c. 1997 Religion News Service

Albanian church leader calls for end to violence

(RNS) The leader of Albania’s Orthodox Christians has called for an end to the violence that has gripped the country for the past seven weeks.”I have (three) simple words in prayer to say for all: No more blood. No to the fighting. No to the arms. No to the hatred. And the God of peace will be with you,”Archbishop Anastasios said in a statement issued Thursday (March 6).

Albania has been in a crisis for the last seven weeks brought on by the collapse of a pyramid investment scheme in which nearly every Albanian family had invested. The fund’s failure to pay the interest it promised to depositers led to mass protests a month ago.

The archbishop’s statement was issued shortly before Albanian President Sali Berisha met with opposition leaders in a bid to ease the violence that has gripped the country.

News reports from Albania said that Berisha and the opposition leaders signed a document pledging the Albanian military will suspend operations against dissident rebels in the south, where much of the unrest is centered.

Justin Simieris, an aide to the archbishop, told Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency, that the church has”some ideas”for helping to calm the current unrest.”But in such an unclear situation, we have no choice but to wait and pray, before trying to help,”he added.

Meanwhile, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tirana Rrok Mirdita said he hoped Anastasios and Sabri Koci, Albania’s chief Muslim imam, would agree to a joint interfaith peace initiative.

Muslims make up about 70 percent of Albania’s population of 3.3 million, while Orthodox Christians account for about 20 percent and Roman Catholics about 10 percent.”Events have shown that violence and destruction only lead to further sufferings,”Mirdita said.

S. African bishops denounce proposal for mine-shaft prisons

(RNS) A proposal to use underground mine shafts as maximum security prisons in South Africa has been sharply criticized by the nation’s Anglican bishops as offensive and callous.

The proposal was first floated on Tuesday (March 4) by Khulekani Sithole, Commissioner of the Department of Correctional Services.”There are criminals within our system who have made it clear that they are not prepared to conform to the norms of a democratic society _ people like murderers, rapists and armed robbers who repeatedly transgress,”Sithole told a news conference.”They are animals and must never see daylight again.” But the Anglican bishops, in a statement released Wednesday, said it was”deeply shocked and offended by the callous suggestion.” The statement said that if Sithole’s proposal was even remotely under consideration, it”leaves one shuddering as to how prisoners are treated at present.” Church officials noted the denomination has long crusaded for prison reform in South Africa, especially to ease the over-crowding in the nation’s jail.

Last Sunday (March 2), Anglican Archbishop Njonhonkulu Ndungane, a”graduate”of South Africa’s most notorious prison, Robben Island, issued a call for prison reform. Ndungane was imprisoned at Robben Island along with Nelson Mandela, now South Africa’s president.”I believe the time has come for us, as a nation, to address prison reform with the seriousness it deserves,”he said according to a report by Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency.”It is not a new issue for the church to address,”the archbishop added,”although we have not done it in a sustainable way in this land.”

Chicago minister wins NAE’s Racial Reconciliation Award

(RNS) The Rev. Louis Rawls Sr., a Chicago pastor who was a pioneer in the delivery of social services to the poor and a longtime advocate of racial justice, has won the first Racial Reconciliation Award of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE).

Rawls, one the few African-Americans with a decades-long involvement in the NAE, was honored Thursday (March 6) at the closing banquet of the NAE’s annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.

Rawls, the pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Chicago for the past 56 years and the adoptive father of R&B singer Lou Rawls, was recognized for his”hope and help to people regardless of their racial background,”said Edward L. Foggs, second vice chairman of NAE.

Rawls, who was also the first black chaplain at the Cook County Jail in Illinois, founded or organized a variety of programs, businesses and ministries, including a”head start”program established in 1946 for poor pre-school youngsters that began nearly two decades before the 1960s War on Poverty program of the same name.

The 92-year-old minister expressed his appreciation for NAE’s growing sensitivity to race relations.”I was happy tonight when I could sit where I wanted to sit because 50 years ago, it was quite difficult to find a seat,”said Rawls, upon receiving his award.

Earlier in the day, he said of all the honors he has received, the award from NAE is”the highest one.””I’ve been a promoter and a fighter for human justice and I think the NAE has finally seen the light that Christianity is superior to religion and that Christianity demands of us that at the cross of Calvary all men are equal and God expects for us to exemplify that,”Rawls said.

Others honored by the NAE included Ruth Bell Graham, who was given the Layperson of the Year Award. The wife of evangelist Billy Graham, Ruth Bell Graham is an author of six books and is known for her compassion for suffering people. Her award was accepted by her daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, founder of AnGeL Ministries and the keynote speaker at NAE’s closing session.

The NAE is an association of 48 member denominations, individuals from more than 20 additional denominations, and some 250 ministries and educational institutions.

Mormon president takes”wait-and-see”approach to cloning

(RNS) Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, says the denomination is taking a”wait-and-see”approach to the issues that have been raised by the new scientific breakthroughs in cloning.

Hinckley first made light of the issue.”I hope nobody will try to clone me,”he said.

But in a more serious vein, the leader of the 10 million-member church said,”I’m not greatly worried over it at the present time.” Hinckley, speaking Thursday (March 6) at a dinner sponsored by the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, also said the denomination would monitor legislative developments surrounding the issue.”There are some delicate and sensitive ethical issues”in the cloning debate, he said.

Scientology anti-drug program resisted in English village

(RNS) The Church of Scientology, facing high-level attacks in both Germany and France, lost a smaller battle to the villagers of Burton Leonard in Yorkshire, England.

The church wanted to set up a drug rehabilitation center in the village of 473 people, using a former inn that had been converted to a nursing home.

Villagers, getting wind of the effort, raised $285,000 in three days to outbid the Scientologists for the property.”We’re not talking about nimbyism _ the Not in My Back Yard approach,”said Gerlinde Godber, who runs the post and the only shop in the village.”We’re all sympathetic to people with drug problems. But this scheme, right in the middle of our village and across the road from the school, isn’t the place,”he said.

Kenneth Eckersley, a Scientologist who would have directed the program, said that the center would not have had any direct links with Scientology.”It is not my intention or the intention of the charity to upset people anywhere,”Eckersley said.”We don’t want to frighten old ladies or worry young mothers.”

Quote of the day: The Economist magazine

(RNS) The Economist magazine, in an editorial titled”Hello, Dolly,”on the news that scientists have successfully cloned a sheep:”Even the godless find something repugnant in the idea that man might one day invent himself, instead of inventing his creator.”

MJP END RNS