c. 1996 Religion News Service

Orthodox jurisdictions repair rift over church in Estonia

(RNS)-The Russian Orthodox Church and its mother church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople, now Istanbul, Turkey, have restored ties and avoided a schism, according to church officials.

Three months ago, the Russian Orthodox Church, the largest Orthodox denomination in the world, broke off relations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the spiritual center of world Orthodoxy, over who should exercise jurisdiction over the 40,000 to 45,000 Orthodox Christians in Estonia, a Baltic state that was once part of the Soviet Union.”There are again normal relations between the churches,”Archbishop Johannes, temporary head of the Estonian Orthodox Church, told Reuters.

The archbishop said both sides agreed to an unusual plan under which both Moscow and Constantinople would exercise jurisdiction in Estonia, and Estonian Orthodox believers would choose which denomination to live under.

Orthodoxy in Estonia has long been something of a football between the Moscow and Constantinople jurisdictions. When the nation became independent in 1920, the local church was granted autonomy but remained in the jurisdiction of Moscow. Three years later, when Christianity came under severe persecution by the Bolsheviks and was cut off from the Russian hierarchy, it came under the wing of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

In 1940, when Russia successfully invaded Estonia, the Estonian Orthodox Church was purged and its members absorbed by the Russian Orthodox Church, although a separate Estonian Orthodox Church operated in exile in Sweden.

In 1993, after Estonia again became an independent nation, the Estonian government recognized the exiled church as the legal successor of the pre-World War II church. In February, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I agreed to take the Estonian church under its wing, prompting Moscow Patriarch Aleksy to sever relations.

Archbishop Johannes said that about 25,000 Orthodox in Estonia, largely Russian-speaking, are aligned with the Moscow jurisdiction, while the rest, largely Estonian-speaking, are loyal to the Constantinople wing.

A statement issued in Moscow by the patriarch’s office said that a joint delegation from the two jurisdictions will soon visit Estonia for talks with the government and with congregations that have not yet decided which jurisdiction to follow.

President Clinton uses `bully pulpit’ to press corporate responsibility

(RNS)-President Clinton gathered some of the nation’s top business executives in Washington on Thursday (May 16) for a day-long session on corporate responsibility and to highlight companies that succeed economically by treating their workers well.

The meeting began with breakfast at the White House and then moved to Georgetown University, the Jesuit school, for speeches and panel sessions.”The issue here is not just an economic issue, but a values issue,”Secretary of Labor Robert Reich said in an interview with religion reporters.”We wanted to put the spotlight on companies that are treating their employees as assets rather than costs that need to be cut.” For the better part of the year, Clinton has made the subject of corporate responsibility-toward workers and the general public-a major theme of his administration. In February, he invited leaders of the entertainment industry to the White House and urged them to produce a voluntary rating agreement for television programming. He also has urged tobacco companies to avoid marketing campaigns aimed at teens.”I believe the power of example to change the behavior is enormous,”Clinton told the executives.”What I want us to do is to elevate the good practices that are going on (and) show how they are consistent with making money and succeeding in the free enterprise system.” Among the companies spotlighted at Thursday’s Conference on Corporate Responsibility were Optiva Corp. of Bellevue, Wash., which provides full- and part-time employees with health benefits and reimbursements for college education; Fel-Pro Inc. of Skokie, Ill., which offers on-site day-care facilities plus scholarships and savings bonds to all children of its 1,700 employees; and Starbucks Corp. of Seattle, one of the first large retail chains to offer part-time workers health benefits similar to those provided to full-time employees.”Government is not in a position to give CEOs a conscience if they don’t have one,”Reich said. But he said government could help show that”it makes good business sense to invest in workers’ skills. CEOs are far more persuasive than the president could be.” Republicans dismissed the conference as election-year gimmickry.”Bill Clinton proffering business advice while companies are laying employees off makes about as much sense as throwing a drowning man a brick,”Christina Martin, the deputy campaign press secretary for GOP presidential contender Bob Dole, told The New York Times.

Jewish groups split on Ohio plan to aid religious schools

(RNS)-Two Jewish groups have offered an Ohio court sharply different interpretations of the desirability and constitutionality of a proposed plan to help low-income parents send their children to private secular or religious schools.”This is one of the first instances in the United States in which an expansive school choice program, encompassing a full array of educational options, has been adopted by a state’s elected officials to address the serious problems faced by urban school children,”Agudath Israel of America, a New York-based Orthodox Jewish group, said in a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the Court of Common Pleas of Franklin County.

The court is hearing a challenge to the law, passed by the Ohio legislature last year. The pilot program provides vouchers of up to $2,250 for 1,500 low-income parents to use in sending their children either to private, including religious, or public schools.

But the American Jewish Congress, in a separate brief, argued that the program is unconstitutional under both the U.S. and the Ohio constitutions.”Perhaps the most obvious and widespread manifestation of this understanding of the principle of separation of church and state was that all states admitted to the Union after the First Amendment was adopted (including Ohio) enshrine in their constitutions specific provisions prohibiting aid to parochial schools, often in the same legal breath as they mandate adequate support for public education,”the AJC wrote.

The case is expected to be heard in June.

Australian church issues controversial report on sexuality

(RNS)-The Uniting Church of Australia, the nation’s third-largest denomination, has issued a report calling for bold new thinking on some of the most controversial areas of human sexuality, including homosexuality.

The report,”A Journey Into Sexuality,”is aimed at sparking debate before the denomination votes on a final statement on the subject in July 1997, Reuters said.”There is no legitimate reason for rejecting homosexuality or homosexual relationships,”the report said. It said gay relationships can be supported if they are”right relationships.” Such relationships, it added,”are characterized by agape, the love, caring and compassion embodied in Jesus Christ.” On the topic of gay clergy, the report said that it”found no evidence that a person who is is a homosexual is less fit for ministry, any more than anyone else.” The report said that”the key moral question”regarding marriage is not whether the institution should be retained,”but the quality of the marriage relationships.” The Uniting Church of Australia is the country’s third largest denomination, behind the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.

Pope John Paul II to celebrate his birthday on the road

(RNS)-With tolerance and and co-existence on his agenda, Pope John Paul II arrived in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday (May 17) for a three-day visit that will coincide with his 76th birthday.”He is a friend of Slovenes and a supporter of Slovenia’s statehood,”Slovenia President Milan Kucan told Reuters.”We will greet him heartily and with respect everywhere he goes.” The Vatican was among the first states to recognize Slovenia after it broke away from the former Yugoslavia in June 1991. Slovenia remains one of the most economically successful of Europe’s ex-communist states, but faces growing political problems and a series of public-sector strikes for better wages.

At a youth rally Saturday (May 18), John Paul will receive birthday wishes from hundreds of thousands of Slovenes as well as well-wishers from Austria, Croatia and Italy. He will celebrate Mass in Maribor, Slovenia, on Sunday.

Church of Scotland calls for direct talks between Britain and IRA

(RNS)-A report by a key committee of the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland called Friday (May 17) for direct talks between the government of Great Britain and the Irish Republican Army (IRA).”It is not clear that Sinn Fein has the authority to deliver a cease-fire under any circumstances,”said the denomination’s Church and Nation committee. Sinn Fein is the political arm of the IRA.”Is it always wrong for a government to `talk to terrorists’?”the report asked.”Someone has to talk to the IRA.” In the report, the committee stressed the urgent necessity of moving toward all-party negotiations in order to avert a reversion to systematic, mutual violence.

The committee said three principles are needed to achieve peace: the acknowledgment of the lordship of God over all systems and communities; the need for repentance and forgiveness as a part of reconciliation; and a call to all Christians to be peacemakers.

Archbishop of Canterbury set to visit Chicago

(RNS)-Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, spiritual leader of the 70 million-member worldwide Anglican communion, will make his first official visit to the Episcopal diocese of Chicago next week.

Carey is scheduled to arrive in Chicago May 20 for a three-day visit that will include a series of public events, highlighted by an interfaith worship service, and private meetings with diocesan officials and clergy.

The interfaith service will include Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of the Archdiocese of Chicago and Rabbi Herman Schaalman, rabbi emeritus of Temple Emanuel in Chicago.

Quote of the day: The Rev. Morris Chapman, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, on moral decay in the United States

(RNS)-At a recent meeting of the North American Baptist Fellowship, the regional affiliate of the Baptist World Alliance, the Rev. Morris Chapman, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, spoke on what he called the nation’s”moral decay.””The `character quotient’ of this country is arguably the lowest it has been in our history. Moral decay is the product of spiritual decline. Government programs or self-improvement efforts will not solve the problems posed by people without moral restraint or ethical compass. Nothing less than conversion of persons on a wide scale will match this challenge. And nothing less than a straightforward evangelical message calls men to such life conversion.”

LJB END ANDERSON