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HEADLINES

BRAZIL: IELB Evaluates incorporation into Lutheran Federation
ECUADOR: Continental Consultation on "To Globalize Abundant Life"
USA: Cuban Pastors in Miami protest condemnation of members of the 
opposition in
PERU: Street preacher marked Holy Week celebrations
ARGENTINA: Ecumenical Forum creates Social Responsibility Index for
Businesses

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BRAZIL
IELB Evaluates incorporation into Lutheran Federation

By Edelberto Behs
SAO LEOPOLDO, April 14, 2003 (alc).  The presidency of the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church of Brazil (IELB) has submitted a document to its 
congregations from the Theological and Church Relations Commission that 
proposes joining the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) as an associate member.

Once the different congregations have responded, the Directive Council will 
study the final proposal in a meeting to take place next October and will 
submit the Church's position to the National Convention slated to take 
place in January 2004
The information was made public by the IELB secretary Rony Ricardo 
Marquardt, in the Lutherans United in Communication (LUC) assembly - Brazil 
Region - held in Sao Leopoldo April 12 - 13.

LUC agreed to send a letter to the pastor-president of the IELB, Carlos 
Winterle, encouraging the affiliation and emphasizing that the 
communication could help unite Brazil's two Lutheran Churches.	The 
Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IECLB) has been 
affiliated to the LWF since the 1950s and has approximately 750,000 members.

  Since LUC was created in January 1977, communicators from the IECLB and 
the IELB have been in this forum and cooperate in the area of literature 
and dissemination of materials.

The IELB's approach to the LWF demonstrates that "historic, theological and 
personal barriers can be overcome in the search for fraternal 
life  together," said Pastor Joco Artur M|ller da Silva, president of the 
ALC news service and a former member of the Inter-Lutheran Dialogue
Commission.

The LUC assembly began April 12 with the presence of pastor presidents from 
the two Lutheran Churches who spoke about communication in their management.

Walter Altmann, who has been president of the IECLB for slightly more than 
100 days, said that his Church is in a transition phase and is defining a 
global plan that began with the areas of formation and personnel. Over the 
course of this semester, communication work will be analyzed and evaluated 
to be inserted in the mentioned plan, he said.

Altmann said that the IECLB is entering a era and over the next few years 
it should concentrate on questions related to the hope that people have 
entrusted in it, as expressed in 1 Peter, 3:15. "We are called to respond 
to what it means to be the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession of 
Brazil," he affirmed. This will be the priority for the upcoming years, he 
said.

He is also aiming for greater visibility and presence of the IECLB in the 
press and in society. He recalled that in 2006 the World Council of 
Churches (WCC) will celebrate its General Assembly in Porto Alegre and that 
the eyes of 350 member Churches will be on Brazil and its Churches.

The Lutheran Church, said Pastor Carlos Winterle, has not been very visible 
since its origin in Brazilian soil and only recently has it begun to "show 
its face before Brazilian society."

Winterle said that communication goes far beyond print, television or radio 
media. "The Catholic Church built better monuments. The Church worked on 
visual communication and decorated its temples."

He recalled that the printing press was a blessing for the Protestant 
Reform Movement in the XVII Century. "Imagine what Luther would have done 
with a computer," he said.

The two presidents did not promise more budget resources for communication. 
Altmann emphasized that the IECLB is increasingly dependent on internal 
resources as the channel of funds from abroad is increasingly closing.

However, he emphasized that last year the IECLB collected 15 percent more 
than its budget. Winterle still sees the possibility of presenting specific 
communication projects in search of new resources.

Journalist Karin Achtelsteter, of the LWF Communications Department 
participated in the LUC-Brazil meeting and presented Lutheran communicators 
with the structure of the organization she represents.

She encouraged LUC to contribute to the X LWF General Assembly that will 
meet in Winnipeg, Canada from July 21 - 31 around the theme "For the 
Healing of the World."

LUC Brazil proposed that the next continental assembly, to be held in 
Buenos Aires next October, address the central theme "For the healing of 
communication."

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ECUADOR
Continental Consultation on "To Globalize Abundant Life"

QUITO, April 15, 2003 (alc). The Continental Consultation on "To Globalize 
Abundant Life" will be held April 28 to May 1 in the Casa Nazareth in 
Buenos Aires, said Angel Luis Rivera Agosto, coordinator of the "Faith, 
Economics and Society" Program of the Latin American Council of Churches 
(CLAI).

At least 49 leaders from Latin American and Caribbean Churches are expected 
to attend, as well as 20 representatives from Churches and ecumenical 
bodies in other parts of the world, 15 young people from the continent and 
five young people from the global community.

The convocation states that we cannot ignore economic globalization 
processes, given their implications in the daily lives of people in Latin 
America and the Caribbean.

We have entered a new century, they added, guided by hegemonic forces of 
nature: a concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a few, material 
and technological domination, a State and society under the control over 
the financial sphere, a degradation of our natural environment and the 
growing exclusion of countries and peoples.

We are called to carry out a profound analysis, to formulate appropriate 
questions and to mutually challenge ourselves to action. It is not about 
proclaiming what is inevitable or the lack of alternatives. It is also not 
the time to seek refuge in false resistance.

While centralization and hegemony are the undeniable signs of 
globalization, diversity and plurality pave the way for action on the part 
of civil society. While economic and financial analysts are the principal 
actors in a market economy, a variety of actors are animating our societies.

While the efficiency, the competition and individualism prevail in the 
logic of a global market economy, spirituality, culture and values based on 
faith reveal a new dynamic in the construction of solidarity networks, he
said.

The aim of the Consultation is that these concerns form part of the agenda 
of Churches in the daily pastoral work, promoting an analysis of our 
realities. The goal is to share information and experiences and to produce 
and distribute documents about economic justice.

At the same time, it seeks "to initiate workshops in formation and training 
at a national level and to motivate the development of local initiatives on 
the part of Churches and to strengthen processes of lobbying in order to 
convert Churches into a public voice."

Ecuadorian Economist Alberto Acosta will present the reality of the 
continent. Then Biblical scholars Nestor Miguez and Rene Kruger will 
discuss the main themes in the Faith, Economics and Society Program: 
Wealth/Poverty, Foreign Debt and Economic Integration.

CLAI Secretary General Israel Batista will present the document "Searching 
for Solutions, Moving Forward," which will serve as a document to lobby 
government and financial institutions in the United States and Canada.

CLAI's continental youth coordinator Ashley W. Hodgson will present a 
document prepared by Latin American and Caribbean youth at the pre-Youth 
Faith, Economics and Society event to be held in Buenos Aires from April 24 
- 27.

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USA
Cuban Pastors in Miami protest condemnation of members of the opposition in

MIAMI, April 16, 2003 (alc). The Working Group of Spiritual Guides in 
Exile, made up of Cuban Pastors and Bishops living in the United States, 
criticized the Fidel Castro government for condemning several opposition 
leaders to 20 or more years in jail.

In a statement, the group said that in its April 8 prayer and reflection 
meeting it agreed to "energetically condemn the new repressive wave 
unleashed by the Castro-communist regime of Cuba against scores of 
dissidents and peaceful opposition, independent journalists and directors 
of civic movements."

"It is not just that the arrests have been unfair, illegal and abusive, but 
the sentences that are being imposed are inhuman and cruel," the
pastorsadded.

"We want our voice of denouncement and protest to reach Church structures 
within and outside of Cuba. This is a time when the voice of those who love 
and serve Jesus Christ cannot remain silent," they emphasized.

The document is signed, among others, by Agustmn A. Roman, Emilio 
Hernandez, Emilio Vallina, Evelio Valdis, Guillermo A. Revuelta, Jacobo 
Guiribitey, Josi Luis Menindez, Lenier Gallardo, Leopoldo Frade, Luis 
Pirez, Marcos A Ramos, Martmn N. Aqorga, Onell A. Soto, Rolando Espinosa 
and Santiago Mateo.

In a televised interview, Foreign Relations Minister Felipe Perez Roque 
said that these people were condemned for conspiring against the government.

According to the government, these people met with the US Consulate and 
received money for their actions. The foreign minister said that other 
well-known opposition leaders like Elizardo Sanchez and Vladimiro Roca are 
free because they were not involved in the conspiracy. Those who have been 
sentenced were not condemned for their ideas but for conspiring, he said.

The Cuban Pastors of Miami called on all "free governments and in 
particular religious organizations to lobby for respect for human dignity 
and reach the Cuban government with a unanimous voice of protest.

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PERU
Street preacher marked Holy Week celebrations

By Hugo Livano
LIMA, April 16, 2003 (alc). When Baptist John Bunyan, Quaker George Fox and 
Presbyterian Robert Brown shook the streets and plazas of England and 
Holland with their preaching a Catholic priest, Francisco del Castillo 
congregated enormous crowds, principally Black slaves and indigenous people 
in a market in Peru's capital.

Del Castillo's sermons (1615-1673) have not been gathered in any books but 
his memory lives on as the initiator of the Sermon of Three Hours, one of 
the distinctive traditions in Holy Week.

The sermon begins at 12:00 and ends at 3:00 to commemorate the time, 
according to tradition, between the crucifixion and the death of Jesus.

The Jesuit Del Castillo is thought to have preached his first three-hour 
sermon in 1651 in the chapel of Los Desamparados, located behind the 
residence of the Spanish Virrey, the block that currently houses the 
government palace.

The idea spread swiftly through the entire Spanish empire and through the 
rest of the Catholic world.

Unfortunately in recent decades it has fallen into disuse, even in Lima, 
partly due to a lack of speakers with enough breath.

The sermon focuses on the seven phrases spoken by Jesus: Father, forgive 
them for they know not what they do, I tell you that today you will be with 
me in Paradise, behold your mother, God, why have you abandoned me, I am 
thirsty, Father into your hands I commend my spirit.

Del Castillo was reportedly born February 15, 1651 in a city of 60,000, of 
which half were Black slaves and perhaps 20,000 were indigenous people.

He was orphaned in 1624 and began to work for Juan de Cabrera, dean of the 
Cathedral. In 1632 he entered the Company of Jesus and was ordained in 1642.

  Since his early years in the ministry he was interested in helping 
Blackslaves and Prostitutes and, as he had to cross the Rimac River to 
teach in the San Lazaro parish he passed by the Baratillo market where 
Black and indigenous people made their purchases.

When he saw these disoriented multitudes, del Castillo began to preach from 
a wall where a cross was standing. This marked the beginning of his street 
preaching, which lasted for the remainder of his life.

In the early years of the XX Century in Lima, famous religious orators 
offered similar sermons in the temples of the city and Catholic debated who 
had been the most eloquent or profound for weeks.

In the middle of the past century Churches began to turn to a series of 
preachers instead of just one, or even distinguished lay people. Today, 
however, the Three Hour Sermon is increasingly uncommon.

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ARGENTINA
Ecumenical Forum creates Social Responsibility Index for Businesses

BUENOS AIRES, April 17, 2003 (alc). The Ecumenical Forum on Social 
Responsibility presented its Social Responsibility Index for Businesses on 
April 9.

The document was drafted by economist Adolfo Sturzenegger as part of the 
forum's objectives to impel and disseminate concepts and actions related to 
the social responsibility of businesses, NGOs and individuals, to recover 
fundamental values and to underscore the importance of organizations in 
civil society and businesses in the transformation of the country.

The forum includes leaders from major companies, NGOs and religious from 
different confessions including Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical, Jewish and 
Muslim.

Participating institutions include: the Episcopal Ecumenism Commission, The 
Evangelical Church of the River plate, the Baptist Church, the National 
Evangelical Christian Council, the Christian Alliance Federation of 
Evangelical Churches of Argentina, The Bet El Community, the Latin American 
Rabbinical Society, the Orthodox Church of Antioquia, the World Baptist 
Alliance, the Christian Youth Association and the Islamic Community.

At the end of last year the Forum proposed a project that would implement 
certification for Business' Social Responsibility (a type of ISO). It 
mandated Adolfo Sturzenegger with preparing a document that would offer a 
structure for the Social Responsibility Index for Businesses, which was 
presented April 9.

Those interested in reading the proposal (in spanish) can write 
------------------------
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