wfn.org | Editorial: Women leaders in the spotlight

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3010 Edition

>November 2~8, 2009

>Editorial: Women leaders in the spotlight

>Translated by Lydia Ma

The Berlin Wall was torn down on November 9, 1989. The German  Democratic Republic, also

known as East Germany, was powerless in stopping the masses from  marching the streets of

East Germany, with candles in hand. The communist government  ultimately collapsed in the

hands of weaponless but determined citizens and its power to  threaten citizens with torture

>and death also evaporated overnight.

In 1989, a chemist in East Germany by the name of Angela Merkel  didn’t have the faintest

idea what her future might hold. Her father was a pastor who had  many hopes and

expectations about what a socialist country would be like and her  family had moved to East

>Germany because of this.

During a time when Christians were scorned by society,  Merkel’s outstanding research

abilities set her apart from others and propelled her to  prominence. After the Berlin Wall was

torn down, Merkel began to focus on social and political problems  that surfaced with the fall of

communism. Her efforts led her to join what would later be known  as Christian Democrats

>Union (CDU).

In 2000, Merkel was elected to become chairwoman of CDU and she  led the party for five

years before becoming Germany’s Chancellor in 2005. During  last month’s elections, Merkel

defeated her opponents and won the confidence of German voters  once more and was re-

elected. In the 20 years since the demolition of the Berlin Wall,  a woman proved herself

through humility, experience, and leadership that she could lead a  restless nation through thick

>and thin.

When Merkel was re-elected, the first woman to congratulate her  was 51-year-old Bishop

Margot Kaessmann from Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD) – the  first woman bishop in

the history of EKD. After exchanging congratulatory words, Merkel  reportedly said to

Kaessmann that she was confident Kaessmann would make significant  contributions to

>German society and churches.

Twenty years ago, Kaessmann was a young woman pastor with a  passion for universal human

rights. She was a student of Konrad Raiser, who later became WCC  General Secretary, and

based her dissertation on the challenges poverty would bring to  ecumenism. An eloquent

speaker and a discerning leader, she served in Hanover as bishop  before she was chosen to

>lead EKD.

Kaessman is divorced and has four daughters. She can confidently  retain her position as

EKD’s leader partly because many biases and discriminations  against women prevalent in

German society decades ago no longer exist today. The waves of  democratization and the

calls for gender equality that sprouted across Germany and other  parts of the world in the

1980s precipitated in the fall of the Berlin Wall and the election  of two women, one as political

>leader and the other as religious leader.

The election of Merkel and Kaessman came through tireless efforts  from those who love

justice and equality. May the same determination rub off on Taiwan  so that we may be

inspired and strengthened to overcome the barriers before us.

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