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 15 February 2008 | 08-0130 |
Speak of faith in your political statements, ex-PM tells churches
Stephen Brown
Geneva (ENI). Former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik says that when international Christian groups such as the World Council of Churches make statements about political issues they should ensure they are rooted in faith.
"What I often experienced was that we received statements from church bodies, domestic and international, and they were almost like statements from other organizations and NGOs," Bondevik told the main governing body of the World Council of Churches, its central committee, during its 13-20 February meeting in Geneva.
"Very often my colleagues ask 'Why is this statement coming from church bodies?'" noted Bondevik, an ordained Lutheran priest who served as prime minister of Norway from 1997 to 2000 and from 2001 to 2005. He now serves as the moderator of the WCC's Commission of the Churches on International Affairs.
Bondevik was praising draft WCC statements on climate change and on democratic governance for starting with biblical references that underlined the importance of these issues for Christians.
"When we make statements on international issues and more generally political issues, let us all try and root them in Christian ethical values," he said. "That is how we can give added value."
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