c. 1998 Religion News Service
Vatican, PLO to negotiate status of holy sites, churches
(RNS) The Vatican and the Palestine Liberation Organization have agreed to form a committee to deal with the status of Roman Catholic holy sites and churches in Palestinian-controlled territories.
The panel is expected to look into the”status, rights, obligations and privileges of the Catholic church”in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said Afif Safieh, the PLO’s Vatican representative, the Associated Press reported Wednesday (Jan. 14).
Safieh, who reached the agreement with Vatican Foreign Minister Jean-Louis Tauran, also said the negotiations will include talks on Roman Catholic properties in disputed east Jerusalem, where the Palestinians hope to establish a future capital. East Jerusalem has been under Israeli control since its annexation in 1967 after the Six Day War.
The Holy See does not recognize Israel’s annexation of east Jerusalem although in November it reached an agreement with the Jewish state to place Catholic Church properties in the area under Israeli jurisdiction, raising concern among the Palestinians.
But in a December letter to Palestinian leaders, the Holy See said that although it recognizes Israel control over east Jerusalem it does not recognize its sovereignty over the area and called the situation one of”manifest international illegality.” Responding to the Vatican-Israel agreement, Safieh said, the Holy See simply”wanted to guarantee the church’s rights during the era of Israeli control.”
New European church commission formed to help monitor policies
(RNS) The first meetings of a newly formed European church commission to help monitor policies and developments of government institutions such as the European Union and the Council of Europe were held Jan. 9-10 in Strasbourg, France.
The new Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), brings together church delegates from throughout the continent and was formed as part of a process to integrate the efforts of the CEC, based in Geneva, Switzerland, and the European Ecumenical Commission on Church and Society (EECCS), with offices in Strasbourg and Brussels, reported Ecumenical News International, the religious news agency based in Geneva.
One of the major tasks facing the new Church and Society Commission, which has 12 members from the CEC and 12 from the EECCS, is to increase the ties between central and eastern European churches and those in the west.
The commission also intends to examine church-state issues in Europe; to build on work already underway by the CEC and EECCS on issues such as peace, justice and the environment; and to monitor European governmental institutions on issues such as democratization, human rights, rights of minorities and European security.
Ad tied to papal visit urges easing of boycott against Cuba
(RNS) More than 50 religious, human rights and development groups are sponsoring a newspaper ad urging relaxation of the U.S. economic boycott of Cuba. The ad is set to appear in The New York Times and The Washington Post Wednesday (Jan. 21), the day Pope John Paul II is scheduled to arrive in Cuba for a five-day visit.
The ad calls the embargo”morally unacceptable”because it limits the amount of food and medicine entering Cuba from the United States and urges Washington to”re-evaluate its polices toward Cuba.” It also calls for”a healing and dialogue”between”the people of Cuba and the people of the United States”to help end the”years of suspicion and hostility between our governments (that) have deformed the relationship between our countries.” The ad specifically asks for the resumption of direct air travel between the United States and Cuba to ease family reunification and the lifiting of restrictions on”the sale of food, medicines and medical supplies to Cuba.” These”simple steps,”says the ad,”would have a real impact on the lives of thousands of Cubans, and would heal the rift between our people.” Among the religious signers of the ad are the National Council of Churches, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the American Baptist Church, the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas (Catholic), the American Friends Service Committee (Quaker), Friends United Meeting (Quaker), NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, the United Church of Christ, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of Men’s Institutes.
The ad was coordinated by the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights advocacy group.
Dispute at England’s Lincoln Cathedral resolved
(RNS) An acrimonious personality clash that has poisoned relationships among the clergy and disrupted the operations of Lincoln Cathedral since 1989 has been resolved with the appointment of a new dean, according to Church of England officials.
The Rev. Alexander Knight, the archdeacon of Basingstoke, was named the new dean of the cathedral, and his predecessor, the Rev. Brandon Jackson, has voluntarily resigned.
Jackson was appointed dean in 1989 to cope with the aftermath of a disastrous cathedral fund-raising effort in 1987 led by the cathedral’s sub-dean, Canon Rex Davis.
Davis, who comes from Australia, had organized a tour of Australia with the cathedral’s copy of the Magna Carta _ the 1215 treaty between King John and his barons regarded as the foundation of England’s constitutional liberties _ that lost some $90,000.
An earlier fund-raising tour of the United States with the document had been a great success.
Jackson’s criticism of the Davis fund raising spiraled into a bitter feud, dividing the clerics who work at the cathedral and spilling over into other charges and counter-charges, including allegations of fraud involving the Australian trip and charges of adultery hurled at Jackson.
Given church rules, neither the dean nor sub-dean could be forced to resign before reaching retirement age and efforts by Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey to mediate the dispute proved fruitless.
But with Jackson’s voluntary resignation, church officials had an opening to resolved the dispute.
Davis, currently in Australia attending a family funeral, has voiced support for Knight, the new dean.”Like everyone else in the church, I am aware of the past, but I have come to look to the future,”Knight told a news conference Tuesday (Jan. 13).”I cannot comment on the last eight years because I have not been here, but in a sense I intend to draw a line under the past.”
Quotes of the day: Kate Michelman and Olivia Gans
(RNS) Two views on the state of legal abortion on the 25th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade.
“We’re not losing the war, but the other side’s gaining ground. But this right will survive because the alternative is unthinkable.” _ Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion Rights Action League.
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“The reality is that Americans are deeply troubled by the state of abortion in America and the laws we’re seeing passed are reflective of areas that Americans would like to see addressed in this issue.” _ Olivia Gans, spokeswoman for the National Right to Life Committee.
END RNS
