October 7, 2011

GENEVA – The President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan has pledged the support of Lutherans in Norway's fight against hate, two and a half months after the shocking attack on Norway.

Speaking at the installation of Helga Haugland Byfuglien as Presiding Bishop of the Church of Norway Bishops' Conference at Trondheim, Norway, on 2 October, Younan said Lutherans around the world still prayed for the victims of the horrendous act.

Byfuglien is the LWF Vice President for the Nordic region.

"We are your allies in combating–with peaceful means–any kind of incitement or hatred that some circles are trying to promote," said Younan, the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL).

"We are your allies for a culture of mutual understanding and we oppose all cultures of anti-Semitism, islamophobia, christianophobia and xenophobia that exist in our world," Younan stated during the installation service.

"We look forward to continued cooperation with the Church of Norway on these values because the Church of Norway has carried these values to the world," Younan added.

The LWF president noted that the world watched with admiration as the Church of Norway, along with other religious organizations, the Norwegian king and political leaders offered care to the victims of the attack.

Churches within the global Lutheran communion were similarly connected, Younan said. Only by working together could they uphold their mission, witness and passion to engage in the world's challenges.

Byfuglien has been the Bishop of Borg, southeast of the capital, Oslo, since 2005. She was elected unanimously to the position of presiding bishop in October 2010 and is the first woman to be named to the post. Younan presented her with a Jerusalem cross from the ELCJHL as "a token of [the ELCJHL's] prayer that the cross of Christ may be your comfort and strength."

He asked Byfuglien to "remember us in the Middle East with your prayer that justice will soon prevail."

Lutheran World Information