wfn.org | Brief biographies of those signing the Joint Declaration

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

GENEVA, 23 October 1999 (lwi) -

The Rev. H. George Anderson, 67, was appointed a Vice-President of the
Lutheran Federation (LWF) in 1997. He has been the Presiding Bishop of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America since 1995. A Phi Beta Kappa
graduate from Yale, Anderson earned graduate degrees from the University
of Pennsylvania and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia,
and is known as a translator and author of many works on Lutheran
history. At the time of his election as bishop, he had been president of
the ELCA's Luther College since 1982. Before that he was on the faculty
of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, South Carolina,
and served as its president from 1970 to 1981. In addition to working
with the church over the years in many voluntary capacities, Anderson's
record of community service includes organizing the College Place Day
Care Center, co-founding the Eau Claire Community Organization, and
serving as a director of Minnesota Public Radio (1984-90).

Edward Idris Cardinal Cassidy, 75, born in Sydney, Australia, is
President of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian
Unity (PCPCU). Cassidy was created a Cardinal in 1991 by Pope John Paul
II. From 1988 to 89 he served as Substitute Secretary of State in the
Vatican. As Apostolic Pro-Nuncio, Cassidy directed the papal missions to
the Netherlands between 1984-88, to Southern Africa from 1979 to 84, to
Bangladesh between 1973 to 79, and to the Republic of China (Taiwan)
from 1970 to 73. Cassidy was ordained bishop in Rome in 1970. Between
1955 and 1969, in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, Cassidy worked
in the Apostolic Nunciatures in India, Ireland, El Salvador and
Argentina. He was sent to Romein 1952 to study at the Lateran
University, where he earned his doctorate in Canon Law in 1955. Ordained
to the priesthood in 1949, Cassidy served as a parish priest in the
Diocese of Wagga Wagga, Australia.

Bishop Dr. Julius Filo, 48, has been General Bishop of the Evangelical
Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Slovak Republic since 1994. A
Vice-President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) since 1997, Filo
is a member of the Program Committee for Theology and Studies in the LWF
Council. Since 1991, he has been lecturer and chairperson of the
Department for Practical Theology at the University of Bratislava where
he served as dean of the theological faculty from 1993 to 1994. Ordained
in 1974, Filo obtained his doctorate in Lutheran theology from the
University of Bratislava in 1981. He served in the LWF as co-ordinator
for a program for youth and students from 1985 to 1990. In addition,
Filo is the President of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Slovakia.

Ms Parmata Abasu Ishaya, 51, was appointed a Vice-President of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in 1997. A lay member of the Lutheran
Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN), Ms Ishaya, an educationist has
taught for several years in Nigeria and is currently a Chief Inspector
of Education in Adamawa State, Nigeria. She holds a Bachelor of Science
degree and a post-graduate diploma in education. At the LCCN, she works
on a voluntary basis with women  and is a board member for the Christian
education department as well as an observer at the church's General
Council.

Bishop Dr. Walter Kasper, 66, has been Secretary of the Vatican's
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) since 16 March
1999. For the previous 10 years he was Diocesan Bishop of
Rottenburg-Stuttgart in Germany. Since 1991 Bishop Kasper has been
Moderator of the Commission on Worldwide Church Affairs, and
Vice-Moderator of the Commission on Faith, of the German Bishops'
Conference. In 1994 he was nominated the Catholic Co-Chairperson of the
Lutheran/Roman Catholic Commission on Unity. Since 1998 he has been a
consultor of the Roman Catholic Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith and of the Pontifical Council for Culture. Kasper was ordained to
the priesthood in 1957 in Rottenburg Cathedral, and received his
doctorate in theology from the Catholic Theological Faculty of the
Eberhard-Karls-University in Tubingen. After his habilitation in 1964 in
the field of dogmatics, Kasper held the chair in dogmatics at the
University of Munster, and subsequently (from 1970) the same position at
the University of Tubingen.

Rev. Huberto Kirchheim, 60, has been President of the Evangelical Church
of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (ECLCB) since 1994, and from 1997
one of the LWF Vice-Presidents, with responsibility for the Central and
South American region. Rev. Kirchheim was elected First Vice-President
of his church in 1986, and worked full-time in this capacity from 1992
to 1994, with major responsibility for personnel and ecumenical
contacts. Between 1990 and 1991 he was Regional Minister of the newly
constituted sixth region of his church in Santa Cruz do Sul. Before that
he was Regional Minister of the fourth church region in Sao Leopoldo,
where he directed the Office for Parish Development (1975-78). Kirchheim
was ordained in 1966 and served as parish pastor in Venancio Aires/RS
(1970-75) and in Palmitos, Santa Catarina (1963-1970). From 1984 to 1990
Rev. Kirchheim was a member of the LWF Commission for World Service.

Bishop Christian Krause, 59, has been Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Brunswick, Germany since 1994, and since 1997 President of the
Lutheran World Federation. In 1997 he also became Moderator of the
Council, Confederation of Protestant Churches in Lower Saxony, Germany.
Krause was General Secretary of the German Protestant Church Convention
(Kirchentag) from 1985-1994, based in Fulda, Germany. From 1972-1985 he
was a member of the High Consistory (Oberkirchenrat) in the office of
the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany, with responsibility
for Ecumenical Relations, Mission and Development Service, and also
business manager of the LWF German National Committee. As a staff member
in the Head Office of the LWF Tanganyika Christian Refugee Service
(TCRS), Krause worked in 1971-72 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Previously
he was Research Secretary (1969-70) and Special Assistant (1966-67) in
the LWF's Department of Theology in Geneva. Christian Krause was
ordained a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover in 1969.

The Rev. Dr. Prasanna Kumari, 49, is the Executive Secretary of the
United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI), and a professor of
New Testament as well as head of the Department of Women's Studies at
Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute. She has
been a Vice-President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) since 1997,
and a member of the LWF Council and chairperson of the Program Committee
on Theology and Studies since 1990. From 1982 to 1992, Kumari was
Women's Secretary of the UELCI, and served as the regional co-ordinator
for the LWF Committee on Women in Church and Society (WICAS). Kumari
received a bachelor of theology degree from the Hindustan Bible
Institute and College, Madras and a bachelor of divinity and master of
theology from the United Theological College in Bangalore in Madras. She
holds a doctor of Divinity from the Academy of Ecumenical Indian
Theology and Church Administration in Madras.

Dr. Sigrun Mogedal, 55, was appointed Treasurer of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) in 1997. A lay member of the Church of Norway, she is a
physician, specializing in public health and has been involved in
related consultancies and applied research in Asia and Africa. Currently
working with the Norwegian Agency for Aid and Development (NORAD),
Mogedal previously worked as Director for the Center for Partnership in
Norway (DIS). A Moderator of the Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical
and International Relations since 1990, Mogedal has also served as a
Co-Moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Unit II Commission
(Mission, Education and Health). She has had broad ecumenical experience
as a lay church leader at national and international levels, with
special interest in the role of church in society. Mogedal obtained her
medical degree from the University of Oslo, in 1968. In 1970, she
graduated with a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the
University of London and pursued in 1986 further studies in Community
Medicine for Physicians in Norwegian Public Health Services.

The Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko, 56, is the first African general secretary of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). An ordained pastor of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Zimbabwe, Noko took up his position as
general secretary on 1 November 1994, succeeding Norwegian theologian
Dr. Gunnar Staalsett. Noko first joined the LWF in May 1982, where he
worked in the Department for World Service (DWS). From 1987 to 1990 he
was the Director of the LWF Department for Church Cooperation, which
following restructuring in 1990 became the present Department for
Mission and Development (DMD). Prior to joining the LWF, Noko was a
lecturer and faculty dean at the University of Botswana between 1977 and
1982. Ordained in 1972, Noko pursued his theological studies in South
Africa at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, and the University
of Zululand. He completed his B.A. in 1971, majoring in systematic
theology, church history and biblical studies. He pursued a master's
degree in the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Canada, which
he completed in 1974 with a thesis on "Communion of Saints from the
African Perspective". In 1977, he obtained a Ph. D degree from the
McGill University in Quebec, Canada, based on his doctoral thesis, "The
Concept of God in Black Theology: An Appreciation of God as Liberator
and Reconciler".

(The LWF is a global communion of 128 member churches in 70 countries
representing 58 million of the world's 61.5 million Lutherans. Its
highest decision making body is the Assembly, held every six or seven
years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed by a 49-member Council
which meets annually, and its Executive Committee. The LWF secretariat
is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/