Head of Churches' Council Seeks to Avert War: He Meets with European Leaders, but `Can't Get in to Talk to President Bush'. (Nation)

Lefevere, Patricia, National Catholic Reporter

Why is it, wonders the Rev. Robert Edgar, that he can meet a full hour with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, hand deliver a message from Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz to former President Jimmy Carter, and prepare for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and yet "I can't get in to talk to President Bush."

Back from recent trips to Baghdad and Berlin and about to travel to Moscow in early March, Edgar pondered the question Feb. 14 at the Interchurch Center here, headquarters of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. A former six-term Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania and a United Methodist minister, Edgar has been general secretary of the council for three years.

The council represents some 140,000 U.S. congregations of Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican believers, numbering 50 million Christians. As a Christian body, its membership is second only to the Catholic church, which counts some 64 million adherents.

In a question-and-answer session with NCR and a dozen representatives of Protestant churches, he detailed the council's …

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Publication information: Article title: Head of Churches' Council Seeks to Avert War: He Meets with European Leaders, but `Can't Get in to Talk to President Bush'. (Nation). Contributors: Lefevere, Patricia - Author. Magazine title: National Catholic Reporter. Volume: 39. Issue: 18 Publication date: March 7, 2003. Page number: 16. © 2009 National Catholic Reporter. COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group.

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