c. 1997 Religion News Service

Conservative groups score `judicial tyranny’ blocking religious expression

(RNS) An ad hoc coalition of conservative scholars and religious advocacy groups Thursday (Dec. 11) called for federal legislation to end what they termed the”judicial tyranny”they said blocks Americans from publicly expressing their religious beliefs.

The group, led by the Family Research Council, cited U.S. District Court Judge Ira DeMent’s ruling blocking the DeKalb County school system in Alabama from promoting religious observances as”the latest in a long series of erroneous decisions.” The group called for legislation that would erect”a federalism shield”that would prohibit federal courts from interfering with state institutions such as state courts and public schools that want”to acknowledge the Creator by … posting the Ten Commandments.” It would also allow individuals in the institutions to”freely … express their religious faith, so long as they refrain from interfering with the legitimate rights of others.” In addition to the Family Research Council, groups endorsing the call included Focus on the Family, the Christian Coalition, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, the Catholic Alliance, the American Family Association, Prison Fellowship, the Campaign for the American Family, the Traditional Values Coalition, Coral Ridge Ministries, Justice Fellowship and Concerned Women for America.

Scholars signing the call included Robert P. George, Princeton University; Gerard Bradley, University of Notre Dame; David Smolin, Samford University; and Bernard Dobranski, Catholic University of America Law School.”Since colonial times, America has been a haven for those seeking to worship God as they see fit,”the statement said.”As Americans we are proud of our long heritage of protecting the rights of people of every faith and of no particular faith.” The statement said the Old Testament’s Ten Commandments”state and symbolize the core principles of ethical monotheism and, as such, appropriately convey the American tradition of liberty grounded in law.”When judges _ however well-intentioned _ forbid the posting of the Ten Commandments or otherwise prohibit public institutions from acknowledging God as the source of unalienable rights and basic moral duties, they assault central principles of our tradition of ordered liberty.”

Abortion opponent first seeks, then leaves Vatican embassy in Paris

(RNS) A leading French anti-abortion opponent, well known for his militant tactics in his campaign against French law making abortion legal, sought political asylum at the Vatican embassy in Paris on Wednesday (Dec. 10).

But the activist, Dr. Xavier Dor, left the embassy of his own accord Thursday morning. Dor had said he would leave only if Pope John Paul II personally ordered him to do so.

At the Vatican, spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said there were”no elements to invoke the right of political asylum. It was, rather, a typical case of conscientious objection.” A prosecutor has asked a French court to jail Dor for eight months for occupying a hospital near Paris earlier this year in an effort to disrupt abortions being performed at the facility. The court is scheduled to rule on the request early next month, Reuters reported.

The prosecutor is also asking that Dor be made to serve previously suspended sentences for similar protests.

German Lutherans urge approval of joint Catholic-Lutheran statement

(RNS) The German National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation has urged German churches to approve a proposed joint statement by the Vatican and Lutheran churches around the world on the sensitive theological doctrine of justification.

The committee is made up of representatives of the 13 German churches that are members of the LWF.

Differences in understanding and expressing the doctrine of justification _ how and under what circumstances God acts to forgive a person of their sins _ was a central cause in the Protestant-Catholic schism of the 16th century, with Lutherans emphasizing that justification was earned by faith alone while Catholicism emphasized a central role for works.

In recent decades, Roman Catholic and Lutheran scholars at the international level have reached a new consensus in understanding the doctrine.

The official joint declaration, which would be issued through the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation, would also lift the condemnations Catholics and Lutherans imposed on one another at the time of Reformation.

One German Lutheran body _ the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria _ has given its approval to the proposal.”Many members in both churches are waiting for this; we must not dash their hopes,”Bavarian Bishop Hermann von Loewenich said.

About 10 of the LWF’s 122 member denominations have submitted their official responses to the proposed declaration. In mid-November, the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession _ the Austrian Lutheran Church _ gave its approval to the statement, and in August, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voiced its support.

The LWF is seeking the responses of its 122 member bodies by May 1998.

WCC announces new grants to fight racism

(RNS) The World Council of Churches’ program to combat racism has announced it will give $112,000 to 12 groups around the world to combat racism, including three groups in the United States.

The program, begun in 1970, has given out some $11.3 million over the years to support groups engaged in the struggle for racial justice. During the 1980s, much of that effort was directed at ending the system of apartheid in South Africa.

Since apartheid was ended, contributions to the sometimes controversial program have fallen, according to WCC officials, who made a plea for increased donations as they announced the new round of grants.”The new challenge for us is to reaffirm the WCC’s commitment to combatting racism wherever in the world it shows its face,”said the Rev. Konrad Raiser, the WCC’s general secretary.

The three U.S. programs receiving funds _ $5,000 each _ are the Interfaith Prisoners of Conscience Project, which supports work among”those imprisoned for political beliefs even though they were sentenced as `criminals'”; the Haitian Caribbean Foundation for Education and Development, which fights homelessness among the Caribbean immigrant population of New York City; and the US/Japan Committee for Racial Justice, which will create a network of World War II survivors on the islands of Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, Eastern Samoa, Puerto Rico and Cuba.

Quote of day: Business consultant and author Peter Drucker

(RNS)”I consider the emergence of the pastoral church, one focused on the congregation and the individual within the congregation, to be the most important social development in this country in the last 20-25 years. Pastoral churches see their congregation as a resource, not a market. The communicant is not a customer, but a partner and they expect to be put to work.” Business consultant Peter Drucker at a Dec. 3-5 Leadership Network forum for church leaderships focusing on trends in the church.

MJP END RNS