wfn.org | ALC News Service Noticias Nov 3 2003

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

ALC NEWS SERVICE
E-mail: director@alcnoticias.org

ALC HEADLINES:
BRAZIL: Methodist Church will not participate in 2005 Fraternity Campaign
BRAZIL: III Wesleyan Studies Event
CUBA: Christian leaders condemn US blockade against Cuba
CHILE: Chile in the digital age
ECUADOR: Rising speculation about papal candidates but no one mentions 
the Holy Spirit

BRAZIL
Methodist Church will not participate in 2005 Fraternity Campaign

By Edelberto Behs
BRASILIA, October 29, 2003 (alc). The National Council of Christian 
Churches of Brazil (CONIC) sent a letter of support to its president, 
Methodist Bishop Adriel de Souza Maia and asked the Episcopal Methodist 
Church College of Brazil to revoke its decision to not participate in the 
2005 Ecumenical Fraternity Campaign.

At the end of September, the Episcopal Methodist Church College officially 
decided not to participate in the 2005 Fraternity Campaign, organized by 
the National Council of Christian Churches of Brazil (CONIC). They agreed 
to abstain from participating in the campaign because they believe it does 
not represent an ecumenical program, but a program crystallized and 
disseminated by the Catholic Church.

The National Conference of Brazilian Bishops convenes the Fraternity 
Campaign annually and only in 2000 was it carried out in cooperation with 
CONIC member Churches.

The note from the Episcopal College, signed by its president Bishop Joco 
Alves de Oliveira Filho reiterated the ecumenical position and experience 
of the Church as well as its participation in ecumenical bodies, such as 
CONIC and its programs.

The Colleges decision placed Bishop Adriel de Souza Maia, of the Third 
Ecclesiastic Region of the Methodist Church and current CONIC president in 
a delicate position as he said in a telephone interview with ALC.

The decision was difficult for Bishop Joao Alves. The 2000 Ecumenical 
Fraternity Campaign generated divisions in conservative and charismatic 
Methodist congregations, in particular in the Fourth Region that includes 
the states of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo and in the Amazon missionary 
field.

Bishop Joco Alves recognized the fragility of the moment in the Church. 
But we have been able to manage the situation, he added. The note from 
the Bishops College expressed concern about preserving the unity of the 
Methodist Church and in the name of this unity said it had decided not to 
participate in the 2005 Fraternity Campaign.

Bishop Adriel de Souza Maia emphasized his committed to the Kingdom. 
Solidarity and peace, the theme of the 2005 Fraternity Campaign does not 
depend on any religious color. We must join hands in the face of the 
threats promoted by the forces of evil, he said.

The letter from the Episcopal College clarified that Bishop de Souza Maia 
was elected with the support of the College and that he will head up the 
Fraternity Campaign and other CONIC programs. The eight bishops will also 
be at liberty to decide whether or not they will participate in the Campaign.

The CONIC board, to meet in Brazil November 3-4 will analyze and evaluate 
the consequences of the Bishops Colleges decision that will withdraw the 
Methodist Church, one of its members from the 2005 Campaign.

BRAZIL
III Wesleyan Studies Event

SAO PAULO, October 29, 2003 (alc). The III Latin American and Caribbean 
Wesleyan Studies Event began today in the Faculty of Theology at the 
Methodist University of Sao Paulo in Sao Bernardo do Campo.

The meeting, about Theology and Practice in the Wesleyan Tradition: Reading 
from Latin America, is promoted by the Evangelical Council of Methodist 
Churches of Latin America and the Caribbean (CIEMAL) and the Oxford 
Institute (an association of theologians from the Wesleyan tradition around 
the world).

The event, which will conclude November 1, was attended by 42 theology 
professors, pastors, Church leaders, researchers and writers, men and 
women, from 12 Latin American nations: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, 
Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, 
Mexico and Jamaica, was well as representatives of Hispanic communities in 
the United States.

During the opening of the event, Argentine Bishop and Executive Ciemal 
Secretary Aldo Etchegoyen, spoke about the burning heart of John Wesley 
and the rebirth of Martin Luther, with the struggle for life in Latin 
America, during the military dictatorships in the 1960s and 1970s.

Etchegoyen said that this meeting is taking place at a time when the 
neoliberal market system is manifested in a new empire (such as Egypt) and 
therefore there is a need for a re-reading of Liberation theology so that 
it respond to the current economic, social and ecological context.

During the first conference at the event, Uruguayan Methodist Bishop 
Mortimer Arias emphasized that the Wesleyan studies constitute a basic and 
fundamental response to recognize that the Churches from the Wesleyan 
tradition have history and identity and that this history and identity has 
a name: John Wesley.

He said that Wesley represented a convergence of theological currents: the 
primitive Church, the Protestant Reform (anti-Romanist, not anti-Catholic), 
pietism, the Moravianism. Therefore, you cannot be Methodist without being 
ecumenical, he said.  For this reason, Methodist leaders have been 
protagonists of the ecumenical movement throughout the world, he affirmed.

Arias said that Wesley left a legacy of fidelity to the integral Gospel, 
total salvation, and the new creation, elements that were lost with 
mediation of the Methodism constructed in North America, which 
spiritualized much of this legacy and transmitted it as such to Latin
America.

Arias emphasized the need to strip away the label Methodist and to talk 
about the Wesleyan tradition, the Wesleyan people. It is essential to 
join together Churches from the Wesleyan tradition in order to go to the 
sources and to share what has been learned along the way. Research has 
shown that the Wesleyan family is the majority religious group in Latin 
America after the Catholic Church, he said.

The event will also include a series of working groups that will debate the 
39 presentations on the part of participants. These include: the Holy 
Spirit in the theology of John Wesley, by Jose Carlos de Souza, Brazil; the 
Ritual of the Andean Soul in the Day of All Saints,

Carlos Intipampa Aliaga, Bolivia; Proposals to reform the Methodist Church 
of Mexico from a Wesleyan perspective, by Josi Luiz Oyoque Castaqeda, Mexico.

CUBA
Christian leaders condemn US blockade against Cuba

By Josi Aurelio Paz
HAVANA, October 30, 2003 (alc). Cuban Christian leaders, including 
Evangelical leaders, condemned the US trade blockade imposed against Cuba 
more than 40 years ago.

The Rev. Raul Suarez, director of the Martmn Luther King Jr. Memorial 
Center cited the prophet Isaiah when he said: Woe to those who make unjust 
laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their 
rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows 
their prey and robbing the fatherless.

He added that the Church, as part of the people, is not an institution that 
is distant from the problem affecting society  We have also been victims 
of this policy of harassment against our nation on the part of Yankee 
imperialism, he said.

The president of the Cuban Council of Churches, Dr. Reinerio Arce Valentin 
expressed his gratitude for the possibility to meet with government 
authorities to debate a problem that has brought so many difficulties to 
the Cuban people and read Psalm 85 that states: Love and faithfulness meet 
together; righteousness and peace kiss each other

The statements were made during a series of encounters held in Cuba with 
different sectors of the population, prior to the upcoming UN vote about 
the US blockade against the Island.

During the meeting held in the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Marianao, Havana 
a group of Christian leaders met with the head of the Cuban Parliament 
Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada and the vice minister of Foreign Relations, 
Fernando Ramirez de Estenoz in order to analyze what the US government 
measure has meant for the country and its people.

Rammrez de Estenoz gave a conference about the economic impact that some 
people have erroneously called an embargo when it is clearly a blockade.

According to Ramirez de Estenoz, in 2002 alone it impeded US$1.6 billion 
from entering the country and conservative estimates indicate that some 
US$72 billion has not entered Cuba over the course of the blockade.

He then offered a series of examples of how different sectors of society 
have been affected.

For example, he said that the country was unable to purchase Braille 
writing machines in the United States, something he considers a human 
rights violation.

Alarcsn de Quesada, asked that the Bible be removed from the pulpit during 
his presentation because it would be a blasphemy to place this other book 
on it that is not Holy in any way.

He was referring to a volume he presented that contained secret documents 
from the US government in the 1960s that confirm that the blockade was an 
economic war. The documents were declassified in 1991.

He pointed out that there are still incomplete paragraphs or parts that 
were completely eliminated.

  After a detailed explanation about the genocidal nature of the US 
measure, the head of the Cuban Parliament concluded by stating, We have 
heard the economic figures but no one can calculate the human and 
psychological damage that has been caused, because the life of a child or 
elderly person cannot be given a value, human life has no price.

The event concluded with a moment of prayer when participants asked God to 
allow the elimination of the blockade. The UN debate will take place while 
the US senate discusses projects cared toward eliminating laws that impede 
trade and travel to Cuba.

CHILE
Chile in the digital age

SANTIAGO , October 31, 2003 (alc). At a recent seminar Chile, a digital 
country? experts ranged from being fairly optimistic to discouraging. The 
event was organized by World Vision - Chile and the San Sebastian University.

The aim of the meeting, held October 24 in Concepcion in southern Chile, 
was to debate the opportunities and risks that the new information and 
communication technologies raise for national and regional development.

Claudio Orrego, vice president of Business Development and Electronic 
Government for Sonda S.A. and former minister of Housing, said that the 
information society has more to do with networks of people than computer 
networks and he emphasized the need to create social capital, training 
people in new communication technologies.

According to Orrego, 30 years ago Korea and Singapore were behind Chile in 
terms of productivity but today they are far ahead. The comparison is even 
more significant in the case of Finland, currently the worlds most 
competitive nation thanks to the re-conversion of its industry, said Orrego.

Orrego heads up the El Encuentro Foundation, which has created tele-centers 
in poor communities in Chile that provide low-cost training and internet 
access for people of all ages.

Chile must overcome numerous obstacles to join the digital age, said 
Ricardo Baeza, director of the Computer Sciences Department at the 
University of Chile.

He said the Chiles weaknesses include a conservative public sector, a 
private sector that is risk-shy and does no research, a small critical 
mass, the fact that society is slow to adopt new technologies and 
weaknesses in education, training and infrastructure.

Orrego asked why companies are not concerned about Internet and the 
response was immediate: Because they do not consider it to be useful.

Baeza proposed encouraging so-called telecommuting, distance education, 
bilingualism, communication with other cultures and integrating existing 
technology to induce cultural change. On the positive side he pointed to 
the fact that it is now possible to carry out 138 procedures with State 
institutions online, such as the Civil Registry.

Sociologist and director of the Chile Foundation and former government 
minister Josi Joaqumn Br|nner, was pessimistic about the capacity of 
Chileans to take advantage of the Internet.

His presentation focused on the challenges in education as this, according 
to the sociologist, will be one of the areas most affected making it 
imperative to improve the skill of students and professors.

He said that professors would have to be retrained, in particular in the 
Education faculties in universities. Moreover, the classrooms must also 
adapt to include digital formats such as tele-teaching and virtual
campuses.

He also pointed to the broad gap that exists between rich and poor nations 
as well as among Chilean students from the highest socio-economic bracket 
versus the poorest students.

World Vision - Chile is seeking to decrease this digital gap through its 
development projects, in particular in rural zones and in the poorest 
sectors in the country. Each project that it implements in Chile has a 
computer room and Internet access where beneficiaries are able to search 
for information or do their homework.

We believe that the digital gap is a form of social exclusion. Those who 
do not have access to these technologies are outside a swiftly advancing 
world. For this reason we have integrated the digital component into all 
our areas of work, said Carlos Zapata, responsible for the Southern Area 
of World Vision - Chile.

World Vision is an international humanitarian organizations created in 
1950. In Chile World Vision works on 15 projects that benefit more than 
24,000 boys and girls with a total of 90,000 indirect beneficiaries. It 
also develops three special programs: scholarships for students, training 
and development for women and economic development.

ECUADOR
Rising speculation about papal candidates but no one mentions the Holy 
Spirit

By Manuel Quintero
QUITO, October 31, 2003 (alc). The anguished decline of a Pope who marked 
the life of the Catholic Church and the world over the course of a 
remarkable quarter century is taking place against a backdrop of increasing 
speculation about his successor.

What is certain is that papal elections do not always fit the forecasts. 
Perhaps in modern times they are not as startling as the selection of Pope 
Fabian (236-250), a layman and peasant who arrived in Rome on the day the 
new Pope was to be elected. A dove flew and landed on his head and the 
congregated clergy and lay people took it as a sign and he was elected by 
acclamation. However, they are no less surprising.

In 1978 the election of John Paul II, the first non-Italian Pope in 455 
years took experts by surprise, commonly known as Vaticanologists, who had 
been expecting a more traditional succession. Needless to say Karol Wojtyla 
was elected after eight rounds of voting.

No matter what, the art of speculating fills newspaper columns and is a 
gold mine for major news chains who are already calculating how much it is 
going to cost to set up their cameras and microphones on buildings near 
Saint Peters basilica in order to be the first to broadcast the news of 
who Pope John Pauls successor will be.

What does tradition teach us, according to the most conspicuous 
Vaticanologists? That after a long papal period the Church tends to chose 
an older person, moderate, who will ensure the transition. These same 
analysts, however, do not hesitate to say that a young man may also be 
selected who will continue the work of his predecessor.

What is certain is that over the course of the XX Century, the preference 
has been for older men. Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto (Pmo X) was 68 when he 
was elected Pope in 1903, substituting Lesn XIII; Giacomo della Chiesa 
(Benedicto XV) 60; Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (Pmo XI) 64; Eugenio 
Marma Giovanni Pacelli (Pmo XII) 63; AngeloGiuseppe Roncalli (Juan XXIII) 
76; Giovanni Battista Montini (Paul VI) and Albino Luciani (John Paul  I) 
68.

Only Karol Wojtyla differed as he was elected to succeed John Paul I when 
he was barely 58. Given his advanced age, John XXIII was considered a 
transition pope, however, it was John XXIII who convened the new 
Ecumenical Council.

John Paul II will have been Pope for the third longest period in history, 
surpassed only by Leon XIII (25 years and 5 months) who died in 1903 at age 
93 and Pio IX (31 years, 7 months and 21 days) who became pope at age 54 in 
1846.

It is worth recalling that Leon XIII, who became Pope at age 68 with 
failing health, was also considered a transition pope. However, he lived 
for another 25 years, mocking the predictions.

For some, age is not fundamental but rather a return to the tradition of an 
Italian Pope as these prelates have the most experience in managing 
problems related to the papal curia, or the central government of the Roman 
Catholic Church. However, the Italians barely constitute 17 percent of 
cardinals with a right to vote, their lowest percentage in Church history.

The most frequently mentioned candidates are Dionigi Tettamanzi (Milan), 
age 69, Angelo Scola (Venice), age 61, Tarcisio Bertone (Ginova) age 69 and 
Vatican Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, age 76 and prefect of the 
Congregation for Bishops and Giovanni Battista Re, age 69.

Those who opt for a Latin American pope are opposed to this trend and seek 
greater recognition for the worlds most Catholic continent, home to more 
than 50 percent of 1 billion baptized Catholics.

With 25 cardinals from 13 countries with the right to vote, Latin America 
has become the second most influential voting block, following Europe.

The most recognized Latin American candidates include Colombian Darmo 
Castrillsn Hoyos, age 74, Honduran Oscar Andris Rodrmguez Maradiaga, age 
61, archbishop of  Tegucigalpa; Argentine Jorge Mario Bergoglio, age 66 and 
archbishop of Buenos Aires and Brazilian Claudio Hummes, age 69 and 
archbishop of Sao Paulo.

Regarding a candidate who is neither European nor Latin American, experts 
point to Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria. Age 70, he would, according to 
the reigning common sense be a transition pope.

While Latin American continues to be the par excellence Catholic continent 
it is also that part of the world where the Catholic Church is losing 
faithful on a major scale while, to the contrary, Catholicism is growing by 
leaps and bounds in Africa.

Arinze would be the second Black pope in 1,500 years of Catholic history. 
The previous one, Pope Gelasio (492-496) achieved celebrity for compiling a 
list of approved authors that contains works by the Holy Fathers accepted 
by the Church. He also named the Christian martyr Valentin, executed 
February 14 270, Patron of Lovers in a bid to counter arrest the 
fascination that Christian youth had for the Lupercals, a Roman pagan 
festival at the end of the V Century.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the plethora of speculations what the majority 
of analysts seem to overlook is the role of the Holy Spirit, that Spirit 
that clamors Abba from the heart of all Christians and that will preside 
the meeting where John Paul IIs successor is elected.

When that moment arrives, millions of Christians around the world will pray 
so that the cardinals decision be inspired by the Spirit so that the new 
Pope, no matter what his origin, will incarnate a service vocation and a 
commitment to the best causes of humanity.

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