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ELCA NEWS SERVICE
August 31, 2005 ELCA Presiding Bishop and LWF President: 'We Shall Speak the Truth'
05-160-JB  JERUSALEM (ELCA) -- In a wide-ranging news conference here Aug. 30, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson said the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) will "speak the truth" on several significant social concerns during its regular meeting Aug. 31-Sept. 6 in Bethlehem. He spelled out several specific concerns for this region for both Israelis and Palestinians.
Hanson, who serves as presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Chicago, is also president of the LWF, Geneva, Switzerland. The LWF is a global communion of 138 Lutheran churches, representing 66 million Lutherans in 77 countries.
With Hanson at the news conference were the Rev. Ishmael Noko, LWF general secretary, Geneva, and the Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and an LWF vice president.
Commenting on the theme of the meeting, "The Church: Called to a Ministry of Reconciliation," Hanson said reconciliation is God's work for "the whole creation," but the center of God's work in reconciliation occurred in Jesus Christ.
"So, to come to the center place of God's reconciling work, which is still in need of reconciliation, was an important step for us," he said. This is the first time the LWF Council has met in the Middle East, he noted.
"We must also speak the truth of our alienation, the truth of persecution, the truth of deception that is occurring in the world," Hanson said. "So in this meeting we will speak the truth about a creation that is being destroyed by our consumptive living." Hanson said the LWF Council will "speak the truth" about caring for the environment.
The LWF Council will speak the truth about poverty, disease, hunger and homelessness "in a world of great affluence," he said. Already there is "an emerging convergence of religious people" that must come together to address poverty, hunger and environmental concerns, and Lutherans will be part of that, Hanson said.
He acknowledged the council will speak the truth about divisions within the Christian Church in general and within the Lutheran Church in particular. Though diversity is another of God's gifts, it often becomes a cause of conflict in which reconciliation is needed, he said, adding that Lutherans must seek greater understanding with people of other faiths.
With specific reference to the Middle East, Hanson said the LWF Council will address the future of this city, the separation barrier around and through the West Bank, security, freedom, justice, occupation and violence.
"We will speak the truth about the wall," he said. "Yes, it protects some, but it separates others. How do we listen, and how do we speak boldly about peace that is lasting -- not temporary -- as the peace that a wall might bring?"
The council will speak the truth about freedom, justice and security, Hanson said. "Freedom and justice for the Palestinian people is dependent upon a secure Israel, but a secure Israel is also dependent upon freedom and justice for the Palestinian people," he said.
"We will speak about occupation, and we will speak the truth about violence," Hanson said, noting that the LWF council will listen to what people on both sides here have to say. "As religious leaders we, too, must be aware that we have our own shortcomings," he said.
"I'm very aware of that, as a religious leader in the United States," Hanson said. "It is my deep conviction that the United States, through its president and its administration, must exercise stronger leadership in a balanced way so that the Road Map might be implemented, so that the occupation might be ended, so that the Palestinian people might live in peace and justice and the Israelis might live in security."
Such a scenario is possible only if the U.S. government exercises "fair and strong leadership on both sides of this issue," Hanson added.
Hanson told reporters that, during his visit here, he and other key LWF leaders will meet with Israeli and Palestinian political authorities. The Lutherans will ask both Israelis and Palestinians to allow humanitarian aid for all people, he said. Hanson specifically mentioned the LWF operated Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem, currently the subject of a tax case brought against it by the State of Israel. The case, now being appealed, threatens the hospital's ability to serve its mostly Palestinian clientele.
The LWF will voice primary concern for the welfare of the shrinking population of Palestinian Christians -- Lutherans in particular -- in this region, Hanson said. The LWF is also concerned about Israel's security, he said.
"I don't ever want to diminish the fear of living as a victim of violence for a citizen of this city," he said. "But I think the ending of violence is only one part of the equation."
Those who say all violence must end before the occupation of disputed land ends are making peace "sequential" rather than a shared task, Hanson said. Both Israelis and Palestinians must be part "of a shared walk on the way to peace," he said.
Hanson criticized religious extremists in the world, and said Christians, Jews and Muslims should agree on principles for living together. All three faiths must show respect for one another without diminishing their faith convictions, he said.
The LWF president concluded by saying that he hopes to leave the LWF Council meeting "seeing myself through your eyes," he told reporters.
"Every time I go to another place in the world, I want to change my vision so that I might see myself, the ELCA and the United States through your eyes," he said. "That 'reframes' how I understand who we are as Americans in the world, not over the world."
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Information about the LWF Council meeting is at http://www.lutheranworld.org on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
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