Decades of ecumenism in KZN.
Diakonia — later known as Diakonia Council of Churches — was a Durban-based ecumenical agency founded in 1976 at the initiative of Archbishop Denis Hurley with Paddy Kearney at the helm. The Pietermaritzburg Agency for Social Christian Awareness (PACSA) was established in 1979 under the leadership of Peter Kerchhoff.
Both organisations initially aimed to raise social awareness among white Christians, but rapidly attracted black Christian activists, becoming a thorn in the flesh of the apartheid regime.
At provincial level, an informal entity called the Natal Church Leaders Group, comprising the heads of the most important churches in the region, was constituted during the same period. It is best known for its relentless efforts to bring peace through mediation in war-torn Natal during the times of political violence.
