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World Congress Adopts
"Statement of Concern"
on Religious Freedom Violations

he World Congress on religious freedom concluded today with an insistence that violations of religious rights are unacceptable, and specifically named some of the worst offenders.

"We have heard many speeches and fine words during this World Congress on religious freedom," commented Jonathan Gallagher, communication director for the organizers, the International Religious Liberty Association. "But in order to be relevant we need to come out and clearly condemn the worst abuses, pointing to those countries where intolerance and persecution are hurting people's lives and work, even to the point of violence and death. Such actions have no place in today's world and should be condemned by all nations, since religious extremism and intolerance is the greatest threat facing humanity."

The document identifies Sudan, North Korea, and some states in India as "among the most serious violators of religious freedom," and adds that "of great concern, particularly for this Congress held in the Philippines, are the many reports of mistreatment and judicial penalties enforced against guest workers of religious minorities in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States."

IRLA secretary general John Graz (left) and Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

Also cited are Turkmenistan for its systematic intimidation and harassment of religious minorities and the destruction of houses of worship; Belarus for a proposed highly restrictivereligion law; the conflict in Indonesia between Christian and Muslim communities; local persecution of Protestant Christians in Mexico, and the refusal of conscientious objection status in South Korea.

The document concludes: "the participants in the Congress express their sympathy, compassion, and solidarity with the victims of religious discrimination, intolerance and persecution, and reaffirms the International Religious Liberty Association's commitment to cooperate with the foregoing governments in finding solutions to these lamentable problems."

Church Honors Ukrainian Pastor for Extraordinary Service
Seventh-day Adventist leaders in Euro-Asia recently honored Pastor Nikolai Zhukaluk and his wife, Yevgenia, for five decades of church service that spanned the height of Stalin's power and the fall of the Soviet Union, and included more than two years imprisonment for distributing Christian material.

Artur Stele, president of the Euro-Asia Division, presented the couple with an award during mid-year administrative meetings held in St. Petersburg, Russia. "We want you to know that the church has not forgotten your long ministry," he said. "We love you and remember you."

Zhukaluk, a native of western Ukraine, trained as a journalist and served in the Soviet army before becoming an Adventist pastor in the 1950s. In 1973 he was arrested on charges of distributing illegal Christian literature. Like hundreds of other Christians living under the atheistic regime, he had been involved in the underground "samizdat" press, in which Bibles and other books were secretly typed and passed among Christian believers. After six months of interrogation, he and another church member were sentenced to two years in prison. During the imprisonment, his wife waited at home with their four children.

After his release from prison, Zhukaluk continued to serve the Ukrainian church as an administrator, editor, and book author. Colleagues say he was instrumental in reviving the Adventist Church during the declining years of Communist power. He was sent as a delegate to four of the denomination's quinquennial world sessions.

Although Adventists have existed in Ukraine and Russia for 116 years, most current members joined the church during the past decade of improved religious freedom. "The Zhukaluk family represents a former time in our nation and our church," said one observer at the award ceremony in St. Petersburg. "The new generation needs to hear their story."--Adventist News Network

Director Chosen for World Church HIV/AIDS Ministry
Dr. Oscar Giordano, currently health ministries director for the Indian Ocean Union Mission in Africa, was recently approved by the GC administrative committee to head up the new Office of HIV/AIDS Ministry. The ministry headquarters will be located in Johannesburg, South Africa.

"The AIDS epidemic represents a great challenge for all Seventh-day Adventists," says Dr. Giordano, who, with his family has served as a medical missionary for the past 11 years in Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire, and Madagascar. "Our church has a special opportunity to serve humanity in this regard both spiritually and medically."

The initiative is aimed at providing better focus and coordination to the church's response to HIV/AIDS. It will emphasize care and vocational training for AIDS orphans and widows, treatment for those infected, and a widespread education and prevention effort in churches, schools, and communities.

"Never before has the church attempted to pull together so many of its different entities to focus on one public health issue," says Dr. Allan Handysides, GC health ministries director. The initiative is a joint project of the General Conference, divisions based on the African continent, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Loma Linda University and Medical Center, and the Adventist Health Sciences Center. Dr. Handysides says he has been awed by the unwavering commitment of church leaders to the project--"from church administrators in Africa, to the GC president, who has given ongoing support, to vice president Pastor Leo Ranzolin, who chaired the AIDS Study Commission, to vice president Pastor Lowell Cooper, who has worked to move this initiative forward."

General Conference president Pastor Jan Paulsen says that if he has one regret regarding the church's response to HIV/AIDS, it is that an overarching, coordinated approach has come so late in the day. It is a mistake for anyone to assume that this is "not an Adventist problem," he adds. "As one of our leaders in Africa has said, it would be difficult to find one Adventist family in Africa that has not been impacted by AIDS."

For Dr. Giordano, the initiative represents a new era in the church's response to the disease. "I pray and hope that our new office will contribute to better coordinate actions and resources, and present a united front in order to accomplish what our Lord Jesus Christ has commissioned each of us to do."

News Notes

Linda Vista Academy in Pueblo Nuevo, Chiapas, Mexico, was granted the status of university by the Adventist Accrediting Association on May 30, in a year in which the institution is celebrating its 55th anniversary. It is now the third Seventh-day Adventist institution of higher learning in Mexico, along with Montemorelos and Novojao universities. "The number of our colleges and universities around the world has almost doubled in the past 20 years," says Humberto Rasi, General Conference director of education. "This is the 103rd Adventist university worldwide."

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