Izani Bruch named chaplain of Chilean presidential palace

On April 21, Izani Bruch, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile, was appointed chaplain of the Palacio de La Moneda of Chile, the national headquarters of governmental affairs and ministries.

“As a church we are very happy and we receive it with humility, with fear and trembling, but also with great hope and commitment to make this new Chile, which we are all dreaming of, possible,” Bruch said.

Bruch, a native of Brazil, moved to Chile in 1992 and was ordained as a pastor in 2002. She is known for her active participation in the ecumenical movement and human rights advocacy.

A 1999 law granted equal legal status to all churches and religions registered in Chile. As part of the implementation of that law, the government instituted a chaplaincy at the presidential palace.

As chaplain, Bruch will be responsible for worship services and pastoral care for palace staff and employees who are members of various denominations, including Lutherans, evangelicals, and Pentecostals.

Bruch is the second Lutheran pastor to be appointed to the position. Gloria Rojas Vargas, a former Lutheran World Federation vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean, was presidential chaplain in 2014. —Lutheran World Federation