November 25, 2003

CHICAGO - Calling a series of recent bombing in Istanbul, Turkey, "vicious attacks," the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has joined with other religious leaders to condemn the recent bombings of two synagogues and British interests.

In a Nov. 24 statement, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson said the ELCA "grieves for the bombing victims, and we express our condolences to the families and communities which have suffered such great losses."

At least 57 people were killed and hundreds were injured in the Nov. 15 bombings of two synagogues and the Nov. 20 bombings of the British Consulate and a London-based bank, all in Istanbul.

"We stand united with Jews, Christians and Muslims in this country and around the world who reject the targeting of innocent people," Hanson said.

"Such acts of terrorism against Jews are intolerable and cannot be justified by extremists who distort religion for their own ends," Hanson's statement continued. "As people of faith we are called to play an important role in confronting religious intolerance, violence and hatred in all its forms. We need to be in dialogue with people from other religious traditions, defend the values of our common Abrahamic heritage and strengthen our resolve to work together for peace."

"The ELCA has made it clear through public statements, resolutions and letters to government officials that it deplores all acts of violence, including suicide bombings, against innocent civilians," said the Rev. Mark B. Brown, assistant director, Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA). LOGA is the ELCA's federal public policy office in Washington, D.C.

Hanson and his predecessors have called for an end to the violence in the Middle East, Brown said. They have also encouraged the U.S. government to exert diplomatic pressure on those countries that aid groups operating in the Middle East, that have as their primary purpose the opposition of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, further destabilization of the region or promotion of violence, Brown added.

Hanson also serves as president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), based in Geneva, Switzerland. The LWF has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing 61.7 million of the world's 65.4 million Lutherans.

ELCA News Service
The full text of Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson's statement on the bombings in Istanbul can be found at http://www.elca.org/bishop/m_istanbul.html on the ELCA Web site.