ELCA Presiding Bishop, NCC Leaders Express Sorrow over Jerusalem Shootings

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), joined leaders of National Council of Churches USA (NCC) member communions in a statement to express shock and sorrow over the March 6 shootings at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

A Palestinian gunman, a resident of East Jerusalem, entered the rabbinical school and began shooting, killing eight people and wounding at least nine before the gunman was fatally wounded by an off-duty Israeli Defense Forces officer.

Hanson, who is attending the ELCA Conference of Bishops meeting here, was one of five U.S. religious leaders who could be reached March 7 to sign the statement.
Others who signed were the Rev. Michael Kinnamon, NCC general secretary, New York; the Rev. John H. Thomas, general minister and president, United Church of Christ, Cleveland; the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Louisville, Ky.; and Bishop C. Christopher Epting, deputy for ecumenical and interfaith relations, the Episcopal Church, New York.

"We pray for all of those who have died, and for their families and loved ones," the religious leaders said in the statement. The leaders said they pray for the other students at the seminary, "who will carry the scars of this horror for the rest of their lives."

"This killing compounds our sadness over the recent violence in Gaza and Israel. Acts of terror and reprisal are abhorrent," the leaders wrote. "We are thankful that it appears these events will not derail the peace process.

We pray that such tragic deaths not be allowed to inflame more violence, but rather be a spur to redouble efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, and to all the more vigorously pursue peace."

The U.S. religious leaders called on political and religious leaders for Israelis and Palestinians to rededicate themselves to working for peace, and to provide leadership that is "so desperately needed for peacemaking to continue."

They also called on U.S. President George W. Bush and other U.S. leaders to support both the Israeli and Palestinian leadership, and to continue efforts for a "secure, just and viable solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In addition to his role as ELCA presiding bishop, Hanson is president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Geneva, a global communion of 140 Lutheran churches in 78 countries.

LWF membership is more than 68.3 million people worldwide.