wfn.org | Antigay Campaign Prompts Church to Withdraw

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

22-April-1997 
97171 
 
            Antigay Campaign Prompts Church to Withdraw 
                      From Harare Assembly 
 
                         by Edmund Doogue 
                     Ecumenical News International 
 
GENEVA--An antihomosexual campaign by Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, 
has prompted a Dutch church to announce it will not take part in the next 
assembly of  the World Council of Churches (WCC), to be held in Harare, the 
capital of Zimbabwe, in September 1998. 
 
     "The main reason [for the decision not to attend] is that in Zimbabwe 
there is a violation of human rights, according to our vision," Rene van 
den Berg, an official and former secretary of the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands (ELK), told ENI April 7. 
 
     He said that the church's decision, taken by its synodal commission 
three weeks ago, followed correspondence and discussion with the WCC, of 
which the ELK is a member. In a press release, the ELK, which has 20,000 
members, said it had taken its decision "on account of the very unfavorable 
climate for homosexuals in Zimbabwe. ... The synodal commission intends 
with its decision to send a clear signal of protest against the situation 
in Zimbabwe." 
 
     There has been widespread international publicity about the views of 
President Mugabe, who has said publicly on several occasions that 
homosexuals are not welcome in Zimbabwe, that their behavior is comparable 
to that of animals and that homosexuality is a Western import. 
 
      The WCC assembly is held every seven years and, as the most important 
event in the life of the organization, attracts thousands of Christians 
from around the world. Questions about the venue of the next assembly were 
raised during the last two annual meetings of the WCC's Central Committee 
without, however, any formal proposal being made to change the assembly 
site. The issue of homosexuality is highly sensitive for many of the WCC's 
332 member churches.  
 
     The WCC has negotiated a "Memorandum of Understanding" with the 
Zimbabwe government which guarantees that the WCC can conduct the gathering 
without interference. 
 
     "For us it was obvious that Mr. Mugabe will allow the WCC to gather, 
but only under strict conditions," van den Berg said. His church was 
concerned about the situation for people in Zimbabwe outside the assembly 
site.  "Would the WCC have met in South Africa [under apartheid]?" van den 
Berg said. "I don't think so." 
 
     He said his church "has a vision of homosexuality in the church.  We 
accept gay relationships and we accept gay people as pastors.  We would not 
feel free to send a delegate who is homosexual to the assembly." He said 
there were homosexual members on the synodal commission and about a third 
of the church's clergy are homosexual. 
 
     The WCC was aware of the decision of the ELK, van den Berg said.  A 
WCC staff member had told him that some American churches were also 
planning to raise the issue of homosexual rights during the assembly. 
Asked if it was possible that the ELK would change its decision and take 
part in the assembly, van den Berg said, "I don't think so." 
 
     A spokesperson for the WCC told ENI today: "It is always a matter of 
regret when any member church does not take part in a WCC assembly. This is 
especially the case with the Eighth Assembly, which will be faced with 
important decisions regarding the churches' common understanding of 
ecumenism and their vision for the future of the WCC." 
 
     Asked about the ELK's concern over the "violation of human rights," 
the spokesperson said, "Generally the holding of any WCC event in any 
location should not be seen as making a comment on any of the policies of 
the government of the country in which they happen to be meeting." 

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