Antwerp, Belgium/Geneva, 12.09.2014.
Structural injustice in the economy fuels growing discord around the world – that was the central message of LWF General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge at an international meeting of religious leaders.
Speaking in two panel discussions at the 28th international meeting “People and Religions”, hosted by the Community of Sant’Egidio in Antwerp, Belgium, from 7 to 9 September, Junge urged church leaders to view their ecumenical efforts as a response to God’s call to proclaim justice and peace.
The theme of the meeting was “Peace is the Future: Religions and Cultures in Dialogue 100 Years After the First World War”. The participants discussed the senselessness of war and committed themselves to seeking a lasting peace.
In the discussion “An Economy to Serve Peace”, Junge, a Chilean theologian, noted that people, communities and regions are excluded from fair access to the world’s resources and wealth. “The fundamental disparity is growing, the gaps are widening, even between societies with traditionally strong socio-economic ties. Injustice in the way wealth is distributed is increasing,” the LWF General Secretary stressed. “If there is no room in minds and hearts for a different, that is, inclusive, dignified, sustainable and solidary individual and collective life project, then evidently there will be no room for engagement in the necessary changes,” he said. “If nothing changes, the economy will increasingly become a cause of conflict rather than promote peace,” Junge concluded.
The General Secretary also took part in the panel discussion “The Unity of the Church and Peace”, where he asked whether churches had not become too accustomed to their fragmentation. Referring to the LWF’s reconciliation with the Mennonites, he added that the striving for unity among churches is part of their God-given mission to a broader work of compassion, reconciliation, justice and peace throughout the world.”
Junge said that eucharistic hospitality offers the ecumenical movement a way to model God’s inclusiveness. “In a world characterised by great fragmentation – how long can we afford to add even one more to it, especially when it comes to a table that belongs to none of us, but to which we are all invited?”
The conference was attended by several European leaders, cultural leaders and religious authorities from around the world, including the President of the European Council, the founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio Prof. Andrea Riccardi, the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II, the Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon Louis Raphaël I Sako, and the Grand Mufti of Egypt Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam. It concluded with separate prayers by the faith groups, after which they came together in an interreligious procession and proclaimed peace together.
Photo: Sant’ Egidio
report prepared based on information provided by the LWF http://www.lutheranworld.org
Translated from English by LELBĀL pastor Ieva Puriņa
Proofreader Mag. Theol. Milda Klampe