wfn.org | ALC News Service Noticias Sept 14 2003

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

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

ALC HEADLINES:
CUBA: Churches eliminate barriers for the handicapped
MEXICO: Religious Intolerance considered serious in Chiapas
BRAZIL: II Brazilian Evangelism Congress
MEXICO: AIPRAL organizes consultation on Economic Injustice and the 
Destruction of Creation
COLOMBIA: Civil Society assembly rejects criticism of President Uribe

CUBA
Churches eliminate barriers for the handicapped

By Josi Aurelio Paz
HAVANA, September 8, 2003 (alc). Cuban Evangelical Churches have begun to 
eliminate barriers that bar access for physically challenged people.

To a great extent this is due to efforts carried out by the Cuban Council 
of Church pastoral commission that focuses on people with physical and 
mental challenges. A few years ago, this commission began to combat 
architectural barriers and also mental barriers that impede full communion 
with the handicapped.

Despite the fact that the majority of Cuban Churches date back to the 
1950s, when this factor was not taken into account, many have begun to make 
the necessary transformations to facilitate access for all people.

Last quarter, for example, the Cuban Council of Churches made important 
modifications aimed at eliminating possible obstacles.

Other institutions on the Island, built in recent years, such as the 
Episcopal Church of Cardenas Reflection and Dialogue Center, the Varadero 
Presbyterian Church and the Evangelical Pentecostal Church of Camag|ey, 
took these requirements into consideration when designing their buildings.

According to the CIC Board of Directors, all religious buildings that 
benefit from the project Churches helping Churches, aimed at 
strengthening Church infrastructure in Cuba, should include the elimination 
of barriers that could affect the handicapped in their proposals.

The Pastoral commission is also preparing an award that will be granted to 
those individuals or institutions that make it possible for both physical 
and mental barriers to be eliminated in order to achieve an inclusive 
Gospel as preached by Jesus, said the Rev. Noel Fernandez, responsible for 
this work in the CIC.

MEXICO
Religious Intolerance considered serious in Chiapas

SAN CRISTSBAL DE LAS CASAS, September 9, 2003 (alc). Josi Luis Soberanes 
Fernandez, president of the National Human Rights Commission (CND) and 
Ombudsman, local bishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel and the federal 
government Under Secretary on population and religious affairs Javier 
Moctezuma Barragan recognized that religious intolerance is a serious 
problem in Chiapas.

The three officials made the comments during a ceremony held in this city 
in southern state of Chiapas to present the pamphlet entitled Discover 
Human Rights in the Bible, written in Tzotzil, spoken by many indigenous in 
the State. The event was organized by the Mexican Bible Society.

While Soberanes and Msgr. Arizmendi said that the situation has lead to 
serious human rights violations, Barragan, a high-ranking government 
official, said that the federal government is working constantly to ensure 
a climate of respect for religious freedom in the country.

Arizmendi said that in Chiapas and other regions such as San Juan Chamula, 
many children cannot enroll in school if their parents are Protestants.

According to information from the daily La Jornada, the CNDH has proposed 
creating special schools for children whose parents are Evangelical in 
order to avoid conflicts and to guarantee their childrens right to
education.

Soberanes was in agreement and said that the creation of these schools is 
an urgent measure to ensure that Evangelicals have access to education. He 
lamented the fact that this religious intolerance is manifested in 
indigenous communities whose cultures promote fraternity and equality.

He said that in San Juan Chamula, authorities set up three private homes as 
schools but had to close them due to a lack of teachers to attend the 111 
Evangelical students.

The Ombudsman said that opening special schools is a transitory measure 
because the ideal is that all children, regardless of what religion they 
profess, have equal rights and that faith is not a point for differences. 
The CNDH does not validate segregation, he said.

Barragan manifested that the Government Secretariat, the government of 
Chiapas and the CND are decisively working in a joint fashion to ensure 
that everyone has equal right to the free exercise of religious freedom and 
worship,

He said that President Vicente Fox maintains his commitment to conserve the 
lay nature of the Mexican state and works for the promotion and protection 
of the freedom of believe and worship for all people, with no distinctions, 
through the application of the law.

BRAZIL
II Brazilian Evangelism Congress

BELO HORIZONTE, September 10, 2003 (alc). The II Brazilian Evangelism 
Congress will be held in this city in the state of Minas Gerais from 
October 27 to November 1 and will analyze the role of the Evangelical 
Church in a society marked by social, economic and spiritual need.

Given that Brazil and the world have gone through diverse changes in the 
past 20 years, the Belo Horizonte Congress proposes discussing these and 
other themes, including the challenge of the integral Gospel.

Renowned leaders in the Brazilian Church have confirmed their presence to 
address these issues. These include the Environmental Minister Marina 
Silva, Ariovaldo Ramos, Carlos Queiroz, Ed Reni Kivitz, Ricardo Barbosa, 
Ricardo Gondim, Russell Shedd, Valdir Steuernagel, Ziel Machado,  Ronaldo 
lidsrio, Durvalina Barreto, Bishop Marisa Coutinho and others.

The Congress will seek to respond to key questions such as: What is the 
Word of God for our generation?, What challenges does the Church need to 
address in the present?, Are these responses in line with Gods will and 
the paradigms of His Kingdom?, How can we be support and community 
inspiration for periphery Churches and leaders that struggle against all 
types of oppression in highly unfavorable circumstances?

The First Brazilian Evangelism Congress (CBE) was held 20 years ago, also 
in Belo Horizonte. The times were marked by major challenges. Brazil was 
still under a military dictatorship.

The Brazilian Church assimilated many of the cultural values from other 
countries. Moreover, the idea of a socially committed faith was not well 
viewed by many Christians in Brazil, who saw actions aimed at developing 
moral values as the priority.

With the participation of speakers such as Valdir Steuernager, Caio Fabio 
D'Araujo Filho and Manfred Grellert (at the time, executive director of 
Visisn Mundial), the CBE broke several of these paradigms. La cultura 
brasileqa empezs a ser valorizada como un don de Dios, plenamente capaz de 
alabar al Seqor con idoneidad y riqueza artmstica.

Brazilian culture began to be valued as a gift of God, fully capable of 
praising the Lord with its own characteristics and artistic wealth.

Influido por el Congreso de Lausana, el CBE plantes el debate sobre el 
desafmo brasileqo de vivir el evangelio integral, recordando que el ser 
humano es hecho de cuerpo, alma y espmritu. La Iglesia brasileqa empezs 
entonces a percibir la necesidad de llevar a las personas el mensaje de 
salvacisn y tambiin el del amor de Dios, travis de la accisn social.

Influenced by the Lausanne Congress, the CBE raised the debate about the 
Brazilian challenge to live the integral Gospel, recalling that the human 
being is made from body, soul and spirit. The Brazilian Church began to 
perceive the need to take people the message of salvation and the love of 
God, through social action.

MEXICO
AIPRAL organizes consultation on Economic Injustice and the Destruction of 
Creation

MEXICO CITY, September 11, 2003 (alc). The Cooperation and Testimony 
Department of the Association of Latin American Presbyterian and Reformed 
Churches (AIPRAL) will hold a consultation about Economic Injustice and the 
Destruction of creation next October 8-10.

The event, which will take place in the Presbyterian Theological Seminary 
of Mexico, will analyze the theological and economic aspects of the 
problems in the current economy and global market and the implications in 
the life and development of the Central American and Mexican people.

Moreover, it will present the joint responses being offered by Churches 
from the Reform family in the face of the social, political and economic 
crisis facing the countries in the region and Latin America in general.

The consultation is based on an agreement adopted in the 23rd Assembly of 
the World Reform Alliance, which met in Debrecen, Hungary in 1997 to 
reflect on the problems of economic injustice and the destruction of
creation.

Today, more than ever our communities of faith must be aware that being 
Church in a globalized world demands that we rethink our faith, stated the 
convocation.

The aim is not only to respond to the growing demands of those who have no 
hope, but also because the future of the Church will depend on its capacity 
to give sense and meaning to Jesus message of fraternity, justice, 
solidarity and love in a violent, excluding, unjust world that is filled 
with hatred, the invitation stated.

The program will focus on:

-Biblical-theological reasoning to say no to globalized neoliberalism

- Analysis and study of a Declaration of Faith regarding the Global Life 
Crisis (South-South forum of ARM Churches held April 22-26 in Buenos Aires).

-An approach to the economy from the perspective of the reformers with a 
contribution to construct an alternative economic theory to the new world 
order.

-Puebla-Panama Plan, NAFTA and an analysis of the Mexican and Central 
American reality.

COLOMBIA
Civil Society assembly rejects criticism of President Uribe

BOGOTA, September 11, 2003 (alc). The Permanent Civil Society Assembly for 
Peace said that attacks launched last Monday by President Alvaro Uribe 
Velez against human rights organizations operating in Colombia were 
disproportionate and unjust.

In a press communique, the Assembly rejected the intolerant attitude of 
the President of the Republic after the release of a report on human 
rights entitled "The Authoritarian Curse.

According to human rights activists, Uribe also disqualified the work of 
the human rights organizations in order to detract attention from the fact 
that former Colombian Air Force Commander, Gen. Hector Fabio Velasco, was 
being relieved from duty. Fabio Velasco is implicated in investigations 
surrounding an aerial attack against the civilian population in Santo 
Domingo, Arauca.

The Permanent Assembly of the Civil Society for Peace also rejected 
accusations made by the head of State when he dubbed human rights non 
government organizations accomplices of terrorism.

This, stated the communique, is a new and dangerous accusation for human 
rights defendants, who have been the target of terrorist attacks for years 
in a situation where the state has been unable to guarantee their right to 
life.

This intolerant attitude on behalf of the president increases polarization 
and deepens conflicts, it said.

According to the Assembly, it is unacceptable that the head of State call 
non-government organizations human rights traffickers, people who despite 
immense difficulties and accusations have persisted in their ethical 
commitment to promote a full guarantee of all human rights in Colombia.

The statement emphasized that the Permanent Assembly of Civil Society for 
Peace, will continue to lobby for a political solution for the armed 
conflict, where none of the  parties are winning and to the contrary the 
major loser continues to be the civil population.

Finally, the communique stated that we name the President of the Republic 
and the State institutions responsible for the life and physical integrity 
of human rights defenders in the country.

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