Dr Agnes Aboum

Dr Agnes greats the German State President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier,
at the 11th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches, in 
Karlsruhe i Germany in 2022. (Photo: Albin Hillert, WCC).

Yesterday Dr Agnes Aboum, former moderator of the World Council of Churches, died. She was 73 years. Such a loss for the ecumenical movement. She was elected moderator at the 1oth General Assembly in Busan, South Korea, on 2013 and she resigned last year, at the 11th General Assembly in Karlsruhe in Germany.

She was born in northwest Kenya in a family with four brothers. She came to Sweden in 1976, learned Swedish and earned a doctorate in missiology.

We met a couple of times. Both in Busan and in Karlsruhe. I remember Dr Agnes as a strong leader who at the same time was humble. As a moderator of the WCC you need to be firm. In Karlsruhe there was a priest who had talked several times in the plenary. When he raised his card for yet another comment, Dr Agnes told him, mildly, that he had spoken enough and that she must allow others to get a chance. If my memory serves me well, I think he sat down and smiled.

The World Council of Churches has issued a press release with more information.

After her return to Kenya last year she was appointed as a lay canon of the Anglican Church of Kenya. On Youtube she speaks about this and says:

It is a new chapter in my spiritual pilgrimage of justice and peace.

This pilgrimage has now come to its goal. May she rest in peace!