c. 1998 Religion News Service

Religious groups urge Yugoslav churches to help ease violence in Kosovo

(RNS) Three major international church groups Tuesday (March 10) called on their colleagues in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to do all they can to stop the violence in Kosovo, where ethnic and religious-based hostilities have erupted.”It is of utmost concern to Christians and churches everywhere that a repetition of the violent conflict experienced in Bosnia in recent years must be avoided,”the general secretaries of the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation and the Conference of European Churches said in a letter to their member churches in the Serb-dominated Yugoslav republic.

Kosovo, a province in the Federal Republic, has a majority population of ethnic Albanians, most of whom are Muslims, but is controlled by Serbia and its mostly Orthodox Christian leaders. Kosovo is virtually sacred land to most Serbs, celebrated as the center of ancient Serb culture and religion.

In recent weeks, Serbia has directed a crackdown on the ethnic Albanians protesting the province’s diminished autonomy and in the past week, dozens of people have been killed. The crackdown was sparked in part by the killing of Serb policemen during the protests.

The violence has renewed fears that the region could rekindle the kind of ethnic and religious warfare that engulfed Bosnia and Croatia in 1991 and 1992.”In order for a just and lasting solution to be negotiated, all parties must refrain from acts of violence,”the religious leaders’ letter said. “We therefore share the condemnation by His Holiness Patriarch Pavle of the Serbian Orthodox Church … of the use of police violence against unarmed student and civilian populations in Kosovo, and we denounce the grave violation of human rights witnessed in the region,”they said.

They also said they share the concern that the”identities and history of all ethnic and religious groups in the province”be respected and they called for a negotiated settlement to the dispute.

Religious leadership discussion draws criticism of Lyons

(RNS) At a discussion Tuesday (March 10) on the ethical and spiritual aspects of leadership, the moral and legal problems of the Rev. Henry J. Lyons were pointed to as an example of difficulties faced in the black church.

Lyons, the president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, was charged Feb. 25 by Florida authorities with racketeering and grand theft.

Without naming Lyons, the Rev. H. Beecher Hicks, minister of Metropolitan Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., referred to”the presidency of the largest among African-American Baptist denominations”as he told a symposium at Howard University in Washington of the need for greater morality and integrity in the church.”We cannot expect to have power in the black pulpit when allegations about professional malfeasance, personal wrongdoing are cavalierly dismissed, even as we say we are preaching a Christian gospel,”he said.”We give the unmistakable appearance that we have violated the trust inherent in leadership.” Hicks, whose church is aligned with the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. and the Progressive National Baptist Convention, spoke of the unwillingness of ministers to deal forthrightly with ethical issues.”The regrettable impression is left that the African-American community in general and the African-American church in particular accepts or condones unethical activity on the part of its leaders,”he said.

Hicks went on to discuss other challenges in the black church, including his perception that some male ministers need to adjust to the increasing presence of women in ministry.”In this arena, change is not on the horizon,”he said.”It has overtaken the landscape. … There can be little doubt that leadership in the African-American church must change and that change must include women.” The Rev. Floyd Flake, a former congressman who is pastor of Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church in the New York City borough of Queens, urged religious leaders to be more involved in trying to change poor conditions in their schools and communities.”Leadership’s role, and particularly those who are religious leaders, is to try to bring about change that improves the quality of the life of the people whom God has entrusted to us,”Flake said.

He said the current conditions of schools, families, communities and churches are in part the result of a”lack of faith-based leadership.””Divinely inspired leadership makes the difference,”he said.”It becomes clear to me that God is calling us to a new faith commitment … to bring about necessary change.” Flake’s church, with 10,000 members and an annual operating budget of close to $24 million, is involved in major commercial and residential development projects and social service and commercial efforts.

The discussion on”The Spiritual and Ethical Dimensions of Leadership,”which also included Catholic, Jewish and Muslim clergy, was part of Religious Emphasis Week at the predominantly black Howard.

Catholics, Protestants condemn church burning in Ecuador

(RNS) Roman Catholic and Protestant leaders in Ecuador have joined in condemning an attack on the only Protestant church in El Quinche, a small town outside the capital of Quito.

On March 2, an angry mob of nearly 1,000 _ and said to have been led by two priests and a nun _ burned to the ground the Church of the Good Shepherd, reported Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency. The church opened five years ago and was planning to build a bigger facility to house its growing congregation, which angered some Catholics.

There were no casualties in the incident, although 14 people were in the church when the fire began, said Marco Cruz, pastor of the church. Damage is estimated at $40,000.”We do not want this act of violence to be repeated,”Bishop Antonio Arregui, secretary general of the Ecuadorean Catholic Bishops’ Conference, told a news conference.”Both Catholics and evangelicals should work toward reconciliation.” About 90 percent of Ecuadoreans are Roman Catholic, and El Quinche is famous throughout the nation for its devotion to the Virgin Mary.

Some witnesses said the arson attack was instigated by two local priests, including the Rev. Jose Conde, the head of the parish. Also, some Protestants claim they saw a nun rip pages from the church’s Bible and toss them into the flames, ENI reported.

However, Bishop Arregui defended Conde.”I know Conde,”said Arregui.”I can’t imagine him at the head of a dangerous crowd.”But, the bishop added, an investigation is underway and if the priest is implicated in the arson, appropriate action would be taken against him.

According to the joint condemnation issued by the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Confraternity of Ecuador, the parish of El Quinche will reimburse the church for the damage, and no legal action is expected to come from the incident.”We must give an example of unity and resolve these problems peacefully,”said Pastor Eduardo Lopez, president of the Evangelical Confraternity of Ecuador.

Vatican affirms ban on women deacons

(RNS) The Vatican set the stage Tuesday (March 10) for renewed tension with Catholic women, reaffirming that only men may serve as deacons, the ministerial step below the priesthood.”Christ was a man,”said Cardinal Pio Laghi, so”it seems to me that this is the fundamental and theological reason”for the exclusion.

Women have been barred from the all-male diaconate for nearly 1,000 years. But they served as deacons from the 5th century until the 11th century, performing liturgical services and baptisms.

Pope John Paul II has reaffirmed the 1976 Vatican declaration against ordaining women priests. He has argued that only men can serve priestly functions because Jesus’ apostles were all men.

But no such argument can be made of the diaconate, and the modern church has not formally and permanently barred women as deacons. Many church authorities speculate that church leaders are deeply split over the issue. In fact, most theologians agree that there is nothing in Scripture that would prohibit women from serving as deacons.

Catholic women throughout Europe and the United States have abandoned the church, saying they feel alienated. Some have joined other denominations, like Anglican and Protestant churches, where women have the same rights as men to be ordained to the priesthood.

Laghi, who heads the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education, reaffirmed the ban on women deacons in response to a question at a news conference to unveil broad guidelines for the diaconate.

His comments were echoed by Cardinal Dario Castrillion Hoyos, who said”the church has interpreted the words of Jesus this way and today the church sees no reason to change that position. Modern cultural changes do not push us to change such a holy tradition in the church.”

Nigerian Roman Catholic bishops urge release of political prisoners

(RNS) Nigeria’s Roman Catholic bishops called on the government Monday (March 9) to release all political detainees in the country as a gesture of national reconciliation.

The call comes as Pope John Paul II prepares to make a March 21-23 visit to the country to beatify Father Cyprien Iwene Tansi, a local monk who died in 1964.”The bishops said that true reconciliation could only be achieved through dialogue between two opposing parities with a capacity to listen to one another,”Reuters quoted the News Agency of Nigeria as saying.

Religious groups in Nigeria have been at odds with the military government of Gen. Sani Abachi over human rights violations allegedly committed by the government. John Paul is scheduled to meet with Abachi during his visit.

The government’s continued detention of political prisoners, including Moshood Abiola, widely regarded as having won Nigeria’s last election in 1993, has also resulted in the imposition of limited sanctions on the country by Western nations.

Quote of the day: former Senator George McGovern

(RNS)”In all this speculation and uncertainty over the president’s sex life, I have come to one conclusion: Even if Bill Clinton has yielded to an occasional attack of lust and is too embarrassed to tell us all about it, those sins have done far less damage to the American public than and our democracy than is being done by a federal prosecutor rampaging across the land year after year like some Javert in search of Valjean.” Former Senator and 1972 Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern, writing in Monday’s Los Angeles Times and invoking Victor Hugo’s”Les Miserables”to describe Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr’s investigation of President Clinton.

DEA END RNS