By Lillian Aluanga

This week marks the end of a month-long meeting of more than 190 African Catholic bishops in Rome, Italy.

Dubbed the Second African Synod, the meeting was a build-up to a similar one 15 years ago, and centered its theme on the Church in Africa at the service of reconciliation, justice and peace.

But even as the Vatican meeting ends, the role of the local church in fostering these ideals remains in focus.

For the past three years, the Church has taken a beating for perceived partisanship in politics. At no time, perhaps, was this more apparent than in the 2005 Referendum and the discredited 2007 General Election.

The mis-steps, however, appear to be bridge under the water, with a renewed clergy saying they have regained their footing and are taking up the role of reconciling the nation.

"The events of 2007 have united the Church more than ever before and we will never allow ourselves to be used by politicians," said Evangelical Alliance of Kenya General Secretary Wellington Mutiso.

"About 800 evangelical churches were burnt in the chaos because people were angry with us. Things are now different because we have regained their confidence," says Dr Mutiso.

But whether congregants forgave Church leaders is debatable.

"Which church? There is no church in Kenya and we are still far from reconciling," says Mr Zablon Kivailu, a Catholic.

Kivailu says he wasn’t convinced when Church leaders sought the nation’s forgiveness because some are still encased in tribal cocoons.

But the men of the cloth say a lot has been going on behind the scenes to unite Kenyans.

"We don’t always go to the media to say what we are doing but we have been consulting with the present Church leadership," says former PCEA moderator the Reverend John Gatu.

The prelate, who chairs the Senior Clergy Consultative Forum –– a group of retired clergy from different denominations –– says the public seems to have a new understanding of the Church’s role in reconciliation.

"The Church realised the folly of its actions. It repented and is now united because it has a greater task ahead," he says.

Gatu says, so far, the forum has held meetings in Eldoret, Kisumu, Nakuru and Kuria ‘with positive results’.

"I may not know about others, but I have seen changes in my area," says Eldoret Diocese Bishop Cornelius Korir.

Rift Valley Province bore the brunt of the chaos following the disputed poll that resulted in over 1,000 deaths.

The Eldoret Diocese was home to hundreds of IDPs at the height of the violence, which Korir says taught the Church vital lessons.

"We were late in intervention and were overtaken by events. But the Church has now learnt the importance of neutrality," he says.

Korir says the Church has established various programmes and peace committees to foster reconciliation, particularly among the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin.

"We want the committees to propose the way forward. We will also be going for social contracts where agreements are made between communities," says the bishop.

Among the reconciliation programmes, Korir says, are the rebuilding of homes and schools where the two communities work together.

"The process becomes a means of dialogue and we can see the results in areas like Timboroa, Burnt Forest, Eldoret and Turbo," he says. Mutiso says while Church leaders from various denominations have closed ranks, the same cannot be said of the political leadership.

"President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga shook hands on camera, but we don’t know whether they were reconciled," says Mutiso.

The prelate says reconciliation meetings in Eldoret, Kitale, Cherangany, Kapsabet, Elgeyo Marakwet and Chebilat have been forums for forgiveness among communities.

So, does this mean the Church has regained its stature as the voice of reason in society?

"I think we have regained the credibility we lost in the eyes of our congregants, but our time of testing will come in 2012," says Mutiso, who faults the marriage between the Church and politicians.

"During the Referendum the Church was accused of abandoning the flock by not giving direction. The opposite happened in 2007, but the result was partisanship," he says.

Retired Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, who headed the Anglican Church of Kenya between 2002 and this year, cites the Referendum as a point of departure for the Church, which he says should have distanced itself from politicians after the 2002 General Election.

"The Church joined civic groups and the Opposition in calling for change from the Kanu regime. But it should have distanced itself from politicians after the polls to play its role as the prophetic voice," says Nzimbi.

National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) Deputy Secretary General Oliver Simiyu says, having owned up to its mistakes, the Church has a new lease of life and is working to reconcile the nation.

"We have set up national healing and reconciliation committees because politicians aren’t committed to healing the nation but retaining power," he says.

Simiyu however says forgiveness is an expensive affair, which requires that something is done to forestall a recurrence of the events witnessed after the 2007 poll.

NCCK had by July collected over 500,000 signatures to petition The Hague over prosecution of the alleged masterminds of the chaos.

"We must learn to forgive as Christ forgave us, but what we are saying is, let somebody be taken to task over what happened," he says.