wfn.org | ALC Noticias Dec 8 2005

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

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

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CONTENT

CHILE: We will not tolerate any type of discrimination said Michelle
Bachelet in meeting with Evangelicals
BRAZIL: Methodist Bishop receives homage in Municipal Chamber of Sao Paulo
COLOMBIA: Christian women express concern about increase of violence
BRAZIL: Significant growth in evangelical sectors and people who profess no
religion
BRAZIL: Bishops call on Archbishop of Canterbury to be more decisive in
leadership of Anglican Communion

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CHILE
We will not tolerate any type of discrimination said Michelle Bachelet in
meeting with Evangelicals

Santiago, Dic 2 (ALC). "We will not tolerate any type of discrimination
because we want a country that understands and generously accepts
diversity, a more respectful, more warm and welcoming country," said
Michele Bachelet who represents the ruling party's coalition, in a meeting
with Chilean Evangelical leaders held this Friday in the Providencia Hotel
in Santiago.

In a letter lead to more than 200 pastors the presidential candidate
expressed her identification with "those Protestant leaders who in past
years struggled, even to the death, for freedom, equality and non exclusion
in our beloved country."

Bachelet sustained in a dialogue with religious that "no one thinks that
divorce is good" but insisted that the law is necessary in the country
"because people who have made mistakes have the right to remake their
lives." According to the candidate, the aim of the law is to protect the
rights of women and children "something that did not happen before."

While she did not refer directly to the issue of abortion, highly sensitive
for Catholics and Evangelicals, the candidate touched on it affirming that
"separations are a fact, just like abortions in our country." She added, "I
am in favor of life, for this reason I studied Medicine," she said.

She spoke strongly about same sex unions. "In my government program it is
clear that we will not legislate about marriage among homosexuals," she
said. The Civil Code is clear: marriage is a union between men and women,
she said.

At the same time she announced that what she will do if she is elected on
December 11 is legislate about common law unions "because it is just." The
aim is to resolve a series of civil problems that emerge from those
relationships related to inheritances, common goods, health policies, she said.

She also announced her aim to create an Office of Religious Affairs to
coordinate with all Churches and creeds.

"The objective is to promote equality, to support constituted Churches and
integrate them into diverse projects of community participation," she said,
after emphasizing the need to create Ecumenical spaces in different
branches of the armed forces so that the chaplains can exercise their task.

At the same time, she proposed the creation of a "Conscientious objection"
system to recruits who fulfill obligatory military service until it is
eliminated and replaced by a voluntary service.

---------- BRAZIL
Methodist Bishop receives homage in Municipal Chamber of Sao Paulo

By Marcio Oliverio

Sao Paulo, Dic. 2 (ALC).  Methodist Bishop Adriel de Souza Maia, president
of the National Council of Christian Churches (CONIC) received the title of
Paulist Citizen last Wednesday in the Noble Hall in the Municipal Chamber
of Sao Paulo.

During the ceremony the bishop recalled his childhood and the education he
received from his father. "Create, educate and save. That was the triad he
taught me," he said. He sustained that the Gospel creates, educates and
saves. "This must be the north to experience a more just, fraternal society
that obeys the values of the kingdom," he said.

The title is the maximum distinction given to people who are not born in
Sao Paulo, who live in the city and stand out for their promotion of
citizenship.

In order to grant the title, a Legislative Decree Project must be presented
by an alderman or a member of the Board of the Municipal Chamber. After its
approval, the Municipal Chamber promotes the ceremony, considered one of
the most important in the Municipal Legislation.

According to Alderman Carlos Bezerra, author of the initiative, granting
the Paulist Citizen Title to Bishop Adriel de Souza Maia, from Juiz de Fora
Minas Gerais is a homage to his integral vision of the Gospel. "A vision
that goes beyond the walls of the Church, invades the city and society.

Bishop Maia is one of the references of the Church in our country, the
trajectory of his life and his courage to always defend justice is
encouraging," he underlined.

Adriel de Souza Maia, is bishop president of the Third Church Region of the
Methodist Church, based in Sao Paulo, presides CONIC and the Ecumenical
Development Center (CEAD). He is bishop supervisor of the Bennet University
Center of Rio de Janiero and a substitute on the Food Security Council of
the Federal Government.

In his ministry Adriel de Souza has seen most pressing needs of society. He
was pastor of Methodist Churches, he studied Theology, Philosophy and
Pedagogy and carried out doctorate studies in administration in the
Catholic University of Minas Gerais.

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COLOMBIA
Christian women express concern about increase of violence

Medellín, Dic 1 (ALC). Violence in Colombia is increasingly worse concluded
50 women from different Churches and regions in the country who met
November 25 - 27 in Medellín in a preparatory event for the V Latin
American Council of Churches (CLAI) assembly.

If women from communities of faith are absent from peace processes they
cannot subsequently make any demands, they said, after warming of the
urgent need to support processes of transformation and the adoption of
leadership that understands the difference between conflict and violence.

In Colombia today we have to watch over political processes, when they try
to sell us the issue of "forgiveness" that in reality is pardon, they said.
"Society, and sometimes Churches, have trouble talking about forgiveness
and think that pardon is the same thing. God does not pardon, God forgives.
This implies a change in life, a conversion, they said.

It is essential to ensure that President Alvaro Uribe is responsible for
the commitments signed and ratified in the country regarding human rights.
"Presidents are our employees, not our bosses. We pay presidents with our
taxes, with the growing debt, with the poverty that is exploding
everywhere," they said.

They said that women must overcome a double marginalization, both in
socio-cultural and political terms, as well as in terms of religious
processes and within the family.

Participants appealed to Biblical and theological reflection to deepen
their commitment to overcome violence, as well as the structural violence
of gender that strengthens a "low intensity citizenship", said the Rev.
Judith Van Osdol, continental coordinator of the CLAI Women's Pastoral
Committee.

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BRAZIL
Significant growth in evangelical sectors and people who profess no religion

Brasilia, Nov 29 (ALC). Evangelicals in Brazil, in particular members of
the Pentecostal and neoPentecostal Churches have grown significantly in
recent decades, however, in percentage terms the most explosive growth has
taken place among those who profess no religion, according to the most
recent census.

It is estimated that 15.4% of an estimated 169.7 million people are
Evangelical while in 2000 those who do not profess any religion represented
7.3%. In 1940, when Evangelicals numbered 2.6% of the population, those who
did not profess any religion were no more than 0.2%. As a result, over the
past 60 years that final sector has grown 3,000%.

Rio de Janeiro congregates the highest number of people who said they
profess no religion in the 2000 census - 15.76% and it is also the state
with the lowest number of Catholics - 59.19% when the average is 73.3%. Rio
de Janiero has the fourth highest number of Evangelicals - 13.3% after
Rodonia, followed by Espirito Santo and Roraima.

Palmas in Tocantins is the capital with the highest number of Evangelicals
according to the 2000 Census: 24.51%. It is followed by Río Branco (23.57
%), capital of Acre; Boa Vista (23.15%), capital de Roraima; Goiania (23%),
capital of Goiás; Vitoria (22.18 %), capital of Espírito Santo; Manaus
(22.18 % ciento), capital of Amazonas; and Porto Velho (21.98 %), capital
of Rondonia.

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BRAZIL
Bishops call on Archbishop of Canterbury to be more decisive in leadership
of Anglican Communion

By Edelberto Behs

Brasilia, Nov 28 (ALC). The Chamber of Bishops of the Anglican Episcopal
Church of Brazil (IEAB) sent an open letter to the Archbishop of
Canterbury, Rowan Williams, calling on him to take a firmer stand regarding
the integrity of the Anglican Communion and the autonomy of the provinces.

Signed in Brasilia by the 12 Anglican Bishops that make up the Chamber, the
letter expressed unanimous solidarity with the Brazilian Primate Orlando
Santos de Oliveira in his confrontation with the former bishop of the
Diocese of Recife Robinson Cavalcanti.

The letter was sent November 14 but it was not made public until the 24th
due to the participation of the Archbishop of Canterbury in the South-South
encounter held in Egypt in October. The event was organized by Archbishop
Peter Akinola of the Anglican Church of Nigeria.

Akinola, considered ultra-conservative in the Anglican Communion, sent a
letter to the IEAB in August, canceling its participation in the event,
while Cavalcanti was invited to the meeting.

"We do not understand why the Archbishop of Canterbury did not comment
publicly on our arbitrary exclusion," said the Brazilian bishops. According
to the letter, with his presence and intervention, he legitimized the
declarations that aim to re-invent the Anglican Communion, turning it into
a federation of Churches through the signing of a confessional declaration.
In statements to ALC, Orlando Santos de Oliveira explained that the
Archbishop of Canterbury was always a great liberal theologian. In an
attempt to preserve the Anglican Communion and its leadership, Williams has
not taken a clear position in the conflict in the Anglican Church about the
issue of human sexuality, the autonomy of the Anglican provinces and the
role of the Communion itself.

"This does not help. Historically, the Christian Church was always marked
by controversy," said Santos de Olivera, suggesting, between the lines, the
need for a firmer stance on the part of Williams in this difficult time in
the Anglican Communion.

The Superior Justice Tribunal of the Brazilian Province suspended  Bishop
Robinson Cavalcanti from the Church ministry due to contempt against the
Primate, bishops, the IEAB and for involving himself in the jurisdiction of
other provinces in an irregular fashion.

The conflict between Cavalcanti and the IEAB and the primate dates back to
the participation of the former bishop of Recife in a confirmation service
in 2003 of 110 young people in a Church in the Orthodox Church of Ohio,
United States, by five retired Anglican Bishops without the consent of the
local diocesan bishop.

The celebration was requested by the young people, who were opposed to the
consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson, a declared homosexual, by the
Episcopal Church of the United States. Cavalcanti participated in the
celebration without the agreement of the IEAB leadership.

In an open letter sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Chamber of
Bishops of the IEAB mentioned the reception of Robinson Cavalcanti and 32
dissident clergy from the Diocese of Recife in the Anglican Province of the
Southern Cone, based in Montevideo.

"This contradicts the universal principal of the territorial nature of the
provinces. This is an attempt to structure the Anglican Communion on
ideological as opposed to territorial foundations," said the Brazilian Bishops.
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