Brief biographies of those signing the Joint Declaration

 — Oct. 23, 199923 oct. 1999

The Rev. H. George Anderson, 67, was appointed a Vice-President of the Lutheran Federation (LWF) in 1997. He has been the Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America since 1995. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate from Yale, Anderson earned graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, and is known as a translator and author of many works on Lutheran history. At the time of his election as bishop, he had been president of the ELCA‘s Luther College since 1982. Before that he was on the faculty of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, South Carolina, and served as its president from 1970 to 1981. In addition to working with the church over the years in many voluntary capacities, Anderson’s record of community service includes organizing the College Place Day Care Center, co-founding the Eau Claire Community Organization, and serving as a director of Minnesota Public Radio (1984-90).

Edward Idris Cardinal Cassidy, 75, born in Sydney, Australia, is President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU). Cassidy was created a Cardinal in 1991 by Pope John Paul II. From 1988 to 89 he served as Substitute Secretary of State in the Vatican. As Apostolic Pro-Nuncio, Cassidy directed the papal missions to the Netherlands between 1984-88, to Southern Africa from 1979 to 84, to Bangladesh between 1973 to 79, and to the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 1970 to 73. Cassidy was ordained bishop in Rome in 1970. Between 1955 and 1969, in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, Cassidy worked in the Apostolic Nunciatures in India, Ireland, El Salvador and Argentina. He was sent to Romein 1952 to study at the Lateran University, where he earned his doctorate in Canon Law in 1955. Ordained to the priesthood in 1949, Cassidy served as a parish priest in the Diocese of Wagga Wagga, Australia.

Bishop Dr. Julius Filo, 48, has been General Bishop of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Slovak Republic since 1994. A Vice-President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) since 1997, Filo is a member of the Program Committee for Theology and Studies in the LWF Council. Since 1991, he has been lecturer and chairperson of the Department for Practical Theology at the University of Bratislava where he served as dean of the theological faculty from 1993 to 1994. Ordained in 1974, Filo obtained his doctorate in Lutheran theology from the University of Bratislava in 1981. He served in the LWF as co-ordinator for a program for youth and students from 1985 to 1990. In addition, Filo is the President of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Slovakia.

Ms Parmata Abasu Ishaya, 51, was appointed a Vice-President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in 1997. A lay member of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN), Ms Ishaya, an educationist has taught for several years in Nigeria and is currently a Chief Inspector of Education in Adamawa State, Nigeria. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a post-graduate diploma in education. At the LCCN, she works on a voluntary basis with women and is a board member for the Christian education department as well as an observer at the church’s General Council.

Bishop Dr. Walter Kasper, 66, has been Secretary of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) since 16 March 1999. For the previous 10 years he was Diocesan Bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart in Germany. Since 1991 Bishop Kasper has been Moderator of the Commission on Worldwide Church Affairs, and Vice-Moderator of the Commission on Faith, of the German Bishops’ Conference. In 1994 he was nominated the Catholic Co-Chairperson of the Lutheran/Roman Catholic Commission on Unity. Since 1998 he has been a consultor of the Roman Catholic Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and of the Pontifical Council for Culture. Kasper was ordained to the priesthood in 1957 in Rottenburg Cathedral, and received his doctorate in theology from the Catholic Theological Faculty of the Eberhard-Karls-University in Tubingen. After his habilitation in 1964 in the field of dogmatics, Kasper held the chair in dogmatics at the University of Munster, and subsequently (from 1970) the same position at the University of Tubingen.

Rev. Huberto Kirchheim, 60, has been President of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (ECLCB) since 1994, and from 1997 one of the LWF Vice-Presidents, with responsibility for the Central and South American region. Rev. Kirchheim was elected First Vice-President of his church in 1986, and worked full-time in this capacity from 1992 to 1994, with major responsibility for personnel and ecumenical contacts. Between 1990 and 1991 he was Regional Minister of the newly constituted sixth region of his church in Santa Cruz do Sul. Before that he was Regional Minister of the fourth church region in Sao Leopoldo, where he directed the Office for Parish Development (1975-78). Kirchheim was ordained in 1966 and served as parish pastor in Venancio Aires/RS (1970-75) and in Palmitos, Santa Catarina (1963-1970). From 1984 to 1990 Rev. Kirchheim was a member of the LWF Commission for World Service.

Bishop Christian Krause, 59, has been Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick, Germany since 1994, and since 1997 President of the Lutheran World Federation. In 1997 he also became Moderator of the Council, Confederation of Protestant Churches in Lower Saxony, Germany. Krause was General Secretary of the German Protestant Church Convention (Kirchentag) from 1985-1994, based in Fulda, Germany. From 1972-1985 he was a member of the High Consistory (Oberkirchenrat) in the office of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany, with responsibility for Ecumenical Relations, Mission and Development Service, and also business manager of the LWF German National Committee. As a staff member in the Head Office of the LWF Tanganyika Christian Refugee Service (TCRS), Krause worked in 1971-72 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Previously he was Research Secretary (1969-70) and Special Assistant (1966-67) in the LWF’s Department of Theology in Geneva. Christian Krause was ordained a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover in 1969.

The Rev. Dr. Prasanna Kumari, 49, is the Executive Secretary of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI), and a professor of New Testament as well as head of the Department of Women’s Studies at Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute. She has been a Vice-President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) since 1997, and a member of the LWF Council and chairperson of the Program Committee on Theology and Studies since 1990. From 1982 to 1992, Kumari was Women’s Secretary of the UELCI, and served as the regional co-ordinator for the LWF Committee on Women in Church and Society (WICAS). Kumari received a bachelor of theology degree from the Hindustan Bible Institute and College, Madras and a bachelor of divinity and master of theology from the United Theological College in Bangalore in Madras. She holds a doctor of Divinity from the Academy of Ecumenical Indian Theology and Church Administration in Madras.

Dr. Sigrun Mogedal, 55, was appointed Treasurer of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in 1997. A lay member of the Church of Norway, she is a physician, specializing in public health and has been involved in related consultancies and applied research in Asia and Africa. Currently working with the Norwegian Agency for Aid and Development (NORAD), Mogedal previously worked as Director for the Center for Partnership in Norway (DIS). A Moderator of the Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relations since 1990, Mogedal has also served as a Co-Moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Unit II Commission (Mission, Education and Health). She has had broad ecumenical experience as a lay church leader at national and international levels, with special interest in the role of church in society. Mogedal obtained her medical degree from the University of Oslo, in 1968. In 1970, she graduated with a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the University of London and pursued in 1986 further studies in Community Medicine for Physicians in Norwegian Public Health Services.

The Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko, 56, is the first African general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). An ordained pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Zimbabwe, Noko took up his position as general secretary on 1 November 1994, succeeding Norwegian theologian Dr. Gunnar Staalsett. Noko first joined the LWF in May 1982, where he worked in the Department for World Service (DWS). From 1987 to 1990 he was the Director of the LWF Department for Church Cooperation, which following restructuring in 1990 became the present Department for Mission and Development (DMD). Prior to joining the LWF, Noko was a lecturer and faculty dean at the University of Botswana between 1977 and 1982. Ordained in 1972, Noko pursued his theological studies in South Africa at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, and the University of Zululand. He completed his B.A. in 1971, majoring in systematic theology, church history and biblical studies. He pursued a master’s degree in the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Canada, which he completed in 1974 with a thesis on “Communion of Saints from the African Perspective.” In 1977, he obtained a Ph. D degree from the McGill University in Quebec, Canada, based on his doctoral thesis, “The Concept of God in Black Theology: An Appreciation of God as Liberator and Reconciler.”

Posted: Oct. 23, 1999 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=4977
Categories: Lutheran World Information • In this article: Catholic, dialogue, JDDJ, Lutheran Transmis : 23 oct. 1999 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=4977
Catégorie : Lutheran World Information • Dans cet article : Catholic, dialogue, JDDJ, Lutheran