Junge Praises Bishop’s Prophetic Witness
GENEVA, 14 September 2011 (LWI) – The General Secretary of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Rev. Martin Junge has paid tribute to the life, work and witness of Bishop Helmut Frenz (1933-2011), a lifelong campaigner for human rights in Germany and Chile.
Junge, recalling his early encounters with Frenz as a congregational pastor in Chile, offered both his personal condolences and those of the Lutheran communion to the family, friends and colleagues of the renowned church leader, who died on 13 September in Germany.
“He was one of the major Lutheran prophets of his generation, a brave and uncompromising champion for justice and human rights,” said Junge, a Chilean theologian.
In a 13 September statement, Junge said that, to Frenz, who came from Germany to serve the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile in 1965 and was elected bishop in 1970, the gospel’s call to work for justice was clear.
“Already before the violent coup of 11 September 1973, he was one of the leaders of the lifesaving efforts to protect Latin America who had fled to Chile. After the coup, he helped organize efforts to protect those being targeted by the Pinochet regime, and to hold the regime accountable for its use of torture, ‘disappearence,’ exile and other grave violations of human rights,” Junge said.
Frenz was an important ecumenical figure in Chile, working with Roman Catholics and Protestants on justice issues.
In 1974 the bishop was recognized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees with the Nansen Award. A year later, while visiting the LWF offices in Geneva, Frenz heard that the Chilean regime would not allow him to return to his adopted country.
However, Junge noted, Frenz continued his advocacy for human rights in Germany, serving for nine years as the general secretary of the German Section of Amnesty International.
“In service with the church thereafter, he was a champion for victims of torture, refugees and migrants in Germany and around the world,” Junge added.
The LWF general secretary noted that it was fortunate that Frenz lived long enough to see the end of the Pinochet regime and was in 2001 awarded a Medal of Honor by the Chilean Parliament.
Frenz, who had said that Chile had grown into his heart, was in 2007 made an honorary citizen of Chile by President Michelle Bachelet.
“Thanks be to God for Helmet Frenz!” Junge concluded. (400 words)
See also:
- Human Rights Capacity Building
- UN Human Rights Bodies
- Human Rights Advocacy at the UN
- Human Rights Internships
- Give Us Today Our Human Rights
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- LWF General Secretary Underscores Link between Lutheran Tradition and Human Rights Principles
- Human Rights Cooperation Affirmed at LWF Meeting with Norwegian Ambassador
- LWF Publication: Faith and Human Rights – Voices from the Lutheran Communion
- Lutherans Plead for Human Rights Protection in Political Conflicts
