wfn.org | ALC News Service - March 19, 2005 Argentina Brasil Cuba Bolivia

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

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

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CONTENT

ARGENTINA: Network of Lay Centers Convenes Course in Lima
BRASIL: Disappointment sparks believers' pilgrimage, said Pastor
CUBA: Cuban head of parliament slams treatment Cardinal Ortega received in
Miami
BRASIL: Pastors voice support for farmers and pray for rain
BOLIVIA: Evangelical Speak Out Against Sexual Rights Law

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ARGENTINA
Network of Lay Centers Convenes Course in Lima

BUENOS AIRES,  March 18 (ALC). In order to reflect on economic justice and
analyze alternative economic experiences, the Network of Lay Centers from
the Southern Cone convened the IV Regional Course to take place May 16 - 28
in Lima, Peru.

The theme of the course will be "Citizenship and a Solidarity Economy:
Constructing Peace and Justice." Some 30 people from different centers and
organizations around the region are expected to attend.

Key themes include: Faith and Solidarity Action; Economic Models and
Citizenship and Economics. Speakers include: Martín Ocaña, Vicente
Woodruff, Carmen Lora, Javier Iguíñiz, Humberto Ortiz, Pepi Patrón, Carmen
Vildoso, among others.

The current economic model, a triumphant and devastating capitalism,
imposes economic behavior and patterns that serve to affirm the power of
those who manage the resources with the sole purpose of accumulating the
maximum benefit possible, said the invitation.

This dominant attitude means that the economy loses its main purpose: that
all human beings have access to different economic goods for a just and
dignified life.

There are, however, alternative economic management experiences that are
not dominate but community based, which generate solidarity and therefore
inclusion.

Moreover, there are some voices from Christian communities that demand a
change in economic relations and in the final destiny of the benefits of
economic activity, stated the document.

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BRASIL
Disappointment sparks believers' pilgrimage, said Pastor

SAO PAULO,  March 17 (ALC).  Disappointment leads many Evangelical
believers to migrate from church to church in major Brazilian cities, said
Pastor Romeiro, of the Trinity Christian Church in this capital.

Christian evangelicals who drift from church to church and form part of the
so-called churchless group movement constitute a phenomenon that
sociologists call "religious transit."

"These are people attracted to a Church with promises of becoming rich, of
recovering their health, resolving all their problems. When their
expectations are not met, they feel frustrated," Romeiro told the magazine
Eclesia.

When they become disillusioned with one church, they look for another. In
the major cities, said Romeiro, there is a significant number of
Evangelicals who constantly move from church to church.

Romeiro presented this idea in order to obtain his doctorate in theology.
The work will shortly be published by the Mundo Cristiano publishing house
in a book called "Disillusioned with grace - Hopes and Frustrations in the
Brazilian Neo-Pentecostal."

The so-called "faith nomads" said Romeiro seeks immediate answers to their
problems and "now that we live in an era of speed, if the responses do not
come quickly the subject swiftly turns to another Church."

People attracted to the Neo-Pentecostal Churches seek wealth, healing and a
solution to their problems, that range from a lack of money to finding a
job. These are the promises offered by the theology of prosperity.

According to the theology of prosperity, said Romeiro, the believer "should
live in a mansion, have several cars, lots of money and never get sick.
When this does not happen it is because of a lack of faith or because they
are living in sin or under the dominion of Satan."

Currently, said the pastor, many people in Church are motivated by emotion
as opposed to reflection. The theology of prosperity and its emotional
climate seek support in the media, something that Neo-Pentecostal Church
uses very well.

"I think the main factor in the growth of the Neo-Pentecostal movement is
its major investment in the media and its success in placing the Church in
the market and the marketing policies used by the Church," he said. This
explains the growth of the main Neo-Pentecostal Churches in Brazil,
something that will likely last for some time, although it has lost some of
its impetus, he added.

Romeiro noted that "to the extent that the faithful are disillusioned with
the message and the lack of ethics of some Neo-Pentecostal segments, many
will return to the Bible.  Christian Churches should be prepared to recei!
ve and help these people," he recommended.

Neo-Pentecostalism, he concluded is "vigorous in its Evangelizing actions,
in its capacity to group people together, but is very fragile in its
disciplinary action."

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CUBA
Cuban head of parliament slams treatment Cardinal Ortega received in Miami

By Enrique López Oliva

HAVANA,  March 16 (ALC). Ricardo Alarcón, the head of the Cuban parliament,
said the way Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamin was treated in Miami last
February 25 showed "a lack of respect."

On that day, the cardinal and head of the Cuban Catholic Bishops Conference
was detained for three hours in the Miami airport and officials tried to
open a file on him as a "dangerous" person.

In the first official Cuban protest about the incident, Alarcon said there
had been other incidents involving Cuban Catholic Church authorities.

While he said that he only knows what happened to Cardinal Ortega because
of what was reported in Miami and the comments made by the Catholic
hierarchy in Havana, "it evidently seems to be a lack of respect."

This lack of respect, said Alarcón, was not just toward his religious
investiture but also toward a person attempting to make a completely legal,
normal journey. Moreover, to his knowledge the Cardinal was carrying a
diplomatic passport issued by the Vatican.

As a result the lack of respect on the part of North American authorities
also reached Rome. It is important to take into account that this took
place within a context where repressive activity in this and other airports
was being stepped up in the United States, added Alarcon.

He said that, in his opinion, "it is an unacceptable situation and the
least the North American federal government should do is apologize to the
Cardinal and made an attempt to discipline the officials that committed
this act."

Alarcón also said that the government would not grant national television
access to Catholic opposition leader Osvaldo Paya, coordinator of the
Christian Liberation Movement, an organization that is not legally recognized.

Paya had requested that the authorities give him television access to
question the current Cuban electoral process, which he said was
"anti-democratic."

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BRASIL
Pastors voice support for farmers and pray for rain

SAO LEOPOLDO,  March 15 (ALC).	Synod pastors and Evangelical Church of the
Lutheran Confession of Brazil (IECLB) leadership publicly expressed their
support and solidarity with farmers from southern Brazil who are suffering
the consequences of the worst drought since 1943.

The lack of rainfall has devastated farming in this region and led to
higher unemployment in the cities, they said.

"There is a great deal of frustration, suffering, anguish regarding the
future. As a Church, with many affected members, we share these feelings,"
according to a letter signed by IECLB Pastor President Walter Altmann.

IECLB Synod Pastors and its presidency met in Sao Leopoldo March 8 - 11.

The letter from the IECLB leaders also included words of encouragement.
While the lack of water has seriously damaged the countryside, the rains
will return and "will be the starting point for a new beginning, for better
days in the future. In this sense, our position is a call to perseverance
and faithfulness," said the pastors.

The Beatitudes tell us that God's blessings "always prevail over all forms
of suffering," said the synod pastors and the IECLB presidency. They also
prayed to God to bring the rain so that the land produces the food that
people need.

The lack of rain has hit hard at the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Of 496
state municipalities, 409 were declared under a state of emergency due to
the drought and 54 are rationing water. The drought has affected 93 percent
of Rio Grande do Sul's territory.

According to the state crop supply agency Emater, 61 percent of soy crops
have been lost, 55 percent of corn crops have been lost and the potatoes
harvest in the highlands has dropped to 17.5 tonnes per hectare down from
25 tonnes last season

Farming losses in Rio Grande do Sul are thought to run as high as $1.6
billion. (END).

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BOLIVIA
Evangelical Speak Out Against Sexual Rights Law

LA PAZ,  March 15 (ALC). A significant number of Churches held an
Evangelical meeting March 12 to oppose a so-called sexual and reproductive
rights law that they say legally recognizes homosexuality, promotes
abortion and contains other clauses that could contribute to family breakdown.

The legal bill has sparked polemic in the country since it went before
Congress last year. Among other things, Catholics for Free Choice sent
letters to President Carlos Mesa and Congress, lobbying for the swift
passage of the law.

Presenting themselves as "people of faith and leaders of the religious
community" they said that they unanimously applauded the approval of the
General Law on Sexual and Reproductive Rights. The law was approved by both
the Chamber of Deputies and by Senate.

President Mesa, however, decided not to rubber stamp the law but sent it
back to Congress for further review, something that "profoundly concerned"
the Catholic organization.

According to the group, the  law will contribute "preventing discrimination
against women, ensuring access to sexual and reproductive health for the
entire Bolivian population and ensuring that the State is fulfilling its
role to guarantee these rights for all citizens."

The meeting last Saturday brought together more than 1,600 people in the
Los Heroes de la Paz square and was convened by the National Association of
Evangelicals (ANDEB) and by the United Evangelical Churches (IEU). The
Parents Federation from El Alto also participated and delegations from
Evangelicals schools.

Pastor Johnny Dueri, ANDEB representative, said in his intervention. "We
are living through times of change on our planet, some changes are for the
better but some are for the worse. One of the changes for the worse is the
so-called "modernism," that "modern" nations attempt to impose on so-called
"Third World" nations as Bolivia is catalogued.

Dueri emphasized that the first article of the law states that the
"Bolivian state recognizes everyone without distinction of age or sexual or
other option, has the right to sexual enjoyment."

This "sexual option" could refer to any deviation or perversion of the
human being, he said.  The Bolivian state cannot recognize the right to
such deviations nor can it impose its acceptance of this behavior on rest
of Bolivian society, said the pastor.

He maintained that the law promotes abortion, seeks to separate children
(adolescents and young people) from their parents under so-called "sexual
confidentiality" clause and tends toward the reconstruction of the roles of
men and women.

The evangelical meeting was broadcast on several radio stations and at the
end participants signed a petition lobbying Congress to reject the law.

The bill has been pending promulgation since last year. Letters sent to the
president and to Congress by the Catholic organization in September last
year state that men and women must have access to information and services
in order to act in a moral and responsible way regarding their sexual behavior.

They state that Bolivia has the highest level of maternal mortality in the
South America (230 per 100,000 births) and that 27 percent of the
population has no access to birth control.

Moreover, they argue that a modern and plural democracy must gather "the
opinion and voices of all sectors of society rather than giving greater
weight or credibility to any group in particular."
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