wfn.org | Latin America and Caribbean Churches Called to Focus HIV/AIDS Work

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

Latin America and Caribbean Churches Called to Focus on Children
and Youth in HIV/AIDS Work
Churches Maintain Plan to Establish Post of Regional Coordinator

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador/GENEVA, 10 April 2003 (LWI) - The
president of the Nicaraguan Lutheran Church of Faith and Hope,
Rev. Victoria Cortez Rodriguez, has called on church
representatives in Latin American and the Caribbean to
particularly focus on HIV positive children, and awareness raising
among young people in the churches' HIV/AIDS work.

Rodriguez was addressing participants in the Conference of Bishops
and Presidents of the Lutheran Churches of Latin America (COP) at
their April 5 meeting in San Salvador, a day prior to the start of
the Latin American and Caribbean region Pre-Assembly Consultation
(PAC) to prepare for the July 2003 Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
Tenth Assembly. The LWF member church in El Salvador, the
Salvadoran Lutheran Synod, hosted the regional PAC, attended by 51
participants.

The COP welcomed the results of the October 2002 diakonia
consultation in Florianopolis, Brazil, and the March 2003 HIV/AIDS
consultation in Caracas, Venezuela. The aim of the Caracas meeting
was to start the regional implementation of the Global LWF
Campaign Against HIV/AIDS, officially launched in May 2002 in
Kenya, and to develop a concrete action plan for the LWF member
churches in the Latin American region.

In San Salvador, the COP noted that the starting point for the
church's involvement with the HIV/AIDS issue, should be the
recognition that persons affected by HIV/AIDS needed justice, and
not sympathy. In addition, the churches should be actively
involved in facilitating the integration of people living with
HIV/AIDS in society.

The ten church leaders present also agreed to establish a regional
network for diakonia - church social service. The network, they
said, should support the exchange of experience and specialized
skills, provide stimuli for theological reflection on diaconal
work, and encourage the development of community and human rights
work.

They also agreed to maintain a decision taken at their April 2002
meeting in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, to create a post of
regional coordinator. It was emphasized that funding for the
position to be based in the region, should not weaken the existing
networks but should instead contribute to strengthening the
ongoing work.

LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, participating in the
COP and regional PAC, commended the church leaders for their
effective networking in Latin America. The COP is the only
regional conference in the seven LWF regions that meets regularly
- annually.

At the meeting, Rev. Angel F. Furlan, president of Argentina's
United Evangelical Lutheran Church, was confirmed as COP
chairperson for another one-year term.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 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 LWF's information service.
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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