World Scene: November 25, 1991

BRAZIL

Protestant Growth

One thing became clear during Pope John Paul II’s recent visit to Brazil: He is serious about countering Latin America’s growing interest in the Protestant evangelical faith. While Brazil has the largest Catholic population of any country in the world, with 88 percent of the country’s 150 million people professing Catholicism, as many as 600,000 Brazilian Catholics are converting to Protestantism yearly. The Pope urged Brazilian bishops to make their teaching more plain to help counter “the seduction of sects and new religious groups” that offer “false mirages” and “distorted simplifications” to attract followers.

In addition to countering the movement toward Protestantism (about 16 million one-time Brazilian Catholics alone have affiliated with the Assemblies of God), the Pope also spoke strongly against liberation theology.

PERU

‘Disappearances’ Condemned

The Evangelical Council of Peru (CONEP) recently announced the disappearance of an evangelical pastor, the latest episode in which the church has suffered in the ongoing guerrilla war between government forces and leftist Shining Path rebels (CT, Nov. 11, p. 58). The announcement by CONEP in the daily newspaper La Republica charges that in October 1989 the Peruvian army apprehended and detained Jorge Parraga Castillo, pastor of the Peruvian Evangelical Church.

“During the last years, the evangelical community in Peru has suffered directly the consequences of forced ‘disappearance’ of many of its members and leaders,” read the announcement. “The use of this cruel and inhuman procedure, which directly violates many provisions of our legal order, means not only their radical rupture, but also implies crass abandonment of the values of human dignity and the deepest underlying principles of social life.” CONEP officials say the government still has not investigated the disappearance of Castillo.

SOUTHERN BAPTISTS

Mission Board Cuts Funds

European Baptists are upset over a decision by the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board (SBFMB) to stop providing funds to the Baptist Theological Seminary in Ruschlikon, Switzerland. In early October, the SMFMB voted 35 to 28, rerouting $365,000 in funds from the seminary to other ventures in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. In doing so, some SBFMB members cited concerns that the seminary’s theological stance was turning too liberal.

Board members complained that the seminary, which is run by the European Baptist Federation (EBF), recently invited church history professor Glenn Hinson of Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, to teach during his sabbatical. Hinson has been critical of conservative control of the Southern Baptist denomination.

EBF general secretary Karl-Heinz Walter said the action amounts to “a breach of trust” with the federation and the 32 unions affiliated with it. He added, “We do not find the loss of the money to be the major issue. Rather, the decision destroys confidence in future partnerships with Southern Baptists.” Outgoing EBF president Peter Barber of Scotland said he was disturbed by the suddenness of the move, which cut 40 percent of the seminary’s income.

In its vote, the SBFMB ignored warnings from its president, Keith Parks, who said cutting the funds would endanger the board’s integrity and hinder Baptist expansion in Europe.

HUNGER

Hope For One-Half Billion

More than one-half billion people worldwide are hungry, according to a recent report by the Washington lobby group Bread for the World. While that number is larger than ever before, the percentage of hungry people worldwide is dropping. And, says Bread for the World president David Beckmann, the potential for reducing hunger has never been greater as demilitarization and the advent of new democracies free more resources to feed those in need.

The report notes some important advances in reducing hunger, including increased participation in grassroots-level food banks, food pantries, and hunger advocacy efforts in the U.S.; and the combination of new agricultural technologies with small rural enterprises in countries such as India. Beckmann calls for continued, well-directed efforts: “Lowering the interest rate on Third World debt by 1 percent could help hungry people as much as holding dozens of Live Aid concerts.”

PEOPLE AND EVENTS

Briefly Noted

Elected: Metropolitan Bartholomeos, as the new patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the world’s 250 million Orthodox Christians. Bartholomeos, 51, was the top aide to his predecessor, Dimitrios I, who died October 2.

Named: Jack Fortin, 46, as the new chief of staff of World Vision. He brings to his new job 20 years of experience in various management positions with Young Life.

J. Raymond Tallman, as new general director of Arab World Ministries, effective in January 1993. Until then, he will continue as the chairman of the Department of World Missions and Evangelism at Moody Bible Institute.

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