c. 1996 Religion News Service

Maine’s Episcopal bishop takes leave after admitting extra-marital affair

(RNS)-Bishop Edward C. Chalfant of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine will take a voluntary year’s leave of absence in the wake of the revelation that he was involved in an extra-marital relationship.”I have made grievous errors in judgment and behavior,”Chalfant said in a statement dated April 10 and made public Tuesday (April 16).

Chalfant, who is married, said that”a number of years ago”he began an extra-marital affair with an unmarried, adult woman.”That relationship ended a few years ago, but the matter has been brought to the attention”of Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning, Chalfant’s statement said.

The other person in the affair has requested anonymity and was identified by the diocese only as an unmarried, adult woman who is not employed by the church.

On Tuesday, the diocese’s Standing Committee-three lay people and three clergy who constitute a chief advisory body to the bishop and the ecclesiastical authority in the absence of a bishop-told a meeting of diocesan priests that Chalfant had caused”grave damage to the bishop’s relationship with the diocese.” It said it had asked Chalfant to take the leave of absence to support the”possibility of reconciling the bishop and the Diocese of Maine after what must be characterized as a significant betrayal of trust.” Under terms of the agreement between Chalfant and the Standing Committee, the bishop will”relinquish all ecclesiastical authority during the year and pursue a program of therapy and activities devoted to spiritual and emotional healing.” The episode is another blow to the 2.5 million-member church. In the past two years it has been rocked by a high-profile embezzlement scandal involving former national treasurer Ellen Cooke, who pleaded guilty to taking at least $1.5 million in church money; the ongoing heresy trial of retired Bishop Walter Righter for his role in ordaining a non-celibate gay man as a deacon; and the suicide in January 1995 of Bishop David E. Johnson of the Diocese of Massachusetts.

Prayer day organizers forecast 12,000 events in U.S.

(RNS)-Organizers of the National Day of Prayer say they expect an estimated 12,000 observances on May 2, including prayer ceremonies at city halls, state capitols and local parks.

Ken Waggoner, executive director of the National Day of Prayer Task Force in Colorado Springs, Colo., said he expects at least 2,000 more events than the 10,000 he estimates occurred in 1995. He said the expected increase in participation suggests people are seeking spiritual rather than just economic and political solutions to such problems as drugs, crime and poverty.”Until we address it from a spiritual point of view, we’re not going to have progress,”he said.

Prayers will be offered for the country, its governmental leaders and for racial and denominational reconciliation. Other events include Bible-reading marathons and dramatic presentations about the importance of prayer.

The organizers of prayer events also are working on efforts that go beyond the one-day observance. People are being urged to”adopt”a government leader by praying for him or her and sending monthly cards of encouragement.

Many of the ceremonies will include Jewish as well as Christian leaders. The head of a prominent Muslim organization said he is not aware of participation by Muslim groups.”I know of individual Muslims who know about it, hear about, who would go, but as organizations we have not been part of it”in the past, said Abdurahman Alamoudi, executive director of the American Muslim Council, based in Washington.

Waggoner said his organization provides materials to people observing the day from a Judeo-Christian point of view, but”anybody can celebrate the National Day of Prayer.” Congress began the National Day of Prayer in 1952. It is observed on the first Thursday in May.

Update: Catholic bishops urge U.S. role in resolving Liberia crisis

(RNS)-A top leader of the U.S. Catholic Conference, the social policy arm of the country’s Roman Catholic bishops, says the U.S. government must remain”actively engaged in the … quest to bring about a sustainable cease-fire and reconciliation”in Liberia.

In a statement issued Wednesday (April 17), Bishop Daniel P. Reilly of Worcester, Mass., chairman of the bishops’ International Policy Committee, also praised the U.S. government for its”prompt and efficient response in evacuating members of the international community.”We fear, however, that if the international community now completely disengages from Liberia, the result will be more devastation,”Reilly said.

Reilly said that the political and relief needs of the Liberian people”are enormous”and that he had heard reports of”thousands of hungry and homeless Liberians wandering the streets of Monrovia (the Liberian capital) in search of food, water and shelter.” In a separate but related development, World Vision, the evangelical relief agency based in Federal Way, Wash., said aid and humanitarian workers who have been evacuated from Liberia are anxious to return to the country and resume operations.”Our staff want to go back on the first available plane to respond to the current crisis and re-establish our program in Liberia,”John Yale, World Vision’s Africa Regional Relief Director, said in Sierra Leone.”But that’s not going to be easy to accomplish.” The new fighting broke out April 6, when troops loyal to Charles Taylor sought to arrest Roosevelt Johnson, leader of a rival faction, on murder charges. The ensuing fighting led to anarchy in Monrovia and forced the evacuation of foreign diplomatic officials and humanitarian workers.

Gay rights legislation introduced in Canadian parliament

(RNS)-Legislation that would make it illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of their sexual orientation has been introduced in both houses of the Canadian Parliament, the Associated Press reported Wednesday (April 17).”It would extend to gay, lesbian and bisexual people in Canada not special rights, but equal rights,”said Svend Robinson, a gay member of the House of Commons from British Columbia. Robinson is a member of the New Democratic Party, a leftist party in Canada.

Robinson said the bills were aimed at forcing Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien to fulfill a 1993 campaign pledge to outlaw discrimination against homosexuals.

Quote of the day: Catholic Archbishop Paul Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council”Cor Unum”on the United Nations International Conference on Human Settlements.

(RNS)-On June 3, the United Nations will convene a major conference of world leaders, the U.N. International Conference on Human Settlements, to develop plans to meet the world housing crisis. Archbishop Paul Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council”Cor Unum,”which coordinates the Vatican’s charitable work, will serve as head of the Holy See delegation to the 11-day meeting. In a recent meeting of Catholic organizations in Vienna, Cordes outlined the Vatican stance for the conference, adding:”The act of providing adequate shelter and housing for another person is a concrete expression, not of simple social assistance, but an expression of the Gospel message and of the works of mercy in that they are also works of Christian faith.” MJP END RNS