c. 1998 Religion News Service

Pope hopes Cuba visit will turn out like ’79 trip to Poland

(RNS) Pope John Paul II, in his first comments since returning to the Vatican from his historic visit to Cuba, said Wednesday (Jan. 28) he hoped his journey there would lead to the sort of changes that followed his 1979 visit to Poland.

Speaking to a group of Poles who attended his weekly general audience, the pope said:”I wish for our brothers and sisters on that beautiful island that the fruits of this pilgrimage will be similar to the fruits of that pilgrimage in Poland.” The pontiff’s visit to Poland was his first after becoming pope the previous year. It strengthened the Polish Catholic Church and led to the formation of the independent trade union Solidarity. Eventually, Poland’s communist leadership was forced out.

John Paul, who was reportedly tired and spoke in a weak voice, also described the his five-day visit to Cuba as”unforgettable.”He called the trip”a great event of spiritual, cultural and social reconciliation”and said it would”produce beneficial effects”despite Cuba’s”Marxist, materialist and atheist”society.

While in Cuba, John Paul urged Cuban President Fidel Castro to release political prisoners, who Cuban dissidents say number about 500. In remarks carried Wednesday by the official Prensa Latina news service, Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban National Assembly, said the papal request was being studied seriously.”The request will be considered in all seriousness, above all given the way in which it was made and who made it,”Alarcon said.

Alarcon suggested some sentences might be reduced and that other prisoners might be released early on humanitarian grounds. But he insisted no decision had as yet been made, the Associated Press reported.

Three rural churches in Pennsylvania hit by arson

(RNS) Three rural churches in southwestern Pennsylvania have been victimized by arson during the last week.

The most recent fire occurred Tuesday (Jan. 27), when the Pike Run Church of the Brethren in Somerset, Pa., was destroyed. The blaze was deliberately set, authorities said.”Any church is open to a thing like this, but a country church is more so,”said George Miller, who lives near the church, 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

Investigators with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and state troopers were scheduled to meet Wednesday to determine if the fires were connected, the Associated Press reported. Federal authorities were called in because they have investigated all church blazes since a series of fires at predominantly black Southern churches began two years ago.

The three Pennsylvania churches had predominantly white congregations.

On Jan. 20, Barren Run United Methodist Church in West Newton was burned to the ground. Two days later, Salem Baptist Church in Rostraver Township was spared from major destruction because a passer-by smelled smoke shortly after a firebomb was thrown at the church. The Methodist and Baptist churches are about 10 miles apart.

NCC heads voices general approval for State of Union

(RNS) The Rev. John Brown Campbell, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, said Wednesday (Jan. 28) a number of the proposals President Clinton put forward in his State of the Union address were to be commended.

But Campbell also said there were areas _ including global warming and the treatment of immigrants _ where the president could do more.”In this time of unprecedented economic growth and prosperity, the National Council of Churches gives thanks for the improvement in many people’s lives that come from the nation’s prosperity,”Campbell said.”At the same time, we are aware that the gifts are not evenly distributed and that much of the creation is increasingly vulnerable,”she added.

Campbell commended the president for providing leadership in the effort to overcome racism, for his child care initiative and for his commitment to provide funding for the United Nations.

The NCC leader also used her statement to renew the call of the mainline Protestant and Orthodox ecumenical agency for comprehensive reform of the nation’s campaign finance laws.”We believe that all people should have equal access to the electoral process,”she said.”However, the power of money in our current system excludes participation by those who cannot make large contributions and diminishes their importance in the electoral process.” At the same time, Campbell said the primary concern of the religious community she represents is the protection of the most vulnerable people in society.”In this time of national prosperity, we desperately need strong leadership from the administration and Congress to assure that the bounty is shared equally with those who cannot ride this rising tide without help,”she said.

Congress of National Black Churches elects new chairman

(RNS) A Kansas City, Mo., pastor has been elected as the new chairman of the board of directors of the Congress of National Black Churches.

The Rev. Wallace S. Hartsfield Sr. succeeds Bishop Roy L.H. Winbush, who recently finished his three-year term as board chairman. Hartsfield has been a member of the CNBC’s board for more than 10 years, most recently holding the office of vice chairman at-large.

He has been a pastor for more than 40 years, including his current post at Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church in Kansas City. He also serves as second vice president of the National Baptist Convention of America and chairman of that denomination’s Economic Development Commission.”I consider it an honor and tremendous opportunity to lead the nation’s largest black church organization into the new millennium,”Hartsfield said in a statement.”There is much to be done over the next three years, and with God’s help we will continue to empower and equip the church for greater service to the disenfranchised and marginalized people of this nation.” The Washington, D.C.-based CNBC was founded in 1978 and is a coalition of eight major African-American denominations.

Spencer Perkins, leader in racial reconciliation ministry, dies

(RNS) Spencer Perkins, a leader in an evangelical Christian ministry focusing on racial reconciliation, died suddenly Tuesday (Jan. 27) at his home in Jackson, Miss.

Perkins, 43, had a heart attack, ministry officials said.

The son of John Perkins, a veteran civil rights leader, Perkins was the editor of Reconcilers magazine, which was formerly called Urban Family. He was the former president of Reconcilers Fellowship, which had sponsored conferences aimed at fostering racial reconciliation.”Spencer was a reconciler,”John Perkins said of his oldest son.”Like everyone devoted to this high calling, he lived daily with the hard unanswered questions race presents.” Spencer Perkins co-authored the book”More than Equals”in 1993 with Chris Rice, the current Reconcilers Fellowship president. He was working on additional books on race relations.”Chris and Spencer were doing a lot of speaking nationwide on the topic of racial reconciliation, in many ways at the forefront of the movement,”said Jason Dewey, an executive assistant with the fellowship, which is based in Jackson.

Dewey said Spencer literally lived out his feelings about race relations by residing in an intentional interracial Christian community in Jackson.”Spencer was really a leading voice … from an African-American perspective of what the true calling of reconciliation meant, giving wisdom and intelligence to what was in his heart and being able to speak that and live that out for all of us,”Dewey said.

Quote of the Day: Hillary Rodham Clinton

(RNS)”This has been a grueling ordeal, and it has required every bit of religious faith and spiritual resources Bill and I have. It has been an incredible personal challenge.” _ First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, in an interview on NBC’s”Today”show Tuesday (Jan. 27), speaking about the challenges of personal and political attacks during her time in the White House.

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