wfn.org | ALC Noticias 19 July 2004 Nicaragua, Thailand, Uruguay, Brazil

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

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

CONTENT

NICARAGUA: Baptist candidate running as mayor of Nueva Guinea has broad
support
THAILAND: Christian body promotes change in attitude to combat HIV/AIDS
URUGUAY: Methodist Church re-elects Pastor Oscar Bolioli as president
THAILAND: Communities of faith work to eradicate causes of AIDS
BRAZIL:Role of religions in "other posible world" to be debated at forum

--------------------------
NICARAGUA
Baptist candidate running as mayor of Nueva Guinea has broad support

By Trinidad Vasquez

MANAGUA, July 15 (alc) - Arsenio Alvir, son of one of the founders of the
Municipality of Nueva Guinea, 290 kilometers southeast of the capital and
the scene of intense strife during the internal war in the 1980s, is running
for mayor with the support of the Frente Sandinista de Liberacisn Nacional
(FSLN), the  Resistencia Party and the Evangelical pastors.

Alvir has said that if he wins November's municipal elections his priority
will be to promote peace in the zone that is wracked by a wave of violence,
compounded by a high level of alcohol consumption and the presence of groups
of anti-social young people.

He added that he will focus on improving roads in rural areas and legalizing
the land that houses hundreds of Evangelical Churches.

Alvir, who has been a delegate of the Pro Denomination Alliance Council of
Churches (CEPAD) for 18 years in that municipality, recently resigned from
his position. During a thanksgiving worship service in the Apostolic Church,
Church authorities gave him a diploma to recognize his years of service to
the communities.

During the war, Alvir, together with Gustavo Pararon and other campesino
leaders and pastors worked intensely along side peace commissioners to
pacify and achieve reconciliation in the area.

During the worship service, Pastor Fabian Avilis Jarqumn said that he
personally supported Alvir in his goals because he is a person characterized
by dedication to service and community progress. Pastor Job Sevilla,
president of the Pastoral Committee in the municipality, home to 134,000,
echoed his sentiments.

Alvir received the diploma from CEPAD authorities for his valuable
contribution to implementing housing projects and training and they exhorted
him to hold fast to this spirit of work and honesty if he is elected major.
The candidate, known for his humility, said he would maintain his
conciliating and tolerant spirit in the political arena.

The Baptist Church leader said he is sure he will win, because he has the
support of the Convergencia, an alliance between the FSLN and other parties
and he is also supported by liberal groups, the Resistencia Party and the
Evangelical people of New Guinea.

-------------------------------

THAILAND
Christian body promotes change in attitude to combat HIV/AIDS

By Manuel Quintero

BANGKOK, July 16, 2004 (alc). Nearly one-third of people living with HIV and
AIDs in the world today are young people aged 15-24, some 11.8 million
people according to UNESCO. And this percentage is increasing. According to
figures presented at the XV International Conference on AIDs, more than 50%
of the 14,000 people infected each day fall into this age category.

This situation raises specific problems for countries like El Salvador where
more than half the population is under the age of 20, said representatives
from some Catholic Salvadoran organizations that have launched education and
prevention programs aimed at young people.

  "It is not rhetoric when we affirm that El Salvador's present is its young
people," said Carlos Barcarcelez, coordinator of the Gente Joven (Young
People) Program, an effort carried out by six Salvadoran entities sponsored
by Catholic Relief Services.

Gente Joven works in four municipalities in the country and has trained a
nuclear group of 120 youth leaders who are replicating their experiences and
training close to 1,200 young people in issues such as sexual health,
vocation and construction of peace.

  "The aim is that young people are trained, organized and that their voice
and actions have an impact in all of society," he said.

Gente Joven believes that the freshness of adolescence makes it possible to
break negative cultural patterns such as machismo and gender inequality, as
they are still not deeply rooted in young people's minds and behavior.

To create other models of behavior among young people is the only realistic
and lasting solution to prevent an expansion of the HIV and AIDs epidemic
and to create a culture of peace, said Barcarcelez.

"Many Salvadoran young people were born in the midst of armed conflict and
grew up in a climate where a culture of violence predominated. Some young
people turn to gangs, called
maras, in a search for entertainment but they become trapped in a cycle of
violence," he said.

This situation makes them particularly vulnerable to HIV because they turn
to drugs or early sexual relations, he said.

In coherence with Catholic Church doctrine, Gente Joven promotes abstinence
and fidelity as fundamental pillars of its education and prevention work.

  "A couple that practices fidelity is completely safe from contracting the
disease. At the same time, we are obligated to provide information about
condoms although we do not encourage their use; the decision to use condoms
corresponds to each person," he said.
Barcarcelez trusts that this initiative will lead to the creation of an
HIV/AIDs  pastoral in the Salvadoran Catholic Church.

"Once we have achieved this, that will be time to seek collaboration with
other Churches and Christian entities, to carry out a broad ecumenical
effort," he said.

  "I think it is possible to detain the epidemic, I think we are in time to
contain its expansion and the entire community of faith should be committed
to this effort," he concluded.

URUGUAY
Methodist Church re-elects Pastor Oscar Bolioli as president

MONTEVIDEO, July 16, 2004 (alc). The Assembly of the Methodist Church of
Uruguay (IMU) re-elected Oscar Bolioli as president for the next two years,
renewing a mandate he has exercised since 2002.

Previously from 1974 to 1979, under the military regime, Bolioli presided
the Church and was renowned for his defense of human rights and his presence
in society.

The election of leaders at the 18th IMU Assembly took place last Thursday.
Jose Luis Mochetti, a lay person from the Malvin Church was elected vice
president. Bolioli was elected in the first round of voting, obtaining more
than the necessary two-thirds majority required by the regulations while
Mochetti was elected in the fourth round.

The Church regulations stipulate that if the president is a pastor then the
vice president must be a lay person and vice versa. The position of
president is equivalent to a bishop in other Methodist Churches.

Bolioli was secretary general of the Latin American Union of Evangelical
Youth (ULAJE) in the 1960s and director of the Youth Department of the World
Council of Churches (WCC). He was also secretary general of the Church and
Society movement (ISAL).

As of 1979 and for 18 years he was Latin American director and associate
secretary general of the National Council of Churches USA (NCC), a group
that brings together the most important US Churches.

Another important agreement made during the Assembly was to change the name
of the Church. The proposal to change the name from the "Evangelical
Methodist Church of Uruguay"
to the "Methodist Church of Uruguay" to adapt to terminology accepted by the
government sparked a brief debate.

Some delegates defended the idea of keeping the word "Evangelical" for
historic reasons, but this proposal, according to a note from the
Communications Department, was voted down by a broad majority.

The Assembly also agreed to make some changes in the administrative
configuration of the Methodist Church to adapt to current legislation
although Bolioli explained that "the way the Church works will not change."

The maximum leadership body of the Methodist Church of Uruguay is now called
the "National Board of Life and Mission".

--------------
THAILAND
Communities of faith work to eradicate causes of AIDS

By Manuel Quintero

BANGKOK, July 16 (ALC).  A joint document from leaders of the world's major
religions that participated in the XV International Conference on AIDS
expressed their commitment to eliminate the causes of the HIV and AIDs
pandemic on an international scale.

The document affirms that these religions will fight against gender
inequality, prejudice affecting those whose life style or orientation is
different from that of the majority, economic injustice and the unequal
distribution of wealth.

The joint statement, adopted by Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and
Muslim leaders who attended the event was the fruit of months of work and
delicate negotiations aimed at keeping doctrinal differences from creating
obstacles for the road to consensus.

However, this fragile consensus nearly broke down when delegates who
participated in a meeting with religious leaders argued in favor of the
inclusion of some controversial themes, including gender inequality and the
use of the condom.

The emphasis that some Evangelical and the Roman Catholic Churches placed on
two aspects - abstinence and fidelity -  from the tripartite strategy
supported by the US government - leaving aside the use of the condom, was
the subject of harsh criticism during the Bangkok meeting.

One participant, Dutch Raol Fransen said that the "emphasis on this strategy
is an example of the imposition of a dishonest morality of one generation on
another," and added that the "key to prevention does not lie in ideologies
but offering in young people options."

The Bush government has earmarked $15 billion for a world program to combat
AIDS but one third of this money is for Christian organizations and other
religious organizations that promote abstinence as a way of containing the
epidemic.

Some Evangelical Churches reject the use of the condom as they believe it
leads to promiscuity. Others allege that in many societies women do not have
control over their sexuality and therefore fidelity is a man's prerogative.
As a result, the emphasis on fidelity only serves to perpetuate gender
inequality and the vulnerability of women to HIV and AIDS.

While discipline leads many dissenting voices to remain silent, the use of
the condom continues to be highly disputed within the Catholic Church.

According to a news story from the UCAN agency, in a meeting with Catholic
participants attending the conference, a priest who works in Africa said
that the Catholic Church's position regarding the condom is scientifically
erroneous. This position, he said is "damaging" the good work carried out by
Catholics in local communities.

Another priest who works in Latin America said "Enough lies. Let us tell the
truth about condoms and recognize that a change in behavior will not take
place over night."

Overcoming stigma and value judgments

At a prior conference in Barcelona in 2002, non government organizations and
civil society institutions involved in the world struggle against AIDS, were
harshly critical of religious leaders for their attitudes which, they said,
have encouraged discrimination against people with HIV and AIDS.

In Bangkok, on the other hand, key personalities such as Dr. Pier Piot,
director of the UN AIDS program, did not hesitate to emphasize the positive
role of faith communities in attending the sick and the enormous potential
of religious leaders to influence the attitudes and behaviors of
communities, which contributes to preventing the disease.

But others, like Professor Dennis Altman, a recognized international figure
in the battle against AIDS, criticized what he called the "hypocrisy" of the
majority of governments and religious leaders. Altman also denounce the way
that "fundamentalists in all confessions perpetuate gender inequality that
feeds the epidemic."

The document from the religious leaders recognized that the response of the
community of faith to the epidemic was frequently motivated by prejudice,
ignorance, fear and value judgments. As a result, leaders committed
themselves to overcoming the stigma, discrimination, rejection and fear
regarding HIV and AIDS and to rejecting the negative position of some
religious leaders who said that AIDS is divine punishment or retribution as
well as to address those religious practices that increase the vulnerability
of women and girls.

If the community of faith contributed to the appearance of the stigma, it
will now be stigmatized for its intolerance and rejection of many men and
women affected by the disease. It must, as Dr. Mercy Odoyuye said in an
ecumenical gathering prior to the conference, return to its original reason
for being, which is to support and sustain the life that God has created.

Stigmas die hard. However, if the promises and commitments of religious
leaders in Bangkok are translated into concrete events, the community of
faith will have done what is necessary to erase its own stigma, offering its
valuable support to eradiate the causes of the most deadly epidemics in the
history of humanity.

----------
BRAZIL
Role of religions in "other posible world" to be debated at forum

SAO LEOPOLDO, Jul 16 (alc). The World Forum on Theology and Liberation will
take place next January in order to debate and present proposals about the
way diverse religions on the planet can contribute to creating "Another
Possible World," proclaimed by the World Social Forum.

The objective is to seek, through this broad inter-religious dialogue,
responses to the challenges of the contemporary world, providing a common
space so that these diverse religions are able to express their wishes,
struggles and hopes, in order to propose a unified world liberating
theology.

Based on the theme "With the help of all religions, another world is
possible," the FMTL will be held under the hypothesis that it is not enough
to identify the poor communities in the world, but that it is essential to
consider the religious forms in those communities, integrating them in a
macro-ecumenical spirit of cooperation.

The World Forum on Theology and Liberation will be held January 21- 25 2005,
prior to the V World Social Forum that will take place January 26-31. It
will bring together 175 theologians and representatives from religious
social assistance agencies from all continents in the Catholic University in
Rio Grande so Sul in Porto Alegre.

The FMTL will have four themes on its agenda: "Another world is possible,"
"God for another possible world," "Religion for another possible world" and
"Theology for another possible world."
The Honor Committee for the World Theology and Liberation Forum includes the
Archbishop of Porto Alegre, Dadeus Grings; Cardinal Archbishop of Aparecida,
Sao Paulo, Alomsio Lorscheider; and the president of the Evangelical Church
of the Lutheran Confession of Brazil, pastor Walter Altmann.

----------------------
Agencia Latinoamericana y Caribeqa de Comunicacisn (ALC)
P.O. Box 14-225 Lima 14 Peru
Tel. (51 1) 462-0189 Telefax (51 1) 463 2496
Cell Phone (51 1) 9724 3959 / E-Mail: director@alcnoticias.org
Visit our web site: http://www.alcnoticias.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tu direccisn de suscripcisn a este boletmn es wfn@igc.org
Para darte de baja, envma un mensaje a
english_weekly_alc-baja@listas.alcnoticias.org
Para obtener ayuda, visita 
http://listas.alcnoticias.org/lista/english_weekly_alc