wfn.org | World Methodist Peace Award given to Argentine group

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Aug. 27, 1999 News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.    10-21-32-71BP{439}

NOTE:  Photographs are available for use with this story.

By United Methodist News Service

It was a special night for the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo Aug. 14, as
more than 400 friends and Methodist leaders gathered in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, to pay tribute to the women who have relentlessly pursued missing
children and infants for 22 years.

Estella Barnes de Carlotto, president of the Grandmothers, was presented the
1999 World Methodist Peace Award. Ten original members of the group were
with her.

Before the presentation, internationally renowned musician Pablo Sosa and a
large choir and instrumental ensemble performed. Afterward, choir members
surrounded the Grandmothers in a moving musical tribute and show of
affection.

Those participating in the ceremonies included Argentine Methodist Bishop
Aldo M. Etchegoyen and World Methodist Council President Frances Alguire of
New Buffalo, Mich.

"In their life-saving work seeking lost children, they have shown us a love
and commitment that replaces fear and violence," Alguire said. "They are
signs of God's hope, love and peace."  

Joining her in presenting the award was the Rev. Joe Hale of Lake Junaluska,
N.C., the council's staff executive, and Carlos Amarillo of Argentina, a
member of the council's presidium.

"This award renews our strength to continue our fight," Carlotto said. "We
receive it with gratitude, but at the same time as undeserved, because is it
an act worthy of merit that one day our son or daughter didn't appear and we
will search for him or her as long as we live? Or is it an act of merit that
we will search tirelessly for their children?"

Carlotto expressed gratitude for those who supported the cause through the
years. "We didn't do this alone, but rather we had the solidarity of many,
among them the Methodist Church, that always opened the doors of their house
to us and gave us back our faith in our Father when we were losing it in the
middle of difficulties." Groups she thanked included the United Church of
Canada, the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches
in the United States.

Argentine Methodist Bishop Federico T. Pagura read a tribute to the women in
the style of Proverbs 31: 10-31, which asks, "A good wife, who can find?"

In his version, Pagura asked, "Strong women, who will find you?"

"... [Y]ou are found, tireless, tenacious, clamoring for truth and for
justice; raising the voice for those who have no voice, defending the
defenseless," he said. "They are mothers and grandmothers, who in the middle
of military dictatorship, without weapons, without armor, without shields,
rather, with wounded hearts, throbbing, a consciousness awakened and a will
of iron, left the refuge of their homes to search and defend their children.
... "

The Grandmothers began their work soon after the armed forces of Argentina
seized control of the government in 1976. Between then and 1983, about
30,000 people disappeared. Among them were hundreds of children, plus
infants born in clandestine detention centers. Many of the mothers were
killed and their children registered as belonging to those who had taken
them.  Others were left in institutions as unknown children.

The aim of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo has been to locate the
children, yet only 58 have been found and eight have been confirmed as
murdered. Thirty-three were returned to their legitimate families, and
others are in contact with grandparents, their true identities and histories
restored by the courts.

The Grandmothers maintain an association that includes a team of
professionals, such as lawyers, doctors and psychologists. Each of the
disappeared children has an open case pending. Data from family blood tests
and genetic data banks are employed in the search.

Guests attending the peace award ceremony included the president of CIEMAL,
the coalition of Methodist churches in Latin America, and the president of
the Methodist Church of Uruguay.  Representatives of the Roman Catholic,
Jewish and Islamic communities of Buenos Aires were present along with
guests from Canada, England and the United States.

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