Our Team
Prof. Dr. Fernando Enns
Fernando’s research focuses on peace and justice from a theological and ethical perspective. Being rooted in a peace-church tradition himself and educated as a systematic theologian in the Christian tradition, Fernando trys to address the issues of peace and justice in a dialogical manner: in dialogue with other Christian traditions (ecumenical), with other religions (inter-religious) and non-believers as well as with other disciplines (inter-disciplinary). This creates new wisdom for peace-building and transformative justice in praxis. Along that line of thought, the challenges and opportunities of and for processes of reconciliation become predominant, as well as the search for spiritual roots within the faith traditions to pursue a just peace. His involvement in international ecumenical settings, like the World Council of Churches, continues to stimulate his research and put it to test in that intercultural and public arena. Bibliography Prof. Dr F. Enns
Dr. Andrés Pacheco Lozano
Andrés Pacheco Lozano is the Assistant to the Chair of Peace-Theology and Ethics, and serves as a Research Associate in the Amsterdam Center for Religion and Peace and Justice Studies (ACRPJ). He finished his PhD for the Faculty of Religion and Theology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 2020, on the theme: Towards a Theology of Reconciliation: A Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace to Heal Broken Relations in Colombia. Andrés contributes to the organization and convening of different research groups, as well as teaching and co-coordinating in the one-year Master Specialization program on “Peace, Trauma, and Religion” at the VU-Faculty. His research focusses on the challenge of reconciliation in Colombia, which has become an issue of special importance as a result of the “peace negotiations” and the “peace-accord” between the FARC guerilla group and the Colombian government.
In addition to his involvement with the ACRPJ, Andrés is serving as Acting Coordinator of the emerging Global Anabaptist-Mennonite Peace Network (GAPN) in collaboration with the Peace Commission of Mennonite World Conference (MWC).
Andrés is originally from Colombia. Being a member of the Mennonite Church, he has worked with different faith-based organizations and communities on nonviolence and peacebuilding in different locations of Colombia. More recently, he has currently he has served as a consultant at several conferences of the World Council of Churches.
Vera Kok
As a secretary Vera assists and supports the Mennonite Seminary and the Amsterdam Center for Religion and Peace & Justice Studies in the broadest sense: Vera gives secretarial support to the board, staff, students and the Commission for postgraduate education, beside that Vera assists in activities of the Seminary and the Center.
Eline van der Kaaden
Eline is an associate of the ACRPJ and Coordinator of the alumni of the (PTR). After doing a BA in Anthropology and Comparative Philosophy, Eline is currently a Research Master student of the master specialization ‘Peace, Trauma and Religion’. In her research, Eline wants to focus on ecofeminist and Just Peace theology from a post-colonial lense. Applying this to questions in the area of international/economic relations of the Netherlands, international trade relations such as the clothing/food industry, and human aid work by Dutch Churches.
Mikhael Tony Ardiyanto
Mikhael is one of the ACRPJ team members and is currently doing his master’s degree at Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam with a focus on Peace, Trauma, and Religion, especially in the context of the digital realm and social media. Mikhael himself has finished his bachelor’s degree in theology at the Jakarta Theological Seminary with a focus on the phenomenon of celebrity pastors. In addition to his interest in Just Peace theology, Mikhael is also interested in other issues such as digital activism, public theology, ecological injustice, and intergenerational trauma.