wfn.org | EKD's Rolf Koppe in Meeting between Argentina's Christians and Jews

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Urgent Need for Religions to Come Together

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina /GENEVA, 27 October 2001 (LWI) - The means to
continue and further inter-faith dialogue between Judaism and
Christianity, and how to include Islam in the process were the main
topics of a meeting between Bishop Rolf Koppe from the Evangelical
Church in Germany (EKD, the rabbis of Argentina and Uruguay and
representatives of the Evangelical Church of the River Plate in
Argentina.

The meeting held at the request of Koppe, EKD's director for
ecumenical and foreign affairs relations, began with readings from
the Old Testament, and participants prayed and sang together. Among
the guests were Rabbis Daniel Goldmann and Daniel Kripper, of the
Community of Bethel, Buenos Aires, and the New Israelite Congregation
of Montevideo, Uruguay respectively. Pastors Juan Pedro Schaad and
Juan Abelardo Schvindt, president and general secretary of the
Evangelical Church of the River Plate respectively also attended.

Commenting on the difficulties of engaging in a dialogue between
Christians and Jews in Germany particularly in the countryside, Koppe
noted that Germany's history has "been so marked by the holocaust,"
that this has created a climate of guilt which hinders closeness.

The religious communities in Argentina and Uruguay work jointly in
social welfare and human rights areas. There are also academic
exchanges among theological seminaries, which helps establish a
strong foundation and way forward together. During discussions
participants in the meeting stressed the need for the faith
communities to get to know each other and do more to share what they
have in common in order to break down barriers of prejudice, explore
education more comprehensively and hold joint celebrations.

"We need to celebrate together, pray together, give thanks together
and call upon our God together," one participant said. But they all
recognized that there is still a long way to go since prejudices
persist and need to be eliminated.

Participants noted that much as there is an urgent need for talks and
closer contacts among Christians, Jews and Muslims, such encounters
were difficult to organize. "Believers who hold justice, peace and
brotherly love as a common ethical basis for their faith must come
together as a matter of urgency," they noted. Koppe stressed the need
to hold discussions before crises arise, because once disputes break
out, good results cannot be guaranteed.

Others who took part in the meeting at the Olivos parish of the
German Evangelical Church in Buenos Aires included local pastor
Rodolfo Reinich together with the principal of the Institute for
Advanced Evangelical Theological Studies, Dr. Rene Kruger and pastors
Dr. Jeronimo Granados, Armin Ihle and Bruno Knoblauch, of the
Evangelical Church of River Plate.

Bishop Koppe was visiting communities of the Evangelical Church of
the River Plate, a Lutheran World Federation member-church since
1991, which, given its immigrant origins, still has close links with
the churches in Germany.

The EKD brings together 24 Lutheran, Reformed and United regional
churches in Germany. Together with its member churches and
organizations in the EKD maintains multiple relations with churches
and ecumenical partners. There are 140 congregations abroad connected
with the EKD.

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.]

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