The following is a roundup of the recent ACNS Digest stories, with reports from the US, ACO and Lambeth Palace. The ACNS Digest can be found here:
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/digest/index.cfm
(567) 15-February-2006 - Tutu appeals to Haitian protestors to stay calm following election - USA
As thousands of protestors took to the streets of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, in response to the country's February 7 presidential election, a crowd of 7,000 stormed the city's Hotel Montana February 13 where former Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, and Executive Council member Louie Crew were guests. Both are safe and have now been transported from the hotel to Haiti's airport.
Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, appealed to the crowd to remain calm and said that he was very proud of the way that they had responded peacefully to the election.
Speaking by telephone from Port-au-Prince February 14, Crew described the last two days as very dramatic.
'The 7,000 people broke the gate down after an hour and stormed into the front of the hotel,' said Crew, a member of the Diocese of Newark. 'Archbishop Tutu spoke to some of them and pleaded for calm.'
Crew explained that, although the experience was harrowing, everyone remained relatively calm 'because we didn't sense that these people were trying to be destructive. They were just celebrating what they think is their victory.'
One of the reasons the protestors targeted the hotel, officials explained, was that members of the electoral council, which does not support leading presidential candidate Rene Preval, had contracted a conference room there.
Preval said February 14 that 'gross errors and probably gigantic fraud' marred last week's elections, but he urged supporters to protest peacefully, the Associated Press reported.
Tutu preached about peace and reconciliation at an ecumenical service at Sainte Trinite Episcopal Cathedral in Port-au-Prince, on Sunday, February 12, where worshippers included government officials, foreign diplomats and international electoral observers. The service marked the inauguration of Haiti's 'National Day of Peace and Tolerance.'
Under the leadership of Bishop Jean Zache Duracin, Eglise Episcopale D'Haiti is one of the Episcopal Church's 12 overseas dioceses.
permalink.
http://www.aco.org/acns/digest/index.cfm?years=2006&months=2&article=567 &pos=#567
(566) 14-February-2006 - Celebration and Transformation on World's Churches' Agenda - ACO
The first Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the 21st century opens in Porto Alegre, Brazil, today, 14 February, under the theme 'God, in your grace, transform the world.'
The Assembly, which meets every seven years, is the highest governing body of the WCC, the world's broadest global gathering of churches and Christian organizations.
The diverse and dynamic event manifests the churches' commitment to seeking unity, common witness and service to the world.
The gathering in Porto Alegre is the ninth assembly since the WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Attending this Assembly are 691 registered delegates from 348 member churches, over 500 other representatives, advisors and guests, and 350 staff, stewards and interpreters.
They will engage in five thematic plenaries, 22 ecumenical conversations, six committees, 90 Bible study groups and over 200 workshops and events.
The Assembly in Porto Alegre is seen as an opportunity for renewal of the WCC's culture, following a report from a special commission on Orthodox participation and a move to consensus decision-making.
Committees will review the work of the Council since the Harare Assembly in 1998, and propose future priorities and policy guidelines. They also will present a slate of candidates for election to the WCC central committee, and propose an Assembly message to be shared with congregations throughout the world.
A feature of the Assembly will be its rich prayer life. There will be opening and closing celebrations, common morning and evening prayers outdoors in a tent, midday eucharist services in the university chapel and Sunday worship with local congregations.
Plenary themes include economic justice, Christian unity, overcoming violence, Christian identity and interreligious dialogue, the Assembly theme, and Latin America.
Other key issues include a focus on ecumenism in the 21st century, reflecting the growth in numbers and influence of Pentecostal and evangelical groupings.
The assembly will consider making public statements on issues such as nuclear disarmament, United Nations reform, terrorism and counter-terrorism, and water.
Prominent personalities at the assembly will be three Nobel Prize laureates (Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Adolfo Perez Esquivel and Ms Rigoberta Menchu), the archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, Walter Cardinal Kaspar, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (Russian Orthodox Church).
It is expected that the refocusing of the WCC's priorities will include a move to strengthen the involvement of a younger generation.
Young people gathered prior to the Assembly for community-building, ecumenical conversations and a meeting with WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia. Other pre-assembly events were organized for gatherings of Indigenous People, disability advocates, and women delegates to the Assembly.
Young people also will be prominent among the 2,300 people attending the associated Mutirao - a programme for churches, ecumenical organizations and individuals "coming together to make a difference", including an exhibition, cultural celebrations, workshops, lectures and space for student and congregational groups to gather.
The Assembly concludes on 23 February.
Source:World Council of Churches
Daily news, webcasts and video are available on the 9th Assembly website: www.wcc-assembly.info/
The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 348 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
permalink.
http://www.aco.org/acns/digest/index.cfm?years=2006&months=2&article=566 &pos=#566
(565) 14-February-2006 - Archbishop Rowan Williams: churches 'dependent on Christ' - Lambeth
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Rowan Williams, has sent a greeting to the opening of the 9th World Council of Churches Assembly which formally begins in Porto Alegre, Brazil, today (14th February).
The Archbishop is to deliver a keynote address to the Assembly this Friday (17th February). He will speak on Christian Identity and Religious Plurality at a plenary session
Whilst at the WCC Assembly, Dr Williams will attend a lecture given by the President of Brazil, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, lead a service of Evening Prayer organised by the Anglican Delegation to the WCC and attend a plenary session on ecumenical conversations.
Text of Archbishop's message to be delivered at the opening ceremony:
Message for the Ninth Assembly of the World Council of Churches
It gives me great pleasure to send you my warmest greetings as you begin the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches. I look forward to joining you in Porto Alegre later this week and in the meantime I will be praying with you as you meet, using the words of the Assembly theme, 'God, in your grace, transform the world.'
As we pray these words together, we keep in mind not just the world that is to be transformed but the work of this Assembly, the churches we each represent and indeed the future role of the World Council of Churches. In doing so, our underlying desire is surely for the combined witness of our churches to have its full impact; that it will keep pace, in this fast-changing and often perplexing world, with what it means to be an effective sign and instrument of God's transforming grace. I very much welcome the participation of young people at this Assembly to help maintain this kind of focus on the unfolding needs of the future and not just the patterns of the past. Yet if we truly believe that the churches to which we belong are so deeply implicated in God's transforming purposes, we dare not be complacent, especially when we come together to assess our shared priorities. In the face of so much disorder in our so-called world order, we cannot allow ourselves to be overwhelmed or distracted, however conscious we are of our own fractured condition as churches. As those who carry the name of Christ, we must instead draw strength and clarity of purpose from our utter dependence on the One whom we know to be 'full of grace and truth.' In Christ too, we can find renewed impetus in our painstaking quest for theological convergence, in the knowledge that this also will be used by God, in his grace, to transform the world, opening up, as it does, new possibilities for common mission as divisions are healed and we deepen our fellowship together.
With such confidence in Christ then, in the words of the Petrine Epistles, may 'grace and peace be yours in abundance' this Assembly, for the sake of God's world and for His glory.
permalink.
http://www.aco.org/acns/digest/index.cfm?years=2006&months=2&article=565 &pos=#565
(564) 13-February-2006 - Jerusalem bishop brings message following Palestinian elections - USA
'Where are those Elijahs?'
In an interview with Episcopal News Service, the Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, speaks about the relationship between the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Jerusalem and responds to the January 25 Palestinian elections, when the Islamic militant group, Hamas, won a landslide victory.
Following is a full transcript of the interview.
ENS: The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Jerusalem have built strong relationships in recent years, whether through missionary placement, pilgrimage, personal encounters, or companion diocese relationships, to name but a few.
When the Islamic group, Hamas, won a landslide victory in the recent Palestinian elections, it came as a shock to many. While the world - including Israel comes to terms with the implications of Hamas' victory, many Anglicans and Episcopalians are asking the question: what will this mean for the dwindling Christian population in the Holy Land?
Bishop Riah, what brings you to New York?
EL-ASSAL: I'm here at the invitation of the Rev. Canon Dr. James Cooper of Trinity Church on Wall Street whom we had the pleasure of making an honorary canon at St. George's Cathedral (Jerusalem) on September 25, 2005. He asked me to come and participate in the Trinity Church Institute on Reconciliation.
ENS: Could you tell me about the relationship between the Diocese of Jerusalem and the Episcopal Church?
EL-ASSAL: A number of projects have been supported by the Episcopal Church of the United States, among them is the Jerusalem 2000 project, which was initiated by the presiding bishop and the Archbishop of Canterbury then, George Carey.
We have the American Friends of the Diocese of Jerusalem, a group representative of the Episcopal Church from coast to coast that aims at fundraising for different projects - small projects, but good projects - at different institutions and parishes within the Diocese of Jerusalem.
We continue to welcome their people coming to take part in one of the courses at St. George's College, for which we are greatly encouraged and we appreciate them coming. But many of them come as pilgrims and as friends, they come to visit us and stay with us. Next week, I expect to have someone to come from California to stay with us in our home. So the relationship is a cordial one; friendly.
We continue to support each other in prayer, the way we pray for the rest of the Communion, if not for the whole world.
ENS: Turning to the recent Palestinian elections, how do you feel about Hamas' victory?
EL-ASSAL: Well in the first place let me say that this vote was a vote against and not a vote for, and what I mean by this is that it was a vote against the American Administration, the Government of Israel and partly the corruption of some of the leaders of the previous leadership in Palestine.
ENS: How will this impact the Christian community in the Holy Land?
EL-ASSAL: In my opinion - and this is my personal opinion - it will not make a big difference. On the contrary, now that the ball is in their court, it's much easier to challenge them. This was a democratic election. The international community, including also Israel and the American Administration, insisted on elections, and these are the results. Either we accept the results of democracy or stop talking about democratizing the Palestinian community or the Middle East at large. It will not affect our institutions. Perhaps we will have an easier way to them now to challenge them that we are here to serve the community at large, and the community in its majority is of the Muslim community. We may find it easier to speak to them about issues of common interest for the Palestinian people. Certainly, we will ask them also and encourage them, now that they have won the election, to invest their victory in promoting all that would serve the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people and on top of this agenda should be the question of peace and justice and freedom, and security for all.
ENS: What is the mood in Jerusalem right now?
EL-ASSAL: Before I left, we had a little meeting, both Christians and Muslims, but Muslims of the Fatah group and my strategy was that we are coming here to say, 'Mabruk; congratulations; you won; now what's next. In what way can we bridge the gap? In what way can we contribute to not beautifying your image but to you trying to beautify the image of our people and become serious about the search for peace, justice and reconciliation.'
ENS: How do you regard Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist?
EL-ASSAL: I think it's a strategic mistake. Israel came about in accordance with a United Nations resolution. The same resolution spoke of a Palestinian state, side by side with Israel. I would understand if Hamas were to say we are to implement the United Nations resolutions, whereby Israel would have its share, the Palestinians would have their share. That would be understood and appreciated. But to say that Israel has not place, in my opinion, will not serve the cause of the Palestinians or of Hamas.
ENS: There has been some talk of enforcing sanctions on Palestine if it does not renounce terrorism. Is this a fair course of action?
EL-ASSAL: Sanctions. We have those sanctions. What kind of support does Palestine or the Palestinian people receive? Very little. The majority of people live on one dollar a day. It's a poverty stricken community and if they make them poorer than what they are today, then I fear for the future. What we need to do and share with them rather than sanctions: let's see how best we can work together.
ENS: You recently signed a joint statement with patriarchs and heads of Christian churches in Jerusalem. Is this a testimony to strong ecumenical relations?
EL-ASSAL: Yes, we are strengthening the ecumenical relations, but not only the ecumenical relations with Christians, the ecumenical relations between Christians, Muslims and Jews ... to see how best we can promote what is spoken of as co-existence or co-living.
ENS: Is it fair to say that Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land have, for the most part, maintained healthy relationships?
EL ASSAL: Indeed, for many, many years. Most of the Christians in Palestine are Arabs, so the Arab Christians have something in common with the Muslims of Palestine: both are Arabs and both are Palestinians. Whether they are Muslims or Christians, the relationship has always been a good.
ENS: How do you view the future right now?
EL-ASSAL: As long as things continue to be the way they are on the international level, it's a hopeless situation. The United Nations is not as active. The Christian church, in its majority, is not as active as it should be, the way it was with the apartheid system in South Africa. There are few Elijahs. Where are those Elijahs; who will stand against the prophets of Baal, who will endeavor to change the course of human history?
ENS: When you dream dreams, what do you see?
EL-ASSAL: I dream about a morning when I wake up and hear the good news that the Israelis have resolved to put an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories and that the Palestinians would rush to shake hands the way they did when the Israelis pulled out the first time in the early 90s from Gaza. There is so much in common between the Arab and the Jew. If they are Semites, we are Semites. If they've been in the Diaspora, half of our people are still in the Diaspora. They're in refugee camps and spread all over the world. Is it not time for both communities to learn to live for a greater cause than Israel or Palestine? A cause that will bring about the Holy Land that we all desire to see?
permalink.
http://www.aco.org/acns/digest/index.cfm?years=2006&months=2&article=564 &pos=#564
___________________________________________________________________ ACNSlist, published by Anglican Communion News Service, London, is distributed to more than 8,000 journalists and other readers around the world.
For subscription INFORMATION please go to:
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/acnslist.html