quoted as saying in the press statement.
Najla Kassab, president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), is an ordained minister in the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL). She obtained her B.A. in Christian education from the Near East School of Theology (NEST) in 1987 and her Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1990. In 1993 she received the first preaching license offered to a woman by NESSL. Photographs: Kerkbode
“These are global challenges and need global solutions. We are in this together. It is time to ask the faith movement to come in and amplify the voices calling for fair global tax rules and a United Nations tax convention,” said Silje Ander of Norwegian ChurchAid. “This is one of the strengths that we have, working with our partners,” noted Najla Kassab, WCRC president.
The Dutch Reformed Church hosted the conference at the Mannah Conference Center in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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