c. 1996 Religion News Service

Roman Catholic archdiocese of San Francisco settles molestation case

(RNS)-The Archdiocese of San Francisco has settled claims with three men who sued the church and a once high-ranking cleric who allegedly molested them when they were boys.

Wayne Presley, Matthew Hadden and Steven Lucarelli charged that former Monsignor Patrick O’Shea abused them from the early 1960s through 1976, when the men were youths. The archdiocese placed O’Shea on administrative leave after the charges surfaced.

In its settlement, the archdiocese paid the men an undisclosed lump sum in cash, as well as additional money for them to pursue psychological counseling for their injuries.

The men have not settled their claims against O’Shea, however.

Presley, Hadden and Lucarelli claim O’Shea abused them in his rectory at St. Cecilia’s Church in San Francisco, where he was pastor. They also claim O’Shea molested them on road trips to Lake Tahoe and Palm Springs and at his trailer home in Napa County.

The men allege O’Shea sometimes would get them drunk prior to sexual encounters, according to the complaint in a San Francisco state court.

Their attorney, Ruth Berkowitz, said the men have suffered emotional problems stemming from the abuse.

In court papers, O’Shea maintains that no sexual abuse took place and that California’s statute of limitations bars the three men from bringing any civil claims against him. Because criminal charges may yet be brought against him, however, O’Shea has declined to answer specific questions in the civil case about the alleged incidents.

In addition to the monetary settlement, the vicar general of the archdiocese, Rev. Robert W. McElroy, issued the men a written apology.”While the archdiocese did not become aware of the charges against Monsignor O’Shea until February 1994, this does not alter the fact that you and your family, indeed, endured great pain and suffering over the years,”McElroy wrote.”On behalf of the archdiocese then, I extend to you our sincere regret for this.”

Casting a woman as God draws criticism in England

(RNS)-A leading Anglican cleric has criticized the casting of a woman in the role of God in the production of a medieval mystery play in York, England.”It’s modern political correctness gone mad and in line with the feminization of the church that seeks to turn round our understanding of God,”said Archdeacon of York George Austin.”There is a big movement among feminists to feminize God,”Austin added.”It would be better not to depict God at all, but if you are going to depict God you depict him in biblical images.” Austin made his comments after it was announced that Ruth Ford, 63, an antiques dealer and amateur actress, would play the role of God in a version of the traditional Mystery Plays performed every four years in York.

Anglican Archbishop of York David Hope, an opponent of women’s ordination to the priesthood, was more circumspect.”I recognize the artistic freedom of the organizers to portray God as they wish, but I’m sure a few eyebrows will be raised in some churches across Britain,”the archbishop said.

Director John Doyle defended his choice of Ford.”In the Bible it says that both man and woman are made in God’s image, so I didn’t feel there was any problem in the fact that Ruth is a woman,”he said.

Gospel, New Age Grammy winners solidly in mainstream

(RNS)-The organizers of the music industry’s prestigious Grammy Awards changed the nomination procedures this year in an effort to better reflect the energy of cutting-edge recording artists.

While the changes in the National Academy of Recording Arts & Science’s procedures produced some surprise winners and losers in the major pop and rock categories announced during Wednesday night’s Grammy awards ceremonies in Los Angeles, gospel and New Age winners were solidly mainstream.

In the New Age category, George Winston took top honors with his album”Forest.” Among contemporary gospel styles, CeCe Winans'”Alone in His Presence”won the Grammy for best soul gospel album, and Michael W. Smith took home the award for best pop gospel album with his”I’ll Lead You Home.” Ashley Cleveland’s”Lesson of Love”won the Grammy for best rock gospel album.

Other winners were:”Amazing Grace-A Country Salute to Gospel,”a compilation album by various artists that won the Grammy for best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel album;”Shirley Caesar Live … He Will Come,”which won in the Traditional Soul Gospel Album category; and”Praise Him … Live!”by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, led by director Carol Cymbala, which won the Gospel Album by a Choir or Chorus award.

Evangelical leaders fear movement is embracing pragmatism, consumerism

(RNS)-Leaders of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals are expressing concern that the evangelical movement is embracing the pragmatism and consumerism of contemporary secular culture.

The group, which draws its leadership from the theologically conservative wings of Presbyterian, Lutheran and Reformed denominations, has called an April 17-20″leadership summit”of top evangelical pastors, academics and writers.

The summit will be held in Cambridge, Mass., in the symbolic shadow of Harvard University, which the Alliance says has moved from being a center of academically rigorous evangelical Christianity to a bastion of secularism and liberalism.

The evolution of Harvard, the group said in announcing the conference, should serve as a warning to evangelicals.”In recent years, many even of the most conservative Protestant churches have lost their faithfulness to the Bible in both faith and practice,”the Alliance said in its statement.”Perhaps unknowingly, but certainly unmistakably, the evangelical movement is now returning to the errors of the liberal Protestants of the 19th century.”Examples of accommodation (with secular culture) abound in the pragmatism and consumerism of the church growth movement; in the therapeutic worldview that often replaces classical Christianity even in conservative circles; in dependence upon such modern idols as politics, sociology, marketing and psychology; and in the anti-intellectualism and anti-theological sentiments of a relativistic age.” Ben Sasse, executive director of the Anaheim, Calif.-based Alliance, said the April summit will consider eight academic papers examining the current state of the evangelical movement and then issue a formal declaration at the end of the meeting.

Quote of the Day: President Bill Clinton

(RNS)-The president spoke Thursday at the White House to some 30 television and entertainment executives who, after years of resistance, have pledged to develop a rating system that will aid parents in judging the suitability of TV programming for their children.”Ultimately, we’re trying to raise our children successfully in an age of information overload in which the typical child will watch 25,000 hours of television before his or her 18th birthday. Television is a powerful force to bring people together, to entertain, to educate, to open our minds and hearts. But we also know that young people are exposed regularly to numbing and pervasive violence and other destructive behavior when they park in front of the family television.”

LJB END ANDERSON