wfn.org | WCC pastoral letter urges discernment in response to attacks

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2001-267

WCC pastoral letter urges discernment in response to attacks

     (WCC) World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Konrad Raiser 
sent a pastoral letter to WCC member churches in the USA on September 20 to 
express continued ecumenical support and sympathy in the wake of the attacks 
on New York and Washington, DC, and to urge discernment and encourage 
faithfulness in local, national and international responses. 

     The letter also shares the WCC Executive Committee's recommendation to 
send a delegation of church leaders from around the world to the US as 
"'living letters' of compassion, and to engage with you in a common 
reflection about how we can shape a shared witness to the world in a time of 
such great need."

     The text of the letter follows:

     "Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

     "Grace and peace to you in our One Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

     "In the brief message I sent you on behalf of the Executive Committee 
of the World Council of Churches on that tragic morning of 11 September, I 
assured you of the prayers of your sister churches around the world. That 
was an affirmation of faith. Now you have had the evidence of those prayers 
in an almost unprecedented flood of messages of compassion, love and 
solidarity from churches in East, West, North and South.

     "This expression of unity in such a time of trial gives flesh to the 
words Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth: 'Blessed be the God and Father of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who 
comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those 
who are in any affliction, with  the comfort with which we ourselves are 
comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so 
through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too* Our hope for you is 
unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also 
share in our comfort' ( II Cor. 1:3-7). 

     "As I write to you now, ten days after the tragedy, the words in the 
Revelation to John addressed to the angel of the church in Ephesus also come 
to mind. 'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance. I know 
you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have 
not grown weary' (Rev. 2:2-7). 

     "In these days, you have sought to respond in faith to many 
contradictory voices. Some plead for a form of justice that would name the 
evil and identify those responsible and bring them to trial in appropriate 
courts of law. Others, however, want decisive military action to show the 
will of the nation to avenge its losses and deny victory to its enemies. 
Very many share the deep apprehension you have heard from churches abroad 
about the prospect of the United States striking out again with its 
uncontested military might. They fear that this would result in an ever-
rising spiral of retributive violence and the loss of ever more lives. 

     "Words of condemnation and the language of 'war' come so quickly to the 
fore. Blame is easily assigned to 'the enemy.' These are reinforced by the 
images and messages streaming across all our television screens, wherever we 
live. It is far more difficult to regard ourselves in the mirror of such 
hatred, and to have the courage to recognize how deeply violence is rooted 
within ourselves, our communities and even our churches. These are lessons 
we are all trying to learn in the Decade to Overcome Violence.

     "Among those who have contributed to the remarkable outpouring of 
sympathy with the USA have been other communities of faith. They share both 
your sufferings and your fears. Partly in response to this, but also out of 
your own sense of justice, you have reached out to those communities in your 
own nation and with them have spoken out clearly against threats or open 
acts of violence against Muslims and Arab Americans. This powerful witness 
must be heard both at home and abroad. No one should be allowed to forget 
that in the places often mentioned as primary targets of military 
retaliation, Muslims, Christians, and people of other faiths live side by 
side. Minority Christian communities and those majority communities with 
whom their lives are shared stand to suffer severely at the hands of 
religious extremists if the 'Christian' West strikes out yet again. 

     "People in your country and around the world have gathered together 
during this past week in sanctuaries of the churches for silent reflection, 
and to invoke the presence of the Holy Spirit, who stands beside us in our 
time of need and journeys with us through the valley of the shadow of death. 
In these safe spaces, Christians and others have sought to discern the 
deeper meaning of such thoughtless acts and the suffering they have 
inflicted. This is indeed a time for quiet discernment of the 'signs of the 
times,' for courage and wisdom, and to pray for God's guidance. As the 
prophet Isaiah says: 'In quietness and trust shall be your strength' (Is. 
30:15).

     "The message to the church in Ephesus goes on, however: 'But I have 
this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 
Remember then from what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at 
first.' The United States was one of the early architects of the United 
Nations and was once among the strongest advocates for the international 
rule of law. In recent times, however, it has repeatedly ignored its 
international obligations and declared its intention to ignore the rest of 
the world in pursuit of its own perceived self-interests. This it does to 
its own and the world's peril. The events of 11 September have again 
reminded all nations that all are vulnerable and that the only true security 
is common security. The United States, so often accused, has now been the 
beneficiary of the sympathy and solidarity of the whole world. It could 
respond in kind and with humility by reversing its course now and rejoining 
the global community in a common pursuit of justice for all. It could set 
aside its reliance on military might at whatever cost and invest in efforts 
to find non-violent solutions to conflicts generated by poverty, mistrust, 
greed and intolerance.

     "As the writer of the Book of Revelation says, 'He who has an ear, let 
him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

     It is one of the chief marks of the ecumenical movement that the 
churches understand Jesus' prayer that they all might be one, as he is one 
with the Father. They are being called to practise mutual love and to extend 
this love even to the enemy, to become, as our familiar hymn puts it, 'one 
great fellowship of love in all the whole wide earth.' No one can live 
alone, separated from the wider fellowship, for we share one humanity. When 
one hurts, all suffer together. 

     "As an expression of that fellowship, the WCC Executive Committee has 
expressed its desire to send to you a delegation of church leaders from 
around the world as 'living letters' of compassion, and to engage with you 
in a common reflection about how we can shape a shared witness to the world 
in a time of such great need. I hope that you will welcome and open your 
hearts to them as they will to you.

     "I reassure you again of our constant prayers, our love and our appreciation for 
your ministries of consolation and of prophetic vision. May God bless, guide and 
continue to strengthen you.

     "Yours in Christ, the Prince of Peace."

     For further information, please contact Karin Achtelstetter, Media Relations Officer           
Tel:  (+41.22) 791.61.53. Mobile:  (+41) 79.284.52.12. In North America, please 
contact Philip E. Jenks, Communications Officer, US Office, World Council of Churches, 
475 Riverside Drive, Room 915, New York, NY 10115, 212-870-3193, pej@wcc-coe.org