c. 1997 Religion News Service
Pope concludes World Youth Days with Mass for 1 million
(RNS) Nearly 1 million Roman Catholic worshipers _ twice the expected number _ turned out for an open-air Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II Sunday (Aug. 24) to end World Youth Days in Paris.
Three-quarters of a million young people, who flocked to the French capital for six days of spiritually encouraging festivities, spent the night Saturday (Aug. 23) camping at the Longchamp race track and nearby Bois de Boulogne for Sunday’s Mass, during which John Paul spoke of the challenges ahead for the church.”The pope counts on you”to help revitalize the church with adherence to Vatican teaching, John Paul told the crowd, the Associated Press reported.
A heat wave, smog and long hours outdoors tested the stamina of the 77-year-old pontiff, limiting him to three speeches or less each day of his 4-day visit, the AP said. On similar trips in the past, the pope gave numerous speeches each day.
John Paul told the crowd he and the young people would meet again _”if God wants it”_ at the next World Youth Days in Rome in 2000.
Also during the Mass, the pope announced his intention to elevate St. Therese de Lisieux to a Doctor of the Church, a titled reserved for those whose teachings and spirituality have profoundly influenced Roman Catholicism. The 19th-century Carmelite nun would be the 33rd Doctor of the Church, but only its third woman, the New York Times reported.
Earlier in the weekend, the pope mentioned the 16th-century St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre, in which thousands of Protestants lost their lives during the War of Religions, in an attempt to diffuse the anger of some Protestants over celebrating the huge Mass on its 425th anniversary.”On the eve of the 24th day of August we cannot forget the sad massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day, an event of very obscure causes in the political and religious history of France,”he said.”… Christians did things which the gospel condemns.
Religious groups stress dignity of work, justice for workers
(RNS) The National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, the group seeking to reinvigorate the partnership between religion and labor, says some 500 congregations across the country will focus on the dignity of work and”God’s call for justice in the workplace”in Labor Day weekend sermons and worship services.
Hundreds of priests, rabbis and ministers in more than 20 cities will invite workers and local union leaders to deliver sermons to their congregations, the group announced Monday (Aug. 25).”Religious services throughout the nation are focusing on the contribution labor has made to society and the biblical mandates for justice,”said retired United Methodist Bishop Jesse DeWitt, president of the interfaith committee.
Separately, the U.S. Catholic Conference, in its annual Labor Day statement, expressed concern about growing worker anxiety and the growing economic gap between the rich and poor.”There is uneasiness in the land,”said Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., chairman of the USCC’s committee on domestic policy. “While more people have work, many workers feel insecure about the future. As welfare recipients try to join the workforce, some find no jobs, while others struggle to raise their families with very low wages.”Some business leaders are creating jobs, other corporations seek mergers, downsize workforces, and uproot local companies without apparent concern for the immediate community,”Skylstad said.
He also noted what he called”a dramatic rise in the income gap”between high- and low-income families.
Skylstad said workers who add to the wealth of a company and a community”should share in the prosperity they help created.” Corporations, he said,”have an obligation to the people and communities they serve, as well as increasing their return on investment.”
Clinton hears anti-death penalty plea in Sunday sermon
(RNS) Even on vacation, President Clinton has trouble escaping the difficult moral issues that often fracture the nation.
Attending an outdoor service in Oak Bluffs, Mass., Clinton heard the Rev. John Hamilton Miller, chaplain for the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, make a sermonic plea that convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh be spared the death penalty.”When the state supports execution, it invites an ongoing cycle of violence,”Miller said.”I invite you to look at a picture of Timothy McVeigh and forgive him. I have.”Considering what he did, that may be a formidable task,”the chaplain said.”But it is the one (task) that we as Christians are asked to do.” Neither Clinton nor first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton reacted to Miller’s remarks, the Associated Press reported. Nor did he respond to questions about the homily as he and his wife and the pastor and his wife strolled to a nearby cafe for brunch.
Before McVeigh’s arrest, Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno both pledged to seek the death penalty for those responsible for the bombing.
Christian youth have new calling _”Internet Ministry” (RNS) It was clear that Jesus had entered the high-tech ’90s at this month’s Harvest Crusade Christian concerts in Anaheim, Calif., as nine workers wore credentials with the job description”Internet Ministry.” Over four nights _ from Aug. 14-17 _ the free Harvest Crusade concerts attracted a total of 142,500 to Anaheim Stadium. But thousands more from Malaysia to Hungary clicked onto the Internet to catch the all-music Christian gathering, now in its eighth year and run by Harvest Crusade Fellowship, a 12,000-member, Riverside, Calif., megachurch.
This year, organizers spent $30,000 on a concert-specific web site.”We have nine people, eight computers,”said Dan Carley, the 22-year-old president of Trinet, a Christian-oriented computer company, who ran the web site from the stadium’s press box.
A”country report”revealed that Saturday night’s”youth jam”was attended via the Internet by people from Ireland, Singapore, Australia, and South Korea, among other places.”Our goal and purpose is to take the technology that is available today and really use that for … getting the message of Jesus Christ out on the Internet,”said Carley.
By the events’ close, the number of hits on Harvest Crusade’s web site (http://www.harvest.org) totaled 820,768, Carley said.
“Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly”premiers Sept. 5
(RNS)”Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly,”a new program produced by the New York public television station WNET, premiers Sept. 5.
During the first weekend in September, the half-hour news show will air on stations around the country affiliated with the Public Broadcasting Service, including its top 10 markets _ New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, Boston, Detroit, Atlanta, San Francisco and Dallas. (Check local listings for exact dates and times, which vary from city to city.)
In addition to reporting on the nation’s top religion and ethics stories, the show will include profiles of people of faith, and provide religious and ethical viewpoints on domestic and foreign events.”The U.S. is, increasingly, a nation of many faiths, and religious beliefs are driving international events,”said veteran journalist Bob Abernethy, the host of the program.”As more Americans report they are searching for spiritual experience, our program will be a window on the most interesting people, events, and ideas of this vast and fundamental part of life.” During its first season of 39 programs,”Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly”will include features on African-American Muslims, a Hindu festival, spirituality and healing, and gospel music.
The program is funded by a $5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, one of the nation’s largest funders of religion research and scholarship.
Quote of the day: The Rev. Robert Price of the Christian Reformed Church
(RNS) Speaking at the ordination service Saturday (Aug. 23) of the Rev. Mary-Lee Bouma, the Rev. Robert Price, an African-American and international ministries director of the Christian Reformed Church, alluded to the controversy over women’s ordination that has fractured the conservative denomination by comparing it to racial discrimination:”We don’t like women, we don’t like black people. Before you know know it, this is Archie Bunkerville. If God is really God, he can speak through a mule _ me _ he can speak through men, he can speak through women, and when you start accepting women, you’ll start accepting people like me.”
MJP END RNS
