c. 1999 Religion News Service
Methodist to appeal suspension for same-sex union
(RNS) The Rev. Gregory Dell will appeal the ruling of a church court which suspended him indefinitely, effective July 5, for officiating at a union ceremony for two homosexual men at the Broadway United Methodist Church in Chicago.”We think the trial court did not apply the evidentiary standard of clear and convincing evidence in relation to the verdict,”Dell’s attorney, the Rev. Larry Pickens, told the United Methodist News Service.
In March church trial, Dell was found guilty of disobedience to the order and discipline of the denomination for violating the church’s ban on performing same-sex ceremonies.
Dell has never denied his role in the ceremony. But Pickens said the denomination has not adequately defined disobedience, the basis for his”conviction.”He cited an earlier statement made by the church court indicating its difficulty in arriving at a definition of disobedience.
Pickens said Dell’s sentence also was improper.”The penalty itself is unconstitutional in that it’s an indefinite penalty designed to extract a pledge based on a future action,” Pickens said.
Dell’s sentence included a provision that would allow him to avoid indefinite suspension if he agreed to sign a pledge to never again perform such a ceremony.
Pickens said he had requested an appeal hearing in late July or mid-August and would urge”time already served”be adequate penalty if a new sentence was administered. A date has yet to be determined.
After his July 5 suspension, Dell will become director of In All Things Charity, a network of clergy members and others who support the full inclusion of gays in the life of the church.
The rights of gays, lesbians and bisexuals are currently the subject of heated debate within the United Methodist denomination. In August, one of its top governing bodies declared that a church ban on same-sex unions had the effect of church law. But Dell _ who has performed such unions for 17 years _ refused to cancel the already planned union at his 185-member congregation where nearly one-third identify themselves as gay.
American Muslims protest Turkish action on head scarf
(RNS) Some two dozen Muslim women wearing head scarves demonstrated outside the Turkish embassy in Washington on Monday (May 17) to protest that nation’s denying a Turkish woman her seat in parliament because she wore a head scarf to her swearing-in ceremony.
In addition to being denied the parliament seat she recently won, Merve Kavakci of the Islamic Virtue Party has also been stripped of her Turkish citizenship for violating Turkey’s dual citizenship law by accepting American citizenship without first receiving permission from her homeland.
Kavakci, 30, accepted American citizenship March 5, after she announced as a candidate for the parliament but prior to the election. Her family lives in Texas, where she earned a degree in computer science from the University of Texas.
The Washington demonstration ended with an attempt to present a letter of protest to embassy officials. However, no one inside the embassy responded to knocks on the door by a demonstration representative, and the letter was left in an envelope.
Embassy officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Most religious Muslim women wear a head scarf _ known as a hijab _ as a sign of modesty, arguing that their faith requires them to do so. However, Turkey’s secular government views the hijab as a political statement by Islamic groups seeking power in Turkey. Turkish law prohibits the wearing of Islamic head scarves in all government buildings.
Shouting slogans such as”hijab covers your head, not your brain,”the demonstrators charged Turkey with violating international human rights norms concerning religious freedom. They also said that being a religious Muslim is not inconsistent with democratic government.
Catholic retirement fund gets $30.5 million boost
(RNS) Donations to support the growing number of elderly nuns and priests in U.S. Roman Catholic religious orders hit a record $30.5 million in 1998, the U.S. Catholic Conference has announced.”Generous donations have made a strong statement that U.S. Catholics never will forget all that these elderly religious do for them now and did for many years before. No other church collection has been supported as consistently and generously as this one,”said Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Contributions to the collection come primarily through a special collection taken annually by parishes across the United States during the second week in Advent.
The latest collection exceeds previous appeals by more than $1 million and will allow the church’s Retirement Fund for Religious to distribute $27 million in basic grants to more than 500 religious institutions, with a membership of 42,117 retired members. Orders with special needs will also receive additional grants totaling $3 million later this year.
As a result of successful fundraising _ to date, more than $286 million _ the accounting firm of Arthur Anderson recently reported that the religious orders’ unfunded liability decreased for the first time since its founding in 1988. That progress is modest, however, when considered in relation to the $7 million in unfunded retirement liability the accounting firm reported in 1997.
Traditionally, young people taking religious vows have replenished the orders and provided for the elderly. But the last several decades have seen dramatic declines in the numbers of young people entering religious life, leaving a growing number of aging men and women who are not provided for.
Australian aid workers seized in Yugoslavia charged with spying
(RNS) Two Australian aid workers, detained in Yugoslavia since March 31 _ a week after the NATO bombing campaign began _ have been formally charged with spying.
The relief workers, Steve Pratt and Peter Wallace, were working for CARE Australia when they were detained on the Yugoslavia-Australia border.”The government is extremely disappointed by Yugoslavia’s decision to indict Steve Pratt and Peter Wallace on charges of allegedly spying,”Australian Foreign Minister Peter Downer said Friday (May 14).”There is no justification for the case against them.” Pratt has been charged with organizing an intelligence service, while Wallace and four unidentified others were charged with supporting an intelligence operation, Reuters reported from Canberra.
CARE said it was shocked and dismayed at Yugoslavia’s decision to pursue the charges, which CARE said are totally unfounded. CARE said it feared the charges would threaten further deliveries of aid to Kosovo refugees.”Humanitarian aid can only be delivered in an environment where the safety of aid workers is guaranteed and protected,”said Charles Tapp, CARE Australia’s top executive, in a statement issued in London.”If aid organizations cannot guarantee the safety of their own staff, it is difficult to see how they can continue to operate,”he said.
Pope invited to visit Macao as territory prepares for handover to China
(RNS) The governor of Macao met with Pope John Paul II today and officially invited the Roman Catholic pontiff to visit the Portuguese-administered territory, which later this year will revert to China.
John Paul, who plans to make a trip to Asia later this year, received Gen. Vasco Joaquim Rocha Vieira in a private audience. Rocha Vieira was accompanied to the Vatican by his wife and aides.
The archbishop of Macao, Domingos Lam Ka Tseung, issued a similar official invitation to the pope in December.
Vatican protocol requires invitations from both church and state for a papal visit, and Vatican officials said that Macao’s scheduled reversion to China on Dec. 19 could be an obstacle because of strained relations between church and state in China. The pope plans to travel to Asia before the end of the year for ceremonies formally closing the synod of Asian bishops held at the Vatican last November as part of the church’s preparation for the opening of the third millennium of Christianity in the year 2000. The Vatican has not announced a date or itinerary. Countries John Paul may visit include India, the Philippines and possibly Vietnam and Hong Kong, although Hong Kong reverted to China in 1997. Macao is located across the Pearl River estuary from Hong Kong. Jesuit missionaries introduced Christianity to Macao in the 16th century and used the territory as a base for their operations in Japan and China. According to Vatican records, Macao has 20,000 Roman Catholics in a total population of 420,000. The Vatican’s relations with China have been strained since 1957 when the communist leadership established a Patriotic Association of Chinese Catholics, which is independent of the pope and church hierarchy. The pope has continued to name bishops, however, for the growing underground church loyal to the Vatican. New grand mufti appointed in Saudi Arabia (RNS) Saudi King Fahd has appointed Sheik Abdul-Aziz Bin Abdullah as the new grand mufti and head of the council of senior Islamic scholars. Bin Abdullah formerly held the position of deputy grand mufti, according to the Middle East News Agency. The appointment follows the death on Thursday (May 13) of Sheik Abdul-Aziz bin Baz. Sheik bin Baz, who held the post of grand mufti for some 30 years, was a highly influential scholar whose pronouncements on Islamic doctrine shaped the official point of view in Saudi Arabia. His rulings ranged from sanctioning the use of Viagra for men to banning short veils for women, the Associated Press reported Monday (May 17). Quote of the day: Bible translator Ronald Youngblood (RNS)”This means that not even one comma of the 1984 text will be changed.” Ronald Youngblood, chair of the International Bible Society board’s translation committee, discussing the board’s reaffirmation of its commitment to publishing the 1984 New International Version of the Bible without any changes. In 1997, the IBS scrapped plans for a”gender-accurate”edition after receiving pressure from U.S. evangelical Christians. DEA END RNS
