wfn.org | Austrian Lutheran Bishop to Chair Ecumenical Council

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

Austrian Lutheran Bishop to Chair Ecumenical Council
A Bridge Must Be Built to Young People

VIENNA, Austria/GENEVA, 5 November  2005 (LWI) - Bishop Herwig Sturm of
the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria, is the new
chairperson of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Austria. He was
elected with a large majority at the council's annual general meeting 18
October, in Vienna. His two-year term as head of the body of 14 churches
begins on 1 January 2006. 

Upon election, Sturm expressed appreciation for the ecumenical council
as a learning community. "We learn to show understanding for the other
churches, to see ourselves as a community on the move, and to be ready
to work with others in several areas of activity." It was important for
the council to understand itself as a spiritual community that can be
experienced in joint services of worship and devotion, particularly on
big public occasions, he noted.

He sees the council as an equally important bridge to young people for
the future, with regard to the next generation's understanding of
ecumenical ideas and the reality of the ecumenical movement. Another
important area is expanding inter-faith conversations.

He noted that Austria's European Union presidency during the first six
months in 2006 would offer a "fine challenge to look for, and
experience, depths of spirituality in a common Europe." The Charta
Oecumenica, which defines the common responsibility of churches in
Europe, is important in this context.

Sturm succeeds Mother Superior Christine Gleixner of the Roman Catholic
Church, who has chaired the Ecumenical Council over the past six years. 

The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria has around
322,000 members, and has been a member of the Lutheran World Foundation
since 1947. (297 words)

(Edited from the original German article by the Protestant press
service, Evangelischer Pressedienst fuer Oesterreich * epdOe.)

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