wfn.org | Former LWF President Johannes Hanselmann passes away

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

He was respected by the Lutheran communion and ecumenical community

GENEVA, 4 October 1999 (lwi) - Following the death of former Lutheran
World Federation (LWF) President Rt. Rev. Dr. Johannes Hanselmann on 2
October 1999, the LWF has lost an individual who made significant
contribution to the Lutheran communion and the ecumenical community.

Johannes Hanselmann, who died at the age of 72, was the bishop of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria between 1975 and 1994. He served
as LWF president from 1987 to 1990 and vice-president from 1978 to 1987.

In a tribute to the late Lutheran church leader, the LWF General
Secretary Dr. Ishmael Noko describes Bishop Hanselmann "as first and
foremost a pastor with a remarkable capacity to listen. He enjoyed the
respect of the Lutheran communion and ecumenical community."

Noko adds: "In recent months Bishop Hanselmann and I had exchanged our
thoughts through letters on the importance of the signing of the Joint
Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification and had expressed hope to
see each other in Augsburg at the end of this month to which he was
dearly looking forward. He has played a significant role in advancing
the intention of the Joint Declaration. When its history is written,
Bishop Hanselmann's role will be made evident to its full extent."

When the Lutheran-Roman Catholic project which led to the Joint
Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification was in a decisive phase,
with discussions going on whether the Declaration could be considered as
having reached its goal and be officially confirmed, Hanselmann was
requested by other German bishops emeriti to help in the search for a
positive and satisfactory outcome. This he did.

The general secretary notes that Hanselmann also led the LWF through a
delicate transition period of intense discussions on the nature of the
federation as a communion. "His theological contribution, strength and
pastoral skills enabled the LWF to be where it is today. We give thanks
to God for his life and wish to assure his wife, Mrs Ruth Hanselmann and
her family of our prayers," Noko says in his tribute.

Born on 9 March 1927 in Ehingen/Ries, Germany, Hanselmann studied
theology and philosophy at the University of Erlangen from 1946 - 49.
^From 1949-50, he pursued further studies at the Wittenberg Seminary in
Springfield, Ohio, United States of America, earning a master degree in
sacred theology with a thesis on theological anthropology. Between 1950
and 1951 at the Hartford Seminary Foundation (Connecticut), he wrote his
doctoral dissertation on German scholar Martin Heidegger's fundamental
ontology and its theological implications.

Ordained in 1950, Hanselmann served as a vicar (intern) in Coburg and
later as pastor of a congregation in Grub am Forst. In 1966, he became
director of a church house in Berlin, and in 1974 became Oberkirchenrat
(church executive) for the Bayreuth District. He was deputy bishop of
the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD). The late
bishop served as president of the board of trustees of the Lutheran
Foundation for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg.

Upon his election as the ninth president of the LWF since its founding
in 1947, Hanselmann told a press conference that he would give priority
to the work of the federation - then with 104 member churches
representing 53 million Lutherans worldwide -, in "mission
evangelization and reevangelization." Asked about the contributions of
Lutheranism in an ecumenical context he said: "The more profiled my
Lutheran theology, the more I can contribute to the ecumenical movement,
especially the doctrines of justification, law and gospel, two kingdoms
and the Lutheran concept of freedom." He succeeded Hungarian Bishop
Zoltan Kaldy who had passed away in May 1987.

The then German Chancellor Dr. Helmut Kohl, congratulating Hanselmann
upon his election as LWF president, said the federation had elected "a
calm, balanced, conciliatory theologian as its leader."

The late Hanselmann will be buried on 7 October 1999. He leaves behind
his widow Ruth and their four children - three sons and a daughter.

(The LWF is a global communion of 128 member churches in 70 countries
representing 58 million of the world's 61.5 million Lutherans. Its
highest decision making body is the Assembly, held every six or seven
years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed by a 49-member Council
which meets annually, and its Executive Committee.)

[Lutheran World Information is the information service of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material presented
does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various
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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
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