c. 2005 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ As the political sphere assembles this week in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, the religious world is demanding that politicians uphold their promises to alleviate the plight of the poor.

At the urgent call of the Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town, South Africa, religious leaders from both hemispheres gathered to plot strategy at the Washington National Cathedral during a three-day summit (Sept. 11-13) on the church’s role in ending severe global poverty.

Ndungane strategically scheduled the event to precede Wednesday’s (Sept. 14) opening of the U.N. assembly, which will take stock of the 2000 U.N. Millennium Development Goals.

With 2015 as a target, the U.N. objectives include cutting poverty in half, providing universal primary education, and combating diseases such as AIDS and malaria. Ndungane has said 2005 is a “make or break” year for the goals.

“We have the resources; all we are lacking is political will,” said Ndungane, the successor of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. “It’s important for the (political) leadership to know where the religious leadership stands on this and also for us to use our moral authority to try and influence change in the right directions.”

A consensus statement _ drafted by Anglicans, evangelicals, Eastern Orthodox, Catholics, mainline Protestants and representatives of Islam and Judaism _ was scheduled to be delivered to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday.

The opening ceremonies on Sunday (Sept. 11) of what some describe as the largest assembly of Christian leadership in history was marked by impassioned pleas for governmental action, scathing criticism of the Bush administration and jubilant hymns of praise and optimism that echoed through the cavernous interior of the cathedral.

Economist Jeffrey Sachs, an adviser to Annan, praised the organizational power of religious institutions and the concerted efforts of the assembly to combat global poverty.

“If the government will not act, we have to act in its stead,” Sachs said. “It’s time for us to build the safer world we all desperately want.”

Religious leaders expressed frustration at signs from the White House and U.N. Ambassador John Bolton that the development goals should be scaled back or scrapped altogether. Still, they held out hope for the rallying power of Christian churches worldwide.

“We don’t think the United Nations or the government can do it without the church and vice versa,” said Geoff Tunnicliffe, international coordinator and CEO of the World Evangelical Alliance. “If we can convince our community of faith to respond to poverty no matter what the government does, we can achieve these important goals.”

The religious leaders’ summit will reflect neither liberal nor conservative ideals, Tunnicliffe said, but instead will be a product of the universal desire for the eradication of suffering.

“As evangelicals, we certainly have access to the (Bush) administration. The message is being sent to the White House by evangelical Christians, as well as other faiths, that changes need to be made in order to attain these goals,” Tunnicliffe said.

Madeleine Albright, the secretary of state under President Bill Clinton, swayed with the vibrant hymns performed by the St. Camillus Multicultural Choir before putting on a sober face to address the issues at hand.

“Although we know that terrorism is evil, it is not the only evil,” Albright said during the interfaith service, which took place four years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“At one time I had the privilege of serving as the American representative to the United Nations. Nothing made me more proud than to sit behind a sign that read simply: The United States. And nothing disappoints me more now than to have that label attached to policies that fail to reflect the generosity and the compassion of the American people,” Albright said.

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Although Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declined an invitation, other Washington officials, including World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, planned to meet with the religious leaders during their summit.

Religious leaders said without increased support from the Bush administration, the Millennium Development Goals would surely fail.

“I am an eternal optimist. I believe in the politics of persuasion,” Ndungane said. “I think everyone created in God’s image has the possibility of changing one’s mind and I think that we as a church have the moral authority and influence among the political leadership to change minds and make sure that they deliver when it is possible.”

KRE/PH END KANE

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