wfn.org | LWF President, Canterbury Archbishop Urge Commitment to Peace

[FRANK.IMHOFF@ecunet.org]

Call for Dialogue between Religions

LONDON, United Kingdom/GENEVA, 19 October 2001 (LWI) - Following the
terrorist attacks in the United States of America and the US-led
military strikes on Afghanistan, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
President Bishop Dr. Christian Krause and Canterbury Archbishop Dr.
George Carey have urged churches to intensify their efforts to
promote peace worldwide.

During a 12 October meeting in London, Krause and Carey called for a
focus on intense, lasting dialogue between Christians and Muslims,
including closer collaboration on aid projects.

During a visit to Lambeth Palace, Krause said he hoped the "worldwide
network of terrorism that has shaken us lately may give way to a
network of reconciliation among people." It was Krauses' conviction
that the churches could only confront the current challenges in a
spirit of "Christian responsibility that is formulated and shaped
together."

Krause who is bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick,
Germany, called for a new "morality on the common ability of
humankind to survive." This involves highlighting ethical values
relating specifically to "God's good creation" and the dignity of
life. He expressed hope that the "globalization of the strength of
the powerful" could be broken, enabling a "globalization of
solidarity with the giant army of poor people."

The advanced ecumenical fellowship between the two global church
families became clear in a conversation between Anglican and Lutheran
theologians. In many parts of the world, pulpit and altar fellowship
is practiced between churches from both Christian traditions. In
Germany the different Protestant traditions regarding the
understanding of the church still impede such a breakthrough, with
the most challenging point being different interpretations of the
episcopal ministry.

During the talks in Lambeth Palace the Anglican theologians called
for a clearly defined episcopal ministry. Archbishop Carey, leader of
the worldwide Anglican Communion representing 70 million people,
countered this view saying it was an expression of dominance and
hierarchy. He advocated "leadership by service," stressing the
strongly symbolic meaning of the bishops' ministry for church unity.

(Translated from the German original by Michael Strauss, Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Brunswick press officer.)

The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 133
member churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5 million of the
64.3 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its
member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical
relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights,
communication, and the various aspects of mission and development
work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) 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 units. Where the dateline of an article contains the
notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with
acknowledgment.]

*       *       *
LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
PO Box 2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Editor's e-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
Tel: (41.22) 791.63.54
Fax: (41.22) 791.66.30
http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/Articles/EN/LWI