ELCA NEWS SERVICE
September 13, 2004
ELCA Presiding Bishop Calls For Bridges Of Understanding, Justice
04-169-FO*
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson,
presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) and president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), has
called on Christians and leaders from different faiths to build
bridges of understanding between people, and to work together for
peace and justice in the world.
"We should be united to give a message of reconciliation,
healing and hope, and to construct a society where there is peace
and justice," Hanson said at an interfaith gathering for peace
and nonviolence held Sept. 11 here in the Episcopal San Juan
Evangelista Church.
The National Council of Churches of El Salvador and the
Communion of Lutheran Churches in Central America convened the
event, which was attended by representatives from Jewish, Islamic
and Baha'i communities, as well as from Lutheran, Episcopal,
Calvinist Reform Churches and the Emmanuel Baptist Church. The
mayor of San Salvador, Carlos Rivas Zamora, and the auxiliary
bishop of the diocese of San Salvador, Gregorio Rosa Chavez,
attended.
Leaders from various religious communities took part,
reading texts from the Koran, the Baha'i writings, the Torah and
the Bible. Their prayers asked that peace, tolerance and
understanding prevail in the world.
Hanson said violence and terrorism spark a great deal of
fear but "they do not have the last word." Our response to
violence should not be to hide, he said. "We have the peace of
God, the promise that God loves us and has mercy on us and even
in the most difficult moments God is in our midst bringing life."
Hanson called on Christians and those of other faiths to
make their best efforts to ensure that there is peace and justice
in the world.
The Lutheran leader made reference to Msgr. Oscar Romero,
who was murdered in March 1980 for what he preached in his
struggle alongside the poor. Romero "taught us the power of non-
violence" to confront the institutionalized violence that
condemned majority sectors of the population to greater poverty,
Hanson said.
During his homily, Hanson emphasized the importance of
dialogue and interreligious cooperation. He lamented that
Christians had frequently used Bible texts to justify violence
and hatred against Jews, and he recalled that the ELCA in 1993
had rejected the anti-Semitic writings of the Protestant Reformer
Martin Luther.
Hanson also apologized to Muslims for all the accusations
and offenses suffered by them after the events of the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks in 2001 on the United States. All of these
acts generate violence, and we must keep hatred from expanding
among the different sectors of our society for religious or other
reasons, he said.
*Fernando Oshige, director, Agencia Latinoamericana y Caribena de
Comunicacion, Lima, Peru, reported for Lutheran World
Information, the information service of the Lutheran World
Federation, which is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
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