Issue Date: August 15, 2003
Edited by Dennis Coday
WORLD
Lutherans back road map plan
WINNIPEG, Canada -- Delegates to the Lutheran World
Federations assembly voiced support for the Middle East road
map peace plan and set out benchmarks, prerequisites it wants
parties involved to take to assist in the establishment of a full and free
Palestinian state contiguous to Israel by 2005.
The federation has 136 member churches representing 94 percent of
Lutherans worldwide.
Palestinian Bishop Munib A. Younan, head of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Jordan, which includes Palestine and Israel, told delegates the road
map represented a golden opportunity but warned the United States
needed to be an honest broker.
The federations benchmarks include the end of military
occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem by Israel; ending Israeli
settlements on Palestinian land; resolving the question of Palestinian
refugees right of return to their homes in Israel; fair distribution of
water resources; and the immediate razing of the security
fence.
Younan said Christians had a special responsibility to foster peace in
the war-torn area from which Palestinian Christians have been fleeing, he said.
The Lutheran federations 10th assembly ended July 30.
Nuns apologize for Irish laundries
SILVER SPRING, Md. -- The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas say
they regret running the harsh Irish laundries that are the subject of the
controversial film The Magdalene Sisters. The order, with 10,000
members worldwide, said the reformatories represent a time in the history
of the Catholic church and religious orders of which we are not
proud.
As women religious committed to mercy and justice throughout the
world, we grieve with all victims of the Magdalene laundries and pray that they
experience Gods comfort and healing in their lives, the order said
in a statement.
We are deeply saddened to hear the stories of some of the women
who were so obviously hurt.
We sincerely apologize for any and all
injustices that may have occurred.
The Sisters of Mercy, founded in Ireland in 1831 by Catherine McAuley,
operated at least three laundries in Ireland. All are now closed. The order was
only one of several that operated the laundries, some until through the 1960s.
(See Page 16 for a review of the film.)
Pope sends Irish SMS messages
LONDON -- Irish cell phone subscribers who dial 53141 and send
POPE ON as a text message will receive a thought for the day from
Pope John Paul II taken from his homilies, messages and other material at noon
each day.
The inaugural SMS -- short message service -- sent July 23 read:
The world needs a sign of hope for Christian families. May they be able
to open their doors to the Lord.
The Vatican started a similar service in Italy in January. It avoids the
abbreviations for which text messages are famous. Subscribers pay about 20 Euro cents, roughly 22 U.S. cents, for each message.
-- CNS/Reuters |
Peacekeepers arrive
MONROVIA, Liberia -- Nigerian Col. Emeka Onwuama, right, clasps hands
with jubilant Liberians on his arrival at the international airport in Monrovia
Aug. 4. The West African peacekeeping troops landed in the war-torn capital
none too soon for Archbishop Michael Francis of Monrovia, who visited in the
United States last month to persuade the Bush administration to come to the aid
of his nation.
Francis said violence had forced the church to shut down schools,
parishes and most medical clinics in Monrovia and the southeastern port city of
Buchanan.
An international force of professional soldiers would quickly quell the
violence gripping Liberia, he said, noting that most of the young soldiers that
have joined the rebels would stop fighting. They are not professionals,
theyre not part of any army. I have no doubt theyll drop their arms
once a superior force comes in and go back to their mommies, he said. |
Bishops meet with Mugabe
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- As this countrys economic crisis
becomes increasingly desperate, ecumenical efforts to facilitate political
dialogue may signal an end to church leaders passivity.
Bishops from the Catholic episcopal conference and the two largest
Protestant church bodies met with President Robert Mugabe and senior members of
his ruling Zanu-PF party to discuss mediating the countrys political
crisis.
An avowed Roman Catholic, Mugabe has criticized the church for meddling
in politics in the past.
Zimbabwe has been paralyzed by a political stalemate since Mugabes
disputed reelection last year, when he won by a vote that human rights groups
say was heavily swayed by ruling-party militants. Mugabes opposition, the
Movement for Democratic Change, refused to recognize the election results.
His opponents have charged Mugabe with mismanaging the economy during
his 23 years in power, causing unemployment rates to skyrocket to over 70
percent and aggravating a food shortage that the U.N. Food Program estimates
will leave 5.5 million of Zimbabwes 12 million people at risk of
starvation. A 300 percent rise in official inflation last month contributed to
a massive hike in food prices.
Catholic environmentalist slain
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- The struggle to defend the forests of
Honduras took a bloody turn when Carlos Arturo Reyes, 23, a staff member of the
environmental ministry of the Juticalpa diocese, was killed July 18 on the
patio of his home in El Rosario. The day before he and other Catholic activists
from the province of Olancho held a news conference in Tegucigalpa, warning of
renewed threats against environmentalists.
Reyes was shot six times. Witnesses saw three masked men fleeing the
scene of the murder. Church leaders have been the most visible protagonists in
the environmental struggle, and the situation has grown increasingly tense.
After Reyes death, President Ricardo Maduro agreed to meet with
Catholic environmentalists led by Auxiliary Bishop Roberto Camilleri Azzopardi
of Tegucigalpa. According to Camilleri, Maduro said he would ensure an
exhaustive investigation of Reyes killing and promised new security
measures for activists in the region.
Camilleri said Maduro also promised stricter control of the concession
of logging permits. In a recent two-week period the government decommissioned
the same amount of illegally cut lumber that it decommissioned in all of
2002.
U.S. revokes peace advocates visa
TORONTO, Canada --After a brief trip to Canada from the United
States, Fr. Emil Salayta, a Roman Catholic priest of the Latin patriarchate in
Jerusalem, was detained and denied reentry at the Toronto Airport by the U.S.
Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services on July 20.
Immigration officials interrogated the Jordanian-born priest for five
hours as well as fingerprinting, photographing and searching him. Salayta was
on his way back from appearing on a Catholic TV program in Toronto.
Although Salayta carried a valid five-year multiple entry U.S. visa, he
was denied reentry to the United States and his visa was revoked at the border
following the encounter. Salayta has previously traveled to the United States
20 times to attend various official meetings.
The priest is an internationally recognized peace advocate based in
Rome. He is a frequent speaker in the Unites States and other countries about
the plight of Christians in the Holy Land and for a just peace in the Holy
Land.
USA
Record number of death row inmates exonerated this year
WASHINGTON -- Nine death row inmates have been exonerated this
year, the highest number in 15 years, according to the Death Penalty
Information Center.
Three men who spent a combined 67 years on death row were freed
recently, bringing to 111 the number of inmates who have been released from
death row since 1973.
All charges were dropped against Timothy Howard and Gary Lamar James,
childhood friends who were convicted in 1977 in Ohio on robbery and murder
charges, after new evidence was presented in Howards case and James
passed a polygraph test.
Joseph Amrine was released from a Missouri prison after 17 years on
death row. Inaccurate testimony from witnesses helped free Amrine from a
conviction in the 1985 murder of a fellow inmate.
Six inmates from Illinois, Louisiana and Florida have been freed this
year. A man is expected to be released soon in Pennsylvania.
Reformers offer 100-day plan
BOSTON -- Voice of the Faithful, a lay reform group that was born
in the wake of the sex abuse scandal, offered a six-point plan for Boston
Arch-bishop Sean OMalleys first 100 days in office.
The group urged OMalley to acknowledge the findings of a recent
state attorney generals report on abuse in the church (NCR, Aug.
1), disclose the details of a national church audit to measure the scope of the
scandal, lift the bans on Voice of the Faithful meetings in parishes, install
financial transparency policies, reach a fair settlement with
victims and launch a three-year truth and reconciliation process to
help the church heal.
The promise we hope for is that our new archbishop ... will
provide the pastoral vision and leadership to help the church move from this
blackest picture of our church to its brightest picture of justice and
faith, said the groups president Jim Post.
Legal experts say it could cost the cash-strapped archdiocese as much as
$100 million to settle the suits.
Brethren worried by divisions
BOISE, Idaho -- Regional leaders from the Church of the Brethren
say they are concerned that their denomination is becoming fractured by special
interests, competing agendas and a lack of common vision.
The churchs Council of District Executives, leaders from 23
regional districts and 10 other officials, called for a churchwide consultation
in early 2005 to find ways to unite the 134,000-member church. The church has
not held a consultation in 40 years.
In a statement adopted July 5, the council cited an increased
sense of mistrust, disrespect and suspicion toward church offices and
agencies, as well as a proliferation of special interest groups
which can divert energy, talent and resources.
The executives said the church is increasingly polarized by
issues, a development that reflects a lack of theological and
organizational clarity.
The statement did not reference specific issues, but Nancy Knepper, the
coordinator of district ministries, said the ordination of homosexuals and the
authority of the Bible are two issues prompting divisions.
The Church of the Brethren, headquartered in Elgin, Ill., is one of the
historic peace churches that oppose violence.
Students religiosity studied
LOS ANGELES -- UCLAs Higher Education Research Institute
will spend $1.9 million to survey the religious habits and attitudes of college
students, an area they say has been largely ignored by campus leaders.
Researchers plan to survey 90,000 students on 150 public, private and
religious campuses in the fall of 2004. A preliminary study of 3,700 juniors at
46 schools was completed last spring to help focus the survey.
Higher education today has increasingly neglected students
inner development -- the sphere of values and beliefs, emotional
maturity, spirituality and self-awareness that are fundamental to their
capacity to understand others, said the institutes director,
Alexander Astin.
Researchers plan to ask how many students are actively searching
and curious about spiritual issues, how often they attend religious
services and which rituals or religious behaviors are most attractive to
students. Researchers also want to know what role doubt plays in students
spiritual journeys, and whether school or peer pressure get in the
way of spiritual development.
The study is funded by the John Templeton Foundation.
Retreats seen as growth industry
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- In 2002, more than 1 million Americans used
vacation time to visit a retreat house or a religious sanctuary. As lives
become increasingly hectic, the figure is expected to grow, according to Fr.
Michael Carmola, director of Christ the King Retreat House in Syracuse, N.Y. He
said people find retreats appealing for both practical and spiritual
reasons.
We live in such a hurried and pressured society, he said.
People need the opportunity to relax and take a break. More
important, he said, people want a chance to encounter God, Carmola
added. In the silence and beauty of a place like this, they can really
shut down and listen to him.
Broader stem-cell debate urged
WASHINGTON -- The ethical concerns regarding human embryonic
stem-cell research should go beyond whether or not the embryo is a human
person, said Paul Lauritzen, religious studies professor at Jesuit-run John
Carroll University.
This either/or tends to drive people to the extremes, he
said in a paper presented July 24 to the Presidents Council on Bioethics,
an advisory body to President Bush.
Church officials repeatedly have opposed embryonic stem-cell research
both because it destroys human life and because they say the use of adult stem
cells can have the same benefits.
Leon Kass, bioethics council chairman, said humanity is in an unusual
situation regarding human embryonic research. Embryos that have been seen
as the seeds of the next generation are coming to be seen as the seeds of
salvation of the older generation, said Kass, professor of social thought
at the University of Chicago.
Suppose Abraham and Sarah go to a fertility clinic and manage to
make two embryos. They now have to decide whether to have Isaac or use the
embryos to cure Abrahams Parkinsons disease, said Kass.
COMPILED
FROM NEWS SERVICES, CORRESPONDENTS AND STAFF
National Catholic Reporter, August 15, 2003 |