Lutherans Work to End U.S. Military Operation on Vieques

DORADO, Puerto Rico (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Puerto Rico are working to put an end to U.S. military training on Vieques, an island eight miles east of Puerto Rico.
"God is telling us that is it time to claim peace for Vieques," said the Rev. Francisco Sosa, bishop of the ELCA's Caribbean Synod, Dorado, Puerto Rico. The synod, one of 65 of the ELCA, is made up of 6,992 Lutherans in 26 congregations.
Sosa said ever since World War II, U.S. military personnel have used Vieques to exercise their war tactics. "As a consequence of=20 live-fire ammunition and bombing, the island and health of the people on Vieques have suffered tremendously," he said.
Lutheran pastors and lay people from Puerto Rico have participated in an Christian ecumenical campaign to halt military activity on Vieques. Their "claim for justice and peace" began last year after a local man, working as a security guard on the target range, was killed by a stray bomb.
"With the death of David Sanes Rodriguez one year ago, the people of Puerto Rico realized that all military activity on Vieuqes must stop," Sosa said. "The people of Puerto Rico are pledging that not one more bomb is dropped on Vieques," he said.
Shortly after Rodriguez's death, Lutherans and other Christian leaders built a camp and chapel in the restricted military-training area on Vieques. Clergy and lay people visited the camp on a rotating basis, hoping that their presence would halt live-fire training there.
On May 4, 2000, U.S. federal agents removed religious leaders and civilians from the camp and from other military-restricted areas on Vieques. Because of the rotating schedule, Lutherans were not present in the camp at the time of the arrests.
It is important to note that those removed from Vieques were not armed and did not resist, Sosa said. "The people of Puerto Rico have demonstrated peace and order in their actions and disposition."
"Our claim for justice and peace is not about politics," said the Rev. Francisco Javier Goitia-Padilla, Iglesia Luterana Getsemani, Dorado. He said the crisis in Vieques has allowed for new opportunities for the church to talk about peace.
"This is the first time in the history of Puerto Rico where Christian denominations are of one mind and spirit. We are firm in our sentiment and commitment to return the island of Vieques back to its people," said Goitia-Padilla. "Our struggle for justice and peace is about the respect and dignity for human life and for God's creation."
"There is no moral, ethical nor evangelical justification for bombing Vieques. It is not believable to us that there is no alternative area for military practice. It is not believable to us that the readiness of the most powerful military force of the world depends on military exercises held in Vieques. It is probably cheap, easy and convenient to conduct military training there but comfort, cost and convenience are not the pillars of national security," said Goitia-Padilla.=

The 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted a resolution that called on the U.S. government "to seek reasonable solutions" that will end all U.S. military operations on Vieques. The assembly resolution also asked that the land be returned to the people of the island "while not compromising our nation's security." It asked the ELCA Division for Church in Society, through the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs in Washington, D.C., to "encourage the U.S. government to seek reasonable solutions."

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John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
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