September 7, 2011

GENEVA – In a statement marking the tenth anniversary of the horrific attacks on the United States that took place on 11 September 2001, the General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Rev. Martin Junge said that the LWF joined many others in continuing to mourn the numerous victims of this catastrophe that shook the world, and to pray for all those who still suffered the traumas of that day.

Junge prefaced his remarks with words from the Letter to the Romans (Rom 12:21), which is also this year's watchword: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good!"

"A decade later, I grieve at how many negative things were triggered by those events and at how many innocent people have suffered," the general secretary said in his statement.

"Tragically, many of those opposing the terrorist acts also fell into the simplistic use of enemy images," he commented. "Out of fear and in the quest for security, many people lost their moral compasses and allowed themselves to be overcome by evil. Rather than breaking the cycle of violence, it spiraled up." He noted that the pain of thousands and hundreds of thousands had been added to the pain of September 11th. Junge urged that this anniversary be used as an occasion to remember and pray for all victims of violence and war, both those who were in the news and those who suffered in obscurity.

He asked how cycles of violence and hatred could be broken and concluded that dialogue, reconciliation and cooperation were key. By way of example, the general secretary cited Indonesia, where interreligious tensions were rising. The Lutheran church leader unequivocally stated, "The more the violence, the more we dialogue."

He also mentioned Nigeria, where political, economic and ethnic conflicts took on the "garb of religion." "The vast majority of Christian and Muslim leaders call on their people to reject violence and to love and respect the neighbor."

Junge also referred to the situation in the Middle East, where the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land carried out prophetic witness for reconciliation and a common future for Jews, Muslims and Christians; he mentioned Brazil, where the church's mission among indigenous people after 500 years of suffering had been to establish a respectful interreligious dialogue.

"Let us use this anniversary not only to remember the tragic events but to recommit ourselves to be co-workers in processes of transformation that overcome evil. As we say in the LWF Strategy 2012-2017, we are liberated by God's grace to live and work together for a just, peaceful, and reconciled world."

Read the full text of the statement on the LWF Web site: http://www.lwf-assembly2003.org/lwf-interspire/link.php?M=2227&N=488&L=97&F=T.

Lutheran World Information