Reclaiming the Power of Faith as a Driving Force for Justice
LWF President Younan Speaks at Danish Church Days
At the 2013 Danish Church Days, Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan, President of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), spoke of his hope for peaceful coexistence of religions and nations in Middle East.
In his keynote address before an attentive audience on 9 May (Ascension Day) in the northern city of Aalborg, Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) said, ”One of the great challenges of the 21st century will be to reclaim the power of faith as a driving force for justice, peace, and love. We must be convinced that no one religion has a monopoly on hate or extremism, and that all of us—Christians, Muslims, Jews—are equally responsible and equally called to work together to seek the common, positive values of love, compassion, justice, and peace.”
He continued, “We must together uphold the sacred value of all persons regardless of color, race, creed or religion.”
The ELCJHL bishop said he regarded the role of Arab Christians in the Middle East as being more important today than ever before. He said he was worried that in recent years people are increasingly leaving the region for the West. ”I believe that Arab and the Middle East Christians maintain a crucial balance in our society. They are the bridge builders, brokers of justice, defenders of human rights and gender equality, and most importantly, they are peacemakers,” Younan emphasized.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark (ELCD) organizes the Danish Church Days every three years. It is the biggest interdenominational event in the country and is hosted on a rotational basis by the church’s 11 dioceses. Ms Hanne Broadbridge, chairperson of the ELCD Council on International Relations, said the Danish Church Days 2013 had been filled with deeply moving keynote speeches, church services, concerts, workshops and creative activities as well as “talks across the meal tables and coffees between people of all ages and confessions to spread the gospel of love, justice and peace for all.”
Education Is the Way Forward
In his address titled “Seeing God in the Other: A Theology of Hope,” Younan emphasized the importance of education as an instrument toward a more peaceful coexistence, and mentioned the Council for Religious Institutions in the Holy Land (CRIHL), as “a modern day miracle” that makes a difference.
Under the CRIHL, Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders work together to promote interreligious understanding and cooperation. In recent months the group has been analyzing how Palestinian and Israeli school textbooks depict “the other,” the result being two conflicting narratives which lack the values of coexistence.
Citing some examples, the ELCJHL bishop said the respective textbooks “treated access to the holy city of Jerusalem as a right exclusive to themselves. How can we hope for our children to live in peace if we do not plant seeds of hope in them when they are young? Our aim is to make the textbooks more inclusive, so that children will grow up with a knowledge and respect of their neighbor’s faith and practice,” said Younan amid applause from the hall.
Pray and Visit the Region
After the address the floor was opened to the audience, who seized the opportunity to put questions to the LWF president, including how the church in Denmark can best support Christians in the Arab world.
“You can help us by not being for Israel or for Palestine but by being for peace, justice and truth. You are not to help us against the others; help us only to continue to be Christians in our own society. At the moment, with the Middle East boiling over and in crisis, it’s important for us to experience the support of Western Christians,” Younan said, and urged his audience to pray for Christians in the Middle East and to visit the region:
“Come and visit us in our churches. It’s fantastic for Middle Eastern churches to experience Christians coming from Western countries and seeing the injustice. [You] can pray together with us and participate in the life and activities of our churches,” Younan urged his audience.
On 12 May, Younan participated in the installation of Rev. Marianne Christiansen as bishop of Haderslev Diocese in the south. She succeeds LWF Council member Bishop Henrik Niels Arendt, who had served the diocese since 1999.
The Danish Lutheran church has nearly 4.5 million members, and is a founding member of the LWF.
(Written for LWI by Louise Haunstrup, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark).