wfn.org | ALC Noticias 3 April 2005

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

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

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CONTENT

EL SALVADOR: Latin American reaction to the death of the Pope
NICARAGUA: Pastoral Letter calls politicians to repentance
ARGENTINA: Anti-Bolivian sentiment repudiated
PANAMA: Ecumenical Committee is Depositary of the State Pact for Justice
PERU: CONEP President: Aid should not be conditioned on Free Trade Agreement
BRAZIL: Legislator proposes regulating profession of theology

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EL SALVADOR
Latin American reaction to the death of the Pope

SAN SALVADOR, Abr 2 (alc). Throughout Latin America, a majority Catholic
population, Pope John Paul II's death caused grief and motivated expressions
of mourning in both Catholic and Evangelical Churches.

The Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession of Brazil (IECLB) expressed
its condolences to the faithful and ministers of the Catholic Church and
said it had
accompanied "the passion of the Pope, who God has called to eternal life, with
prayer and solidarity."

"A great spiritual and moral leader who worked tirelessly for peace and
social justice"
in favor of Church and faith unity has died, said a message signed by the first
vice president of the IECLB Homero Severo Pinto.

He renewed the ecumenical commitment of the II Vatican Council and brought
together religious leader from around the world in Asis, to pray for peace,
he added.

We ask the Holy Spirit to accompany the Catholic Church in this painful
mourning
process and the definition of its future path, he said.

In El Salvador, Bishop Martín Barahona, primate of the Anglican Church of the
Central American Region (IARCA) and president of the National Council of
Salvadoran Churches said "The pilgrim Pope has not died; he continues his
walk to resurrection and eternal life."

The National Council of Churches (CNI); that includes the Lutheran Churches,
the Calvinist Reform, Baptist and Anglican Episcopal Church, profoundly laments
the death of the "Pilgrim Pope" but emphasizes that we must not forget the hope
of Christians which is the Resurrection.

"While we disagree on issues like the ordination of women, family planning and
others, this does not mean that we do not recognize his contribution, his
vocation as a man of faith," said Barahona.

He added that they are praying so that the Holy Spirit enlightens the 117
Roman Catholic Church cardinals who must decide on Pope John Paul II's
successor.

In Cuba the Fidel Castro government authorized the broadcasting of a message
from Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino, who according to Vatican experts
is a possible candidate.

The Cardinal called on all Cuban Christians and Catholics to pray for Pope
John Paul the II and recalled his 1998 visit to Cuba.

A visibly moved Ortega said "A great man has died, a man who has carried
the moral weight of the world for 26 years. A man who has had the
responsibility
of becoming a moral reference for humanity in recent years filled with wars
and difficulties."

He recalled that Pope John Paul II decided to travel the world trying to take
a "message of love, peace, truth and freedom, of salvation to all humanity." As
such "he came to Cuba and was among us. His visit is unforgettable."

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NICARAGUA
Pastoral Letter calls politicians to repentance

By Trinidad Vasquez
MANAGUA, April 1 (alc) - The general assembly of the Inter-Ecclesial Center
o f Theological and Social Studies (CIEETS) vehemently called on governors
and politicians to repent and search for God.

The call, in the form of a Pastoral Letter was formulated in the face of
the dramatic
political and economic crisis in Nicaragua, due to rising oil prices! and
corruption.
It also called on them to review their commitment to God and the interests
of the
population.

The document, read before Christian Way Party Legislators Guillermo Osorno and
Delia Arellano, pastors and journalists, contemplates five proposals.

It proposes promoting an anti-exclusion Law, that will open spaces for
participation
in decision making bodies among the organized sectors of the population and
avoid
a further aggravation of poverty. Enough of approving laws without the due
consensus of the people, it said.

In the face of the wave of social and domestic violence, the Letter proposes a
national education project to combat the reigning violence.

Moreover, it calls on the government to elaborate a regional trade treaty based
on principals of equal economic exchange for sustainable development and
environmental care.

At the same time, it exhorts the Churches to maintain a prophetic mission
and to
accompany the people in their poverty. Never, it noted, in the history of the
country has there been such a massive migration, that has negative
repercussions
like family breakdown and the government is insensitive in the face of the
phenomenon.

Finally, the document calls on people to work with a new aim in leading the
state,
with honorable men, to put an end to the cancer of corruption and to dedicate
themselves to the service of the people. Moreover, it calls on people to
administer taxes and international cooperation with honor and efficiency for
the development of the country.

It calls on people to struggle to re-establish trust in the administration
of justice,
and to advance in processes against corruption.

Pastor Benjamín Cortes, dean of the Evangelical Nicaraguan University
(UENIC) called on Congressman Osorno to reflect and to support
propsoals to make this reality.

Osorno said that Nicaragua has been living its martyrdom of poverty since
1980, now aggravated by the desire for power of both Sandinista leader
Daniel Ortega and former liberal president Arnoldo Aleman.

Pastor Jorge  Bardaguez proposed a debate about the theological place
of the Church in a time of crisis.

The Pastoral Letter is signed by Pastors Adolfo Sequeira, president of
CIEETS and Secretary Ariel Quinto.

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ARGENTINA
Anti-Bolivian sentiment repudiated

BUENOS AIRES, March 31 (ALC). A radio program in which journalist
Oscar Gonzalez Oro voiced negative expressions about the people of
Bolivia, was publicly repudiated by the Archbishop of Buenos Aires
and other organizations that defend immigrants.

The institutions that make up the Working Group for the Integration of
Migrants published a statement rejecting comments made by the mentioned
journalist in his March 7 program on Radio 10.

On that occasion the journalist, in the framework of an interview with
Bolivian citizen Felipe Quispe referred to the political conflicts in Bolivia
and allegedly said that the peasants had intervened "from their ignorance
because we are talking about a country with an enormous level of illiteracy."

Among other things, Gonzalez reportedly said that "peasant girls continue
to give birth hanging from the trees."

He also claimed that you can see the cadavers of children in one of the
main rivers that run through La Paz (Choqueyapu) because women
"abort in a natural manner" that has no value for them because it is
ancestral," the journalist reportedly said.

"We consider that these expressions demonstrate xenophobic and
discriminatory attitudes regarding the Bolivian community, something
which is not novel coming from a communication media that belongs
to a business group that has made similar statements on other occasions,"
the statement said.

We denounce this attitude as an abuse of freedom of expression and total
disinformation on the part of the mentioned journalist, it said.

Finally, the organizations expressed their solidarity and respect for the
people of Bolivia and reaffirmed their decision to intervene in all those
situations that that violate the human rights that the migrant population
legitimately holds in our country.

Together with the Catholic Arbishop the Permanent Human Rights
Assembly (APDH), the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS),
the Center for Latin American Migratory Studies (CEMLA), the Catholic
Foundation comisión for Migrations (FCCAM), the Ecumenical Support
and Orientation for the Immigrant and Refugee Service (CAREF) and the
Network for Investigators in Contemporary Migrations in Argentina (RMICA).

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PANAMA
Ecumenical Committee is Depositary of the State Pact for Justice

PANAMA, mar 31 (alc).  The Ecumenical Committee of Panama (COEPA)
was named the designated Depositary of the State Pact for Justice that was
recently signed by state and civil society representatives in order to achieve
an integral judicial reform in the country.

Bishop Pablo Morales, of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Panama and
the president responsible for COEPA accepted the designation and said that
the Committee is willing to collaborate with all efforts to improve the state
of Panamanian society.

The mentioned document was signed March 10 by the President of Panama
Martin Torrijos Espino.

Bishop Morales told ALC that in Panama there is a great deal of mistrust
regarding the political class and that, on the other hand, Churches in the
Ecumenical Committee are accepted and have credibility. For this, they
were designated the depositary of the Ecumenical Committee Pact.

It added that the Committee has assumed a major challenge and that it hopes
that all the signing parties fulfill their commitments. Any lack of
fulfillment will
be made public by the Committee, he said.

The Bishop indicated that Roberto Bruneau, of the Episcopal Church, is the
interim COEPA delegate to the Pact.

Morales emphasized the participation of COEPA in different civil society
efforts, such as the battle against corruption and in favor of the handicapped,
among others. Ecumenism is no longer reduced to dialogue or liturgical
celebrations but there is an active presence in the difference spheres of
society, he said.

The Pact states that those signing are concerned about the critical situation
of the justice administration and aware of the need to restructure and
modernize the judicial system. They have agreed to create a State
Commission for Justice that will define judicial reform and will orient
the efforts for its implementation.

The Commission has a maximum of 180 days to present its final report,
that will contain proposals to restructure and modernize the judicial
branch and the Public Ministry.

When it agreed to be a depositary of the Pact, COEPA stated that its
condition was that it receives the commitments that are generated
regarding fulfillment of the pact and that investigations about corruption
in the Supreme Justice Court, the National Legislators' Assembly and
the Executive Branch continue.

The COEPA position was supported by Bishop Mario Nicolás, of the
Methodist Church of the Caribbean and the Americas, the Rev
Roberto Bruneau, of the Episcopal Church, the Rev. Oscar Martin of
the Catholic Church, Oscar Prescott of the Methodist Church of the
Caribbean and the Americas, the Rev. José Gómez, of the Evangelical
Methodist Church of Panama and the Rev. Alcibíades López of the
Baptist Church.

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PERU
CONEP President: Aid should not be conditioned on Free Trade Agreement

LIMA, March 29 (alc). The president of the National Evangelical Council
of Peru (CONEP), Rafael Goto Silva said that a Free Trade Agreement
with the United States should not be used to condition the aid that this
country provides to developing nations or the global exchange.

Peru, along with Colombia and Ecuador, is currently negotiating a free
trade agreement with the United States. The Peruvian government hopes
to have the agreement in place before the end of the year.

He said this treaty will not have an impact on the US economy that favors
Peru. Therefore, we should seek to build markets that are closer to our
needs, such as Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR).

No significant effort has been made to negotiate in this scenario, he told
the bulletin Contexto.

Goto underlined that if we understand the free trade agreement to be a
mechanism for global economic relations that does not offer justice to the
poorest sectors but rather chains the country to a global system of
domination, then a spirit of criticism and reserves is opened.

Goto said that the agreement could offer the advantage of facilitating the
Peruvian economy's insertion into a macro-market. This will make it
possible to guarantee that the Peruvian economy is vitalized, with the
possibility of launching export lines, in particular regarding raw materials
and some textile products, he said.

However, he warned, from the other perspective, that of internal
development, he believes that Free Trade Agreements take place in
asymmetric situations. The huge North American economy before a
precarious economy, like the Peruvian economy, may not be beneficial
for the most vulnerable sectors in the country.

Moreover, said the CONEP president, on the political front, some decisions
are being conditioned within the framework of the agreement that are not
only related to the economic but the political management of Peru.

For example, he sad, policies that Peru must assume as part of this
agreement such as those related to eradicating coca crops or intellectual
property.

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BRAZIL
Legislator proposes regulating profession of theology

BRASILIA, March 28 (alc).  Congressman Jose Divino, of the Brazilian
Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) of Rio de Janiero, presented a legal
bill aimed at regulating the profession of theology.

Among his arguments he said that there is enormous religious diversity in
Brazil and the state has no way to monitor the different religious segments
"due to their great doctrinal and theological diversification."

Regulating theological activity would create the conditions to monitor this
profession, said Divino. He warned, however, that the "monitoring would
not cover the religious Churches but the mentors, teachers, pastors, rabbis,
priests and priests from Afro-Brazilian groups as there is no law that ensures
them any protection for practicing a role similar to that of the theologians."

He said it is not possible to allow the "exacerbated propagation of the faith
on the part of individuals who have no scruples or minimum theological
knowledge,
who use religion to obtain easy and illegal profit, deceiving the good will and
faith of sincere people in search of God."

Article 2º of the Project defines the theologian as "the professional who
carries out
liturgies, celebrations and rites, directs and administers communities,
educates
people according to the religious precepts of different traditions, orients
people,
carries out social action together with communities, investigates religious
doctrine,
transmits religious teaching and practices a contemplative and meditative
life and
preserves tradition."

According to the proposal, all those who have diplomas in theology courses in
Brazil or abroad, recognized by national laws, could practice theology.

According to Divino, regulating the profession of theology "is an imperative in
favor of society, in defense of the collective interest of citizens, which
should
prevail over individual or group interests."
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Latin American and Caribbean Communication Agency (ALC)
P.O. box 14-225 Lima 14 Peru
E-mail: director@alcnoticias.org
http://www.alcpress.org

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