February 25, 2006

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil/GENEVA – The president of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IECLB), Rev. Dr Walter Altmann (62), is the new moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee.

WCC Central Committee members elected Altmann on 23 February. He succeeds His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia, appointed moderator at the 1991 WCC 7th Assembly in Canberra, Australia.

In a congratulatory letter to Altmann, LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko said the IECLB president was "one of the most qualified persons to be elected to this position." He particularly mentioned Altmann's theological qualifications, his many years as a church leader, as president of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) and his knowledge of churches worldwide as admirable credentials.

The 150-member Central Committee serves as the WCC's main decision-making body between assemblies held every seven years.

Altmann has been IECLB president since December 2002. He was elected to the LWF Council at the July 2003 LWF Tenth Assembly in Winnipeg, Canada. As chairperson of the Program Committee for Mission and Development, he is also a member of the LWF Executive Committee.

Noko noted that the recent WCC Assembly, held 14-23 February in Porto Alegre, had demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that the future of the ecumenical movement in the 21st century would depend on radical modalities of imagination and cooperation. He said he was convinced this would be possible under Altmann's leadership of the Central Committee. The general secretary emphasized the LWF's understanding of ecumenical commitment as "an obligation and not an option," and affirmed the anticipated cooperation with the WCC in the search for Christian unity.

Altmann studied theology in Sao Leopoldo, Buenos Aires (Argentina), and Hamburg (Germany). In 1972, he earned a doctorate in Hamburg on Karl Rahner's understanding of tradition. He was a parish pastor in Ijui, southern Brazil, 1972-1974. From 1974, he taught systematic theology at the Theological College in S*o Leopoldo. His theological work focused on Martin Luther, Latin American liberation theology, and ecumenism. From 1981 until 1987, he headed the Theological College in Sao Leopoldo, and was director of the Ecumenical Institute for Post-graduate Studies, 1989-1994. Altmann served as IECLB vice-president 1998-2002, and CLAI president, 1995-2001. He is married and has four daughters.

The 712,000-member IECLB is the largest Lutheran church in Latin America. It joined the LWF in 1952.

Indonesian Lutheran Is WCC President for Asia

On 22 February, the WCC Assembly delegates appointed eight presidents for each of the world regions and for the Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. Rev. Dr Soritua Nababan, Protestant Christian Batak Church (HKBP), Indonesia, was elected president for the Asia region. From 1987 until 1998, Nababan was bishop of the 3 million-member HKBP, the largest Lutheran church in Asia, and an LWF member church since 1952. From 1970 until 1977, and 1984-1990, he served as LWF vice-president, and was a member of the LWF Executive Committee, 1990-1997.

Other representatives of Lutheran churches appointed to the WCC Central Committee include Bishop Dr Rolf Koppe, Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) Bishop for Foreign Relations; and Inger Aasa-Marklund from the Church of Sweden.

There are a total of 20 representatives from LWF member churches in the new WCC Central Committee. They are drawn from two churches each in Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America; and 12 churches in Europe.

Lutheran World Information