c. 1996 Religion News Service
Navy withdraws support of Promise Keepers-endorsed rally
(RNS) The U.S. Navy has withdrawn its sponsorship of a Promise Keepers-endorsed rally in Norfolk, Va., after the Anti-Defamation League raised concerns about church-state separation.
Sailors from the Norfolk Naval Base are still expected to participate in the off-base event Saturday (Nov. 16).”Some concerns were raised by the ADL to the Secretary of the Navy and we did not want there to be so much as the appearance of impropriety, so we deemed it appropriate that we pull our sponsorship of it,”said Cmdr. Mike Andrews, public affairs officer at the Norfolk Naval Base.
Andrews said the”Greater Hampton Roads Military-Civilian Wake-up Call”was organized by Protestant chaplains at the base who worked with local churches and religious organizations.
Sailors and civilians are expected at the event.”Although we’re not actively sponsoring the event, our sailors are in no way, shape or form prohibited from attending the event,”Andrews said.”They’re free to do so as members of their local communities and local places of worship.” ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman welcomed the Navy’s review of its involvement in the rally.”ADL in no way challenges the right of Promise Keepers to speak freely about their beliefs,”Foxman said.”However, church-state conflicts arise when it appears there is official endorsement of a particular religion by the government.” Promise Keepers national spokesman Steve Chavis said the event, a smaller version of the stadium conferences held by the evangelical Christian men’s organization, will include speakers and music. Participants at the rally pay an admission charge.”It’s not supported in any way by the military,”he said, although he noted that the chaplains had helped organize it.”It’s an off-duty, non-uniform, voluntary pay-as-you-come event.”
Church of God in Christ presiding bishop re-elected by slim margin
(RNS) Presiding Bishop Chandler David Owens of the Church of God in Christ International was re-elected by a single vote to another term as the leader of the predominantly black Pentecostal denomination during the church’s recent annual convocation in Memphis, Tenn.
With close to 3,000 voting, Owens received one vote more than Bishop G.E. Patterson of Memphis.”The delegates perhaps had mixed feelings on choice of leadership,”said Bishop W.L. Porter, chief executive officer of the denomination.
But Patterson chose not to challenge the election results and did not demand a recount, Porter said.
Owens, who began serving as presiding bishop after the 1995 death of Bishop Louis Henry Ford, was elected to a four-year-term, Porter said.
Owens addressed the convocation on some of the principles upheld by the denomination, Porter said.”We’re fighting gang-banging, teen-age pregnancy and we are standing against same-sex marriages,”said Porter.”We are against abortions.” Porter said church officials also stated their appreciation of President Clinton’s Sept. 21 signing of the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law defining marriage as a contract”between one man and one woman”and allowing any state to disregard gay marriages recognized by other states.
As the denomination looks forward to celebrating its centennial next year, Porter said its officials are working on a program for the year 2000 and beyond that will encourage lifestyle changes.”We are trying to expose and offer people hope rather than dope,”he said.
U.N. official clashes with pope on population, global poverty
(RNS) A top United Nations official has taken issue with Pope John Paul II’s view that global hunger is not linked to pressures created by the world’s growing population.”Action on population policy in the next decade will determine our demographic future, and with it future food needs,”Nafis Sadik, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund, told the World Food Summit meeting in Rome.
John Paul opened the U.N.-sponsored summit on Wednesday (Nov. 13) with a speech in which he rejected as”sophistry”the view that”when there are many, one is condemned to be poor.””Demography alone does not explain the inadequate distribution of food resources,”he said.
But Sadik, who has clashed with the Vatican before on the population issue _ most notably at the 1994 Cairo population conference _ said that giving people control over their fertility and reproduction would help slow population growth and ease the pressure on world food supplies.”Ensuring the ability of women and men to exercise their reproductive rights will have a decisive impact on population growth and on prospects for food security in the 21st century,”Sadik said.
Praise for Bernardin continues as funeral plans are made
(RNS) As funeral plans for Cardinal Joseph Bernardin take shape, messages of condolences from a range of religious groups continue to praise the life of the spiritual leader of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
The Mass of Christian Burial will be at noon Wednesday (Nov. 20) at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will be the celebrant and Monsignor Kenneth Velo, president of the Catholic Church Extension Society and a priest of the Chicago archdiocese, will preach the sermon.”At a time of public debate over assisted suicide and euthanasia, Cardinal Bernardin approached death as a teachable moment … his last and greatest homily,”said Cardinal Adam Maida of Detroit, who will lead a delegation of auxiliary bishops and priests to Bernardin’s funeral.
A 20-member delegation from the National Council of Churches General Assembly left their Chicago meeting to offer prayers for Bernardin at Holy Name Cathedral Thursday (Nov. 14). On Wednesday, the council had awarded the first Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Common Ground Award to Bernardin and had sent the award with a burning candle to the dying archbishop’s bedside.
The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints noted its involvement with Bernardin in the national Religious Alliance Against Pornography.”As the church’s senior cardinal in the United States, and one of its most influential leaders, he has devoted his life to good works and the unity of people,”the first presidency stated.
The American Jewish Congress voiced similar sentiments.”The late cardinal was a great man of faith who reached out to the Jewish community in order to foster healing and better understanding between the two communities,”the group said.
No smoking on Shabbat, advertising campaign urges
(RNS) Jews are being urged to take a break from cigarettes on the Jewish Sabbath.”Give Your Lungs a Religious Experience”is a collaborative advertising campaign of the National Jewish Outreach Program and the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout.
As the American Cancer Society publicizes the physical dangers of smoking, the Jewish organization will place advertisements in newspapers, such as the New York Jewish Week and The New York Times, urging Jewish readers to refrain from smoking on the Sabbath. Traditional Judaism considers smoking on Saturday to be a violation of Shabbat, the Hebrew word for Sabbath.”This Shabbat light candles, not cigarettes,”the ad states.
Synagogue leaders across the country are being encouraged to display large banners featuring a non-smoking graphic outside their buildings.”By clearing out their lungs one day a week, we hope to show smokers the beauty of Shabbat _ and ultimately of a life _ without the burden of cigarette smoke,”said Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, director of the National Jewish Outreach Program, a New York-based organization that offers free courses to engage North American Jews in Jewish life.
Quote of the day: Deval Patrick, assistant attorney general for civil right at the Department of Justice
(RNS) On Thursday (Nov. 14), Deval Patrick, assistant attorney general for civil rights, announced his resignation from the government to return to Boston and enter private law practice. Patrick, who has been the co-chair of the National Church Arson Task Force, assessed the state of race relations in the United States:”The whole business of tolerance seems to me on some level to be degenerating. But I am not without hope. There is goodness in human beings, and we have to expect the goodness of people to come forward.”
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