wfn.org | LWI News in Brief - 2

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Slovak Churches Affirm Mutual Recognition of Baptism

On Pentecost Monday, 4 June 2001, representatives of the Evangelical
Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Slovak Republic and the Roman
and Greek Catholic Churches in the country signed a long-awaited
agreement on the mutual recognition of baptism. The agreement was
endorsed during an ecumenical worship service held in the chapel of the
president's palace in the capital Bratislava and attended by State
President Rudolph Schuster and his wife. Bishop Herwig Sturm,
Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria, represented
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) at the ceremony. General Bishop
Julius Filo, General Inspector Jan Holcik, Bishops Ivan Osusky and Igor
Misina, signed for the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in
the Slovak Republic; Bishop Frantisek Tondra, Slovak Bishops' Conference
chairperson and Archbishop Alojz Tkac for the Roman Catholics and Bishop
Jan Hirka for the Greek Catholics while Mons. Andrej Imrich represented
the Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Bishops' Conference. In a joint
statement signed by Filo and Tondra, which accompanied the agreement,
both churches declared that "this signing ceremony is the pinnacle of
several years' collaboration on the text of the agreement. Mutual
recognition of baptism means that we also mutually recognize each other
as Christians, brothers and sisters in Christ. Baptism joins us as one
body in Christ, into a communion which, although not completely
all-embracing, is indeed a reality." A member of the LWF since 1947, the
Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Slovak Republic has
over 329,000 members constituting 6.2 percent of the population. At
180,000 the Greek Catholics represent 3.4 percent of the population,
while the Roman Catholics at approximately 3.2 million represent around
60.4 percent of Slovakia's 5.4 million people.
(By Dr. Eva Bachletova, press secretary, Evangelical Church of the
Augsburg Confession in the Slovak Republic)

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Finnish Church Puts Porvoo Agreement into Practice

The General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF)
has approved changes in its regulations whereby ecclesiastical law and
the church constitution are brought into harmony with the
Lutheran-Anglican Porvoo Declaration signed in 1996. The change in the
law still needs to be approved by Parliament. Changes in the regulations
concern the rights and qualifications of church members. Members of the
signatory churches are considered on a par with members of the ELCF so
that they can, for instance, act as godparents and assist in
distributing the Eucharist, and if they wish to join the ELCF they only
need to request membership. The General Synod also approved a change to
the church constitution, whereby ordination must be performed by a
bishop. If the diocesan bishop is prevented from attending, the
ordination is to be performed by another bishop. Previously, in
exceptional circumstances ordination could be performed instead by a
dean or senior clergy assessor. The Porvoo Declaration is a joint
theological document produced by the Nordic and Baltic Lutheran churches
and the Anglican churches of Great Britain and Ireland, whereby
eucharistic fellowship and close ecclesiastical contacts were
established between the signatory churches to the communique. (ELCF
Communications)

*       *       *

HIV/AIDS: Statement from Norwegian Bishops' Conference

The Church of Norway has welcomed efforts by the public authorities in
many countries to stop the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In a
statement by its Bishops' Conference, June 21, the church recognizes the
many reasons why the pandemic is spreading so fast particularly in
Africa, southeast Asia, the Caribbean and eastern Europe. For the
church, it is important to keep to the principle that Christian charity
"commits us to support, not condemn" those who are suffering. In
long-term strategies at the national and international levels, the
church and other religious communities must accept their responsibility
for dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic, say the Norwegian church
leaders. Under the conference, which includes Norway's 11 Lutheran
bishops representing the state church's 11 dioceses, the bishops stress
among other challenges, the need for more investment in the development
of medicines and vaccines that the poor can afford, ensuring that
churches combat violence and sexual abuse and that they also promote
joint action across religions and philosophies of life. The bishops also
point to a Norwegian television campaign through which Norwegian Church
Aid (NCA - the church-related aid agency working globally) focuses on
the need to intensify its work to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS through
local partners in Africa, eastern Europe and Latin America.

*       *       *

Finland: The Church Supports Poor Parishes

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) has decided on a model
to even out parishes' tax income more effectively. A system has been
devised to close the gap between wealthy parishes in areas of population
growth and small parishes in remote areas with meager income. The
disparity in income within the ELCF has been increased by migration and
a new accounting system for corporate tax income. With the new system,
more funds to help poor parishes will be raised by scaling the fees
which parishes pay from their corporate tax income into the church's
general fund. At the present 12 percent, the amount paid has been
proportionally the same for all parishes. It was decided to set the
upper limit at 20 per cent. The reform takes effect early next year. The
ELCF has 4.4 million persons, representing around 85 percent of
Finland's population.

*       *       *

Canadian Church Leaders Visit Palestinian Christians

The church "seriously carries the cross whatever the price might be,
because it is the follower of its crucified Lord and master," says
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (ELCJ) Bishop Munib A. Younan. Mr.
Robert Granke, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) Secretary
visited the ELCJ in April followed by a May visit by Bishop Telmor
Sartison to demonstrate the ELCIC's solidarity with Bishop Younan and
the members of his church.

*       *       *

Correction: In the recent article "Focusing on the Future at Kakuma"
dated 7 June 2001, please note that LWF financing to Kakuma Camp is
around USD 3.5 million per year and not USD 9 million as indicated. The
USD 9 million cited refers instead to the overall budget for the LWF
Department for World Service Kenya/Sudan program in 1999.

*       *       *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 133 member
churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5 million of the 64.3
million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member
churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical relations,
theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the
various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is
located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material
presented does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its
various units. Where the dateline of an article contains the notation
(LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgement.]