LATINAMERICAN ECUMENICAL NEWS

Latin American Ecumenical News September - November 2013 • No. 4

LAEN

Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence.

Proverb 12,17

Information Service of the Latin American Council of Churches

The graduation exercise took place CLAI critical of on November 16 in the Cultural proposed United States Center and Handicrafts Market of of military intervention Nebaj, El Quiché, in a setting marked in Syria by the identity and characteristics of The Latin American Council of Churches the indigenous peoples (CLAI) has sent a letter to President Barack Obama criticizing the proposed military intervention in Syria by the United States, while welcoming Pope Francis’ call for a day of prayer for peace, to be held on September 8.

by Mayra Rodríguez, ALC Guatemala City

Among colorful flowers and palm leaves, and the aroma of pine, some 15 young Ixils prepared the scenario and, in minutes, the hall was ready to receive the participants: women adorned with colorful güipiles (blouses) and the characteristic red in the folds of their skirts, along with their long hair wound in tocoyales. For their part, the men wore red overcoats with black lapels and white embroideries, and hats, while several young people began to arrive carrying a staff symbolizing authority and with which begin the academic act. o earn their Rural Development Technician (Special Emphasis: Natural Resources) degrees, 12 students, with their written work in

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CLAI/ALC Quito he CLAI letter is in response to the threat by the United States, possibly to be supported by France, of a military strike against Syria, under the allegation that the Syrian army used chemical weapons against the opposition forces, in which civilians were also affected, considered to be an open violation of international agreements.

According to CLAI, experts have raised doubts as to whether chemical weapons have been used. In the letter delivered to the United States Embassy in Quito, CLAI recalls that in 2003, the government of the United States assured that there were arsenals of atomic arsenals in Iraq, justifying its military inter-

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Indigenous, academic authorities, and guests, listening to the first graduating class of the Ixil University presenting final projects (Mayra Rodríguez)

hand, waited in turn to defend their investigation projects, while, at the front, the Ixil University authorities gave their welcome and opening addresses to the more than 60 students and invited guests from the villages and communities of Nebaj, Cotzal and Chajul, all from the Ixil area, the Mayan group that was terribly hit during the internal armed conflict and that, recently, was able to have General Efraín Ríos Montt brought to trial, accused of genocide.

In his address, the Dean of the Ixil University, Reverend Dr. Vitalino

Similox, expressed how very pleased he was, because this academic effort, the first in Ixil history, is achieving an anti-hegemonic, de-colonization, and pluri-universal education.

“Colonization has also been academic, they have told us what to study, but what we are doing in this university is showing that the Ixil people have their own system for producing knowledge, where social scientists are formed, not for the free market, but to bring about and be

vention in the country, and that later it was shown that Iraq did not have such arsenals.

The CLAI letter, signed by President, Rev. Felipe Adolf, and General Secretary, Rev. Nilton Giese, points out that the use of violence engenders greater violence.

"What is least needed in the present situation of Syria is more violence.

The terrible damages that an attack by the United States on Syria could cause are incalculable.

International bodies should raise efforts that lead to dialogue, harmony and peace, and not incentives to increase the violence," write the CLAI leaders.

The CLAI President and General Secretary affirm that the greater majority of the international community, including the countries of Latin America, does not support a military action by the United States in Syria. “To carry out such a military action would be a grave violation of international law,” stresses the regional ecumenical organism that congregates 167 Protestant and Evangelical churches in 20 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean..

For the full text of the CLAI letter to President Obama, see: http://www.alcnoticias.net/inte rior.php?codigo=24558&lang=687

Continue on page 7

In seven points Pastor Felipe Adolf recalls his audience with Pope Francis Felipe Adolf, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ecuador (IELE) and president of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI), met with Pope Francis on November 19.

ALC/Quito n a private audience, the Pope received representatives of the Latin American and Caribbean Council of Religious Leaders Religions for Peace, among who was the Rev. Felipe Adolf of the IELE and president of CLAI).

Felipe Adolf, of Argentinean origin but resident for many years in Ecuador, reconstructs in his mind the cordial meeting and summarizes it as a positive one, and finds the simplicity and objectivity of the

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Pontiff to be unusual in comparison to other times and good for the present, in order to take firm steps toward a new era in the churches.

Adolf begins his story with the first question exchanged: “Where will your Holiness sit down?” The Pope replies: “In a chair.” That is the general atmosphere of the dialogue, when you meet with a human being, comments Adolf.

He then highlights some of the concepts expressed by the Pope that for him in his vast experience in ecumenism and along the paths of a progressive church, carry weight and help to configure a new face of the Christian attitude. Here some of them: “His simplicity: for those attending for the first time an appointment with His Holiness Francis, the information the press gives about him is corroborated, to which I add the tranquil manner with which he

assumes his task, knowing that power is for serving.

Dialogue is an important element for building peace, and in this initiative there are neither minorities nor majorities, but there should rather be fraternity.

We should banish proselytism and in its place provoke attraction, because if the message does not reach people's hearts, we will not be convincing.

He asked if we knew the difference between terrorism and protocol and answering his own question said that one can talk with terrorism, but that ‘… I suffer with the second.’

Touching people’s hearts is the work of the churches.

What should not be tolerated is idolatry, especially that of money …

Dialogue should not lead to proselytism. It is important that each one be able to share his or her convictions without imposition.”

Also participating In the audience with the Pope were, Cardinal Raymundo Damassceno (Brazil); Claudio Epelman, Executive Director of the Latin American Jewish Congress (CJL); Mohamad

Felipe Adolf with Pope Francis

Hallar of the Islamic Organization for Latin America (Argentina); Samuel Olson, of the Latin American Evangelical Alliance (Venezuela), and; and Elías Szczytnicki, Secretary of Religions for Peace (Peru).

LATIN AMERICAN ECUMENICAL NEWS • SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2013

2 Latin America and Environment

Latin American Council of Churches Workshop on New (CLAI) expresses concern to President Financial Architecture held in Buenos Aires to Danilo Médina of the Dominican promote greater Republic over Constitutional Court commitment and incidence Ruling 168-2013 The ruling refers to those born In the Dominican Republic after 1929 to foreign parents in transit, to whom Dominican nationality will no longer be granted.

CLAI, ALC/Quito The full text of the CLAI letter is as follows: Quito, Ecuador October 22, 2013 Esteemed President of the Dominican Republic Honorable Dr. Danilo Medina Sánchez Ave. México, Gazcue, Distrito Nacional Santo Domingo, República Dominicana info@presidencia.gob.do Dear Mr. President: We greet you from the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI). We are an ecumenical organization of 167 churches and institutions, with membership in 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries. Members in the Dominican Republic include the Dominican Evangelical Church, the Church of God, the Episcopal, Methodist, and Baptist Churches, and the Social Service of the Dominican Churches (SSID).

As Christians of churches which join together over 5 million believers in these 20 countries, we are concerned about Ruling 168-2013 of the Constitutional Court, referring to those born In the Dominican Republic after 1929 to foreign par-

ents in transit, to whom Dominican nationality will no longer be granted. This verdict will directly affect three generations of Dominicans of Haitian origin, a large number of whom are children of daily laborers hired during the last century by the Dominican sugar industry to cut the sugar cane processed in your sugar factories, and, more recently, to work in the building sector. There are a number of substantiated complaints that the majority of these people are undocumented and face generally hostile political and social attitudes, without the possibility of legal assistance and with limited access to health services and education. Proof of this is the verdict of the Inter American Court of Human Rights, handed down on September 8, 2005, in favor of two girls of Haitian origin, Dilcia Yean and Violeta Bosico, granting them the right to Dominican nationality, arguing that the Dominican state “obliged the alleged victims to remain in a situation of continuous illegality and social vulnerability (…) given that the Dominican Republic denied Yean and Bosico their right to Dominican nationality and allowed them to continue being stateless.”

We recognize the sovereignty of the Dominican state to establish its immigration policy, but it is a mistake to apply to the Haitians the criteria that the ius solis (land rights) does not protect the children of foreign parents carrying out diplomatic functions in the Dominican Republic, or who are in a state of “transit” in the territory. It is wrong to consider “in transit” a people that

I am from Here tee shirt in the Dominican Republic (M.J.A. Chancy 1804CaribVoices)

for three generations, has worked in the Dominican Republic, many of whom having never returned to Haiti.

Mr. President, the Bible teaches us that “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). The Word of God also admonishes us, saying “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 22:21).

For this reason we ask you as President of the Republic, to oppose before the National Migration Council, the applying of Ruling 1682013 of the Constitutional Court.

Wishing you God’s blessings for the upholding of justice.

Yours Sincerely, In Christ Jesus, Pastor Felipe Adolf, President of CLAI Rev. Nilton Giese, General Secretary of CLAI Source: Latin American Council of Churches, CLAI: http://www.claiweb.org/

The workshop, that took place November 9-10, was organized by the Alliance of Reformed and Presbyterian Churches of Latin America (AIPRAL) and the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI), was attended by some 40 representatives of churches and ecumenical organisms in Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.

ALC/Buenos Aires eports were presented on the steps that have been taken by different ecumenical initiatives in response to this issue, such as Illegitimate Debt and Ecological Justice of the Lutheran World Federation; the ACCRA Confession by the World Reformed Alliance (today the World Communion of Reformed Churches, WCRC), and; the Declaration of São Paulo..

In general, the participants dealt with responding to how all these antecedents in the search for fair, viable and sustainable financial systems, have sensitized the life

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and mission of the churches, creating an impact on them.

"The contributions from the economic, environmental, biblicaltheological and liturgical perspectives, enabled reflection on the tools that are needed for the churches to be able to do a critical reading of reality, that allows us to contribute and commit ourselves to processes of transformation and public incidence,” said Pastor Claudia Tron, CLAI Río de la Plata Regional Secretary.

“This is a long, ongoing issue that continues to summon and challenge us to forcefully assume it with our prophetic voices, given that we are seeing a time where the system transforms everything into merchandise, even faith and life in all its forms,” Tron said.

Tron concluded by saying that, “it becomes essential and we feel challenged to accompany ourselves in the building of tools and strategies that allow us to meet again with the Spirit of freedom, capable of revealing the slaveries that this extractivist economic model, based on an unlimited consumerism, imposes on us."

Copies of the different presentations given at the workshop can be requested from infoclai@clairp.com.ar.

AIPRAL New CLAI Financial Architecture workshop, ISEDET, Buenos Aires (V. Pintos)

CLAI expresses its solidarity with the Mayan community of Guatemala on the anniversary of the killings in Totonicapán LAEN Latin American Ecumenical News is a quarterly produced by the Communication Department of the Latin American Council of Churches Editor: Geoffrey Reeson Translation: Geoff Reeson Layout and Editorial Coordination: Amparo Salazar Chacón Press service: ALC, Methodist News Service, ENI, Presbyterian News Press, ACNS, Zenit, Factiva, ACPress.

Departamento de Comunicaciones CLAI Inglaterra N32-113 y Av. Mariana de Jesús Casilla 17-08-8522, Quito, Ecuador Telepone: (593-2) 255-3996/252-9933 Fax: (593-2) 256-8373 E-mail: nilton@claiweb.org www.claiweb.org ISSN 1390-0358 Subscriptions: Latin America and the Caribbean: One year US$ 12, Two years US$ 20 Other regions: One year US$16, Two years US$26

The Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) has made known its solidarity with the struggle for the rights of the Mayan Kíche Indigenous people, on the occasion of the sad anniversary of the killing of several of their people on October 4, 2012, during a peaceful manifestation in Cumbre de Alaska (Summit of Alaska) on the Pan American Highway.

municipal ancestral authority of the Mayan peoples, of 48 Cantons of Totonicapán, in protest against the rising cost of electricity, and against a constitutional reform moved by

President Otto Pérez Molina, that would grant him increased attributions with regard to the administration of justice.

"We share our solidarity with the

ALC/Quito hat day, the Guatemalan Government violently repressed a demonstration organized by the Communal Mayors, the

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Killing of Mayan Indigenous people, Cumbre de Alaska, Guatemala, October 4, 2012

relatives of the deceased. As Latin American churches we are still waiting for the Guatemalan government to begin the investigation of what occurred, so that justice is done, punishing those responsible and repairing the suffering of the relatives of the victims with concrete actions by the national government,” says the CLAI letter.

CLAI supports the peaceful demonstrations of the people and condemns the indiscriminate use of violence in repressing peaceful demonstrations with armed soldiers.

The continental ecumenical organization asks that it not be forgotten that peace is the fruit of justice (Isaiah 32.17) and for that reason makes a fervent call for peace, concord, and dialogue.

Church and Society 3

The Ecumenical Dialogue of the Americas on Faith, Economy and Migration held in Quito, Ecuador from November 29 – December 1, affirmed the commitment by the churches and ecumenical organisms of the hemisphere to work together to strengthen solidarity with migrants.

By Milton Mejía for ALC/Quito he Ecumenical Dialogue was an initiative of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) and the National Council of Churches of Christ of the United States (NCCC USA), and gathered together more than 50 representatives of 15 Christian denominations and 13 ecumenical organizations from 11 countries of North America, Latin America and the Caribbean.

During the gathering biblicaltheological studies and analyses of the relation between economy and migration as seen from the Afro and Hispanic realities and perspectives in the United States, and those of the indigenous peoples of Ecuador and Canada, were shared. Also shared were the realities and perspectives of women and workers who are victims of the logic of an economy that forces them to migrate in search of better living conditions. Included in the Ecumenical Dialogue was a visit to the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility.

The sharing among the participants enhanced the valuing of the great diversity of faces, subjects and perspectives of a hemispheric analy-

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Ecumenical Dialogue of the Americas on Faith, Economy and Migration

sis, and the potential they have to strengthen the work together toward overcoming an economic system that forces persons to migrate so as to produce wealth for the dominant groups and the transnational corporations.

The participants were challenged by the Bible studies from the perspective of the relation between economy and migration, and by the Spirit of God, when seeing Jesus as a migrant who was a victim of an imperial system that forced him to move with his family to protect his life and seek better living conditions.

Emphasis was placed on how Jesus’ experience is that of millions of persons today who have to look for protection and work in other countries, where their rights are denied them and they are treated as cheap labor to increment the wealth of the groups that control the global economy.

The Ecumenical Dialogue produced a pastoral call and a work agenda in which the participants committed themselves to continue

the dialogue by strengthening the articulation between the churches and ecumenical organisms in the hemisphere. Among the matters included in the work agenda, are: disseminate among the churches the experience of the dialogue and the documents it produced; a biblical formation that motivates greater solidarity with migrants; foster incidence for changing economic policies that are not beneficial to migrants, and; work toward the implementing of policies that permit human mobility and protect the rights of the human beings who migrate.

The participants, approved working for: a migratory reform in the United States that guarantees the rights of migrants in that country; advocating on behalf of the Haitians in the Dominican Republic who are being denied their rights, and; the political manipulation of the Cubans who arrive in the United States risking their lives in crossing the Caribbean Sea.

Partnership between Council of Churches of Cuba (CIC) and U.S. Rainbow Coalition PUSH emphasizes political and ecumenical actions CIC, Joel Ortega Dopico, and by U.S. Baptist Pastor Jesse Jackson, founder of the Rainbow Coalition, during a recent visit by Jackson to Cuba. The two organisms have in mind carrying out joint conferby José Aurelio Paz, ences and theology and pastoral ALC/Havana programs.

A part of those programs will be he agreement was signed in the analyzing of the role of the Havana by the President of church as a force for social change, the freeing of U.S. prisoners in Guantánamo, motivating dialogue between the leaders of the two countries, and seeking an end to the more than 50 year old U.S. economic blockade of Cuba.

The agreement certifies that CIC, which gathers together some 45 ecumenical institutions, churches and religious groups that congregate 1 million people in Cuba, becomes an affiliate organization of the Rainbow Coalition.

Among its objectives, the Rainbow Coalition fosters human rights and actions for economic Participants at the gathering of religious leaders and invited guests with Jesse justice and peace.

Jackson in Havana (A. Cepeda)

In addition to beginning joint global actions for peace, social justice, and the empowering of the ecumenical community, an agreement signed by CIC and the U.S. Rainbow Coalition PUSH will engage in having Cuba removed

from the list of “countries that support terrorism,” as categorized by the U.S. government.

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Vandals cause damage to historic downtown Methodist church in Buenos Aires Bishop Frank Nully Brown of the Argentinean Evangelical Methodist Church (IEMA), has informed that the First Methodist Church of Buenos Aires, located on downtown Corrientes St., suffered damages in the temple and the historical pipe organ this past weekend.

ALC/Buenos Aires he First Methodist Church of Buenos Aires was consecrated on January 3, 1843, and is the first Methodist temple in South America, and where the first Methodist sermon in Spanish in America was preached on May 25 1867. The new building, the object of the attack by vandals, was consecrated in 1874.

Bishop Nully Brown has called for prayer asking that God grant the discernment needed to under-

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stand this second act of vandalism suffered by the IEMA, following that in Rosario in September. The bishop’s call trusts that “the Lord upholds and accompanies us in this hard test which we confront as a church."

This past September (see: CLAI expresses indignation over the intentional setting on fire of Argentine Evangelical Methodist Church (IEMA) in Rosario: http://www.alcnoticias.net/interio r. p h p ? l a n g = 6 8 8 & c o d i go=24695), one of the IEMA’s church buildings in Rosario was also the object of an attack by vandals. There, the North Church, located at 2722 San Lorenzo St., was violently set on fire with severe damage to its pews, floor, altar, and piano, in addition to broken windows and doors.

The pastor of the First Methodist Church of Buenos Aires, Eduardo Mariani, has begun the legal proceedings for the investigation of the attack.

Brazilian Anglicans Elect Bishop Assis da Silva as New Primate The Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil (IEAB) has elected Bishop Francisco de Assis da Silva, of the South Western Diocese, to be its new Primate. He becomes the eighth primate of the IEAB and his installation took place at the closing ceremony of the 32nd Synod, held in Rio de Janeiro from November 1417.

ALC/Rio de Janeiro fter seven years as former primate, Bishop Maurício Andrade will take up the pastoral oversight of the Diocese of Brasília.

Andrade, along with the reelected General Secretary of the IEAB, received a motion of gratitude from the Synod, the church’s highest decision making body, for their services and dedication rendered to the church.

The IEAB Synod decided to extend the period between synods from three to four years, and summoned an Extraordinary Synod to be held in Brasilia in 2015, for the purposes of canonical reforms. The Reverend João Câncio Peixoto Filho was elected as the new bishop of the Diocese of Recife, and his consecration has been set for December 14.

During its three days of sessions, the Synod received more than 30

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New Anglican Primate of Brazil, Francisco de Assis da Silva

reports from Commissions, officers, and work groups. Bishop Stacy Sauls, head of operations of the Episcopal Church in the United States, participated in the Synod and emphasized the importance of the Brazilian church as a partner church.

In a letter to the Synod, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, reaffirmed the bonds between the Brazilian church and the Anglican Communion, and confirmed his visit to Brazil next year.

Also during the closing ceremony of the Synod, Bishop Emeritus Edmund Knox Sherill, consecrated in 1959, was honored with a plaque placed at the entrance to the Anglican Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro.

LATIN AMERICAN ECUMENICAL NEWS • MARCH - MAY 2013

Ecumenical leaders of the Americas affirm their solidarity with migrants

LATIN AMERICAN ECUMENICAL NEWS • SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2013

4 Church and Society

Lutheran Church “Green Project” in Nicaragua Improves Food Security and Economic Opportunities for Rural Families Through its so-called “Green Project,” the Lutheran Nicaraguan Church of Faith and Hope (ILFE) works in El Rodeito to help community members improve their lives by establishing family gardens, building communal water wells and constructing latrines.

LWF/ALC Managua reidys Velázquez, a shy teen from El Rodeito, Nicaragua, a small, community deep in the mountains without electricity or potable water, smiles when she talks about the future.

“My goals are to live better, help my community live better, and fight to protect our environment,” says Velázquez, whose parents are both Lutheran pastors. “The church has helped me learn a lot.”

Through its so-called “Green Project,” the Nicaraguan Lutheran Church of Faith and Hope (ILFE) works in El Rodeito to help community members improve their lives by establishing family gardens, building communal water wells and constructing latrines.

The project’s goal is to strengthen the capacities of church members to live better by promoting sustainable management of natural resources through alternative environmental methods.

The church hopes to nurture organic agriculture and the use of corresponding technologies in its faith communities.

The Green Project involves several rural communities in the

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Central American country. It has established a farm learning center that uses new techniques for planting, and implemented solar energy and environmental education programs.

The ILFE project also offers opportunities to learn about forest management, fruit tree nurseries, soil conservation, sustainable cooking methods, irrigation systems and horticulture.

The church’s director of diakonia, Ángel Aragón, says the project, which was started in August 2011, has been a great success.

“We have made progress in transforming the reality of farm life here in Nicaragua and are helping to develop synergy within communities where we work,” he says.

Education Programs on Climate Change Aragón speaks proudly of the project’s education programs on climate change, establishment of tree nurseries, production of fruit and forest plants, management of local resources, and cultivation of papaya, coffee and bananas. ”These families are benefiting in ways that are very important to them. The Green Project is allowing them to make a change in their living standards and local practices,” Aragón adds.

“As a church we are fulfilling our mission; we are responding to our communities and we are responding to our brothers and sisters around the world whose prayers and financial support make these projects possible,” he notes.

Velázquez mentions her experience in a communal garden in El Rodeito, where five families from the local church work together on a large family garden.

“Everyone helps maintain the garden by going every afternoon to

ILFE youth members Freidys Velázquez, right, and Alejandra López (ILFE Chelcea Macek)

help water and weed the plants.

Right now we have different types of squash, mangoes and oranges.”

Families also receive fruit trees and vegetable seeds to plant at home to assist in diversifying their diets with more nutritious foods, “Instead of eating corn bought in the market, we eat our home-grown bananas and yucca (cassava). Now we have the fruits and vegetables we need here at home, our diets have greatly improved and our families are healthier,” Velázquez says.

She stresses the importance of growing one’s own crops in Nicaragua. “Before, all of the fruits and vegetables we bought in the market were grown with agrochemicals. We’ve learned through the classes at the Green Project the dangers of using chemical pesticides,” she says. “Now that we are growing our own food, we have control, and everything is grown organically.”

The economic situation of families has also improved. “If we are able to harvest a lot of produce from the garden, we can sell the extra vegetables to community members to

help our families make money,” adds Velázquez.

Improved Hygiene and Health She recalls a time when it was very difficult to acquire water in her community. “The well was not working correctly. It was also being contaminated because people didn’t understand the dangers of human waste being dumped nearby our water source.”

The Lutheran church assisted the community to obtaining materials to construct a safe, accessible well. “The new well assures us that clean water is almost always available.”

Lack of proper disposal of human waste is a key cause of illness in rural Nicaragua. A latrine project is also underway to make El Rodeito homes more hygienic and healthy.

“Right now we do not have any latrines in our community,” Velázquez says. “This project will greatly help better the people’s health.”

Deforestation and forest burning in Nicaragua has resulted in crops drying up more than ever before,

while the rains have diminished.

“We have to keep planting trees and working together as a community or we will soon have no resources left.”

A Growing Church The Green Project’s programs have led to open conversations between members of the church and others in the community. Velázquez, whose parents conduct services at home, says the church is growing, with youth joining every day.

“Sometimes we can have over 50 people in our home, participating in worship. Watching the church grow, just as our gardens do, it really is something very special,” Velázquez concludes.

The El Rodeito community is one of the congregations of ILFE’s 44 congregations in Nicaragua. There are an estimated of 36 pastors and 60 lay leaders serving the 9,600 -member church.

The Green Project, together with the “Food Security Project in Somotillo” encourages ILFE members to live their faith actively by caring for God’s creation, says Rev. Dr Patricia Cuyatti, area secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean at The Lutheran World Federation (LWF).

“Through the involvement of young people, the projects promote approaches that help communities relate to the environment in responsible ways. The diverse experiences from the projects offer the Lutheran communion space for sharing and learning, and a good opportunity for cross-regional empowerment,” she adds.

The Nicaraguan Lutheran Church of Faith and Hope joined the LWF in 1994.

(Contributed by Chelsea Macek, Managua, Nicaragua) Source: Lutheran World Federation, LWF: http://www.lutheranworld.org/

UCC activist works for LGBT rights in Ecuador While LGBT communities gain acceptance in many parts of the world, some still struggle for equal rights, freedoms and protections. Ecuador is one such place where allies of the LGBT community are few, and people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender often live in fear of oppression and abuse.

by Emily Schappacher, United Church of Christ News Quito ónica Maher, member of First Church in Cambridge Congregational United Church of Christ in Cambridge, Mass., hopes to change that by turning the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ecuador into a safe space and a progressive voice for LGBT groups and their supporters.

“It’s hard to find a progressive face of religion or Christianity here that would support the rights of LGBT people,” Maher said. “That is one reason I felt strongly about staying – I felt called to bring a different faith here.”

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Maher will be ordained in Latin American ministry by the Metropolitan Boston Association of the UCC in March 2014, and will serve as pastor for social ministries with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ecuador in the country’s capital, Quito. She has been in Latin America for three years, and currently teaches religion and women’s rights at a university. With the support of her home church, she felt a call to become ordained and stay in Ecuador to continue her advocacy.

During her three-year term at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ecuador, she will work to bring a sense of healing to members of the LGBT community that have been shunned by their faith and view the church in a negative, unwelcoming light.

Maher has already been involved in a number of efforts to shift the perception of the LGBT community in Quito. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ecuador offers an LGBT support group once a week in English and Spanish that has drawn a total of 20 to 25 people. Maher and other members of the Evangelical

Lutheran Church of Ecuador had a presence during Quito’s Gay Pride Parade this year, and also marched in an event for women’s sexual rights. Last month, the university sponsored a panel discussion about marriage equality and religion that featured a biblical scholar, a lawyer, a theologian, and Maher, and drew about 100 people, including students, LGBT activists and community leaders. In December, members of the church are planning to participate in a public liturgy during which participants will ask for forgiveness for homophobia, followed by a blessing and a celebration of sexual diversity and love.

“We don’t just stay within the church walls,” Maher said. “We realized that people had a lot of trauma about the way they have been treated in churches, and there is kind of a thirst for more of a liturgical expression.”

Maher acknowledges that not everyone will be receptive to her efforts. Ecuador is a strongly Catholic country whose religious community perceives homosexuality as a sin. The country even has

roughly 200 gay-to-straight conversion clinics in operation, despite the government’s efforts to shut them down. Often operated under the guise of drug rehabilitation centers, the clinics primarily target lesbians and use a variety of techniques – including sexual and physical violence, Maher said – to cure them of their sexuality. But Maher is professionally trained in non-violence and is prepared to respond to her opponents with love, respect, and even

humor as she looks to establish a common ground and promote inclusivity.

“We’re trying to create bridges, trying to create an even field, because we’re all disciples on a spiritual path,” Maher said. “I feel there is so much the UCC can offer here.

When the need matches who we are, it’s just so wonderful.” *Source: United Church of Christ, UCC: http://www.ucc.org/news/LGBTrights-Ecuador.html

Mónica Maher, center, with members of Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ecuador before a march for sexual and gender-based rights in Quito, Ecuador.

Latin America and Environment 5

The study, carried out by ACT Alliance (Action by Churches Together) Guatemala National Forum, warns that in Guatemala there is a dangerous tendency of seeing violence against indigenous women as being something “normal,” and indicates that the causes have a personal and structural origin, needing to be dealt with at their roots.

by Mayra Rodríguez, ALC/Guatemala City he study, entitled "Genocide against indigenous women,” points out that the violence finds a place in the context of the community itself, where the partner or the father is the aggressor. Structural violence is also present. In the military government of former President Efraín Ríos Montt, whole indigenous communities were disappeared, recalls Nora Coloma of the Ecumenical Christian Council of Guatemala, and member of the ACT Forum.

The study differentiates genocide from femicide, The former refers to structural violence while the latter refers to different kinds of violence against women typified in the penal code.

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Genocide against indigenous women in Guatemala.

"The purpose (of the study) is not only to show the gravity of the aggressions, but also to qualify them as expressions of genocidal and racist policies, that are structural and involve indigenous women in their daily living, as a strategy of dominance for the continuity of the single culture character of this nation, “ Coloma said..

The study, carried out over a period of four months, emphasizes that racism “contributes to the oppression against indigenous women as something having become normal, and the construction of powerful imaginaries that create indifferences."

Researcher Tania Palencia, coordinator of the study, affirms that the number of cases of violence

reported by the indigenous is relatively high, especially when they involve physical or emotional aggressions because of economic reasons.

The ACT Alliance Guatemala National Forum calls on the indigenous, and particularly their leaders, to assume their share of responsibility and to fight against all forms of exclusion of women.

“We have before us, a problem of a political nature, in which multiple oppressions intersect that require in depth solutions, in which women are the actors to bring about changes.

On that path, the renewing of the imaginaries is fundamental. Change by changing,” says the study.

Mexican Franciscan friar awarded prize for defending migrants The director of the Migrants House A72, Mexican Franciscan Friar Tomás González Castillo, in Tenosique, was the winner of the first edition of the “Gilberto Bosques” FrenchGerman Human Rights Prize. The award is in recognition of González’s constant and indefatigable work in defense of Central American migrants attempt-

ing to cross the State of Tabasco, headed for the United States.

ALC Mexico City he award was presented in Mexico City on Monday, September 23, in the presence of the French and German ambassadors to Mexico.

It was pointed out at the award ceremony that the State of Tabasco has become the most traveled and

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dangerous route for the Central American migrants. Along it they are the object of kidnappings, sexual abuses, extortions, attacks and death. González denounced that all this occurs with the "collaboration, permission and indifference of the authorities.”

The Migrants House A72 run by the Franciscan Order is part of the Project for Attending to Migrant People, in partnership with the Center for Human Rights of Usumacinta, in the Franciscan Province of San Felipe de Jesús. The shelter’s name is in memory of the 72 migrants that were murdered in August, 2000, in Tamaulipas.

The “Gilberto Bosques” FrenchGerman Human Rights Prize was created on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Elysian Agreement, for the purpose of recognizing the efforts on the part of individuals, groups and organizations in defense of human rights, peace, solidarity and justice. The prize is named after Gilberto Bosques, Mexican General Consul in France from1939 to1944, who helped thousands of people to escape from the Nazi persecution, by offering them Mexican residence and nationality.

Source: Signis ALC and El Observador

Friar Tomás González Castillo (elpuntocritico.com)

Ecumenical Small Projects Fund: initiatives to confront chronic drought, food insecurity and climate injustice in the South American Chaco With support from the fund, community based organizations are working to find solutions to some of the biggest challenges they face; producing food for a stable and balanced diet in a region prone to drought and flooding, and protecting the delicate eco-system of the Chaco from further environmental degradation.

CWSLAC/ALC Buenos Aires he Fund is a joint initiative of CWS and the Regional Ecumenical Advisory and Service Centre (CREAS) who decided to join forces to help strengthen civil society in the South American Gran Chaco. CWS has been accompanying organizations in this region for more than 20 years while CREAS has wide experience of the management of Small Projects Funds.

Both are members of one of the largest humanitarian coalitions in the world – Act Alliance – which has representation in 125 countries.

The only Tri-National Fund of its kind in the region, the objective is to strengthen the ability of civil society organizations in the South American Chaco to confront the conditions of poverty and inequality in the region and promote human rights.

Income generating activities, environmental justice, support for new and emerging civil society organizations, promoting aid quality and accountability and the protection of human rights defenders are the five thematic areas supported the Fund.

The Community Development Organization of Pozo Hondo Paraguay is a new initiative created in 2012 by the inhabitants of this small border town along the Pilcomayo River. Without electricity or communications services, the 50 families of Pozo Hondo live in conditions of isolation and food insecurity. The recurrent flooding of the banks of the Pilcomayo River where the soil is most favourable for fruit and vegetable production has made it impossible for the families to produce these essential foods. With support from the Fund the Community Development Organization will launch a pilot project to install electric fences and a drip irrigation system so that families can develop kitchen gardens on higher ground.

“This is an initiative of group of inhabitants of the town dedicated to investing time, resources and effort in a pilot project,” says

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Verena Friessen of the Pozo Hondo Community Development Organization, “the aim is to improve family income in the short term but we hope the project will have a multiplying effect in the long term improving the living standards of the whole community.”

Across the border in Argentina, the Qom indigenous community of Rio Salado has faced months of chronic drought. The municipal government has been delivering water to fill tanks for human consumption, but this does not resolve the grave situation of drinking water for the animals which are the main source of food and income for the community. The river which also provided an important diet of fish has completely dried up – a phenomenon even the elders of Rio Salado say they have never witnessed. The Fund is supporting the community to locate subterranean water sources to provide drinking water for their livestock. Using ancestral indigenous knowledge they will identify sites where water of acceptable quality may be available, drill the ground and try water samples before installing a hand pump for its extraction.

Aware that much of the recent phenomenon of chronic drought and mass flooding can be attributed to deforestation and climate change the Advisory Council of Guarani Leaders (CCGT) is working with a coalition of organizations to protect and preserve a region of immense biodiversity in the Bolivian Chaco. Serranía Aguaragüe has been designated a National Park and Natural Area for Integrated Management.

Founded in 2001 the CCGT has played a key role in the defense of Guarani indigenous rights in the Tarija area of the Bolivian Chaco in particular their right to land and autonomous management of natural resources. With the support from the Fund, the CCGT will generate a process of education and awareness raising on the need for greater social control over decisions and actions related to the environment and the importance of conserving the Serrania Aguargue National Park. In the video Guarani communities will share their experiences, knowledge and concerns about environmental issues and illustrate the importance of community participation in the management of the unique ecosystems of the Chaco.

The Ecumenical Small Projects fund receives projects all year round. For more information visit www.cwslac.org/fppgranchaco or email fppgranchaco@gmail.com Source: Church World Service Latin America and the Caribbean, CWSLAC: www.cwslac.org

LATIN AMERICAN ECUMENICAL NEWS • SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2013

Study shows that violence against indigenous women in Guatemala tends to be seen as being “normal”

LATIN AMERICAN ECUMENICAL NEWS • SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2013

6 Latin America and Environment

Cuban Teenagers Overuse Abortion as Birth Control In nearly all of Latin America, illegal abortion is a serious public health problem. But in Cuba, where abortion is legal, it is being overused by teenagers. Three times as many teenagers terminate their pregnancies than carry them to term. Many pregnant 15 to 19 year olds have already had one or more abortions according to their medical histories, researchers find.

Inter Press Service News Agency, IPS Havana

By Ivet González

aving 76 percent of teenagers pregnant electing to abort “is a public health problem,” said Dr. Jorge Peláez, vice president of the Cuban Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Abortion “apparently avoids one problem, but it creates many others. It will never be the solution to teenage pregnancy,” Peláez told IPS. The difficulty is the rising rate of underage pregnancy in this Caribbean island nation. In 2006, 45 per 1,000 young women aged 15 to 19 gave birth. By 2012 the rate had leaped to nearly 54 per 1,000.

In the region, the average rate is 80 per 1,000.

“I made a mistake with my contraceptive pills. I talked to my mother about it and we decided the best thing to do was to have the baby, although other people recommended having an abortion,” Daniela Izquierdo, who had a child at the age of 16 and has just returned to secondary school, told IPS. In this country with a very low birth rate, teenagers account for 16 percent of total fertility.

Abortion was decriminalised in Cuba in 1979, although terminations were already being carried out in medical institutions with the authorisation of the health ministry since 1961. As well as being an important victory for women’s rights, safe abortions have reduced the complications and consequences of unsafe backstreet abortions.

Free abortions are available on demand to any woman in hospitals and clinics in Cuba. Health personnel evaluate whether the operation can be carried out in each case.

Girls under 16 need the consent of their parents or legal guardians and are provided with special

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A young mother carries her baby out of Ramón González Coro maternity hospital in Havana (Jorge Luis Baños IPS)

counselling.

Over time, abortions became a means of regulating personal fertility. “This is a problem that is recognised by the authorities, and is extremely complex to solve,” Peláez said.

In July, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) expressed concern at Cuba’s “high rate of abortion, especially among girls as young as 12 years old,” and urged it to “increase access, as well as use of effective and high quality methods of contraception towards reducing the practice of abortion as a method of family planning.”

A study of 22 pregnant teenagers in the Havana municipality of Diez de Octubre, published this year by the University of Havana, found that eight of them had had one or two previous abortions. Another study this year, in the Havana municipality of Playa, found the same result in nine of the 24 teenagers studied.

It is the pregnant teenager and her family, especially her mother, who deal with the problem and have the last word on continuing or interrupting the unwanted pregnancy. The fathers of the babies, in general, do not feel they have an important participation in decision-making, and do not feel responsible for their partners’ abortions.

This is the finding of an article published last year by doctors Luisa Álvarez and Nelli Salomón in the Revista Cubana de Salud Pública (Cuban Journal of Public Health).

The authors say a gender perspective is needed to prevent early pregnancy and abortion.

“Efforts are being made to reduce the practice (of abortion) and increase contraceptive use, but it is necessary to delve in depth into the views of women and their part-

ners in order to change attitudes, to achieve greater involvement of both members of the couple in their relationship and improve sexual and reproductive health,” they say.

Young women, for their part, are more concerned about social stigma than about the health consequences they may suffer.

Peláez, a specialist in paediatric and adolescent gynaecology, insists that abortion must be seen as a matter as serious as motherhood among teenagers. “We must find more effective ways of raising awareness among families, teachers and young people about the risks,” which remain high even when abortions are “performed by specialists in safe conditions.”

“It can cause infertility, among other risks,” he said. Society, especially the media, must show these dangers, “without demonising” the practice, he said.

Families can play a decisive role by providing guidance on contraceptive use. Although each case is different, the most suitable method for young people is a combination of condoms and hormonal contraceptives, whether pills or injections, Peláez said.

Teenagers and young women account for 40 percent of all unsafe abortions worldwide, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

In Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole, teenage pregnancy is a major problem: 10 percent of young women aged 15 to 19 are mothers. Abortion is only legal in Uruguay, Cuba and Mexico City. Unsafe illegal abortions and poor quality health services are the main causes of death for girls in this age range.

Dominican Episcopal Church stands with Dominicans of Haitian descent: Hundreds of thousands face statelessness Dominicans of Haitian descent are facing statelessness after the constitutional court of the Dominican Republic ruled ineligible for citizenship any children born of Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic.

Because of the court’s ruling, hundreds of thousands of descendants of immigrants, mostly from Haiti, who were born in the Dominican Republic, will no longer be recognized as citizens, said the Episcopal Bishop of the Dominican Republic.

ALC Santo Domingo

By Lynette Wilson, Episcopal News Service, ENS* n an October 25 e-mail to ENS, Bishop Julio Cesar Holguin said that, “I believe that the constitutional court has made a big mistake with that ruling, which violates the rights of at least four generations of descendants of immigrants, most of whom came to the Dominican Republic, by agreement between the two governments, Dominican and Haitian, to work primarily cutting sugarcane,” he said.

The Episcopal Church in the Dominican Republic serves Haitian communities throughout the country in its parishes and missions. In the November-December issue of Episcopax, the diocese’s newspaper, devotes significant space to defend-

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ing the rights of Dominicans of Haitian descent.

The Dominican Republic, population 10.2 million, and Haiti, population 9.8 million, share the island of Hispaniola. The Dominican Republic is slightly larger, occupying 64 percent of the island’s eastern half. For decades, Haitians have worked in the Dominican Republic’s sugarcane fields, as domestic servants and at other forms of menial labor.

On Sept. 23, the country’s constitutional court in an 11-2 decision ruled that the citizen provision in the 1929 Dominican constitution should not apply to the children of parents who were not “legal residents” at the time of their children’s birth, and, further, that subsequent generations born on Dominican soil also should be denied citizenship.

An estimated 200,000 people born of Haitian parents live in the Dominican Republic. On Oct. 24, the court instructed local authorities to “audit all of the nation’s birth records back to June 1929 to determine who no longer qualifies for citizenship,” according to an article in The New York Times.

As Holguín explained, the court’s decision invalidates not only birth certificates, but also calls into question the validity of other forms of identification, including passports, and could inhibit the ability to enroll in school and college, open a bank account, own a home, etc.

“In other words, the constitutional court has decided to establish an ‘apartheid’ in the Dominican Republic,” he said. *Lynette Wilson is an editor and reporter for the Episcopal News Service, ENS: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/

For an update on civil society and church voices against the Dominican Constitutional Court ruling, see: Committee of Solidarity with Denationalized Persons (Dominican Republic) Over 270 people from different walks of life have now constituted a “Committee of Solidarity with Denationalized Persons” made so by the Dominican Constitutional Court ruling last September, which revoked the citizenship of children of illegal immigrants who were enrolled in the civil registry until 1929.

Rejecting the division of Dominican society by the sowing of hatred and rancor, the committee’s spokespersons declared a constructive intention to unite efforts and seek a constitutional and humane solution to the plight of tens of thousands of citizens now threatened with ghettoisation or apartheid status.

Source: 1804CaribVoices: http://1804caribvoices.org/articles/2013/11/committee-of-solidarity-withdenationalized-persons-dominican-republicd-con-las-personas-desnacionalizadas-dominican-republic/

Source: Inter Press Service News Agency, IPS: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/09/cuban-teenagers-overuse-abortion-asbirth-control/

Committee of Solidarity with Denationalized Persons, Dominican Republic (1804CaribVoices)

Latin America and Environment 7 LATIN AMERICAN ECUMENICAL NEWS • SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2013

CLAI expresses indignation over the intentional setting on fire of Argentine Evangelical Methodist Church (IEMA) in Rosario In a September 28 letter, the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) has called on the Argentinean government for “a thorough investigation into this criminal act which the churches and ecumenical organisms of CLAI in Latin America and the Caribbean will follow closely.”

CLAI/ALC Quito The full text of the CLAI letter is as follows: Quito, Ecuador September 28, 2013 Aníbal Florencio Randazzo Minister of the Interior Republic of Argentina 25 de Mayo 101 Autonomous City of Buenos Aires “Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders” (Isaiah 60.18) Dear Minister, The Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI), which gathers together 167 churches and ecumenical organisms in 20 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, and of which the Argentine Evangelical Methodist Church (IEMA) and the Ecumenical Human

Rights Movement (MEDH) are members, expresses its indignation over the intentional setting on fire of the “Norte” Evangelical Methodist Church of Rosario, which also houses the regional office of the Human Rights Ecumenical Movement in that city. Both the Argentine Evangelical Methodist Church and the Ecumenical Human Rights Movement have played an important role in the reestablishing of democracy in Argentina during the period of the military dictatorship.

We demand of the authorities a thorough investigation into this criminal act which the churches and ecumenical organisms of CLAI in

Latin America and the Caribbean will follow closely. The light of fire in the midst of darkness is a sign of denouncement that demands a searching for the causes and those responsible.

We greet you in solidarity with the IEMA and the MEDH, and the struggle for justice and democracy, recalling what the prophet Isaiah proclaimed, which, to become concrete, requires a relentless searching for justice on the part of all.

Yours in Christ Jesus, Pastor Felipe Adolf, CLAI President Rev. Nilton Giese, CLAI General Secretary

Destruction following fire in IEMA church building in Rosario, Argentina (Luis Vásquez)

The graduation exercise took place…

From page 1

subjects of their own destiny, enterprisers and transformers of the demands of their community,“ he said.

For his part, Professor Licerio Camey, a Mayan Kaqchikel graduate of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and investigator of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences in Guatemala (FLACSO-Guatemala), invited be to be part of the evaluating commission, praised the presence of the indigenous authorities of the Ixil communities, saying that the Ixil University would have neither authority nor legitimacy without the accompaniment of the ancestral authorities,.

“I have returned after 13 years and I see how the Ixil society has been very strong in the face of a globalizing society,” Camey said, and added: “We are the young of the postwar era, we did not experience the conflict, but we grew up with the sequels, and we should continue with the social struggle that our ancestors have left us,, mainly the resistance and the safeguarding of our territories.”

Camey continued by expressing how much he values this effort of constructing a university. “The Kaqchikeles will surely follow its example and we want to begin our university courses next year,“ he said.

In turn, the Dean of Students, Tobías Roberts, of the Mennonite Central Committee, expressed that it was an honor to do this work of accompaniment with each student in their intensive process of community investigation. “I have had the immense privilege of freeing myself from the bondages of the intellectuality of Western academia and to learn from non-Western epistemologies, in this case those of the Ixil people,” shared Roberts.

Roberts enumerated four processes for the transmission of the Ixil knowledge described and synthesized in the 12 projects by the students: a) the knowledge is personal, b) the oral tradition, c) experience, and, d) holistic knowledge.

An evaluating commission was formed of eight members divided into two groups, each one with a municipal indigenous authority and a local indigenous authority to guarantee the content of the field investi-

gation, two academic experts to oversee the scientific method and academic rigor, along with the ViceDean of the IXIL University, Agronomist Pablo Ceto, and representatives of the University of Austin, Texas, United States, the University of Torino, Italy, and FLACSO. Highlighted among the subjects that the students investigated during their three years of formation, are, cultural identity, the importance of natural resources (such as trees, water, mountains, and the earth), the Ixil judicial system, the good practices of this culture, and the agro-ecological system, among others.

The Ixil University was founded 5 years ago and has 100 students in 12 communities, and at the end of 2012 signed an agreement with the Martin Luther King Evangelical University for the academic accreditation of its students. It is also in conversation with the state university for the academic accreditation of the recovery of ancestral knowledge and wisdom.

Rio Grande in Zacapa, Guatemala

Guatemalan churches seek mediation of Papal Nuncio in social conflict over hydroelectric dam The communities of Zacapa and Chiquimula, which depend on the Rio Grande for agriculture, fishing, and water storage, are afraid of the building of the El Orégano hydroelectric dam by the Tres Niñas Company of the America Trans Group. The hydroelectric plant is to generate 120 megawatts of energy when beginning to operate at the beginning of 2015.

by Mayra Rodríguez, ALC/Guatemala City

epresentatives from the Christian Ecumenical Council of Guatemala, and the Catholic and Lutheran churches of Zacapa, met with the Papal Nuncio in Guatemala, Monsignor Nicholas Henry Marie Denis Therenin, to ask that he act as an intermediary in the negotiations between the government, the company, and the affected communities, to find a peaceful solution to the present impasse.

The community leaders have denounced an atmosphere of violence that prevails in the area. Farmers who are opposed to the building of the hydroelectric dam suffer death threats or are tempted with bribes. It was Fr. Juan María Boxus, Administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Zacapa, who proposed contacting the Papal Nuncio following the murder of a local farmer.

"That not only scares us but also worries us greatly," said Fr. Boxus. Shortly before dying, the murdered farmer told of how he had been given 20 thousand

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Quetzales (about US$2,525.00) to kill the community's four leaders who are against the El Orégano dam.

Lutheran Pastor José Pilar Álvarez said that the situation of violence is of great concern, because the hydroelectric energy generating company is creating division and confrontation among the inhabitants of the area. The farmers know that the lake that the dam will form will flood their lands, in addition to changing the course of the river which is an important source of irrigation for the more arid areas.

Pilar Álvarez reminded the Apostolic Nuncio that in 2006 the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources deferred approval of the application for the building of the hydroelectric dam on the Rio Grande, because of geological and geographical reasons. However, with a new minister in office in 2011, the project was approved without any changes, besides overlooking the disposition that the community should be heard.

The President of the Christian Ecumenical Council of Guatemala, Presbyterian Pastor Vitalino Similox, hopes that the Apostolic Nuncio can create a space for dialogue between the company, the communities, the government, and social organizations. The government has given the Tres Niñas Company the right to exploit the hydroelectric project for 50 years.

For his part, Monsignor Denis Therenin said that he will seek to have the parties involved find alternatives, recognizing the long term negative repercussions of the hydroelectric project for the impoverished people in the area.

LATIN AMERICAN ECUMENICAL NEWS • SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2013

8 Latin America and Environment

Strengthening Latin American and Spanish speaking Caribbean presence on the WCC Central Committee

In one of their first decisions as the Central Committee for the World Council of Churches, the newly installed 150-member committee made history November 8 by electing Dr Agnes Abuom of Nairobi, from the Anglican Church of Kenya, as the moderator of the highest WCC governing body.

The newly elected Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) has a representative participation of lay persons and pastors, men and women, denominational families, and geographical regions.

ALC/Busan na de Medio, Argentinean lay member of the Disciples of Christ Church, member of the board of directors of the Argentinean Federation of Evangelical Churches (FAIE), and former member of the board of directors of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI); Daniel Favaro, pastor of the Argentinean Evangelical Methodist Church (IEMA), currently national secretary for Life and Mission of the IEMA, social communicator and secretary of the ALC board of directors; Cora Luisa Antonia Matamoros, pastor and president of the Moravian Church in Nicaragua; Thomas Hyeono Kang, young economist and member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brazil (IELB), and; Aida Consuelo Sánchez Navarro of the Anglican Episcopal church, have for the next six years the responsibility of proposing lines of work and concrete actions for an ecumenism that is vital, near to, and sensitive to the daily tasks of the member churches and the plurality of their cultures and thought.

In talking with members of the new Latin American and Spanish speaking Caribbean representatives, ALC was able to grasp other elements present in this election and the expectations they raise.

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WCC, ALC/Busan LAC WCC Central Committee members, from left, Ana de Medio, Daniel Favaro, Cora Matamoros, Gloria Ulloa and Consuelo Sánchez (ALC)

When asked what they understand to be the greatest challenge for the WCC Central Committee today, the following is what was shared: The dynamics of the work of the WCC is complex, because it requires consensus at the world level among the different member churches, and this is a challenge when it comes to seeking consensus on a particular theme or action. Yet, it is that challenge that gives value to the WCC in the search for the unity of the church in faithful witness to Jesus Christ.

That is the biggest challenge to the Central Committee, among the differences of criteria, opinions and theologies.

The Latin American and Spanish speaking Caribbean members believe that it will be important to assume a presence in the Central Committee that seeks to be representative of all of the churches of the region, beginning with articulating together with the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI), and the councils or federations of churches

in each country, and from that articulation give visibility to the issues that are of concern to the churches in the region.

In that sense, the representatives coincide with what the newly elected WCC president for Latin America and the Caribbean, Pastor Gloria Ulloa, has expressed that the high-priority agenda matters for Latin America are: assuming a prophetic stance with regard to the peace process in Colombia; the clamor against the denying of citizenship to the children of Haitians born in the Dominican Republic; the continuing defense of the rights of original peoples; the slave trade and trafficking of persons (for both labour and sexual purposes); the situation of Mexico with regard to drugs and arms trafficking; mega-mining, and; nuclear weapons.

Also to be brought on the agenda are, the inclusion of strong policies having to do with the defense of children, and a greater respect for gender and religious diversity.

Newly elected Latin America and the Caribbean President wants to raise the voice of the region in the WCC The Rev. Gloria Nohemy Ulloa Alvarado was elected at the World Council of Churches (WCC) 10th Assembly taking place in Busan, Republic of Korea.

She is a member of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia.

Elizabeth Aristizábal, WCC, ALC/Busan It has not been easy to be a leader and a woman, yet it is wonderful to find many people who support you. In the Latin American context the masculine figure still greatly dominates. In my case, for example, we have a total of 50 thousand members in the Presbyterian Church, but we only have eight ordained women,” Ulloa said.

According to Ulloa, Latin

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First woman and African moderator elected to the WCC Central Committee

America faces urgent issues that need to be dealt with as a region.

Among them, she points to the peace process in Colombia, the internal conflict in Mexico, arms trafficking, and the struggles of the indigenous peoples in defense of their lands.

“We need concrete gestures. As a church, we need to raise our voice and support the indigenous people.

We need respect for diversity, that the Colombia-Nicaragua-Honduras border issue be resolved. We need to deal with the matter of Cuba not having to suffer the economic blockade any longer and discuss the fact that the United States has included it in the list of terrorist countries. We need to continue working with the Universal Federation of Christian Student Movements (WSCF) and other organizations on the themes of water and eco-justiçe, among others, to be able to build better life conditions for our people," Ulloa

added.

The Presbyterian pastor pointed to the challenges of making visible the difficult situations that Latin Americans face, and the raising of the voice of the Caribbean and South America in the ambit of the WCC. "Within the assembly we observed that Latin America has little visibility. Only yesterday did we hear someone speaking in Spanish in the auditorium*, but in other spaces we do not hear our languages, Spanish or Portuguese," she noted.

The new president is concerned about the continuity of the work of the WCC in Latin America and the Caribbean. Pastor Carlos Emílio Ham, who has been heading that work, is completing his period and up to now the ecumenical organism has not made known if there will be a replacement for him. *Mission: a call to life-giving witness: http://www.oikoumene.org/ El plenario de la Asamblea recibió testimonios de misión y de acción: Latinoamérica y sus desafí os: http://www.alcnoticias.net/interior.php?lang=687&codigo=24920 Source: World Council of Churches, WCC: www.oikoumene.org

buom, who was elected unanimously to the position, is the first woman and the first African in the position in the 65-year history of the WCC. Two vice-moderators were elected, United Methodist Church Bishop Mary Ann Swenson from the USA and Prof. Dr Gennadios of Sassima of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

“My open prayer is that we shall move forward together, in the next years, despite our diversities that have the potential to divide us,” Abuom said shortly after her election, “…and that the WCC will continue to remain an instrument for providing a safe space for all who can come and share their hopes, aspirations and visions, and prophetic voice.”

Aboum said the prophetic voice is vital for “ecumenism in the 21st century and the church in our world today.”

As the first woman moderator of the worldwide body, Aboum says the model of consensus discernment “resonates very well with feminine decision-making processes,” consultative and careful listening and seeking to understand the other person’s perspective.

Abuom has served on the WCC Executive Committee, representing the Anglican Church of Kenya.

She is also a development consultant serving both Kenyan and international organizations coordinating social action programmes for religious and civil society across Africa.

Abuom was the Africa president for the WCC from 1999 to 2006. She has been associated with the All Africa Conference of Churches and WCC member churches in Africa. She is a copresident of the Religions for Peace and the National Council of Churches of Kenya.

Abuom’s areas of work include economic justice, peace and reconciliation.

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Agnes Abuom, new moderator of the WCC Central Committee at the WCC assembly in Busan (WCC)

Gennadios, who will serve his second term as the WCC Central Committee vice-moderator, is a professor of theology. He served as vice-moderator of the WCC's Faith and Order Commission from 1998 to 2006. He was a staff member of the WCC's Faith and Order secretariat in Geneva from 1983 to 1993. He is involved in a number of bilateral dialogues involving the Orthodox, the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches among others.

In addition to being vice-moderator of the WCC Central Committee, Gennadios has served as a member of the presidium and of the governing board of the Conference of European Churches.

Swenson, who will also serve as the WCC Central Committee vice moderator, was ordained to the ministry by the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC) in 1973. Swenson also served as senior pastor of First United Methodist Church, Wenatchee, Washington from 1989 to 1992. While a pastor in Wenatchee, she also served as president of both the Board of Directors of the Rape Crisis and Domestic Violence Center, and on the Board of Directors of the North Central Washington AIDS Coalition from 1989 to 1992.

Swenson was elected to the episcopacy of the United Methodist Church by the 1992 Western Jurisdictional Conference. She now serves as president of the church's General Commission on Christian Unity and Inter-religious Concerns (GCCUIC).

Source: World Council of Churches, WCC: http://www.oikoumene.org/