wfn.org | ALC News Service 27 July 2003

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

ALC NEWS SERVICE
E-mail: director@alcnoticias.org

ALC HEADLINES:
CHILE: Evangelical leader speaks out against a group that burned a replica 
of a virgin
MEXICO: Event on poverty and integral mission begins in Chiapas
CHILE: Divorce law likely to be approved next week
PERU: Peruvian theologian criticizes globalization and defends Liberation 
Theology
GUATEMALA: Supporters of (ret) General Rios Montt provoke chaos in the
capital

CHILE
Evangelical leader speaks out against a group that burned a replica of a
virgin

SANTIAGO , July 22, 2003 (alc). Pentecostal bishop and president of the 
Committee of Evangelical Organizations (COE)  Francisco Anabalsn rejected 
the attitude of the Valientes de David who burned a replica of the Virgin 
of Carmen last week.

Anabalon told the daily La Estrella that the groups attitude is different 
from the majority of Evangelical Churches and is based on an erroneous 
interpretation of the Bible.

He said that the fundamentalist group Valientes de David is a movement 
that considers itself a ministry and therefore we do not have jurisdiction 
over them. We can orient them and exhort but that is the extent of our 
authority.

He said that the group is originally from Concepcisn, in southern Chile and 
received publicity for its evangelical trips to the Rio Carnaval and its 
evangelical incursions into the Red light district in the capital of the 
Eighth Region but we do not have contact with them.

In statements to the Terra web site, Carlos Adams, founder of the Los 
Valientes de David, said that the Catholic Church is irresponsible and is 
pushing the faithful to hell by promoting the adoration of religious images 
that he dubbed idols.

Adams, age 52, has been leading this fundamentalist group for the past 
three years, added that his movement is not repentant of its action, 
something Catholic bishops said was a sacrilege.

We went to La Tirana (the place where the incident took place) and we 
preached. Burning the figure is part of our sermon. No image was taken out 
of the Church and no one was injured. All we did was buy some balloons, 
paint them and put them there. The Church believes that it is the virgin of 
who knows what. For them, anything worthy of adoration is the Virgin, said 
Adams.

Bishop Anabalon said that as a COE authority, an entity that groups 
together 97 percent of Chilean Evangelical Churches, he does not recognize 
the authority of the group lead by Adams and called on it to act with wisdom.

He said that given that the Evangelical religion is the main religious 
minority in the country, with 18 percent of the Chilean population, it is 
unfortunate the incidents take place that have a negative impact on the 
historic efforts carried out by Churches.

We suffered many years of discrimination, we struggled for a legislation 
that will help Churches have legal status, he said. He added that there is 
a relationship of respect between the Evangelical world and the Catholic 
Church.

Anabalon said that the Evangelical world believes everything that the 
Bible says about the Virgin Mary. Our attitude is one of respect, he said. 
However, he also recalled that for Christians there is only one God and the 
way to God is through his Son Jesus Christ.

He recalled that Adams, with the Valientes de David traveled to the Rio de 
Janeiro Carnival last February and were insulted by homosexual groups when 
they interrupted parades with signs in English, Spanish and Portuguese that 
said no to drugs and prostitution.

The police recommended that we leave but stayed another half an hour, until 
a group of homosexuals began to insult us, tried to break our signs and 
said that we should go back to our Churches, said Adams.

Despite everything, Adams said they hope to return to the Carnival next 
year and they also plan to travel to the famous red light district in 
Amsterdam where they will offer Gods message in 10 languages. In the red 
light district in Concepcion they have also faced conflict for their 
preaching.

MEXICO
Event on poverty and integral mission begins in Chiapas

By Carlos Mondragsn
July 22, 2003 (alc). Theologian Rene Padilla emphasizes the need to read 
the Bible on a par with reality in order to understand the problem of 
poverty from an integral vision. Padilla made this affirmation in a public 
conference in Chiapas about the Integral Mission of the Church in the face 
of poverty in Mexico.

Regarding the causes of poverty, Padilla manifested that several false 
explanations have become popularized. For example, some people say that the 
poor are poor because they do not work. Those who think this way, said 
Padilla, never say anything about the causes that generate poverty such as 
unemployment and low salaries.

The other false explication is racist, which bases poverty on the race the 
person belongs t, implying that some races are inferior and unable to 
overcome their condition.

A third explanation is theologian, which justifies poverty with Biblical 
arguments and as a curse from God. The counterpart to this is that wealth 
is a synonym of Gods blessing, concluded the writer in a clear reference 
to the questioned theology of prosperity.

Based on Biblical teaching, said Padilla, the poverty is not because of 
social class or race, it is not Gods curse or blessing. Poverty is 
explained by the unjust structures in society, he concluded.

For the Ecuadorian theologian, much of the wealth accumulated today is due 
to the exploitation, oppression, injustice and abuse of power, and all of 
this is clearly condemned by the Bible, he affirmed.

He added that the current problem is not the lack of wealth in Latin 
America but its unjust distribution.

On the other hand, Padilla manifested that in many cases Christian Churches 
have been accomplices to the injustices that are committed in the world. 
They forget that to be a people of God is to be in tune with the demands 
of a God who is revealed as a God of justice. And what is justice? Justice 
is related to correcting everything that is unjust, he added

During the inaugural conference, Padilla also referred to the use of lies 
that are promoted at a world scale and are promoted by governors from major 
powers to justify war. He pointed to the case of the US invasion of Iraq 
and what he termed the false justification of President George Bush.

  It doesnt matter how many lies there are, sooner or later all the 
falsehood regarding what he said to justify the Iraq invasion will be 
discovered, he concluded.

The conference in Chiapas has been convened, among other organizations, by 
the Latin American Theological Fraternity, the Ministerial Evangelical 
Alliance of Chiapas, the State Council of Evangelical Churches of Chiapas, 
the Kairos Foundation of Argentina, the Community of Christian Students, 
the General Assembly of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico.

The event will continue until July 25 with forums about the social 
framework of poverty, responsible citizenship and political participation. 
There will also be workshops about the experiences of integral mission, 
poverty and the indigenous world, cultural diversity and human rights.

CHILE
Divorce law likely to be approved next week

SANTIAGO , July 24, 2003 (alc).  If there are no last minute complications 
next week Chile will no longer be one of the few countries in the world 
where it is not possible to legally end a marriage.

Senate is slated to vote on a bill next week to modify the civil registry 
law that will establish divorce.

A long and sometimes heated battle in legislative chambers took place 
before the Constitution, Legislation and Justice Commission drafted the 
final text and published it for discussion.

The Catholic Church has been tenaciously opposed to the legal bill, stating 
it will affect marital stability and the family as the foundation of society.

Cardinal and Archbishop of Santiago, Francisco Javier Errazuriz reiterated 
this week his opposition to the project and said that the clause that makes 
it possible to obtain a divorce at the request of one of the involved 
parties is the most absolute incoherence.

The Archbishop of Puerto Montt, Cristian Caro called on Catholic senators 
to be guided by the ideas of the Church and to vote against the project. He 
said it was important that they meditate on their decision and do 
everything possible to strengthen the family, he warned.

While a significant part of public opinion and legislators are in favor of 
the project, there are also many who reject it There is also no unanimity 
in the Evangelical Church.

Pentecostal Bishop Francisco Anabalon, leader of the Committee of 
Evangelical Organizations (COE) told Evangelical Radio Armonias virtual 
service, While there is no unanimity among the Evangelical people, I think 
the great majority is in favor of the divorce legislation.

There is a need to make a clear distinction between Gods ideal and mans 
reality. Which is to say, God made man and women in a clear union but 
mans disobedience, the earthly reality, changes this, he said.

Anabalon said that in a situation where there is no divorce, many people 
turn to legal arguments to obtain the annulment of their marriages. 
Annulment is a fraud that we are all aware of. I think we need to be 
sincere regarding this situation and call things by their name, he said.

For example, under the law, the official who presides the marriage ceremony 
must have resided for at least three months in the district where one of 
the contracting parties lives. Therefore, she or he present witness that 
indicate they in fact lived somewhere else, paving the way to declare the 
marriage illegal and therefore null.

Juan Alberto Rabah said that the goal is to provide a legal framework for 
divorce. Among other things this means that the man will be obligated to 
provide financial assistance to his family, something that is not the case 
when a marriage is annulled.

Moreover, the law introduces the condition of being divorced into the civil 
registry. Prior to this, when the marriage was annulled both parties 
resumed their civil status as single.

The new law on civil marriage also establishes that the couple can go 
through a reconciliation process; where intermediaries intervene that seek 
to restore the marriage. The periods fluctuate between three to five years.

PERU
Peruvian theologian criticizes globalization and defends Liberation Theology

LIMA, July 25, 2003 (alc).  I have never been a communist. But, nor do I 
agree with a society that increasingly excludes and marginalizes an 
important part of the world population, said Peruvian theologian Gustavo 
Gutierrez, in an interview published in the daily El Comercio.

This is what happens today, given the way globalization is carried out. It 
could be implemented in another way. In the Bible and the theology we have 
tried to do in Latin America, poverty is not reduced to its political 
dimension, he said.

Regarding Liberation Theology, Gutierrez said It was not satanized by the 
Vatican (although some would have wished), nor did it take theories from 
Marxism.

What is true is that we seek to speak about the scandal of poverty with 
clarity. This means analyzing the social reality and indicating the causes 
of this inhuman situation, a point that John Paul II has emphasized, he said.

The greatest hostility to the options this theology proposes are found in 
certain political and military sectors in Latin America: this was the case 
of the murder of Msgr. Arnulfo Romero, he said. The Bishop of San Salvador 
was assassinated by a military commando March 24, 1980.

On innumerable occasions the Pope has affirmed his commitment for social 
justice, it is intrinsic to Evangelization and he has once again used the 
expression preferential option for the poor, he said.

Regarding his relationship with the Catholic hierarchy, he said that he has 
an excellent relationship with the Order of Santo Domingo that he now 
belongs to. He also said he was grateful for the generous note sent by the 
Peruvian Bishops Conference when he was granted the Principe de Asturias 
award.

This does not mean that there are people in the Church who, legitimately, 
have different theological positions than mine, he added.

Regarding the conflictive situation in the current world, Gutierrez said, 
I think rather than the religious factor, in the case of the Iraq 
invasion, economic and political factors have been the motive.

Gutierrez noted that Peru is a country with painful historic 
mis-encounters and enormous inequalities. A good part of our population is 
essentially invisible. For this reason they were the first figures of the 
cruel and bloody violence we have experienced in recent decades.

In this sense, he added, the work of the Truth and Reconciliation 
Commission will offer a highly significant contribution Members of the 
commission have offered their report by the end of August.

GUATEMALA
Supporters of (ret) General Rios Montt provoke chaos in the capital

CITY OF GUATEMALA, July 25, 2003 (alc). Responding to a call from their 
leader, former president and retired Gen. Efrain Rios Mont, hundreds of 
demonstrators, many armed with sticks and machetes, marched through the 
streets of this capital and provoked chaos in the capital.

Rmos Montt called on his followers to demonstrate against a possible ruling 
from the Supreme Court against his candidacy in upcoming Nov. 9 
presidential elections. Rios seeks to run on Frente Republicano 
Guatemalteco (FRG) ticket.

The majority of democratic institutions, Catholic and Evangelical Churches, 
individuals and human rights organizations are opposed to his candidacy. 
They argue that under the Guatemalan Constitution someone who spearheaded a 
coup is barred from running. Moreover, the 18 months he was president, 
after overthrowing the constitutional president in 1982, he committed 
numerous human rights violations.

Journalist Maya Cu of the Women on the Air network described the situation: 
This morning a helicopter over flew the area where I work. Radio and 
television reported violence. Later, the first death, a television 
journalist, Hector Ramirez. Helicsptero. Lack of security. Crowds chasing 
journalists. Attacks on businesses. Schools closed for the emergency

Indignant, Victor Hugo De Leon, spokesman for the Association of Guatemalan 
Journalists, called on people to stop the violence. It is not possible 
that those who support a political party and a genocide provoke this chaos. 
It is horrible that we return to the past. We, as old journalists, have 
lived and we know what it means when a vehicle without plates stops in 
front of us. That is what just happened.

  The rage, the uncertainty, the fear, the mourning, the pain, have once 
again taken hold of this country, added Maya Cu.

The journalist recalled that in 1982 she was 13 and studying in the Enrique 
Gomez Carillo Institute. When we returned from recess there were 
helicopters flying over the institute. Soldiers passed. A few minutes later 
they made us go home. We saw the streets filled with military police.

When we arrived home our mothers, sisters, grandmothers and aunts were 
waiting in the streets. In the afternoon we know that Gen. Efrain Rios 
Montt had taken power through a coup.

Later there were curfews, state of siege and intensified violence. This 
morning I felt the same fear I felt when I was 13 when I heard the news, 
while a helicopter flew over the area where I work, she said.

Gen. Rios Montt is the current president of Congress. He wants to be 
president of Guatemala. In recent declarations he said that he was not 
responsible for what his followers did during the manifestation to 
support his inscription as a presidential candidate, said Cu.

The journalists who reported the death of Hector Rammrez, reporter from 
Noti 7, said there were no authorities in the area. Faced with threats from 
the generals followers they sought refuge in a house. There were no police.

According to the radio, after the destruction of the morning, trucks 
arrived with food for the demonstrations and the situation calmed down. 
However, violent acts continued after lunch in some parts of the capital, 
she said.

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