wfn.org | NCCCUSA AWARD TO BISHOP PAGURA

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org]

NCCCUSA HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the 
U.S.A.
Internet: c/o carol_fouke.parti@ecunet.org

Contact: Wendy S. McDowell, NCC, 212-870-2227

NCC7/30/97 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NCC HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD TO BE PRESENTED TO BISHOP 
FEDERICO J. PAGURA
Second Annual Award Newly Named in Honor of Martyr 
Mauricio Lopez

 NEW YORK, July 30 ---- On August 1, Argentine 
Methodist Bishop Federico J. Pagura will receive the 
National Council of Churches' (NCC's) second annual 
human rights award "for his untiring efforts in 
defense of human rights throughout Latin America and 
the Caribbean."  The award has been newly named in 
honor of Mauricio A. Lopez, also of Argentina, on 
the 20th anniversary of his disappearance and murder, 
and will be presented at a ceremony attended by 
friends of both men.

 The NCC's Committee on the Caribbean and Latin 
America (CCLA) created the award to recognize 
persons carrying out exceptional work for justice in 
Latin America and the Caribbean.  The first award 
was given in 1996 to Dr. Carlos Reina, President of 
the Republic of Honduras.

 This year's awardee, Dr. Pagura, was born in 
Argentina and educated at Instituto Superior 
Evangelico de Estudios Teol"gicos (ISEDET) in Buenos 
Aires, Argentina as well as at Union Theological 
Seminary in New York and Claremont School of 
Theology in California.  He pastored in Argentina 
and Uruguay before being named bishop of Costa Rica 
and Panama.  In 1977, he was named bishop of the 
Methodist Church of Argentina where he served three 
consecutive terms.  He also was President of the 
Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) for that 
organization's first 17 years.  In these and other 
leadership positions, he has been a pastor to people 
who have suffered from war and injustice and has 
encouraged U.S. churches to advocate for causes of 
the oppressed in his region.  He provided leadership 
to the four church councils involved in peace talks 
in Guatemala.

Professor Mauricio Amilcar Lopez was the Latin 
America Secretary of the Student Christian Movement 
(SCM) and became the first Latin American to serve 
on the staff of the World Council of Churches.  
During the last three years of his life, Prof. Lopez 
was president of Church and Society in Latin America 
in one of its most difficult periods.  He had 
accepted the position of Dean of Studies of ISEDET 
but never assumed the position because he was 
kidnapped by a military commando on January 1, 1977, 
in Mendoza, Argentina, and was subsequently 
assassinated.

 The award will be presented to Bishop Pagura by 
the Rev. Dr. Rodney Page, Executive Director of the 
NCC's Church World Service and Witness Unit at 7 
p.m. Aug. 1 at the First Methodist Church in 
downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The ceremony will 
include heads of communions from Argentina and many 
Roman Catholic bishops.  Other expected guests 
include the Minister of Religious Affairs of the 
Argentine Government, Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo 
and several human rights organizations.  The meeting 
also will serve to highlight the need to monitor 
human rights presently under threat in Argentina.

 Throughout the week, Dr. Page and the Rev. 
Oscar Bolioli, NCC Latin America and Caribbean 
Office Director, will be meeting with government and 
church officials in Argentina and visiting several 
projects ministering to street children, women and 
workers.

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