wfn.org | WCC ASSEMBLY FEATURE Brazilian churches & disarmament campaign

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World Council of Churches - Feature
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 02/05/2005

TO DISARM, BODY AND SOUL:
BRAZILIAN CHURCHES PARTICIPATE IN NATIONAL DISARMAMENT CAMPAIGN

(*) By Juan Michel

      Stories of transformation
      Feature series towards the WCC 9th Assembly
      More articles and free photos in
      http://www.wcc-assembly.info

People going to Brazilian churches these days have the opportunity not
only to free themselves of the weight of their sins but also of their
weapons and the risks entailed in their possession.

In Brazil, civilians possess nearly 10 times the number of firearms as
those held by state agencies. At the same time, the country tops world
figures on the number of gun-related deaths each year. It may therefore
come as no surprise that Brazilian churches are actively participating in
a government-sponsored disarmament campaign aimed at the civil population.
Since the end of last year, Brazilian churches have been mobilizing their
local communities to open stands to receive weapons in parishes and other
community centres. Weapons handed in are then turned over to the government's Voluntary Weapons Collection Campaign.

Inaugurated on 15 July 2004, the aim of the official campaign is to
collect weapons without asking "difficult" questions about their origin.
Moreover, people turning in non registered firearms receive between 100
and 300 Reais (USD 40-120 / Euros 30-90) per weapon, depending on its
type. The campaign was originally slated to conclude on 23 December 2004
and the aim was to collect 80,000 weapons.

However, in November last year, a request that it continue throughout 2005
was submitted by the country's National Council of Christian Churches
(CONIC), which brings together the Roman Catholic Church, the Evangelical
Church of Lutheran Confession, as well as the Catholic Syrian Orthodox,
Episcopal Anglican, Christian Reformed, Methodist and United Presbyterian
churches.

The request was presented to Vice President José Alencar Gomes da Silva
during a meeting between him and the World Council of Churches general
secretary, Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, who was visiting the country at that
time.

"The population needs time to be informed and to decide," said CONIC in
its petition. It promised that if the campaign was extended, "hundreds" of
churches across the nation could become involved. Along with the ecumenical body, other civil society organizations also lobbied for more time. Six
weeks after receiving CONIC's request, the government extended the
campaign to 23 June 2005.

The churches are now determined to make good on their promise. CONIC is
working to bring the number of stands collecting weapons in churches to
nearly 300 across the nation. With that goal, a team of facilitators is
currently holding training workshops in the country's main cities.

The reception points in churches operate on Saturdays in order to
encourage people who are unable to come during the working week. Additionally, that kind of venue encourages those who are reluctant to approach a
state agency to hand over their weapons.

"Many people are more confident approaching a church than a police
station," says Lutheran pastor Ervino Schmidt, secretary general of CONIC.
This is partly due to the image that the population has of the police and
to the fact that nine out of every ten guns turned in are illegal.

Bishop Odilo Pedro Scherer, general secretary of the National (Catholic)
Bishops' Conference of Brazil, estimates that the churches could collect
over 100,000 weapons. The current official goal now stands at 400,000
weapons.

> Caravans and fasting days: anything goes

According to the study "Brazil, the weapons and the victims" carried out
by the Religious Studies Institute of Rio de Janeiro and the non-governmental organization Viva Rio, 15.5 million weapons in the country are in the
hands of civilians. The figure is equal to 10 times the number of weapons
in the hands of state agents. Of those, 8.7 million are illegal: they are
in the hands of criminals or have been sold on the informal market and are
not registered.

The study also determined that more than 38,000 people died in Brazil in
2002 from gun-related injuries. The figure includes the victims of
homicide, suicide and accidents, and according to the study places Brazil
in first place with the highest number of deaths from this cause in the
world. There were 30,242 gun-related deaths in the USA in 2002.

As well as churches, other organizations, like the Brazilian Bar Association, are participating in the campaign. Caravans for disarmament, television
spots and advertising on public transport, flyers and street posters, free
phone lines and even fasting days - anything goes when it comes to
promoting the campaign.

Its promoters are working to extend it to outlying areas and to the
interior. And to focus on youth. "We know of young people in the outlying
areas who want to turn in their weapons but are afraid, so we must reach
them," says Valéria Velasco, coordinator of the Victims of Violence
Committee.

For some critics, the campaign disarms honest citizens and does not affect
criminals. "This is a major misconception regarding its objective," says
sociologist Antônio Rangel, from Viva Rio. The campaign seeks to
"decrease the number of deaths from homicides among relatives, youth
suicides and accidents". Accidents are responsible for one-third of all
hospitalizations due to gun-related injuries.

By removing the weapons from circulation, the campaign also ends up
affecting criminals. Nearly 30 percent of weapons captured by the police
were stolen or bought from honest citizens.

> A spiritual issue

"Whoever lets a weapon into their house has first let it enter their
soul," says Fr Gabriele Cipriani. A Catholic priest and deputy secretary
of CONIC, Cipriani synthesizes the particular contribution that Brazilian
churches bring to the campaign: disarmament is a spiritual issue.

"Turning over a weapon near a church can also be a religious act," says
Scherer. It is "a moment of interior liberation", an opportunity to
"manifest to God our aim to renounce violence".

It is not just a question of reducing the number of weapons, but of
building a culture of peace, says Schmidt. "Above all, we must disarm the
spirits." A special prayer is available for the moment when the weapon is
handed over.

In the short as well as in the long term, the objectives of the CONIC
churches are ambitious.

For the short term, they are lobbying the government to extend the
disarmament deadline to 23 December. In this way, they hope to increase
significantly the impact of the campaign.
They are also stepping up their efforts before a plebiscite slated to take
place on 2 October. Mandated by national law, the public should vote on
the proposal to ban the civilian trade of firearms in the country.

With an energetic lobby in the National Congress and in the Justice
Ministry, churches together with civil society organizations are trying to
counter manoeuvres that seek to avoid or postpone the plebiscite.

"Christian churches have adopted an active and committed position with
civil society in the struggle against the weapons industry," says CONIC
president and Bishop of the Methodist Church Adriel de Souza Maia.

For him, ecumenism needs to take on the major causes of humanity. That is
why he sees a strong link between the theme of the upcoming WCC 9th
assembly in Porto Alegre in February 2006 and the disarmament campaign
that the same churches which invited the assembly to Brazil are now
involved in.

"As we pray 'God, in your grace, transform the world', says de Souza Maia,
"we are encouraged to work for concrete changes to overcome the paradigm
of violence and death that small arms represent. The God-given gracious
gift of life is the paradigm that leads us to action." [1,221 words]

(*) Juan Michel, WCC media relations officer, is a member of the Evangelical Church of the River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Free high resolution photos to accompany this story are available at:
http://www.wcc-assembly.info

Additional information on the web:
National Council of Christian Churches in Brazil (CONIC) http://www.conic.org.br
National Bishops' Conference of Brazil (CNNB) http://www.cnbb.org.br
Viva Rio http://www.vivario.org.br
Desarme.org http://www.desarme.org

[Sidebar text]

9TH WCC ASSEMBLY: PRAYING FOR A TRANSFORMED WORLD

The 9th assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) will be held in
Porto Alegre, Brazil, from 14-23 February 2006. Its theme is a prayer:
"God, in your grace, transform the world".

The first WCC assembly of the 21st century, it will gather up to 3,000
church leaders and ecumenical representatives from nearly every Christian
tradition around the world. As such, it will be one of the broadest global
gatherings of its kind.

WCC assemblies are often turning points in the life of the World Council,
and this one is expected to leave its mark on ecumenical history.
Deliberations will focus on issues such as the future of the ecumenical
movement, the churches' commitment to economic justice as well as their
witness to overcoming violence, and the challenges faced in the midst of
religious plurality.

In Porto Alegre, members of the ecumenical family will be able to gather
around the assembly at a Mutirão, a Portuguese word that means coming
together for a common purpose. Made up of workshops, exhibitions and
cultural celebrations, this part of the assembly programme will offer
opportunities for members of the wider ecumenical movement to gather,
reflect and celebrate together.

This is the first WCC assembly to be held in Latin America, and it is
being hosted by the National Council of Christian Churches in Brazil
(CONIC) on behalf of churches throughout the region. Pre-assembly events
for youth and for women will be held from 11-13 February.

Assembly website: http://www.wcc-assembly.info

[246 words]

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STORIES OF TRANSFORMATION
feature series towards the WCC 9th Assembly

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Stories of transformation is a feature series intended to help Christian
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Each month, articles will focus on various facets of the life of the WCC
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Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect WCC policy.
This material may be reprinted freely, providing credit is given to the
author.

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org

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The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 347, in
more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works
cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly,
which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally
inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by
general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.