wfn.org | CORRECTION: German President Rau Greets LWF Council Meeting

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

German President Johannes Rau Greets LWF Council Meeting
Martin Luther Would be Surprised to See the Countries with
Churches Bearing His Name

LWF Council Meeting, Wittenberg, Germany, 10-17 September 2002

Press Release No. 6

WITTENBERG, Germany/GENEVA, 10 September 2002 (LWI) * The
President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Bishop emeritus
Dr. Christian Krause today described Johannes Rau, President of
the Federal Republic of Germany, as "a strong advocate for
worldwide ecumenism as well as for a distinct common witness."

Welcoming Rau to greet LWF Council members meeting September 10-17
in the Luther city of Wittenberg, Krause said the ecumenical and
the global belong together for the 133 LWF member churches in
their continued struggle for a shared and at the same time global
Lutheran confession. Churches could engage themselves in the
globalization process by taking global action for justice all over
the world.

In his address to the Council, Rau said he was happy that the LWF
governing body could once again take place in Germany. [Reformer]
Martin Luther would be astonished if he looked around and saw the
countries in which his name bears meaning.

Rau recalled the beginnings of the LWF through its Lutheran World
Service assistance to refugees who included among others, German
refugees in the United States of America, Canada and Australia. As
an international humanitarian organization, the LWF has over 5,000
staff persons in the field dealing with refugees and responding to
emergencies. The state presdent particularly thanked the LWF for
standing in solidarity with Christians in central eastern Europe
during the Cold War period and making them feel that they were
part of a global community.

Rau also spoke of the relevance of the LWF Tenth Assembly theme,
"For the Healing of the World," particularly in the context of the
recent flooding around Wittenberg. "The recent flood waters showed
us what can happen when the world is not healed," Rau said. The
flooding caused serious suffering. He also recognized that LWF
Council members were coming from other countries that frequently
experience flooding, as happened in Europe when the river Elbe
burst it banks.

In a vote of thanks to the state president, LWF General Secretary
Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko
noted that Wittenberg's global links go back to Luther's own time.
He recalled that Wittenberg already had students from Africa at
the time of the Reformation. Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon
were not well traveled, Noko said, but history records that they
received delegations from different parts of the world. As
Lutherans, we understand ourselves as a reform within the church
that should never be transformed into a museum where sculptures
and quotations replace the living Word of God.

Prof. Dr. Jan-Hendrik Olbertz, Saxony-Anhalt culture minister,
also welcomed the LWF Council to Lutherstadt Wittenberg, a town
that "represents a culture and spirit which extends far beyond the
borders of Germany." He said the theme of the LWF Assembly next
year in Canada, "For the Healing of World," held special meaning
for him.

Considering that the venue of the Council meeting was moved from
Jerusalem, Olbertz said the conflict in the Middle East is proof
of how much healing the world needs. Meeting one year after the
September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States is another
sign of that need, he said.

Staff of the LWF Office for Communication Services at the Council
meeting can be contacted at German mobile telephone No., +49-(0)
170-8345 177.

(The LWF i 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 61.7
million of the 65.4 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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