wfn.org | Evangelical Lutheran Church in Italy celebrates 50 years

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

Synod welcomes newly created women's network

ROME, Italy/GENEVA 25 May 1999 (lwi)   The 17th synod of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Italy (ELCI) meeting in Rome from 29
April to 2 May 1999 also marked the church's 50th anniversary
celebrations .

During the Jubilee Synod, Lutheran Bishop Jan Szarek, Evangelical
Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland speaking on "Lutheran
Identity in a Roman Catholic Environment", and Bishop Horst
Hirschler, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover, Germany,
addressing the theme "Lutheran Identity in the World of Today",
introduced participants and invited guests to the uncertainties faced
by a minority church like the ELCI.

At the synod meeting conducted by Ms. Barbel Naeve as president, the
Ispra/Varese congregation, previously affiliated to the church, was
accepted as a full member. The addition brings the total number of
congregations in the ELCI to twelve. A member of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF), the ELCI has some 7,000 mainly German-speaking
members and 20,000 sympathizers in Italy.

The meeting also acknowledged the recently created national women's
network in the Lutheran Church in Italy as "adviser" to the ELCIC,
thereby accepting that the church council will give the group the
necessary financial support. It was also agreed that the ongoing
revision of the church's constitution would enable the women's
network to have one vote in the synod.

The network was launched in February 1999 with the aim of linking all
women together enabling them, among other things, to enrich the
Lutheran church with "our specific way to pray, read and understand
the Bible."

The ELCI synod also discussed the creation of an advisory commission
that would decide on the expenditure of the funds received through
the agreement between the and church and state. Members of the
commission would be drawn from the church's northern, central and
southern regions. According to the 1995 understanding between the
Lutheran church and the state, those required to declare 0.008 of
their income as social tax can chose whether to pay this money to the
Italian state or to a church of their choice.

On the declaration by the church's governing board earlier this year
that Italian Lutherans will not participate in the festivities
organized by the Roman Catholic Church for the Holy Year 2000, the
synod while approving the decision asked congregations not to break
off the ecumenical relations between the Lutherans and Catholics but
instead only distance themselves from the "Holy Year" celebrations.

According to the February statement signed by ELCI Dean Jurgen
Astfalk: "The jubilee should first of all be an act of penitence to
give praise to God alone," avoiding all false glorification of the
church. The dean pointed out that while Rome still bears a special
meaning as a holy city for a large part of Christianity, the
appropriate historical place to remember the birth of Christ is the
Holy Land (Jerusalem). The Roman Catholics had invited Italy's
Protestants to participate in celebrations for the year 2000 jubilee.

At the recent synod meeting, the ELCI also resolved to assert the
church's presence in the Italian society by penetrating the Italian
language publications.

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/