wfn.org | LWF President Criticizes US 'Axis of Evil' Stance on Some Governments

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

LWF President Krause Criticizes US 'Axis of Evil' Stance on Some
Governments
Call for 'Axis of Hope, Faith and Love'

VANCOUVER, Canada/GENEVA, 22 March 2002 (LWI/ELCANEWS) - Bishop
emeritus Christian Krause, President of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) has criticized US President George Bush's "axis
of evil" reference to some world governments allegedly engaged in
terror activities.

Addressing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
Conference of Bishops at its March 7-12 meeting in Vancouver,
Canada, Krause who recently retired as bishop of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Brunswick, Germany, called "for an 'axis of
hope, faith and love,' rather than pointing out where the good
guys and bad guys are."

The trauma of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United
States of America is "still deeply rooted," in the United States,
Krause said. LWF members throughout the world continue to pray for
healing, Krause assured the ELCA's advisory body consisting of the
church's 65 synod bishops, presiding bishop and secretary. The
bishops held their twice yearly meeting in the Canadian city at
the invitation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
(ELCIC) bishops. On occasion they meet with other groups. The
ELCIC will host the LWF Tenth Assembly 21-31 July 2003, in
Winnipeg. Its theme is "For the Healing of the World."

The LWF president spoke to the ELCA bishops on March 11, the
six-month anniversary of the terrorist attacks. He noted the
events of September 11 were among three incidences that changed
the world at the turn of the millennium. "Our guarantee of
security ended," he said of that day.

Krause said he appreciated the public statement of the Rev. H.
George Anderson, former ELCA presiding bishop, in response to the
attacks. Anderson's statement expressed his shock at the attacks
and emphasized restraint and peace. More people should be talking
about peace and reconciliation, Krause noted.

He said other events that changed the world at the turn of the
millennium included the end of the Cold War in Europe and
globalization in electronic communication and economic activity.
The end of the Cold War offers opportunities in Eastern Europe,
where there are few Christians. "We must stay together and
proclaim the gospel in a totally secularized society," Krause
said. In other parts of the world, he said, churches in the
Southern Hemisphere have been neglected, and "charismatic
movements" are growing.

Globalization has eliminated borders. Growth in electronic
communication through such tools as the Internet is advantageous
to some people, but out of reach for two-thirds of the world's
population, he said.

The Middle East is of special concern to the LWF, Krause said. The
LWF operates Augusta Victoria Hospital, located on the Mount of
Olives in Jerusalem. Most of its patients are Palestinians, some
of whom are part of a dwindling Christian presence there, he said.

"There will be no peace in this world if there is no peace in
Jerusalem," Krause said. "We are determined to stay (at Augusta
Victoria) for our Christian brothers and sisters, and we pray for
peace for all." The LWF's "confession of unity" gives strength to
smaller Lutheran churches in the world such as the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Jordan (ELCJ), with congregations in Jerusalem
Jordan and Palestine, he said.

Augusta Victoria Hospital is currently involved in a tax case with
the Israeli government. Israel wants the hospital to pay millions
of dollars in back employment taxes, from which the hospital has
been exempt for many years. The case is now in an Israeli court,
and a judge overseeing the case has urged the parties to reach a
resolution. Krause said the issue is not necessarily the hospital
building, but "the soil* We have made it clear we will not move.
We hope we can solve this issue." The LWF Executive Committee may
convene in Jerusalem in June, he said, to meet with Israeli
officials about the hospital and to show support for the ELCJ.

In Chicago, Krause met privately with the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, who
became presiding bishop of the ELCA last November. Krause extended
his appreciation for the excellent working relationship he had
with the past presiding bishop Anderson.

Krause met with the heads of respective ELCA units and discussed
the challenges of their work, and how closer cooperation with the
LWF could help meet such challenges. Topics included ways in which
national and international agreements, such as the Joint
Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, could affect future
ecumenical relations.

Krause, who also serves as president of the Luther Center in
Wittenberg, Germany, met with the center's ELCA representatives to
determine further collaboration. In his capacity as chairperson of
the governing board of the Church Development Service, an
association of Protestant churches in Germany, he conferred with
representatives of the ELCA World Hunger Program.

Krause was visiting LWF North American member churches March 9-21.
The LWF Tenth Assembly and the role of the churches after the
September terrorist attacks on the US were major topics. In April
he will visit with churches in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and
Australia.

(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 acknowledgment.]

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