Title: ELCA, WCC Organize International Conference on Cruelty ELCA NEWS SERVICE
December 14, 2006
ELCA, WCC Organize International Conference on Cruelty 06-197-JB*
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), in partnership with the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, organized a theological conference on cruelty focusing on topics such as genocide in Rwanda and Armenia, apartheid in South Africa, sex trafficking in the Philippines, injustice and cruelty to children, and immigration concerns.
The Dec. 5-8 conference took place in Puidoux, Switzerland. As many as 27 people participated from North America, Africa, Asia and Europe, said Dr. Michael Trice, associate director, ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Affairs. Trice's theological study provided the theoretical framework for the consultation. Other ELCA members who attended were the Rev. Ronald W. Duty, associate director for studies, ELCA Church in Society, and the Rev. Karen L. Bloomquist, director, Department for Theology and Studies, Lutheran World Federation, Geneva.
"The cross calls us not to glorify but to attend to the suffering in the world and to struggle for its elimination," the conference participants said in a statement.
"In reflecting on such structural and institutional forms of cruelty as patriarchy, racism, casteism and xenophobia, participants noted that, as well as being inherently cruel in and of themselves, such structures and institutions legitimize and perpetrate cruelty against the vulnerable and the disempowered," a WCC news release said.
"For more than 2,000 years we have talked around cruelty. It is an ugliness that implicates us and tears the fabric of our societies," Trice said at the conference. "We have gathered here to learn what churches can do to respond to intergenerational cruelty that is created and perpetrated at institutional and structural levels."
Trice explained that the ELCA churchwide organization became a partner in planning the meeting because of its "strong task force for the WCC Decade to Overcome Violence," an ecumenical effort to promote nonviolence, peace and reconciliation throughout the world. In addition, the ELCA's ecumenical relationships were a key factor that led to its partnership in the consultation, he said.
"Cruelty is one of those pieces that has generated a lot of interest. It's one of those topics that we all recognized that we've been talking around for the better part of our Christian heritage," Trice said in an interview with the ELCA News Service.
Participants in the conference were "theoreticians," Trice explained, and people "who were living in particular areas of the world" who could speak to a variety of events and situations in which people treated others with cruelty.
"When we began the meeting, all of the participants who were there sitting around the table made it very clear that we have to talk about cruelty in human life in ways that are tangible and concrete," Trice said. The participants agreed they would miss an opportunity if they didn't talk honestly about the subject and that reconciliation will "pale" if they don't take human experience seriously, he said.
"Of all the things that happened in this consultation, I think the faithfulness and dedication to that task triumphed," Trice said.
As for next steps following the conference, Trice explained that the participants will write a series of reports, based on their discussions, which will be published and distributed by late 2007. The resource is intended for churches to use in their discussions. The reports also challenge the churches "to really engage, discuss and come to a larger understanding of this topic," Trice said. In addition, a Chicago-area higher education institution is talking about organizing a similar conference on cruelty and conflict in the world.
"If we as churches have made a contribution toward informing a healthier public debate and public awareness about cruelty and conflict in the world and the alternatives for reconciliation, then that's a tremendous contribution," Trice added.
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit financial services organization, provided a grant to make it possible for many participants to attend, Trice said.
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Hear comments from Michael Trice on the ELCA Web site at: http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/061213A.mp3 http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/061213B.mp3
A list of the presenters and their papers is available at http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/cruelty-presenterslist.html on the Web.
The WCC Faith & Order study on "Nurturing peace, overcoming violence: In the way of Christ for the sake of the world" is at http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/nurturingpeace.html on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog