|TOP|The President of Brazil has called upon the world churches gathered for the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches to support the ongoing social reforms in his country.

"Religious organizations have played an irreplaceable role in transforming Brazil," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told delegates at the Assembly Friday, reports Ecumenical News International.

"We call on the Council to continue working with us to continue building a more just and equitable society," he said at the gathering Porto Alegre in Brazil. "I want to thank the World Council of Churches for choosing Brazil for its ninth assembly and this city of Porto Alegre which is the cradle of the World Social Forum and which expresses the ideals and the diversity of contemporary civil society.”

Lula da Silva continued his address by highlighting what he described as the achievements of the programme of social reform he brought in after his election to the presidency in 2002, including in the areas of agrarian reform, education, job creation, economic development and the “zero hunger” programme.

|QUOTE|He said that action in these areas had “greatly changed the lives of millions of Brazillians,” adding that the success of the initiatives was due in large part to the key role played by churches in civil society.

Despite the predominance of the Roman Catholic Church in Brazil, evangelical and Pentecostal churches have made remarkable progress in recent years. Lula da Silva stressed in his speech that Brazil was a country committed to safeguarding freedom and tolerance for religions.

He said a new civil code would “guarantee to all religions and especially to the many evangelical denominations the legal support they need for their operations.”

The president of Brazil also praised the WCC for its support during the years the country was under military rule. "When we were fighting for democracy we found in the World Council of Churches not only moral and spiritual support but active solidarity," he said. "Those were years of hard struggle in defence of freedom and human dignity."