wfn.org | Palestinian Bishop Urges Lutheran Communion to Support Catholic

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

Palestinian Bishop Urges Lutheran Communion to Support Catholic Day of
Prayer, Fasting for Peace
December 22 Call for Urgent Action to End Conflict in Holy Land

JERUSALEM/GENEVA, 20 December 2004 (LWI) * Palestinian Lutheran Bishop Dr
Munib A. Younan has called on the global Lutheran communion and its partners
to support an initiative of the Roman Catholic bishops in the Middle East and
Africa to observe Wednesday, December 22 as a day of fasting and prayer for
Israel and Palestine. 

In statement signed by 22 bishops attending the October 11-16 Conference of
Bishops of the Region of North Africa and the Conference of Latin Bishops in
the Arab Regions in Rome, the Roman Catholic leaders called on Christians
worldwide to do more to show commitment for peace in the Holy Land. 

Against the backdrop of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Younan, head of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (ELCJ) and vice-president of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) for the Asia region, reiterates the Catholic
bishops conviction that the churches can do still more. "If all the churches
of the world recognize their duty toward the Holy Land, and if they all join
together in common and concerted action to sensitize their governments, their
people and the international community, their intervention will become a
decisive factor in the attainment of justice, peace and reconciliation in the
Holy Land," he asserts.

His plea for solidarity to Christian churches stresses the need to relieve
suffering on all sides of the conflict. "We do not call you to take one side
against the other. On the contrary, we want you to help both sides find the
way to reconciliation."

On the conflict, he affirms: "The situation has dragged on for many years
now, and requires, today more than ever, action to put an end to the
sufferings of all inhabitants of this land, Jews, Christians and Muslims, who
have become equally incapable of ending the conflict, fettered as they are in
a spiral of cruel and irrational violence."

In the context of Advent and Christmas, Younan concludes: "We believe that
the babe of the manger in Bethlehem will hear the yearnings of every
suffering person and will transform the hearts and minds of peoples and
politicians toward justice, peace, forgiveness and reconciliation for Christ
is our only hope in our troubled Middle East."

The 3,000-member ELCJ has congregations in Israel, Jordan and Palestine. (400
words)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138 member
churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of nearly 65
million Lutherans. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of
common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith 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 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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