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Washington, D.C. (ELCA)-JB — The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), joined 31 prominent Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders Dec. 2 to announce a new collaborative effort to mobilize broad public support for active U.S. leadership in pursuing peace for Israelis, Palestinians and people in other Arab states.
At least 16 of the leaders were present for a news conference at the National Press Club here to announce the new initiative, which followed a day of organizational meetings. Hanson, who also serves as president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), moderated the news conference and was among those who spoke on behalf of the religious leaders. The LWF, based in Geneva, is a global communion of 136 Lutheran churches in 76 countries representing 61.7 million of the world's 65.4 million Lutherans. The ELCA, a 5-million member Lutheran church based in Chicago, is an LWF member.
"As Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders, we have no choice but to come to Washington, D.C., today, for we believe working for peace together with justice in the Middle East reflects a central moral imperative of our common Abrahamic faith," Hanson said in a statement at the news conference. "We believe peace in the Middle East is key to reducing tensions throughout the world."
The initiative was organized through "Walk the Road to Peace," a national, multi-faith campaign organized to support the Road Map to Peace in the Middle East. Walk the Road to Peace was "initiated by American Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders united to support peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians," according to the program's Web site.
The Road Map is a Middle East peace plan proposed earlier this year by the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
The Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, the ELCA's federal public policy office based here, was among those which coordinated the Dec. 2 meetings.
President Bush and his administration should exercise leadership to find a just peace for all people in the Middle East region, the religious leaders said. They also pointed to a peace initiative signed in Geneva, this week by concerned Israelis and Palestinians as a sign of grassroots determination to move toward peace.
The religious leaders — representing some 100 million U.S. citizens — presented a multi-step plan they believe will help implement the Road Map. They sent a copy of it with a letter to Bush asking for a White House meeting with him and key administration officials.
Doubt about the lack of progress on the Road Map "leaves us rightfully impatient," said Hanson. He said today's doubts about U.S. commitment to the Road Map must be replaced by the strong leadership the Bush Administration demonstrated earlier this year.
The interfaith group hopes to organize a series of peace activities in Washington, D.C., and they will encourage their members to pray for peace, Hanson said. They hope local interfaith groups will be formed in larger efforts to motivate Congress and the Bush Administration, he said.
Hanson said ELCA synod bishops will continue to visit the Middle East to listen and learn; the ELCA will continue its support of and seek volunteers for an ecumenical accompaniment program in the Middle East; and the church will continue its prayer vigil for Middle East peace.
In response to questions from reporters, Hanson said he believes the interfaith group and the Bush Administration are in agreement on implementation of the Road Map. Already some members of the U.S. Congress have pledged their support for the interfaith initiative, which hopefully will lead to a meeting with Bush, Hanson said.
"The conflict in the Middle East cannot be reduced to just a political conflict, when it is so inherently religious in many of its dimensions," Hanson said in an interview. "Therefore, because we all are rooted in that land we call holy, we believe as religious leaders we must also be about finding a solution to the conflicts of that land."
Hanson hopes his presence with the interfaith group is a "sign of hope" for ELCA members and will encourage them to discuss what they can do to promote peace.
Among those present at the news conference in support of the religious leaders, but not speaking, were U.S. Rep. Amo Houghton Jr. (R-N.Y.) and U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chaffee (R-Rhode Island).
Several other religious leaders involved in the delegation spoke at the news conference, emphasizing their unity to urge the Bush Administration and their own constituents to get more actively involved.
"As united religious leaders, we are convinced that the time is now to speak publicly to our political leaders and to work diligently on our own religious constituencies in the pursuit of lasting peace," said Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader, secretary, Council of Bishops, United Methodist Church.
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop of Washington (D.C.), said the Roman Catholic Church "strongly supports both the survival and security of Israel and a free and viable state for the Palestinians."
"In the global picture we believe that the failure to achieve a just peace in this critical area imperils the quest for peace, security and stability in the Middle East and the world itself," he said.
Acknowledging that members of the interfaith group have their own deep convictions about the Middle East, Rabbi Paul Menitoff said the coalition was created in spite of those convictions.
"The differences have seriously strained relations among members of this coalition," said Menitoff, executive vice president, Central Conference of American Rabbis. "We are, however, united in our support for active U.S. leadership in pursuing full implementation of the Road Map for peace."
"We have deepened our belief that effective public engagement around the Middle East issue can include, and does in fact require our religious voices," said Iman Feisel Abdul Rauf, founder, American Sufi Muslim Association.
"We found ourselves listening very hard," he said. "We found ourselves with good people, people of deep faith, and we have located many important and shared values, among the most primary of which are love, justice, compassion, service and faithfulness."
David Neff, editor and vice president of Christianity Today and a representative of the Evangelical church community, said despite popular opinion, all evangelicals are not of one mind on the Middle East.
"If the Bush Administration is able to seize this moment and provide American leadership that actually results in a stable and peaceful resolution between Israelis and Palestinians . [then] I think that most of America's evangelicals will praise him, and he doesn't need to fear losing that important part of his base in the polls," Neff said.
In a letter to Bush, members of the interfaith delegation called on the U.S. government to take specific steps to renew momentum for the Road Map:
+ Reiterate the Road Map's "unequivocal call" for an end to all acts of violence and work to achieve a ceasefire agreement
+ Return the special presidential envoy to the region and provide visible, public monitoring of steps required by both sides
+ Determine specific simultaneous steps that the two sides must take, and set a timetable for taking them
+ Support benchmark principles and ideas for mutually acceptable solutions developed in earlier negotiations and current citizen efforts for peace
The religious leaders also suggested steps for the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government to take to implement the Road Map. Those steps emphasize peaceful solutions, economic and humanitarian concerns, and cooperation.
Information about "Walk the Road to Peace" can be found at
www.walktheroadtopeace.org/about.htm
on the Web.
Photos and a video news release about the interfaith
delegation can be found at www.elca.org/co/news/index.asp
on the ELCA Web site.