Bishop Aldo Etchegoyen. Photo: Evangelical Methodist Church in Argentina IEMA.
Bishop Aldo Etchegoyen, bishop emeritus of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Argentina (IEMA), departed for his heavenly home on 1 November 2015. Bishop Etchegoyen was a member of the World Methodist Council from 1992-2001, serving on the Executive Committee and the Ecumenics and Dialogue Standing Committee. He was also a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) between 1998 and 2006.
In a statement on IEMA’s website, Bishop Frank de Nully Brown wrote, “With pain and sorrow, but also with gratitude for his life, we say goodbye to our brother Aldo. We give infinite thanks to our Lord for our brother’s warm pastoral care and his prophetic voice throughout Argentina and Latin American societies. He was the voice of the voiceless and advocated tirelessly for human rights.”
In his advocacy for human rights, Etchegoyen became one of the founding members of the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights of Argentina (APDH), in 1997 received the Human Rights Award of Argentina, and in 2001 was awarded the Love Life Award from the United Nations Association of Argentina.
He sought to bring unity among the Methodist Church family, serving as the chairperson of the Council of Evangelical Methodist Churches of Latin America and Caribbean (CIEMAL) from 1983 to 1989; chairperson of the Council of Methodist Bishops of Latin America (1990-1997) and general secretary of CIEMAL between 2001 and 2008.
When the General Secretary and Region Secretary of the WCC visited Argentina in August of this year, Etchegoyen facilitated a meeting in Buenos Aires between the WCC delegation and human rights organizations.
Etchegoyen died of a sudden illness at the age of 86.
Read the statement from the Evangelical Methodist Church in Argentina at iglesiametodista.org.ar.
Read the statement from the World Council of Churches at oikoumene.org.