c. 1996 Religion News Service

Christians appeal for Mideast peace, opening of West Bank and Gaza

(RNS)-As the final days before the celebration of the Protestant and Roman Catholic Easter unfolded, Christian leaders in the Middle East and the United States appealed for peace among Jews and Palestinians and for an opening of the closed West Bank and Gaza.

The areas, home to some 2 million Palestinians, many of them Christians, have been closed since the end of February when the first in a series of Palestinian suicide bombings began. The bombings killed more than 60 people.

The closure has blocked Palestinians from getting to their jobs in Israel, wreaked havoc on the Palestinian economy, and now threatens to prevent Palestinian Christians from worshiping at some of the most sacred sites in Christianity during the holy week leading to Easter (April 7).

On Monday (April 1), the heads of 11 Christian denominations in Jerusalem issued an”Easter Message 1996″appealing to”our Palestinian people, Christians and Muslims … to allow peace to be born and to cease all violence,”Reuters reported.”We address the same appeal also to the Jewish people,”the message said.”Palestinians are your peace partners, your brothers for building a new Israeli and Palestinian society.” Last Thursday (March 28), Roman Catholic Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem, in an address to an interfaith gathering of Christian, Muslim and Jewish clergy, educators and lay leaders in Bethlehem, said”the only way to break the cycle of terrorism is to have a full and definitive peace quickly.” The interfaith group issued a statement calling on the Palestinian Authority, which governs Gaza and parts of the West Bank,”to do everything in (its) power to increase the feeling of security among Israelis.” The group also condemned”collective punishment”of the Palestinians in the name of”security measures”and called on the Israeli government”to lift the siege imposed on Palestinians, and to stop the policy of collective punishment once and for all.” On Monday (April 1), the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, in a holy week message to council denominations, voiced the ecumenical agency’s opposition to the closure.”We oppose such measures, which are of dubious value for enhancing security, and in reality punitive toward an entire population,”Campbell said.

Christian Coalition appoints urban development official

(RNS)-The Christian Coalition has named a conservative African-American minister and radio talk show host as a national representative to educate minority voters about the political organization.

The Rev. Earl Jackson, host of the nationally syndicated program”Earl Jackson Across America,”will serve as the national liaison for the Coalition’s urban development program.

In an interview with Religion News Service, Jackson said he believes the program will help improve race relations in the United States.”Black Christians and white Christians are really the hope for racial reconciliation in this country, if there’s any hope at all,”he said.”If black Christians and white Christians can’t come together around Jesus Christ and a common sense of values, then we are in serious trouble.” Jackson, 44, also said he and the Coalition share a concern about the”disintegration of the Judeo-Christian ethic and tradition in this country.” Jackson, a pastor of the nondenominational New Cornerstone Exodus Church in Boston, began his post with the Coalition during the last week of March. He will explain the Coalition’s mission to minority voters and help expand the distribution of the organization’s voter information to African-American churches.”We have been working for years to carry our message into minority churches,”said Ralph Reed, the Coalition’s executive director, in a statement.”With Rev. Earl Jackson on the team, our urban development program will reach even greater numbers. Rev. Jackson is a man of integrity and drive who will work tirelessly to strengthen families and restore common-sense values.” The Coalition distributes voter education materials to 250,000 churches, about 10 percent of which are minority houses of worship.

Hindus join mad-cow debate

(RNS)-The World Council of Hindus added its voice to the debate over British bovines suspected of carrying”mad-cow”disease, according to press reports monitored in India.

The council, based in Great Britain, has reportedly contacted the office of the British Health Secretary and offered sanctuary in India to millions of cows threatened with slaughter, if the British government pays transportation for the animals. It was not clear whether the Indian government approved the proposal.

Meanwhile, in Luxembourg, the European Union ministers agreed in principle Tuesday (April 2) to pay 70 percent of farmers’ costs for destroying over the next six years the estimated 4.7 million cattle believed to be carriers of the the disease.

The cow is considered by Hindus to be a symbol of divine benevolence, and is a protected species in India.

According to the Dictionary of World Religions (Harper & Row) evidence of the veneration of cows reaches back 2,500 years, to the religious practices of the Indus Valley civilization in present-day Pakistan and to the ancient Hindu religious hymns and texts known as Vedas.

By the 13th century A.D., belief in the sanctity of cows became more widespread as they came to symbolize the principle of non-violence. After the Muslim invasion of India in the 16th century, cow protection became a Hindu symbol of protest against the Muslim conquerors.

Most Hindus are vegetarians, to whom the consumption of beef is abhorrent.

In India today, the consumption of beef remains a contentious issue, not only for Hindu nationalists who want to limit the practice, but also for those who object to the cows that roam free.”India has the largest and most useless cattle population in the world, many of whom live in the most horrendous dirt and disease,”Maxton Strong, a American Christian missionary in India, said of the World Hindu Council’s proposal.”… I can’t see the point of having yet more livestock to add to their misery.”

Abortion opponents hold vigil across from White House

(RNS)-About 500 opponents of abortion braved chilling spring rains Monday night (April 1), rallying across the street from the White House to urge President Clinton to sign legislation banning a rarely used late-term abortion procedure.

The rally and vigil was sponsored by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Cardinals James Hickey of Washington, Roger Mahony of Los Angeles and Bernard Law of Boston attended the vigil.

The demonstrators urged Clinton not to veto-as he has threatened-legislation that would prohibit doctors from using an abortion method known as”intact dilation and evacuation,”and called by its opponents”partial-birth”abortion. It involves partially extracting a fetus, legs first, through the birth canal, then draining the skull’s contents or squeezing the skull so the head will fit through the birth canal.

The ban would affect somewhere between 800 and 2,000 of the 1.3 million abortions annually.

The bill banning the procedure, except to save the life of the mother, received final congressional approval last week.

Clinton has said he would veto the bill if it were not amended to include a provision that the procedure could be used to protect the”health”of the mother. Abortion opponents said such an exception would make the ban meaningless.”I cannot envision any step more repugnant than to have our president veto such essential legislation,”Mahony told the rally.

Methodist agency backs ban on land mines

(RNS)-The United Methodist Church’s Board of Global Ministries has called for a complete ban on the manufacture and use of land mines.

In a resolution adopted by the board’s directors, the Methodist agency also called on the United States to enact a complete ban on production, stockpiling, sales and export of the anti-personnel weapon.

Earlier this year, President Clinton signed a one-year ban on the military’s use of anti-personnel land mines.

Land mines kill or injure an estimated 26,000 people each year, according to the U.S. State Department. They have become of special concern to the United States because of the deployment of U.S. troops to Bosnia, which has been strewn with an estimated 3 million land mines.

The Methodist resolution also called on the United States to contribute”generously”to the United Nations'”Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance,”which helps countries with mine clearance and eradication programs as well as with aid for land mine victims.

Update: Algerian newspaper says kidnapped monks are still alive

(RNS)-Seven French Trappist monks, including an 82-year-old doctor in frail health, who were kidnapped nearly a week ago are still alive, Reuters quoted an influential Algerian newspaper as saying Tuesday (April 2).

Algerian security officials suspect that the monks were abducted by Muslim militants. However, no group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.”What is certain, for now, is that the monks are still alive and cannot be outside the area (being) combed by security forces,”said El Watan, the Algerian newspaper. The newspaper is described as usually well-informed on security matters.

But a spokesman from the Roman Catholic diocese in Algiers said the newspaper report was merely”speculation”by journalists.”I would like to share this optimism but for me what counts is reality,”the spokesman told Reuters.”Unfortunately the reality is that we have no more news than we had since the (March 27) abductions.” A number of Islamic-based groups are waging a bloody guerrilla war aimed at toppling the government. An estimated 50,000 people, including more than 100 foreigners, have been killed during the four-year war.

Update: Mother Teresa released from hospital

(RNS)-Mother Teresa, the 85-year-old nun and Nobel peace prize laureate, was released from a hospital in Calcutta, India, on Tuesday (April 2), a day after she was hospitalized with a fractured collarbone suffered in a fall from a bed.

Doctors told the nun, who has gained a worldwide following as a result of her work among Calcutta’s poor, to rest for two weeks, the Associated Press reported.”There is no cause for concern,”said Asim Bardhan, a surgeon at the Woodlands Nursing Home, who treated her.”She looked cheerful.”

Quote of the day: The Rev. Drew Christiansen, director of the Office of International Peace and Justice of the U.S. Catholic Conference.

(RNS)-The Woodstock Theological Center, a Jesuit think tank at Georgetown University in Washington, recently held a forum on”An Ethic for Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics.”At the forum, the Rev. Drew Christiansen, director of the Office of International Justice and Peace, offered the following thoughts on forgiveness in politics:”Forgiveness is always an act of largesse, of generosity. It comes from magnanimity of spirit. … An excessive concern for security, an excessive concern for one’s own interests, needs to be overcome in order to build a new future. One has to be willing to stake out new ground together and not just be reconciled over the past. I think that this is particularly important and relevant to the Israeli-Palestinian question right now.” MJP END RNS