c. 1997 Religion News Service
Pope appeals to international community to help Albania
(RNS) Pope John Paul II appealed to countries across the globe Monday (March 31) to help restore peace to Albania, telling pilgrims at Castel Gandolfo, Italy, that the sinking of an Albanian refugee boat Friday night had disturbed the joy of Easter.
The boat, which the Albanian ambassador to Italy said capsized after an Italian warship purposely rammed into it, was carrying more than 100 refugees, he said. Four bodies were recovered from the Adriatic Sea and 34 Albanians were rescued after the collision.
Albanians say about 80 refugees may have died in the Adriatic, according to a report from the Reuter news agency.
In his Easter message, the pope condemned the “forces of evil” afflicting Albania, and asked for God’s blessing on the victims of violence in the country, the Associated Press reported.
“Christ is the hope … of those who see life and the future threatened by war and hatred,” John Paul said.
The pope continued the appeal for peace in Albania Monday, sounding weak and tired after the rigorous schedule of Holy Week. Addressing listeners from the first-story window of the papal summer villa, the pope asked for prayers for the dead and for relatives who were dealing with “tormenting pain” from the loss of their loved ones.
He said Albania needs the help of the international community to restore social order and to become economically stable.
The ship disaster came as Rome was preparing to lead 2,500 troops into Albania to protect food and medicine delivery to victims of the country’s violence and unrest.
Gingrich celebrates Easter at Chinese government-approved church
(RNS) House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., worshiped on Easter (March 30) at a Shanghai church approved by the Chinese government and said he decided not to meet with underground Christians in China because he did not want to put them at risk.
Gingrich and other members of the bipartisan congressional delegation visiting China, spent the Christian holy day at Shanghai Community Church. That congregation’s nondenominational Christian service is the only kind approved by the Chinese government.
Christians who practice particular branches of Christianity, such as Catholics and Baptists, worship in secret locations, often in private homes. These underground churches have been targeted by the government for crackdowns as increasing numbers of Chinese turn to Christianity.
Gingrich decided against attending an underground church after U.S. Embassy officials warned him such a visit would increase the risk worshipers would be censured by the government.
Andrew Weinstein, a Gingrich spokesman in Washington, said the speaker spoke with U.S. and Hong Kong church leaders to ensure that attending the government-approved church would not be viewed as a sign of supporting religious repression.
Gingrich has said he told Chinese leaders they should tolerate freedom of religion, which is cited in China’s constitution but rarely enforced.
Barna: More U.S. Catholics are born-again
(RNS) Evangelical pollster George Barna has found a growing number of U.S. Roman Catholics are born-again Christians according to his definition.
During the past two years, there has been a 41 percent increase in the number of Catholics who meet Barna’s born-again criteria.
The findings, released recently in Barna’s annual survey of American faith, come at a time when some evangelical Protestants are re-evaluating their ideas about Catholics, the independent Associated Baptist Press news agency reported.
In the past, many evangelicals considered Catholics non-Christians in need of salvation. But more recently, some evangelicals and Catholics have found common ground working on social issues while respecting their differing theologies.
Barna, who was raised Catholic, considers himself born again as a result of his experiences in an evangelical Protestant church. He now attends a nondenominational evangelical church in California.
Barna determined who is born again based on affirming the following statements:
_”I have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in my life today.” _”I believe that after I die I will go to heaven because I have confessed my sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.” According to the survey, 43 percent of the U.S. population agree with both statements, up from 39 percent in 1996 and 36 percent in 1995.
Barna said the overall increase was due mostly to a change in the number of Catholics who now meet the born-again criteria. In 1995, 22 percent of Roman Catholics met the criteria, increasing to 31 percent in 1997.
Based on these numbers, Barna said one-sixth of U.S. adults who fit his born-again definition are Catholics.
The nationwide survey of 1,007 adults was taken in January. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.
Update: Religious leaders applaud overturned euthanasia law
(RNS) Anglican and Roman Catholic archbishops in Australia are applauding a government decision to overturn a law in the country’s Northwest Territory that made voluntary euthanasia legal.
At the same time, however, they are urging the country to find better ways of providing palliative care, which comforts those who are dying.
The new anti-euthanasia bill was signed into law by Australia’s governor-general, Sir William Dean, on March 27. The bill singing followed earlier votes by Australia’s federal Senate and House of Representatives to overturn the Northern Territory law, which had been in effect since last September.
Anglican news services reported the praise of Anglican leaders for the legislative decision.
“While we feel a deep sense of compassion for those who are suffering and longing for release from pain, yet we must recognize that the Senate vote shows there is still a sense of reverence for life in our community,” said the Most Rev. Harry Goodhew, Anglican Archbishop of Sydney.
“It is time for Australia to take seriously the requirement for palliative care, especially in the Northern Territory,” he said. “This is an area which should receive substantial government and local support.”
Rural areas such as the Northwest Territory have few doctors with formal palliative care qualifications.
Bishop Phillip K. Newell, Anglican bishop of Tasmania, applauded the Senate’s decision as one that restored “a foundation stone” of the country’s legal system. He said the decision “affirms the sacredness of all human life.
Cardinal Edward Clancy, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Sydney, said he was”relieved”by the decision.”The euthanasia debate emphasizes how alert we must be to the continuing attacks on basic human values and how ready we must always be to come to the defense of human life and dignity,”Clancy said, according to Ecumenical News International, a Geneva-based religious news agency.
One officer of the Uniting Church, a major Australian Protestant church that opposes euthanasia, did say, however, there are a small number of instances where euthanasia might be appropriate.”If people better understood the issues they would see the need for voluntary euthanasia in very limited cases,”said Harry Herbert, secretary of the Uniting Church’s social responsibility board in New South Wales.
King’s home church plans new sanctuary in Atlanta
(RNS) Plans are under way for a new sanctuary for the home church of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The new $8 million sanctuary will be decorated with stained-glass windows depicting the civil rights struggle of blacks in the United States, the Associated Press reported.
The sanctuary, which will seat 1,700 people, will be built across the street from the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where both the slain civil rights leader and his father preached. It is expected to be finished in 18 months.
Each year, about 750,000 people visit the original church, which seats about 750 people.
The new site comes as a result of a land swap with the National Park Service. Under a 50-year lease, the Park Service will assume control of the old church.
Quote of the Day: Jessie Zhang, worshiper at Hong Kong’s oldest church
(RNS) Jessie Zhang attended Easter Sunday (March 30) services at St. John’s Cathedral, an Anglican congregation that is Hong Kong’s oldest church. The cathedral is a symbol of the colonial age that will end July 1 when Hong Kong will be returned by Britain to Chinese rule after 156 years. Zhang told the Associated Press:”The last one before the handover is a special Easter. We don’t know what it will be like afterward. It’s our heart’s desire that everything will be all right.”
MJP END RNS
