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

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

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CONTENT

PERU: Pastor Rafael Goto, new president of the National Evangelical Council
BRASIL: Anglican Primate suspends Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti
ECUADOR: CLAI Assembly to be held in Buenos Aires
SWITZERLAND : Aram I and Samuel Kobia underscore achievements in the WCC
Central Committee Meeting
BRAZIL: Nampula Police have not discovered who murdered Sister Doraci

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PERU
Pastor Rafael Goto, new president of the National Evangelical Council

By Rolando Pérez

LIMA, Feb. 25 (alc). The National Evangelical Council of Peru (CONEP),
during the assembly held in this capital February 23-24, elected a new
board and approved modifications to its statutes.

Pastor Rafael Goto Silva, secretary general of the Evangelical Church of
the Pilgrims and formerly responsible for the Peru Peace Project, run by
the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI), was elected president of the
board.

Dario Lopez Rodríguez, of the Church of God was elected vice president,
Carlos Jara de Paz of the Assemblies of God was elected secretary and Pedro
Merino Boyd of the Presbyterian Reformed Church was elected treasurer.

Other board members include Rafael Torres, of the World Presbyterian M!
issions, Otoniel Coronel of the Nazarene Church and Juan Inocencio, of the
Association of Evangelical University Groups of Peru (AGEUP).

During the Assembly, the new CONEP statutes were approved and their
respective regulations. Among other things, the Board will now have a
two-year term as opposed to a one-year term.

The assembly agreed that in the next two years the CONEP agenda would focus
on: the development of an advocacy strategy in the field of religious
equality, mobilization of efforts to accompany Churches located in the
Amazon and the development of awareness raising and action work to promote
environmental citizenship.

At the same time, special emphasis will be placed on Evangelism work and
the assembly agreed to strengthen the "In-depth Evangelism Program,"
assuming it as a historic initiative aimed at generating a concrete process
of missionary cooperation.

Rafael Goto, expressing his gratitude for his election said: We have the
responsibility to strengthen CONEP's institutionality, affirming it as an
inter-denominational meeting space for mission, pastoral action and public
presence.

We must continue to affirm the processes of unity among denominational
families, so that diverse traditions can find possibilities for cooperation
and missionary exchange, he added.

On the other hand, participants underlined that CONEP has the major
challenge of continuing to contribute, from its pastoral role, to public
life in the country. In this sense, they affirmed, we will continue
actively participating in citizen spaces and networks that contribute to
ensuring the institutional sustainability of the country, integral
development and the construction of democracy.

We believe that our Churches can make a significant contribution to the
battle against poverty, corruption and injustice, emphasized the Assembly.

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BRASIL
Anglican Primate suspends Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti

RECIFE, Feb. 25 (alc). The Bishop Primate of the Anglican Episcopal Church
of Brazil (IEAB), Orlando Santos de Oliveira issued a resolution February
18 suspending, for preventive reasons, the Rev. Edward Robinson de Barros
Cavalcanti, up until then bishop of the diocese of Recife.

Four days later, the bishop primate designated, also by resolution, Bishop
Filadelfo Oliveira Neto as a Church authority from the diocese of Recife.

Meanwhile, Cavalcanti has convened, for February 26, an Extraordinary
Diocesan Council meeting, that will be held in the Anglican Jardin de los
Olivos Parish, to analyze the denomination and diocesan situation. The
convocation underlines that the delegates to the Extraordinary Council will
be the same as for an Ordinary Council.

In December last year, the Diocesan Plenary decided to suspend relations
with the IEAB Board "as it has adopted positions and actions that
contradict the Biblical revelation and the Constitution and the General
Canon Law (of the Church), affecting the identity and autonomy of this
diocese."

The Association of Clerics and Lay Ministers from the Diocese of Recife
proposed that the Extraordinary Council reject the resolution that suspends
Bishop Cavalcanti. Moreover, it called on the World Anglican Communion and
the Archbishop of Canterbury (England) to adopt measures so that the
diocese receive Episcopal supervision from another Anglican province,
rather than Brazil.

The conflict between Cavalcanti, the IEAB and the primate originated when
the diocesan bishop of Recife participated in a confirmation service with
110 young people held in 2003 in an Orthodox Church in Ohio. The service
was conducted by five Anglican emeritus bishops without authorization from
the local diocesan bishop.

The celebration was requested by the young people who did not agree with
the consecration of Gene Robinson, a declared homosexual, as bishop of the
US Episcopal Church (ECUSA). Cavalcanti participated in the service in Ohio
without informing the IEAB board.

In September last year, Orlando Santos de Oliveira ordered that the
Anglican Diocese of Recife would be under alternative Episcopal
supervision. Cavalcanti declared he would not accept this intervention in
his diocese as it did not have canonic support.

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ECUADOR
CLAI Assembly to be held in Buenos Aires

By Manuel Quintero

QUITO, Feb 22 (alc).  In the second round of a close vote, the Latin
American Council of Churches (CLAI) board of directors decided that Buenos
Aires will be site of its fifth general assembly.

The assembly will be held February 13 - 18 2007 under the slogan "God's
Grace justifies, his Spirit liberates us," inspired by Romans 5: 21. "Just
as sin reigned in death so also grace might reign through righteousness to
bring eternal life."

Central to the CLAI event will be a theological consultation that will
focus on the major themes of grace, justice, the Spirit, freedom and life.

The board, which met ! February 18 -23 received two proposals for the
Assembly: San Pedro Sula, the second largest city in Honduras and the
Argentina capital.

Central American delegates said that holding the assembly in San Pedro Sula
would strengthen the ecumenical movement and theological reflection in this
region.

Delegates from the River Plate region meanwhile emphasized the importance
of marking an ecumenical presence in Argentina, in a situation of tension
where "certain Churches are attempting to take over the right to represent
all Evangelicals before the government and society in general."

CLAI began its ecumenical pilgrimage on the continent in Oaxtepec, Mexico
in 1978, when more than 100 Churches and Christians organizations agreed to
create a Latin American council of Churches.

After a four-year "formation" period, the Council was officially
constituted in Huampani, Peru in 1982. This first assembly was held under
the slogan "Jesus Christ, vocation committed to the Kingdom."

The second and third assemblies, held in Indaiatuba, Brasil, in 1988 and in
Concepción, Chile, in 1995, emphasized the theme of hope because of the end
of dictatorships and the return to democracy on the continent.

In 2001, the city of Barranquilla, Colombia was the site of the fourth and
most recent assembly under the slogan "Free to construct peace," a
testimony of the commitment of Council Churches to the search for a
peaceful solution to the prolonged Colombian conflict.

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SWITZERLAND
Aram I and Samuel Kobia underscore achievements in the WCC Central
Committee Meeting

GENEVA, Feb 22 (ALC). The moderator of the World Council of Churches  (WCC)
Central Committee Aram I underscored that one of the principal fruits of
the meeting was the approval of consensus as a means to make decisions,
which will make it possible to reactivate the presence of the Orthodox in
the life of the ecumenical body.

WCC Secretary General, Samuel Kobia underlined that approving the consensus
method, as opposed to a voting method or approval by majority, marks a
change in institutional culture.

After 50 years (the WCC was created in 1948), the Churches have left
parliamentary methods.	A change in the institutional culture is not common
in an organization that has been in place for so many years, he said.

During this session of the Central Committee, elected at the WCC Assembly
in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1998, participants agreed to continue the activity
of the Permanent Commission on Consensus and Collaboration among Orthodox
and Protestants and to continue dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church and
other Pentecostal Churches.

A new Central Committee, the WCC's governing body between Assemblies, will
be elected at the next Assembly, planned for February 2006 in Porto Alegre,
Brazil.

The 150 members of the Central Committee, meeting in Geneva from February
15 - 22 also support talks to organize a Global Christian Forum, in which
the WCC, Catholic Churches, Evangelical, Orthodox, Protestant and
Pentecostal Churches would participate.

The aim of the forum is to facilitate dialogue about Church unity and the
need for a common testimony.

The adoption of consensus and the agreement to convert the Special Dialogue
Committee between Orthodox and the WCC in a Permanent Committee on
Consensus and Collaboration, are concrete steps to maintain and strengthen
the permanence of Orthodox Churches in the WCC.

In the months prior to the Harare Assembly, the relationship between the
Orthodox Churches and the WCC had turned critical, to the point where these
Churches had decided to reduce their delegations and two Orthodox Churches,
that of Georgia in 1997 and Bulgaria in 1998, had officially pulled out of
the international body.

Orthodox Churches demanded a "radical restructuring of the Council" and a
decision making method that would go beyond simple voting as, given their
numbers, some decision were adopted overlooking their opinions.

The Assembly approved the constitution of a special commission, made up of
50 percent Orthodox representatives and 50 percent designed by the WCC
Executive Committee.

That Commission, during the 2003 Central Committee meeting formulated the
proposal that decisions should be made by consensus and not following
traditional parliamentary norms. This decision was not exempt from
criticism and one of the strongest opponents, German Bishop Margot
Kaessman, resigned from the Central Committee when she did not agree with
the measure.

Kobia emphasized the conversations he has held with Pentecostal leaders
during his recent visit to Latin America and said that a Pentecostal
representation would be present in the IX General Assembly in Brazil. In
this country there has been a significant growth of Evangelical Churches
and official statistics speak of 26 million Evangelicals, the majority
linked to Pentecostal, Charismatic and NeoPentecostal Churches.

During a final press conference, Kobia emphasized the decision of the
British government to impel programs to overcome poverty in Africa, using
the Churches as vehicles as opposed to governments. He indicated that the
Churches have constructed a vast network and have reached the neediest sectors.

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BRAZIL
Nampula Police have not discovered who murdered Sister Doraci

PORTO ALEGRE, Feb 21 (alc). A year ago Brazilian Deaconess Doraci Edinger
was murdered in Nampula, Mozambique but the police in this south-eastern
African nation have not yet discovered the authors of the crime.

However, leaders of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in
Brazil (IECLB)! , that Doraci belonged to, are convinced that there are
sufficient elements to clarify the crime.

The case will be addressed at the upcoming Lutheran World Federation's
(LWF) Executive Committee meeting, to be held in Geneva, Switzerland.

Sister Ruthild Brakemeier, of the Sophie Zink sisterhood, that Doraci
Edinger worked with, based in Sao Leopoldo, Brasil, and the IECLB legal
advisor Lawyer Milton Laske will travel to Nampula.

The two IECLB representatives will participate February 24 - 26 in a Church
Consortium meeting that supported the mission in Mozambique.

Laske and Brakemeier will also hold official meetings with the authorities
who are investigating the murder.

The Brazilian Church leadership hopes that the investigation will result in
the identification of those who carried out the crime and its intellectual
authors and that they be processed.

Fifty-three year old Doraci Edinger was murdered February 21, 2004 in the
apartment where she lived in Nampula, 700 kms north of the capital of
Mozambique, Maputo. She was assigned to the Lutheran Church of Mozambique
by the IECLB. She had been there since July 1998 and was well loved by
local congregations.

In a press note, IECLB president Pastor Walter Altmanm related the murder
of Doraci Edinger to that of Sister Dorothy Stang, missionary born in the
United States but who was a nationalized Brazilian, that took place
February 12 in Anapu, the state of Para.

Both were called Dora and dedicated their lives to serving the poor, he said.

In Altamaria, the Para police arrested landowner Amair Feijole da Cunha,
known as Tato, considered the co-author of Stang's murder.

According to the police, Cunha contracted two gunmen Eduardo and Fogoió.
The crime was ordered by landowner Vitalmiro Bastos, of Bida, who is a
fugitive.

Altmann said he hoped that the Brazilian authorities quickly clarify the
Anapu crime and present those responsible to justice.

"Indignant and moved by the violence we have, however, the firm conviction
that the blood of the Dora sisters was not shed in vain. To the contrary,
it is the seed of peace and hope," affirmed Altmann.
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Latin American and Caribbean Communication Agency (ALC)
P.O. box 14-225 Lima 14 Peru
E-mail: director@alcnoticias.org
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