13.04.2003
Look for Signs of Healing in the Midst of Violence and Destruction
Message from Latin American and Caribbean LWF Pre-Assembly ConsultationSAN SALVADOR, El Salvador/GENEVA, 13 April 2003 (LWI) – “Maintain hope and seek signs of healing in all situations of exclusion where God's love has been affected," was the call from participants in the last regional consultation to prepare churches for the July 2003 Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Tenth Assembly.
“We believe that God’s love brings healing for creation as a whole,” the 51 representatives from LWF member churches in Latin America and the Caribbean said at the end of the April 6-9 Pre-Assembly Consultation (PAC), the last in a series that took place in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
The message from the Latin American and Caribbean PAC was “addressed to those who particularly suffer from marginalization and exclusion,” including children, young people, women and persons affected by HIV/AIDS. Referring to the Assembly theme “For the Healing of the World,” they said, healing must be understood holistically.
Concerning the situation in El Salvador, the consultation participants condemned the neo-liberal economic model that encourages economic globalization based on exclusion. The impoverishment of vast masses of the population, the message stated, was a concrete example of the effects of neo-liberalism.
The regional PAC also sent a letter to the international youth conference that will take place a week prior to the July 21-31 Assembly. Participants noted that “young people, like children, bear the brunt of the effects of the ‘excluding economic globalization.” At a regional level, they affirmed their commitment to seek paths that will allow young people to have greater participation in decision-making processes of the church.
The consultation attended by representatives from the 15 churches in the region was hosted by the Salvadoran Lutheran Synod.
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