c. 1999 Religion News Service

Vatican delegation to Hanoi will discuss diplomatic ties

(RNS) In a surprise move, the Vatican and the government of Vietnam have agreed to discuss the possibility of establishing diplomatic relations, the Vatican said Thursday (March 4).

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls confirmed a report by Radio Singapore that the spokesman of the Vietnamese Foreign Minister, Phan Thuy Thanh, had announced the Vatican and the Vietnamese government will broach the question of diplomatic relations at a meeting in Hanoi later this month.

Diplomatic relations between Hanoi and the Holy See remain one of the obstacles to a papal trip to Vietnam.

The move came as a surprise because Hanoi does not recognize the authority of the Vatican over the Vietnamese Catholic Church. Although Catholics are now freer than in the past to practice their faith, authorities still keep their activities under surveillance and there have been sporadic reports of harassment of Catholics.”Within the framework of periodic contacts between the Holy See and the Vietnamese authorities, a delegation from the Holy See, led by Monsignor Celestino Migliore, undersecretary for Relations with the States, will be present in Hanoi in the coming days,”Navarro-Valls said.”The themes on the agenda of the meeting with the governing authorities will include the study of possible diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Vietnam,”he said.

Vatican sources said the delegation will visit Vietnam March 15-19.

Navarro-Valls said the talks also could open the way for a papal visit to predominantly Buddhist Vietnam. There are 8 million Catholics in a total population of 78 million Vietnamese, according to Vatican records.”We have been waiting for this news for a long time,”the Vatican’s missionary news agency Fides quoted Cardinal Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung of Hanoi as saying.”All the Vietnamese people hope for the birth of these relations, also because this would facilitate the pope’s coming to Vietnam.” The cardinal said he made an official request to the Vietnamese government last November to invite the pope to visit in August for the concluding celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary at the La Vang Sanctuary.”So far, no answer has arrived,”he said.”We are waiting and praying for this.” Bishop Etienne Nguyen Nhu of Hue reported after a Nov. 6 audience with the pope that John Paul had expressed his readiness to visit Vietnam”whenever that is possible.” But Fides quoted another Vietnamese bishop, who asked not to be identified, as saying the road to diplomatic relations”will be long and not easy.””The control of the church is still too strong,”the bishop said. Seminaries, ordinations, nominations of bishops, social communication media and the work of Catholic Action groups are all controlled by the government.” Bernardo Cervellera, director of Fides, said the Vatican too wants to avoid raising hopes of an early agreement.

The Vatican delegation that visits Hanoi every year for talks has been ready for several years to talk about establishing diplomatic relations, Cervellera said.”In the past,”he said,”it has been the Vietnamese government itself that has put this theme on the margins of the dialogues.” Relief groups urge more aid for Mitch victims

(RNS) On the eve of President Clinton’s tour of hurricane-ravaged Central America, officials involved in the rebuilding effort there called Thursday (March 4) for additional government aid and debt relief.

From Catholic Relief Services to CARE, officials in Washington said that to simply rebuild a poverty and debt-ridden society would be shortsighted.

Instead, experts proposed sweeping initiatives involving housing, gender equality initiatives and cancellation of all debt owed to the U.S. government by Honduras and Nicaragua.

Without such reforms,”I don’t know how that would give people much hope,”said Chris Tucker, Latin America director for Catholic Relief Services.

From unchecked logging to inadequate housing, prior man-made conditions are part of what turned a natural disaster into a catastrophe, the officials said at a news conference.

Although Thursday’s statement called for the use of government funds and resources to go beyond mere rebuilding, that stance has already been adopted by private groups like Caritas, the international relief arm of the Roman Catholic Church. Caritas, which in the United States includes Catholic Relief Services, has pledged $500 million over five years to the region.

Representatives of relief groups at the news conference commended U.S. government efforts to aid Mitch’s victims, including the administration’s proposed $1 billion aid package currently being blocked by Republicans in Congress. But more needs to be done, they said. By some estimates, rebuilding could cost $8-$10 billion.

Britain’s Anglican, Catholic archbishops in joint plea for Sudan

(RNS) Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and Cardinal Basil Hume, Archbishop of Westminster, have sent an unusual joint letter to Foreign Secretary Robin Cook asking his support for action by the United Nations to end the civil war in Sudan.

Their plea was made in response to a letter to Cook from the bishops of the Anglican Church of Sudan, sent from their recent meeting in Nairobi. Conditions in Sudan itself are such that the bishops have to meet outside their country.

In their letter, the Sudanese bishops asked Cook to use his influence with the United Nations to promote”speedy and serious negotiations”toward peace.

The two English archbishops reminded Cook of the”deep concern”felt by Anglicans and Roman Catholics around the world about the continuing civil war and the”horrendous suffering”of the people of Sudan.”The war in Sudan has decimated the country,”they wrote.”It has created a huge refugee problem, not only for the immediate neighbors of Sudan, but throughout Africa and the Middle East, and indeed in many parts of Europe as well. To date there appears to have been no noticeable progress in peace negotiations, either internally or externally through the IGAD (Inter-Governmental Authority on Development) process.”And to most neutral observers there appears to be a singular lack of political will to become involved, both within the U.N. and in individual countries which could make a significant contribution to the peace process,”they said.

They said Catholics and Anglicans in England were united in their hope that the U.N. would urgently consider the crisis in Sudan and take action which would bring”serious pressure to bear on all the parties to the conflict to bring the war to an end and to build a lasting and just peace.” Lawsuits dismissed, archdiocese will not pay for therapy for abuse victims

(RNS) The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will not pay for more therapy for ex-altar boys allegedly abused by a priest now that the victims’ lawsuits have been dismissed by four courts.

The failed suits were brought against the archdiocese and the Rev. Ted Llanos, alleging the priest molested at least 26 boys since 1973. The archdiocese removed Llanos from ministry and paid for therapy for victims but stopped when they filed the lawsuit against the archdiocese. Llanos committed suicide in 1997.

The Rev. Gregory Coiro, archdiocesan spokesman, told RNS that Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony personally met with abuse victims when the allegations surfaced in 1994. Paying for their therapy, Coiro said,”was a pastoral response that the archdiocese undertook, not out of obligation but out of compassion. And this was met with lawsuits, lawsuits that were very acrimonious and quite costly.” In February, California’s state Supreme Court rejected a consolidated civil case brought by nine victims. The court said the statute of limitations had expired _ the same reason cited for previous dismissals of cases against Llanos in municipal, superior and appellate courts.

Regarding the victims’ latest request for Mahony to apologize, Coiro said,”It’s a misplaced call. The cardinal and the archdiocese didn’t do anything wrong. There is a personal responsibility that belongs to the priest himself, so that no one can say just because he’s a priest it’s the church’s responsibility or the church’s fault.” Update: Firm says Muslim women may wear head scarves while on the job

(RNS) A security firm that is the subject of a federal discrimination complaint for allegedly firing five Muslim women workers at Dulles International Airport near Washington because they insisted on wearing Islamic head scarves says it’s all a misunderstanding and the women may return to work immediately.

However, an attorney for the women said Thursday (March 4) that although he has been contacted by Atlanta-based Argenbright Security Inc., the case has not been settled.

Attorney Martin F. McMahon said the women also want Argenbright to address the issue of lost pay, legal fees and compensation for”their anguish.” McMahon said the case is scheduled to be heard Monday (March 8) by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which will consider whether a violation of federal civil rights law has occurred.

In a statement, Argenbright said the women had not been”terminated or disciplined in any way for their religious beliefs.”The company also said”any female Muslim employee may wear a hejab (head scarf) while on duty.” Meanwhile, a federal appeals court has ruled that two Muslim police officers in Newark, N.J., had the right to wear beards for religious reasons. The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said Wednesday (March 3) that the Newark police department’s no-beard policy was discriminatory because it allowed exemptions for medical but not religious reasons.

Debate over children’s Internet access aired in Senate

(RNS) The debate over children’s access to the Internet in public settings continued Thursday (March 4) during a hearing before a Senate committee.

On Tuesday, Rep. Robert Franks, R-N.J., introduced proposed legislation that would require public schools and libraries to use filtering or blocking technology on computers in order to receive federal government discounts on Internet access. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced similar legislation in January.

At a hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which is chaired by McCain, lawyers offered opposing viewpoints about the constitutionality of proposed legislation dealing with Internet access at schools and libraries.”While the Internet has proved to be a tremendous asset in providing information to our young people, it is also a haven for obscene and pornographic material,”Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, testified.”The government has the duty and obligation to protect our children. There should be no constitutional crisis when it comes to safeguarding children who use the Internet.” Elliot Mincberg, legal director of the Washington-based People For the American Way Foundation, presented a different view.”The Internet offers students, teachers and librarians vast treasures waiting to be mined,”he said.”It is appropriate for school officials and parents on a local level to develop acceptable use policies for accessing the Internet. But it is entirely inappropriate for the federal government to use the power of its purse strings to force local schools to accept an onerous censorship policy.” Mincberg said the courts, citing First Amendment violations, have struck down government attempts to restrict Internet access. But Sekulow, whose organization is based in Virginia Beach, Va., said this legislation is constitutional because it only applies to children and access.”We’re getting calls every week on problems with children on the Internet,”Sekulow told Religion News Service.”Parents want to know what they can do. It’s happening in school libraries, public libraries. This legislation will go a long way in stopping this.” A coalition of groups known for their stance against pornography applauded Franks’ introduction of the legislation.”Public schools and libraries must ensure that children benefit from safe access to the world of valuable information available through the Internet while protecting them, as effectively as possible, from illegal pornography and child molesters seeking access to unsuspecting children,”said Jan LaRue, director of legal studies at the Washington-based Family Research Council.

First non-Orthodox Jewish burials held in an Israeli public cemetery

(RNS) For the first time, non-Orthodox Jewish burials have taken place in a public cemetery in Israel. The burials Thursday (March 4) were the latest example of Orthodox Judaism’s losing its legal grip over Jewish religious life in Israel.

Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in 1996 that religious authorities had to dedicate sections of Jewish cemeteries for non-Orthodox burials. After many delays, the Religious Affairs Ministry finally opened a new cemetery in the southern city of Beersheba with 150 plots for those wanting non-Orthodox burials.

Yaakov and Hanna Ravervi, both of whom died in 1997, had stipulated in their wills that their bodies were to be used for medical research and then given secular burials, the Associated Press reported.

Thursday, the couple was buried at the Beersheba cemetery.”I think it’s very important that every person can choose how to be buried according to his own perspective,”said the couples’ daughter, Ziva Goldman.

Until now, Israeli Jews seeking a non-Orthodox burial had to buy a plot at one of Israel’s kibbutzim, or collective farms, most of which are non-Orthodox. Plots in public cemeteries are free. Muslims and Christians have their own cemeteries in Israel.

Former pastor charged with burning his own church

(RNS) The former pastor of a small Arkansas church has been charged with setting it on fire in 1996.

Eric Harris, 37, who now lives in Marlow, Okla., was charged with one count of arson Wednesday (March 3) in the fire that was one of a series of church blazes across the South.

Harris had said he cried when the Kentucky Missionary Baptist Church near Benton burned to the ground on Aug. 24, 1996, at a time when a number of predominantly black and white churches were burning. Kentucky Missionary’s congregation of 45 members is white, the Associated Press reported.

In March 1997, Gov. Mike Huckabee visited the site of the church fire to sign an act making church arson a felony under Arkansas law.

Harris faces maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Quote of the day: Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, Jewish Theological Seminary

(RNS)”Obviously, we don’t recommend circumcision for medical reasons, but for religious reasons … And it will continue to remain a rite of passage for Jews as long as there is an organized Jewish community.” _ Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, commenting on a new policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics which says the benefits of circumcision are not sufficient to recommend it as a procedure for baby boys.

DEA END RNS