CARACAS, Venezuela - The president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Venezuela, Rev. Akos Puky, has appealed for tolerance and unity in the country, saying increasing division among the population over the past few months was destructive.

Although Venezuela was endowed with natural resources, it was experiencing the highest ever poverty levels. The situation had particularly worsened in the past four years, Puky told Lutheran World Information (LWI) in an interview.

The economic situation together with the political uncertainty in Venezuela had led to a major wave of emigration, stressed Puky, who was born in 1936 in Budapest, Hungary. Young people especially, unable to secure a future for themselves anymore at home, were leaving the country. The membership of the Lutheran church had almost halved over the past few years, to 2,233 members by the end of 2003. In the past year alone, the German-speaking congregation in Caracas had lost more than 100 families, most of whom had emigrated to Germany. The Venezuelan church joined the Lutheran World Federation in 1986.

Puky, who has been president of the Venezuelan church since October 2002, noted that the church was becoming increasingly open to the local Spanish-speaking population, which now comprises around 40 percent of the total membership. Since 1973, services in many congregations are conducted in Spanish as well, whereas previously they were held mainly in German, Danish, Latvian, Norwegian, Swedish or Hungarian.

Puky said the church's activities are mainly focused on service delivery including social and health centers, ecumenical and mission work among indigenous population groups.

Lutheran World Information