c. 1997 Religion News Service
Catholic bishops criticize world response to Central Africa
(RNS) A top official of the U.S. Catholic Conference, the social policy arm of the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops, has criticized the international community _ including the United States _ for failing to take steps to prevent on-going violence in Central Africa.”Despite many significant efforts, the international community has thus far failed in its obligation to help prevent the spread of deadly violence through the region,”said Archbishop Theodore McCarrick of Newark, N.J.
McCarrick, chairman of the bishops’ international policy committee, made his comments in an Oct. 28 letter to Susan Rice, assistant U.S. secretary of state for African affairs. The letter was made public Thursday (Oct. 30).
The letter was prompted by reports earlier this month of attacks on unarmed refugees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. United Nations efforts to investigate the allegations have prompted a standoff between the U.N. and President Lawrence Kabila of the DRC.
McCarrick, said the U.S. should not”directly link vital humanitarian assistance”to Congo cooperation with the U.N. probe, arguing it would only worsen the condition of the most vulnerable. U.S. policy should focus on fostering negotiations between Kabila and the U.N., he said.
At the same time, McCarrick warned against the kind of”do-nothing”policy the international community followed in 1994, when it became clear genocide was occurring in Rwanda.”Today the international community has credible reports from sources `on-the-ground’ which suggest that the unconscionable is occurring yet again, as thousands of innocent civilians are indiscriminately killed in the Congo and Rwanda.”The inadequate measures enacted thus far have served only to weaken the international community’s credibility in the Great Lakes,”McCarrick said.
Ala. judge bars vocal prayers, Bible devotions public schools
(RNS) A federal judge Thursday (Oct. 30) barred Alabama public schools from allowing vocal prayers or Bible devotions on school property.
But U.S. District Court Judge Ira DeMent said it was permissible for a student to give a brief thanks to”Deity for his or her academic success.”He also said schools may use religious texts in an academic setting and students may wear religious symbols or clothing with religious messages.
DeMent’s ruling extended previous orders he had issued striking down Alabama’s 1993 school prayer law and rejecting Gov. Fob James’ claim that the states, not the federal government or courts, can set their own laws on religious conduct in public places.
The ruling was hailed by the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, one of the groups that had brought the original suit.”This ruling sends a timely reminder that America’s public schools are for education, not indoctrination,”Lynn said.
DeMent also ordered that a monitor be named to oversee compliance with the ruling in DeKalb County schools, where it has been alleged that school prayers, Bible distribution and student harassment of those not participating in the religious activity has been occurring.
The ruling bars Alabama public schools from allowing any”school organized or officially sanctioned religious activity,”specifically mentioning vocal prayer, Bible devotionals, distribution of religious materials and discussions of a devotional nature.
Cardinal Mahony finds some merit in `Nothing Sacred’
(RNS) Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles says the controversial ABC-TV drama”Nothing Sacred”is”a great moment of evangelization”for the church that has prompted a”tremendous discussion of the role of the parish priest”in churches and other forums across the country.
Mahony, made his comments Sunday (Oct. 26) at the annual Mass, brunch and awards ceremony of the Catholics in Media Associates, a group of Catholic actors, screenwriters and entertainment executives.”Nothing Sacred,”an hour-long drama that focuses on the life and work of a Catholic priest called Father Ray and played by self-described”lapsed Catholic”Kevin Anderson, has drawn criticism from some independent Catholic conservative groups such as the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, which claims it presents a false picture of Catholic teaching and the priesthood.
Mahony, however, took the show more lightly than its critics.”I saw Kevin Anderson here earlier … delighted to have Father Ray with us,”Mahony said before the Mass began.”I’m surprised he’s not concelebrating here this morning.” On a more serious note, Mahony credited the show for not only sparking discussion of the role of the parish priest but for its portrayal of”the various challenges, human struggles that people bring to their parishes and present to their parish priest.”
British charity says its making headway in `consumer power’ campaign
(RNS) The British charity Christian Aid says it is making headway in its campaign to use”consumer power”to force British supermarkets to insist on better working conditions for Third World workers who produce the goods sold in the stores.
The charity is collecting cash register receipts and then returning them to stores with a message:”If the supermarkets want consumer loyalty, they must show loyalty to the people who produce our food on the other side of the world.” Christian Aid, which is backed by the Anglican Church and most mainstream Protestant churches in the United Kingdom and Ireland, has humanitarian programs in 80 countries and does extensive lobbying and education projects in Britain on such issues as Third World debt, unfair trade practices and reform of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
After a year of campaigning, Christian Aid reports that seven of the top 10 British supermarket chains have adopted”ethical sourcing policies”and six of those are drawing up codes of conduct open to external verification.”We want people to be able to walk off the street into any supermarket and buy their food, confident that it has been produced without exploitation,”Christian Aid director Michael Taylor told Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency.
S.C. court rules that viable fetus is `person’
(RNS) The South Carolina state Supreme Court has ruled that a viable fetus is a”person”covered by the state’s child abuse law.
The ruling, made public Tuesday (Oct. 28), upheld the conviction of a woman who in 1992 pleaded guilty to child neglect after her baby was born with traces of cocaine in its system. The woman was sentenced to eight years in prison.”(T)he consequences of abuse or neglect which takes place after birth often pale in comparison to those resulting from abuse suffered by the viable fetus before birth. This policy of prevention supports a reading of the word `person’ to include viable fetuses,”The New York Times quoted the ruling as saying.
Lawyers for the woman said they will appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.”If a fetus is a person, everything a pregnant woman does is potentially child abuse, abortion is murder, and women lose the right to make medical decisions on their own behalf,”said Lynn Paltrow, one the lawyers representing the woman.
She said that giving the fetus the same legal status as a child will have dire consequences. For example, if a woman using drugs during a pregnancy can be prosecuted for child abuse, so also could women who smoke or drink or fail to get prenatal care, the lawyers said.
In its ruling, the court also rejected the lawyers contention that the prosecution had violated the woman’s constitutional right to privacy.”It strains belief … to argue that using crack cocaine during pregnancy is encompassed within the constitutionally recognized right of privacy,”the court said in its 3-2 decision.
Quote of the day: Roman Catholic Bishop William Skylstad
(RNS) Roman Catholic Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., chairman of the U.S. Bishops Committee on Domestic Policy, issued a statement Thursday (Oct. 30) marking the 100th anniversary of the Nov. 8 birth of Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement. In it, Skylstad said:”Her love was prophetic by its challenge to serve the poor and the oppressed while at the same time confronting the system which caused the poverty and oppression. Dorothy Day recognized that the gospel calls us to a more abundant way of life than does a culture rooted in violence and indifference, which pits one groups against another.”
MJP END RNS
