c. 1999 Religion News Service

Baptist leader opts not to testify in Florida trial

(RNS) The Rev. Henry Lyons, embattled leader of the National Baptist Convention, USA, decided Thursday (Feb. 18) not to testify at his Florida trial on state charges that he and an alleged mistress swindled millions of dollars.

His lawyers said Lyons’ decision was based in part on the fact that he also faces a federal trial in April on charges of fraud, money laundering and extortion.”This has been a very tough decision,”said defense attorney Grady Irvin.”Dr. Lyons has always wanted to have his story told.” Lyons’ lawyers rested their case Thursday and attorneys for co-defendant Bernice Edwards started calling witnesses in the racketeering case, the Associated Press reported.

A witness who appeared on Lyons’ behalf said the St. Petersburg, Fla., minister was a sloppy bookkeeper who often moved money around his denomination’s dozen or more accounts to pay bills.”Whatever had to be paid at that moment is paid,”testified John Magliano, a forensic accountant.”That’s basically what happened through these accounts. … Money moves between all these accounts.” Magliano demonstrated the movement of money with a cardboard display with various envelopes representing the denomination’s bank accounts. He moved pretend checks among them to demonstrate how bills were paid.

Prosecutor Bob Lewis made a point of shuffling through the envelopes before he started his cross-examination of Magliano.”I don’t see any checks that went to jewelers or for the Tierre Verde house … or the ones that went in his pocket,”Lewis said.

Magliano responded:”There’s other money. I’m not saying there’s no other money … The personal stuff, we all know about.” Lyons and Edwards are charged with swindling more than $4 million from donors and from corporations that sought to market products to members of the prominent African-American denomination.

Prosecutors say they used the money to finance lavish personal lifestyles, including a $700,000 waterfront home in St. Petersburg’s pricey Tierre Verde section, luxury cars and expensive jewelry.

Earlier in the trial, convention ministers testified that Lyons did not abuse church funds in his role as president.

Fifteen terminally ill have died under Oregon suicide law

(RNS) Fifteen terminally ill people in Oregon died in 1998 as a result of using the nation’s only assisted-suicide law in the first year since it took effect, a study has found.

State health officials said those who used the law were most often patients who had a strong desire to control how they died.”Many physicians reported that their patients had been decisive and independent throughout their lives or that the decision to request a lethal prescription was consistent with a long-standing belief about the importance of controlling the manner in which they died,”the report says.

The first report on the Death with Dignity Act by the state Health Division states that 23 people received prescriptions for lethal drugs in 1998. Six died from their illnesses before using the drugs and two were still alive as of Jan. 1.

Of the 15 who died, 13 had cancer and two suffered from heart or lung disease. The average age of those 15 people _ eight men and seven women _ was 69.

The health officials found that most who took the drugs were unconscious within five minutes and the average time before death was 26 minutes. The longest time a patient waited to die was 11.5 hours.

Dr. Peter Rasmussen, a Salem, Ore., cancer specialist who has assisted in two suicides, said the patients died after eating chocolate pudding mixed with barbiturates, the Associated Press reported.”It was a very positive thing to have people gather around and say their final goodbyes and to reminisce about their family stories,”Rasmussen said.

Archbishop John Vlazny of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., denounced the assisted suicides, calling them immoral.”Every time a physician writes a prescription for lethal medication, we are confronted again with our failure to offer compassionate care,”he said.”In allowing assisted suicide to continue, the state of Oregon dismisses the value of human life.” Barbara Coombs Lee, the chief sponsor of the ballot measure that established the law, said the report showed the law is working the way it should.”It’s what we expected _ a year of impeccable implementation,”she said.

Critics of the law, including Dr. Herbert Hendin, author of”Seduced by Death: Doctors, Patients and Assisted Suicide,”questioned whether the report was thorough enough.”Under the law, the only information the (Oregon Health Division) is required to collect comes from the physician assisting the suicide, and even then, there is no enforcement mechanism should the physician not comply with reporting rules or simply not report the suicide at all,”said Hendin, a New York Medical College professor.

Members of Congress oppose funding of stem-cell research

(RNS) Seventy members of Congress are urging a halt to expected federal funding of controversial human stem-cell research.

In a letter to Donna E. Shalala, secretary of Health and Human Services, the members wrote that”the funding of such research would violate both the letter and spirit of the federal law banning federal support for research in which human embryos are harmed or destroyed,”The Washington Times reported.

The letter went on to say:”It would be a travesty … to unravel this accepted ethical standard.” Stem cells are newly isolated human cells that can grow into bodily organs. Supporters say research using the cells could lead to cures for such ailments as Alzheimer’s, cancer, Parkinson’s and heart disease. But the cells are derived from sources such as aborted fetuses and frozen embryos, leading opponents to conclude the research would violate the federal ban against government support for research in which human embryos are destroyed.

The National Institutes of Health is poised to fund stem-cell research after NIH director Harold Varmus announced a legal finding in January that federal embryo-research restrictions do not apply to stem-cell work because the cells”are not human embryos.”Based on that decision, he said NIH funding would begin after an oversight procedure is developed.

The letter was drafted by the House caucus of abortion opponents, whose leaders are Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) and James A. Barcia (D-Mich.), The New York Times reported. Signers included House Republican leaders _ Majority Leader Dick Armey, Majority Whip Tom DeLay, and Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Henry J. Hyde _ as well as eight Democrats.

In a related matter, the American Bioethics Advisory Commission has asked Dr. Harold T. Shapiro, chairman of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, to consider the”innate dignity and unique nature of all beings”as it searches for moral and ethical approaches to medical technology and the cure of diseases. A letter to Shapiro addressed stem-cell research, human embryos and in vitro fertilization.”As a commission of doctors in varying fields, lawyers, philosophers and theologians, the ABAC is concerned with the moral and ethical treatment of all human beings _ even at the embryonic level,”said the Rev. Joseph Howard, executive director of the ABAC, which is based in Stafford, Va.

Priest accused of killing Guatemalan bishop freed

(RNS) Citing a lack of evidence, a Guatemalan judge Wednesday (Feb. 17) ordered the release of a Roman Catholic priest held for the murder of a prominent bishop.

The Rev. Mario Orantes, suffering from chronic migraines and ulcer ailments, received the release order in his hospital room, Reuters reported.”The judge has demonstrated that justice exists in Guatemala,”said Orantes, who has been at the center of controversy since Bishop Juan Jose Gerardi, a prominent human rights activist, was found bludgeoned to death last April.

The bishop’s murder rocked Guatemala, where many had hoped the country had left behind decades of political violence. Just two days before his death, Gerardi had released a landmark study blaming the Guatemalan army for most of the human rights atrocities committed during the country’s long civil war.

Supporters of the bishop have long believed the government was behind the killings. They maintain Gerardi’s murder was retribution for publishing the study.

Guatemalan authorities have said the incident was a crime of passion, and have rejected suggestions of political motivation. Police have said the priest ordered his 11-year-old German shepherd, Baloo, to attack the bishop, who was then finished off with a blunt instrument.

The Guatemalan judge who ordered Orantes freed said the ailing priest remained a suspect. Meanwhile, the public prosecuter vowed he would continue the investigation into the bishop’s death.

Pope accepts invitation to visit predominantly Orthodox Romania

(RNS) Pope John Paul II has accepted an invitation to visit Romania and could make the trip, his first to a predominantly Orthodox country, as early as this spring.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls confirmed that the Roman Catholic leader was officially invited to Romania by Patriarch Teoctist of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Vatican sources said the pope probably will make the visit May 7-9.

John Paul already has scheduled a visit to his native Poland in June, and Navarro-Valls said Monday (Feb. 15) that he will return to Slovenia Sept. 19, to beatify Anton Martin Slomsek, a 19th century bishop and strong defender of Slovak national identity.

The invitation to Romania and its acceptance appears to signal a marked improvement in Catholic-Orthodox relations in the former Soviet bloc and could help to pave the way for the trip that John Paul has long hoped to make to Russia.

Relations between the churches have been strained since the collapse of communism in the East.

The Orthodox churches have accused Catholics of proselytizing, and Catholics have charged that the Orthodox churches have claimed property that should have reverted to Catholics with the restoration of religious liberty.

A joint committee set up last year to resolve the status of some 2,000 churches in Romania reportedly has made progress toward settling the dispute.

The Orthodox church claims 80 percent of Romanians as members, while the Vatican says some 250,000 belong to Eastern rite Romanian Catholic churches with ties to the Vatican.

In an interview on Romanian Radio, Romanian Ambassador to the Vatican Theodor Baconsky said a papal visit would be of”European if not world significance”and”particularly important for bringing Orthodox and Catholics closer together.” Baconsky said the pope probably would meet with the patriarch and Romanian President Emil Costantinescu, and take part in an ecumenical and a Catholic liturgy during his visit.

Taiwan foreign minister visiting Vatican at difficult moment

(RNS) Foreign Minister Jason Hu of Taiwan began a series of private meetings Thursday (Feb. 18) with Vatican officials, who have indicated the Holy See is prepared to transfer diplomatic relations to Beijing.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls reported that Hu would see Archbishop Jean Louis Tauran, who acts as the Vatican’s foreign minister, late Thursday and meet with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, Saturday.

Sodano told reporters Feb. 11 that the Vatican would like to transfer its nunciature, or embassy, from Taipei to Beijing if the climate for religious liberty improved. He made the disclosure at a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the concordat governing the Vatican’s relations with Italy.

Sodano said he asked Italy to join the Vatican in pressing China for greater freedom of worship.

The disclosure came as a surprise because the Roman Catholic Church is forced to operate underground in China, where the government in 1957 established an Association of Patriotic Chinese Catholics to oppose Vatican authority.

Until Taiwan recently established relations with Macedonia, the Vatican was the only state in Europe to maintain diplomatic relations with the Republic of China, rather than mainland China.

Neither Taiwan nor Beijing immediately commented on Sodano’s remark.

The Vatican spokesman said it was Hu who had requested talks at the Vatican.”On the occasion of a visit to Europe, he wanted to include a stop in the Vatican in the picture of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Republic of China,”Navarro-Valls said.

In Taiwan, however, officials said Tauran had issued an invitation to Hu to visit the Vatican when he became foreign minister last October.

Turner apologizes for insulting pope

(RNS) Ted Turner has apologized for insulting Pope John Paul II by telling a Polish joke and for saying the ban on adultery should be deleted from the Ten Commandments.

A statement from the CNN founder sent to the Catholic League said he”regrets any offense (the) comments may have caused.”Turner also offered his”heartfelt apologies.” While addressing the National Family Planning and Reproductive Center in Washington Tuesday (Feb. 16), Turner was asked if he had ever met the pope. He responded by saying,”Ever seen a Polish mine detector?”He then showed the audience his foot, the Associated Press reported.

Turner also said John Paul”should get with it”and that the ban on adultery should be dropped from the Ten Commandments. His remarks reportedly met with applause from his audience.”We certainly accept his apology and this brings closure to the incident,”said William Donahue, president of the New York-based Catholic League.

Turner is a strong supporter of population control measures, an issue that that often puts him in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church, which opposes birth control and abortion.

Irish Jesuits offer Internet prayer site

(RNS) Irish Jesuits have added a Lenten prayer address to the Web site they launched last autumn in conjunction with their order’s British province.

The site is called”Sacred Space,”and it invites those visiting it”in each day of Lent, to make a `sacred space’ in your day, by praying here and now, as you sit at your computer”.

A Jesuit spokesman admitted it might seem”strange”to pray at one’s computer. But, he said, God is everywhere.

And the first of the six stages through which they guide the computer user is placing oneself in the presence of God. The six stages also include a short Scripture passage _ for Ash Wednesday (Feb. 17) it was Matthew 4:1-4, where Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

The program is designed to take about 10 minutes.

Interest in the prayer-guide has been expressed from all over the English-speaking world and beyond, the Jesuit spokesman said.

The site can be found at http://www.jesuit.ie/prayer.

Quote of the day: writer Phil Catalfo

(RNS)”At some point I started seeing him not just as my son, but as a soul with its own destiny. My role as his father became escorting him out of this life.” _ Phil Catalfo, senior editor of Yoga Journal magazine, discussing the recent death of his teen-age son, Gabe, who died of leukemia. The comment was carried in the magazine’s March/April 1999 issue.

IR END RNS