wfn.org | NCC Quotables: Earth Day, IMF/World Bank, Armenian Genocide

["Carol Fouke" <cfouke@ncccusa.org>]

4/22/04 For Immediate Release

NCC Quotable Quotes: Earth Day; IMF/World Bank, Armenian Genocide
Anniversaries 

EARTH DAY 2004: "Ever since taking office, the Administration has weakened
critical health standards, especially the Clean Air Act.  (President Bush)
says that moral values are a cornerstone in this Administration, but this
Administration is failing the call to protect God's children. As our Bible
teaches us, whatever one fails to do to the humblest of our brothers and
sisters, one fails to do to God (Matthew 25:45)." - National Council of
Churches General Secretary Bob Edgar, on Earth Day, April 22, 2004.  

He was one of nearly 100 U.S. national and state Christian leaders who signed
a letter sent April 22 to President Bush, expressing their grave moral
concern and dismay over the President's stewardship of America's environment.
 Meanwhile, thousands of U.S. congregations are preparing to celebrate Earth
Day Sunday (April 25), using the new NCC resource "Life-giving Breath of God:
Protecting the Sacred Gift of Air."  For more information, including names of
signatories to the letter, visit www.ncccusa.org 

IMF/WORLD BANK 60th ANNIVERSARY:  "Today, we as people of faith, are gathered
here in recognition of the 60th Birthday of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and World Bank.  We wish it could be a joyous celebration, but it is
not - because the birth of this organization symbolized HOPE for developing
countries, and instead has created a sense of HOPELESSNESS for generations of
children born into inescapable poverty.  So we have a birthday message for
IMF and the World Bank. Our message is: CANCEL THE DEBT!"  National Council
of Churches Associate General Secretary of Public Policy Brenda
Girton-Mitchell, on April 21, 2004.

Girton-Mitchell's remarks were delivered at the April 21 "UnHappy Birthday
Party" sponsored by Jubilee USA and held across the street from the World
Bank's offices in Washington, D.C.  Participants argued that the IMF/World
Bank's 60th anniversary is no time for a party, but rather it's time to drop
the debt that is crippling development in many impoverished nations.  Jubilee
USA collected more than 10,000 UnBirthday Cards from people around the world,
including the President of Kenya.  Jubilee USA delivered the cards today to
Catherine Marshall, Director of the World Bank's Faith Dialogue Group.	More
info at www.ncccusa.org  

89th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: "It is important for us to
remember what happened in 1915 to Armenians, what happened 10 years ago to
Rwandans and what will inevitably happen over and over again if we do not
speak out against injustice wherever it might be found."  NCC General
Secretary Bob Edgar, in his homily at the April 18 "Service of the Repose of
Souls," held at Washington (D.C.) National Cathedral to commemorate the 89th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.  He asked urgent attention to the
Sudan, where a campaign of ethnic slaughter and deportation already has left
nearly a million Africans displaced and more than 30,000 dead.	More info at
www.ncccusa.org 

-end-

NCC Media Contact: 212-870-2252; cfouke@ncccusa.org