wfn.org | Argentine Bishop Receives Award

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (258
notes).

Note 256 by UMNS on Aug. 4, 1997 at 15:40 Eastern (3415 characters).

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Linda Bloom                          444(10-32-71B){256}
          New York (212) 870-3803                     Aug. 4, 1997

Argentine Methodist bishop
receives human rights award

                    by United Methodist News Service

     Methodist Bishop Federico J. Pagura of the autonomous
Methodist Church of Argentina has received the U.S. National
Council of Churches' (NCC) second annual human rights award.
     During an Aug. 1 ceremony at First Methodist Church in Buenos
Aires, Pagura was recognized "for his untiring efforts in defense
of human rights throughout Latin America and the Caribbean."
     The ceremony also marked the naming of the award in honor of
Mauricio A. Lopez, also of Argentina, on the 20th anniversary of
his disappearance and murder.
     Rodney Page, executive director of Church World Service, the
NCC's relief agency, presented the award before an audience that
"was packed to overflowing ... there were literally hundreds of
people in attendance."
     Page said the ceremony also drew considerable media attention
and noted that Pagura is known throughout Latin America for his
long years of activism. "He's  kind of a symbol for the whole
civil and human rights movement," he declared.
     Born in Arroyo Seco, Argentina, Pagura was educated at the
Instituto Superior Evangelico de Estudios Teologicos (ISEDET) in
Buenos Aires and studied as a Methodist Crusade Scholar at Union
Theological Seminary in New York in 1948-49. He also studied at
Claremont School of Theology in California. He was a pastor in
Argentina and Uruguay and also served as bishop of Costa Rica and
Panama from 1969-73.
     In 1977, he became bishop of Argentina, serving three terms,
and also was president of the Latin American Council of Churches
(CLAI) during that organization's first 17 years. He is co-
president of the Ecumenical Movement for Human Rights.
     Pagura has been active in various peacemaking efforts in
Latin America and the Caribbean, including the four church
councils involved in peace talks in Guatemala. In December, 1987,
he led a nine-member ecumenical delegation on a five-nation tour
of Central America to show support for the Arias Peace Plan for
the region. The tour concluded in Washington, D.C.
     This past April, Pagura took part in the 20th anniversary
demonstration of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires. The
group held silent protests against the military dictatorship that
ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, seeking information on missing
sons and daughters.
     During the demonstration, a representative of the Mothers of
Plaza de Mayo that Pagura was chosen for a panel discussion about
the anniversary because "when many churches kept silent, he was a
strong voice in favor of human rights."
     Lopez, for whom the NCC award now is named, was involved with
the Student Christian Movement 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, he was president of Church and
Society in Latin America. On Jan. 1, 1977, he was kidnapped by a
military commando in Mendoza, Argentina, and subsequently
assassinated.
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