wfn.org | LWF President Hanson Affirms Commitment to Lobbying for

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

LWF President Hanson Affirms Commitment to Lobbying for Economic
Justice, Global Peace
Central American Lutherans Concerned about Impact of Free Trade
Agreements

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador/GENEVA, 21 September 2004 (LWI) - At the end
of a visit to El Salvador, the president of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF), Bishop Mark S. Hanson, affirmed his commitment to
transmitting to the LWF and the United States of America the concern of
Central American Lutherans about the Free Trade Agreements (FTA). The
six-day visit, his first to Central America as LWF president, encouraged
him to continue in the struggle for peace and a more just world. 

Invited by the Communion of Lutheran Churches in Central America, Hanson
visited El Salvador, September 11-16.
 
In a press conference prior to his return to the USA, Hanson said during
meetings with Lutheran communities, that he witnessed people living in
situations of extreme poverty. But he noted that based on profound faith
commitment, Central American Lutheran churches understood their ministry
as accompanying the suffering population, caring for creation and
defending human rights including access to health, education, housing
and employment. 

In talks with civil society representatives, Hanson said he perceived
frustration because the peace accords signed after the end of the
1980-1992 conflict in El Salvador had not been fully implemented, and
had not brought expected peace with justice. "For us peace is not just
the end of the armed conflict, rather it involves ensuring access to all
basic rights," he said. 

The churches had expressed gratitude for the LWF's accompaniment, and
satisfaction that the LWF was seriously debating the impact of economic
globalization, especially on the most vulnerable people. 

The churches, Hanson said, expressed their concern over the FTA's
potential impact on people's lives in Central America. They especially
cited the lack of transparency and public participation in discussion on
such agreements, and impoverishment of the most vulnerable sectors - in
the rural areas, among Indigenous people, and those involving women.
Concern was also raised over lack of clear regulations on the
exploitation of natural resources, and the subsequent deterioration of
the environment.

"I am committed to taking this message and these concerns back to the
LWF and particularly to my church in the USA," the LWF President said.
Hanson is presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA), which has a membership of nearly 5 million. The ELCA joined the
LWF in 1988. 

Hanson noted that on the third anniversary of the September 11 terrorist
attacks against the USA, he "perceived, once again, the cruel and
continuous violence affecting our world. We are witnesses to how
violence generates more violence in Iraq. This visit has helped me see
how violence is also expressed in unjust structures and in situations of
exclusion and marginalization."  

He continued, "As I return to my country, I have a renewed commitment to
act in favor of peace, investing my best efforts to construct a more
just world without exclusion." 

As a religious leader profoundly committed to non-violence, Hanson said
he recently participated in meetings with United Nations Secretary
General Kofi Annan to discuss peace in Iraq, and with US Secretary of
State Colin Powell, to seek peaceful means to resolving the crisis in
the Middle East. 

He criticized the decision to start war against Iraq, adding that peace
in that country would only be achieved if the sovereignty of the Iraqi
people was respected, and not as a result of US imposition. (574 words)

(Reported for LWI by Peru-based journalist Fernando Oshige.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138
member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of
nearly 65 million Lutherans. The LWF acts on behalf of its member
churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith
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 LWF's information service.
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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