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BETHLEHEM, December 28, 2010 - Upon an invitation by the Environmental Educational Center (ECC) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, a workshop on the climate change was held on December 13, 2010 in Bethlehem in order to discuss the “Uppsala Interfaith Climate Manifesto” and the role of the religious, political, scientific and media institutions in raising the awareness of the Palestinian society regarding this phenomenon and ways to offset and face it.
This was the first of a series of workshops to be held in Bethlehem in the coming weeks and months. The second workshop will be hosted today at 4pm in Bethlehem.
It is noteworthy to mention that the Uppsala Manifesto that was issued in 2008 came as a result of an initiative of the Archbishop of the Church of Sweden Anders Wejryd.
Click here to read the full Press Release from the first Interfaith Workshop on Climate Change, hosted by the Environmental Education Center (EEC) of the ELCJHL.
JERUSALEM, December 27, 2010 - In the days leading up to Christmas the five schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) gathered their communities together to hear the Good News proclaimed in word, song and even dance by their students.
We invite you, too, to come along on the Christmas journey to Bethlehem as proclaimed by these children by watching our 2010 ELCJHL Christmas Programs Slideshow.
JERUSALEM, December 21, 2010 - When we think of the Christmas story, the most common words that come to mind are peace, joy, hope, faith, and love. Christmas is a pleasant time when families come together, when choirs sing, and when children are filled with fantasies. Yet the first two words of Christmas are “Fear not!”
This is the first paragraph from Bishop Younan’s Christmas Message 2010. It is a strong proclamation of the Christmas story, focusing on the very first words, “Fear not!” It was a proclamation needed 2000 years ago, and is still needed today.
Click here to read Bishop Younan’s Christmas Message 2010
Click here for a special Christmas Greeting from Bishop Munib Younan and Mrs. Suad Younan.
JERUSALEM, December 20,2010 - "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among all people!" (Luke 2.14). It is from this proclamation of peace and good will that the Patriarchs and Heads of Local Christian Churches in Jerusalem begin their Christmas Message 2010. And the threads of praising God and hope for peace and reconciliation continue throughout.
"We praise God for the witness of all the heavenly host in their joyous proclamation of God's desire for peace on earth that good will among all people will prevail against the darkness of sin."
But the Christmas Message of the Heads of Churches contains not only hope for peace and reconciliation, but also call to action: "We believe that hope for peace and reconciliation requires our active participation as people of faith."
And in the active hope for peace and reconciliation, the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem speak of their participation in the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land (CRIHL) and the work of Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders together.
Follow the link below to read the full Christmas Message of the Heads of Churches of Jerusalem.
Christmas Message from the Heads of Churches of Jerusalem
JERUSALEM, December 17, 2010 – On Saturday, December 18, 2010 worshipers at Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem will join together via simulcast with worshipers at the Washington National Cathedral for the fourth annual joint service of Lessons and Carols.
From Bethlehem, join us for worship at 5pm local time. From Washington D.C., join for worship at 10am local time. From around the world, join in live via the National Cathedral’s website at 10am EST/9am CST.
Prayers, readings, and hymns will alternate between Bethlehem and Washington, D.C.
In Bethlehem, the service will be led by Bishop Suheil Dawani, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, Bishop Dr. Munib Younan, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) and President of the Lutheran World Federation, and the Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb of Bethlehem’s Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, a congregation of the ELCJHL.
In Washington D.C. the service will be led by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church; with Bishop John Bryson Chane of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, Washington National Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd and Bishop Richard H. Graham of the Metropolitan D.C. Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
If you are unable to join us tomorrow for the service, an on-demand webcast will continue to be available from the National Cathedral’s website throughout the Advent and Christmas seasons.
LWF President Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan, assisted by General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge, presents Pope Benedict XVI with a gift from Bethlehem depicting the Last Supper. Second from left is Vatican employee of the hall Francesco Cavaliere. (© Servizio Fotografico "L'Osservatore Romano")
VATICAN City, Vatican/GENEVA, 16 December 2010 (LWI) – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) President Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan has invited Pope Benedict XVI to work together with the Lutheran communion in realizing an ecumenically accountable commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
“For us there is joy in the liberating power of the gospel proclaimed afresh by the reformers, and we will celebrate that,” said Younan in a message today, when he led a seven-member delegation in a private audience with the Pope. He underlined the need to recognize both the damaging aspects of the Reformation and ecumenical progress.
“But we cannot achieve this ecumenical accountability on our own, without your help. Thus we invite you to work together with us in preparing this anniversary, so that in 2017 we are closer to sharing in the Bread of Life than we are today.”
Greeting the LWF delegation, Pope Benedict expressed gratitude for “the many significant fruits produced” by decades of bilateral discussions between Lutherans and Roman Catholics, saying it had been possible “slowly and patiently to remove barriers and to foster visible bonds of unity by means of theological dialogue and practical cooperation, especially at the level of local communities.” In the years leading up to the next Reformation anniversary, “Catholics and Lutherans are called to reflect anew on where our journey towards unity has led us and to implore the Lord’s guidance and help for the future,” he said.
The Pope pointed out that the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), whose tenth anniversary was marked in 2009, “has proved a significant step along the difficult path towards re-establishing full unity among Christians and a stimulus to further ecumenical discussion.”
He reiterated his expectation that the close contacts and intensive dialogue which have characterized ecumenical relations between Catholics and Lutherans would continue to bear rich fruit.
Representing every LWF region, the delegation included also the General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge and regional vice presidents from Africa, Presiding Bishop Alex G. Malasusa (Tanzania); from Central Eastern Europe, Bishop Tamás Fabiny (Hungary); and from the Nordic region, Presiding Bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien (Norway); and staff. Also present was Kurt Cardinal Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), and other Vatican staff.
In his statement, Younan reiterated the LWF’s commitment to “moving closer toward one another around this Table of the Lord, which Luther saw as the summa evangelii.” The LWF president pointed out that while it was important to “rejoice in each small step which brings us closer together, we do not want to be content with these steps. We remain strong in hope – both for the full visible unity of Christ’s Church and for the Eucharistic communion which is so crucial a manifestation of that unity.”
Younan presented to the Pope a gift from Bethlehem, a carving depicting the Last Supper. Referring to this image, he said, “Each of us can bear witness to the importance of this sacramental meal in nurturing our own Christian lives. Each of us also knows the yearning for the time when we will be able to celebrate this feast together,” said the LWF president.
Younan noted that the LWF had taken a significant step toward Christian reconciliation at its July 2010 Eleventh Assembly in Stuttgart, Germany, by asking forgiveness from Mennonites for the persecution of Anabaptists in the 16th century. In preparing for this act, he said, the LWF was mindful that this legacy was shared by other traditions, including Roman Catholics, who with other ecumenical guests stood in solemn solidarity when the action was pronounced at the Assembly.
“We believe that we took this action on behalf of the whole body of Christ. We pray that this spirit of repentance, reconciliation and renewal will continue to grow among us.”
Younan, who is head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, noted that Catholics and Lutherans share a vision for just peace in the Middle East and support a two-state solution with a shared Jerusalem. He thanked the Pope for his moral leadership in exposing the injustices and idolatries of the global financial crisis – also a concern shared by the LWF, notably in its advocacy against illegitimate debt. On both issues, he urged closer collaboration.
“Our witness will be stronger if we will work together on these problems. Thus we look forward to forging multiple cooperations with our Catholic sisters and brothers at all levels, locally as well as globally,” Younan said.
The LWF president noted that he and the General Secretary represent the new leadership of the global Lutheran communion. Younan was elected President at Stuttgart in July, while Junge began his term of office in November.
The audience with the Pope honors the extraordinary journey by the two churches in recent years, and is a sign of hope for their future relations, Younan said.
Lutherans continue to rejoice, he added, because of the ways the two churches have reached new degrees of theological understanding and agreement, noting in particular the landmark Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.
“Within our own lifetimes, the climate of relations between Lutherans and Catholics has warmed dramatically – and this climate change has been for the good! Around the world our churches live in a new ecology of relationship.” Younan concluded.
Read the full message of Bishop Younan to Pope Benedict XVI in English, or Finnish.
Learn more about the Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
GENEVA, 15 December 2010 (LWI) – Representatives of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) led by the president Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan will visit Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on 16 December.
The seven-member delegation includes also the general secretary, Rev. Martin Junge and these regional vice presidents of the Lutheran communion elected at the July 2010 Eleventh Assembly in Stuttgart, Germany: from Africa, Presiding Bishop Alex G. Malasusa (Tanzania); from Central Eastern Europe, Bishop Tamás Fabiny (Hungary); and from the Nordic region, Presiding Bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien (Norway). These LWF officers, together with the staff persons participating in the visit, represent all LWF regions.
The private audience with the pope will take place in the context of the regular annual Joint Staff Meeting between the LWF and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), co-chaired for the first time by Junge in his capacity as LWF general secretary since November and by Kurt Cardinal Koch as recently appointed PCPCU president.
The joint meetings focus on the cooperative work of the two bodies in ecumenical relations.
In October 1999, representatives of the LWF and the Roman Catholic Church jointly signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) in Augsburg, Germany. With the signing, the two partners affirmed that their mutual condemnations concerning the doctrine of justification, dating back to the 16th century, do not apply to their current teaching.
In 2006 the World Methodist Council formally affirmed the JDDJ, with a commitment by the three partners to strive together to deepen their common understanding of justification in theological study, teaching and practice.
The Women of the ELCJHL gathered together for Advent with conversation over lunch, time for study and reflection, with singing and with prayer. (©ELCJHL/E.McHan)
JERUSALEM, December 13, 2010 – On Saturday, December 11, the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) came together for an Advent gathering. Forty-five women, representing ELCJHL congregations in Beit Sahour, Beit Jala, Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Jerusalem, were able to attend.
The afternoon began with conversation over lunch at the Knight's Palace Hotel in the Old City of Jerusalem, followed by a time of study and reflection on Elizabeth and Mary–strong and faithful witnesses.
Suad Younan walked with the women through the first chapter of Luke, focusing on the dialogues between the angel Gabriel and Zechariah, between Elizabeth and Mary, and surrounding the naming of John.
Bishop Younan spoke of Elizabeth's patience and trust in God in the midst of her barrenness, and lifted her up with the saints as a witness to the gospel in the world. Not only for her time, but for our time. Bishop Younan called those present to live in Elizabeth's patience and to cling to our common evangelical witness.
The meeting closed in candlelight with singing and with prayer.
Bishop Younan sent special greetings to the women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Amman, Jordan, who were unable to participate in the gathering, and expressed his hope that all of the congregations would be able participate as one in the future.
Click on the image to visit the Advent Calendar and walk with us this season!
The ELCJHL, together with the Church of Sweden, invites you to walk with them this Advent. Their online Advent Calendar, "Fear builds walls - Hope builds bridges" includes daily Advent "You-Tube" greetings from young people in Palestine and Sweden
In their own words:
"This is an Advent calendar about hope and future. Young persons in Bethlehem, Palestine, and Vasteras, Sweden, tell about their daily life, their dreams and thoughts.
The whole idea came up last year when a Palestinian pastor told a group of Swedish visitors about his work among youth. He told that when you grow up behind a wall, the most important is to be able to see the ”windows” in the Wall. To see possibilities, to try to understand the fear that builds walls and to realize that you have friends on the other side of the wall. That is the only way to tear down walls. The only way to build peace.
For those who listened the idea started to grow, let us make an Advent Calendar where we try to make windows in the wall that surrounds Bethlehem. To show that we want that wall to be torn down, but also to show that all walls between people can be torn down. It is the story of love and reconciliation by telling others your story. Just to show that we all are equal.
In this calendar you meet young people from Palestine and Sweden. They all have their rights to dream about a good future. This is also the message of Advent, we wait for a better world to come!"
The calendar is produced in cooperation between the Diocese of Vasteras, Church of Sweden, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy land, ELCJHL, Bethlehem Media Centre of the ICB at Bethlehem and John Bauergymnasiet in Vasteras.
BETHLEHEM, November 30, 2010 – On Tuesday, November 30th, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land celebrated the dedication of new facilities of Dar al-Kalima College.
The new facilities promote a “message of higher education and scientific research in Palestine” and includes film and television studios, a specialized technical library, an auditorium and theatre hall, as well as music performance rooms, classrooms, computer labs, a cafeteria and gathering space.
But, as Pastor Mitri Raheb, Pastor of the Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church, said, “we don’t inviest only in stone, but rather almost all of our focus is on human beings. Our mission was and will remain ‘To build a country, stone by stone; to empower a community, person by person; and to establish viable institutions that are here to last.’”
Dar al-Kalima College is the first and only Lutheran college in the Middle East, and is part of the Diyar Consortium, an outgrowth of the ministries of the Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bethlehem, one of the six congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL).
To read Pastor Raheb’s full speech, to view the dedication event, or for other news about the newly-dedicated Dar al-Kalima College, visit the Diyar Consortium webpage.
BEIT JALA, November 30, 2010 – German President Christian Wulff met with the Rev. Dr. Munib A. Younan, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) and President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) on his recent visit to Bethlehem.
President Wulff and Bishop Younan together spent time visiting Talitha Kumi Evangelical Lutheran School, one of the four schools of the ELCJHL, which has a strong partnership with the Berliner Missionswerke (BMW). President Wulff congratulated Younan on his election to President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and thanked him for his partnership with the BMW at Talitha Kumi School.
President Wulff visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem’s Old City before visiting Talitha Kumi School, and was schedule to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas later in the day.
GENEVA, 26 November 2010 (LWI) - The worldwide family of Lutherans must work together to serve and heal the broken world, Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan, president of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) said in a 25 November address in Geneva.
“We are called to work to eradicate poverty, to be prophetic against injustice, to be bridge builders between South and North and East and West, to strengthen our sisters and brothers who suffer or find discrimination because of their faith, and to be responsible for the integrity of creation,” Younan said.
The head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) was speaking at the installation of LWF’s new general secretary Rev. Martin Junge during a eucharistic service at the Ecumenical Center chapel.
Elected in October 2009, Junge previously served as LWF area secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean in the Department for Mission and Development (DMD). A former president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile, he assumed his new position on 1 November.
Younan said the election of Junge, the first Latin American LWF general secretary, marked a significant moment in the life of the worldwide communion.
“When the LWF elects a general secretary and a president from two of the smallest churches in the LWF, that means that in the communion there is no East or West; there is no affluent or less affluent. It means that our communion is healthy because it is ready to elect people to serve the Lord and the people of the church on the basis of their gifts that Christ bestowed on them,” remarked the LWF president, referring to his acceptance speech at the July 2010 Eleventh Assembly in Stuttgart, Germany.
Reflecting on the gospel text from Luke chosen for the occasion, Younan also spoke of accompaniment, highlighting the essentiality “that this theology of accompaniment pertains not only to those who have the same mind and share the same confession, but also to those who may be different in theology or culture, so that we may come to the realization that we are called to serve together a broken and wounded world.”
“This theology of accompaniment asks us to walk alongside one another with humility, carrying the cross and denying ourselves, bearing one another’s burdens and celebrating together the Eucharist, while finding Christ in the other, whose diversity we joyfully accept for the sake of the advancement of Christ’s kingdom in the world,” Younan concluded.
At the installation, Younan presented the new LWF general secretary with a cross made out of spent bullet casings from Liberia’s civil war. He said the cross was “a sign that we are called to make peace and that healing is possible in our broken, globalized world.”
Official greetings were offered by Bishop Medardo E. Gómez Soto (Salvadoran Lutheran Church) on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean region; Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, World Council of Churches general secretary; and Ms Simangaliso Hove, DMD secretary for project implementation on behalf of LWF staff.
For more coverage of the installation of Rev. Martin Junge as General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) visit the Lutheran World Federation Website.
SWEDEN, November 21, 2010 – It was with great joy that Rev. Dr. Munib A. Younan, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) and President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) attended the consecration of Rev. Jan Olof Johansson as Bishop of Växjö in mid-November.
Bishop Johansson has previously served as General Secretary of the Jerusalem Swedish society, working closely with the Swedish Good Shepherd School in Bethlehem, a fact which Younan reflected on in his address at Johansson’s consecration:
“Your consecration is very meaningful to me, for we have known one another for nearly twenty years, and have worked together for the sake of Palestinian girls in the ministry of the Swedish Good Shepherd School in Bethlehem. I have always admired your unflagging will to support this school as the General Secretary of the Jerusalem Swedish society. You care for our people, for our children, and for our hospital. I have always noticed and observed your love and sweet spirit and concern for the children and for your advocacy for our just cause.”
Younan acknowledged to Johansson both the privilege and demands of Johansson’s new call as Bishop, but assured him of God’s guidance and wisdom, and promised presence in the midst.
Younan concluded his speech, sharing the confidence, greetings, and prayers of the young women of the Swedish Good Shepherd School in Bethlehem, and presenting from them a handmade olive wood nativity.
HAMBURG, November 19, 2010 – “I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers” (Ephesians 1:15-16).
It was with these words from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that the Rev. Dr. Younan, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) and President of the Lutheran Federation (LWF) greeted Bishop Maria Jepsen on the occasion of her retirement in Hamburg, Germany in late November.
Younan further spoke, “We thank you always in our prayers for the partnership we have shared in the Gospel between our small but vibrant church [the ELCJHL] and the North Elbian Church.”
Younan was honored to be able to attend the celebration of Bishop Maria Jepsen’s service to the North Elbian Church as Bishop and to Lutheran churches worldwide since her election in April of 1992 as the first woman bishop in the Lutheran world.
“Ever since Martin Luther’s declarations concerning the priesthood of all believers, we have striven to uplift an inclusive and expansive model of the church.” Younan said, and continued, “Yes, there have been many cultural and societal barriers to overcome, and there are many more for us still to overcome, but as the new day dawned with your consecration as bishop, we rejoiced together with you, as the German church became an example for the whole world and the ecumenical community.”
Younan thanked Jepsen for her excellent pastoral leadership, her strong Lutheran identity, the way in which she was able to express the global nature of Lutheranism, and her ecumenical involvement.
“[Bishop Jepsen], you have offered all of us a good example: we cannot witness alone without our sisters and brothers from other confessions and from every continent. Yes, there are differences, but what we have in common is so much greater, for that which unites us is much more than that which divides us, and together our common witness brings the mission of Christ to the world. And so I say thank you.”
HANNOVER, November 7, 2010 – “We as Christians share the same loaf. We share the same responsibility for a hungry world, hungry for spirituality and hungry for justice,” said Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) in his words before the Evangelische Kirche Deutschland (EKD) in early November.
Younan shared words of thanks for the leadership of Bishop Johannes Friedrich, the EKD’s partnership with the ELCJHL, and the dialogue the church bodies share. Younan also congratulated Praeses Nikolaus Schneider in his new role as president of the council of the EKD.
Younan called for ever-strengthening relationship, saying:
“Our grassroots are expecting to see us acting together, witnessing together, living together, and loving together. For this reason, it is essential that we strengthen our relationships both in Israel-Palestine and in the whole Middle East. It is essential that we—the EKD, the ELCJHL and its COCOP partners, the LWF, and all Christians—work together with one voice in a common witness—a witness that is living, dynamic, and steadfast.”
Younan concluded his address with a prayer for the common evangelical Lutheran witness of the ELCJHL and the EKD and their partners as they commit to “making every effort to maintain the unity of the Sprit in the bond of peace.”
WITTENBERG, November 5, 2010 – It was the dove that came back with a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak and the sign of hope that must have been to Noah and his family that Bishop Younan reflected on as he planted a tree in the Luther Garden in Wittenberg, Germany in early November.
“When Martin Luther was asked what he would do if he knew the world would end tomorrow, his response was that he would plant an apple tree. For Noah, the world had actually come to an end. The mythological world of the early chapters of Genesis was now a thing of the past, drown in the chaotic waters of the flood. Yet the presence of a living tree announced the promised future of a world transformed in God. Not just any tree, but the freshly plucked leaf of an olive tree.”
And as Younan planted a tree in the Luther Garden, a garden that will be filled with new and abundant life, seeded by the churches of the Lutheran communio in these years building up to the 500th anniversary of the Reforamtion, olive trees were planted at each of the congregations, schools, programs, and partners of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, the church in which Younan presides as Bishop.
In his reflection, Younan spoke of the hope for the future that the olive tree continues to embody for the people of the ELCJHL. “The olive tree can be surprising,” Younan said. “A single small shoot growing up from the bottom of an all but dead tree, can signify the beginning of a new era of abundant life, growing for centuries, and providing for generations of families not yet born.”
Younan spoke about how a single small shoot can enliven hope, and planted this new tree “as a visible symbol of the faith, love, and hope by which we pray that God may transform the world.”
Younan ended with verses 8 and 9 from Psalm 52:
But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.
I will thank you forever, because of what you have done.
In the presence of the faithful I will proclaim your name, for it is good.
Local church representatives, Mayor Eckhard Naumann of Wittenberg, and Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Bohmer were among those present for the tree planting.
HANNOVER, November 4, 2010 – “The unity of our Lutheran communion is our aim, and it must be our goal that no actions or decisions by individual churches can be viewed as divisive for this communion. Because, in our unity, there is a living witness.”
With these words Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) and President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) opened his address to the Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands (VELKD) in November 2010.
Younan was invited to address the eleventh General Synod of the VELKD in Hannover during their November meetings, and was pleased to be able to attend.
This visit gave the opportunity for Younan to share his appreciation for the strong support of VELKD as well as to outline more fully the path of accompaniment that stretches out before and beyond the Lutheran communio.
In his address, Younan called for continued partnership between churches in the Middle East, the churches of Europe, and of the world, and thanked VELKD for its commitment to interfaith dialogue.
Drawing his address to a close, Younan addressed the concerns of Christians in the Middle East and the growth of extremism in all religions, saying:
“For me, extremism cannot be fought except with the weapons of education and interfaith dialogue. For this reason, the LWF, VELKD, and ELCJHL must be committed to working together so that churches and various development agencies can succeed in their mission. Education can teach the world to be more tolerant and to respect the rights of the other, accepting the other as they are. Through interfaith dialogue we can understand and accept our differences while recognizing equality in our humanity. This is the reason that in our education we want to promote a theology of creation side by side with a theology of salvation.”