wfn.org | Churches, government officials discuss Protestantism in Europe

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

Participants say there is need for spiritual values

BRATISLAVA, Slovak Republic/GENEVA, 1 March 2000 (lwi) - "Protestantism
in the Service of European Development" was the theme of an
international ecumenical conference that was recently organized by the
Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Slovak Republic
(ECAC-S) jointly with the Ecumenical Council of Churches of the Slovak
Republic (ECC-SR).

The ECAC-S bishop, who is also the chairman of the ECC-SR, Julius Filo,
delivered the opening speech at the conference whose focus was three
concerns namely democratization, transformation, and integration.
Participants included bishops and representatives of the Evangelical
churches in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Austria, Slovak
government officials as well as several ambassadors of European Union
member countries.

Dr. Karl Schwarz from the Austrian Ministry of Culture gave a lecture on
"Protestantism as a Cornerstone of Europe". The key address, based on
the subject, "Protestantism and the Free Market", was delivered by
Manfred Stolpe, the Prime Minister of Brandenburg in the Federal
Republic of Germany.

The Minister of Agriculture in the Slovak Republic, Pavol Koncos spoke
about "The Perspectives of Slovak Agriculture in the European Union",
while the Vice-President of the Slovak Government for European
Integration, Dr. Pavol Hamzik, based his presentation on the current
situation in regard to European integration.

Many among the 170 participants were interested in Prime Minister
Stolpe's presentation, particularly in view of the fact that he was for
many years a senior representative of the Lutheran Church in the former
German Democratic Republic. Apart from his duties as premier, he is also
active in church issues.

On the overall, many interesting questions arose from the conference and
pointed to the need for spiritual values in the process of European
integration, economic transformation, and strengthening democracy
especially in the case of the Slovak Republic, which is preparing to
join the European Union.

(The two articles from the Slovak Republic were contributed by Boris
Bukovsky of the ECAC-S Press Department. )

(The LWF is a global communion of 128 member churches in 70 countries
representing nearly 59.5 million of the world's 63.1 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 by its Executive Committee. The LWF
secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

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