c. 1997 Religion News Service

Bankruptcy judge approves agreements for New Era victims

(RNS) A bankruptcy judge has approved two agreements that will return about $61 million to charities and nonprofit groups that were victims of the collapse of the Foundation for New Era Philanthropy.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Bruce I. Fox approved agreements Thursday (July 24) that will partially reimburse 150 groups who invested in a New Era double-your-money scheme that turned out to be fraudulent.

The groups losing money ranged from small Christian colleges to major metropolitan museums.

Attorneys for bankruptcy trustee Arlin M. Adams said the agreements finalized most of New Era’s liquidation, the Associated Press reported.

Stuart M. Brown, one of Adams’ attorneys, said the first agreement should pay out $45 million collected from organizations that profited from New Era and other assets of John G. Bennett Jr., New Era’s founder. That agreement should be completed in mid-August.

Later this year, creditors should receive $15.9 million from the second agreement, which settles four federal lawsuits against Prudential Securities, which served as Bennett’s securities broker.

An initial distribution of $30 million was made to creditors by Adams in December.

Kenneth E. Aaron, another lawyer for Adams, estimated it could take three years to resolve the rest of the bankruptcy case. Among issues still to be resolved are lawsuits against organizations that made money from New Era investments who did not return those profits.

Bennett pleaded no contest to an 82-count indictment in March. He has not yet been sentenced.

Update: Black Methodist pastor pleads guilty to disorderly conduct

(RNS) An African-American United Methodist pastor in Delaware has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in exchange for the dropping of more serious charges against him in a March case of alleged police brutality.

The Rev. Lawrence M. Livingston, pastor of Ezion-Mount Carmel United Methodist Church in Wilmington, was charged last March with resisting a police officer, aggravated menacing and disregarding both a red light and a stop sign. He claimed the arresting white officer beat him, maced him and pulled his weapon during the traffic stop.

Black Methodists for Church Renewal, a caucus in the United Methodist Church, was among groups that protested what they considered excessive force by police in the incident.

But Livingston decided to enter a guilty plea of disorderly conduct on July 18. He also was fined $100, reported United Methodist News Service.”It was important to me not to plead guilty to the four charges,”Livingston said.”Disorderly conduct is a much lesser charge.” He believes he has agreed to”a good compromise”and said he now understands Delaware law better.”Once an officer says you are under arrest, a person has to comply even if he or she thinks his or her life is in danger,”Livingston said.

Livingston’s supporters were disappointed with the outcome of the situation, but they said they hoped he can move on with his four-year ministry at the Wilmington church and his life.”I feel victorious because I know God is not through with us yet,”said Livingston.”We are not through talking about police violence and building solidarity in the community.”

Update: Dallas bishop apologizes to victims of sexual abuse

(RNS) Roman Catholic Bishop Charles Grahmann of Dallas has publicly apologized to 10 former altar boys and the family of an eleventh who allegedly were sexually abused by a priest and who won a record $119.6 million in damages last week.

But the 10 surviving victims _ one committed suicide five years ago _ boycotted the Sunday (July 27) worship service at which Grahmann offered his apology.”I feel the pain that has been part of their lives over these years,”news agencies quoted the bishop as saying.”I can only beg them to accept my word. I want them to be healed and all of us to be reconciled with each other.” The 10 men had originally planned to attend the service at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Corsicana, Texas, as a gesture of thanks to its pastor, the Rev. Robert Williams. Williams’ testimony against Rudolph Kos, the former priest accused of the sexual abuse, helped win the case.

They changed their minds, however, after learning the bishop would attend. One of the victims, Wade Schlosstein, said they did not want to turn the Mass”into a P.R. event down there (at the church) for either us or the bishop.” Kos was suspended from the priesthood five years ago. He had allegedly sexually assaulted the victims hundreds of times over a period of years that ended in 1992.

On Thursday (July 24) a jury ordered the diocese to pay the victims $119.6 million saying the diocese had ignored all warnings about Kos and covered up evidence in the case when the boys complained.

Grahmann said the diocese is likely to appeal the award, reportedly the largest cash penalty ever awarded in the spate of priest molestation cases that have rocked the Catholic Church over the past decade.

Kos, who currently lives in San Diego, Calif., did not defend himself in the civil action.

French court reduces Scientology sentence

(RNS) A French appeals court Monday (July 28) spared a former leader of the Church of Scientology in France from going to jail on charges of manslaughter and fraud after the suicide of a church follower.

The court in Lyon, in central France, gave Jean-Jacques Mazier a three-year suspended sentence and fined him $80,000 on charges related to the case. In October, a lower court had sentenced Mazier to 18 months in jail with another 18 months suspended after finding him guilty of manslaughter and fraud in the 1988 suicide of Patrice Vic.

Mazier said he would appeal to France’s supreme court for a retrial.

Much of the trial revolved around whether Scientology is a sect or a religion. Under French law, as a religion, it could legally ask members to give it funds, thus minimizing Mazier’s possible culpability in Vic’s suicide.

French Scientology officials hailed the appeals court ruling as implying”full recognition”for the controversial organization as a religion.

Vic apparently committed suicide after his wife rebuffed efforts by him and Mazier to give him money to take a Scientology course, Reuters reported.

The court also acquitted nine of 14 other defendants tied to the organization who had been sentenced with Mazier on a series of charges ranging from embezzlement to fraud.

Uganda’s Roman Catholic cardinal vows to oppose tax on”too many”children

(RNS) Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala, head of the Roman Catholic Church in Uganda has promised he will fight a proposed”tax on children”which the Ugandan government is reportedly considering as a means of discouraging parents from having more than four children.

Wamala made his vow during a recent Mass at Rugaba Cathedral in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, Ecumenical News International reported Wednesday (July 23), after government officials were quoted as saying Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was thinking of imposing such a tax.”If what was reported was true, it is a serious challenge,”the cardinal said.”When this tax is imposed, reject it. If a demonstration is held against such a tax, I will join in.” Wamala said the idea of slowing the nation’s population growth was being imposed on Uganda by outsiders from developed countries. Earlier this year, the government began to implement a program of providing free education for four children from each family irrespective of whether the family is a polygamous, double-parent or single-parent unit, reported ENI, a Geneva-based religious news agency.

With a population growth rate of about 2.4 percent a year, Uganda is one of the fastest growing nations in Africa. On average, families have six to seven children.

Uganda’s population of 20 million people is about one-third Catholic, one-third Protestant and 6 percent Muslim, with 18 percent following local folk religions.

Quote of the day: Christian Century editor and film critic James M. Wall

(RNS) The Chicago-based magazine Christianity and the Arts recently profiled James M. Wall, the editor of Christian Century and a well-known film critic. In the profile, Wall spoke about learning from even bad movies.”Many films are bad yet they still us something about our culture, and we can analyze why people respond to them. One can study film both as a work of art and as a cultural document. The top three grossing films in 1996 made more money than we give in foreign aid to the entire continent of Africa except Egypt. `Independence Day’ alone grossed over $300 million. People are looking for excitement and instant gratification and are not willing to consider that they just spent two hours watching the destruction of every American institution.”

END RNS