c. 1999 Religion News Service

Nation’s top charities see 16 percent increase in giving

(RNS) America’s top charities raised 16 percent more last year than they did in 1997, a Chronicle of Philanthropy survey has found.

The increase in donations is the largest since 1991, the first year the newspaper began ranking the 400 charities that raise the most money from private sources.

For the seventh time in a row, the Salvation Army topped the list, raising $1.2 billion.

The YMCA of the USA and Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund came in second and third, respectively, each having increases of more than 25 percent. The YMCA raised $629.3 million and the Fidelity fund raised $571.9 million.

Several religious organizations in addition to the Salvation Army were among the top 20 groups cited by the magazine that covers the philanthropic community.

Catholic Charities, USA, ranked seventh, raising $446.2 million. World Vision, an evangelical Christian relief and development organization, raised $297.2 million, ranking 13th. Campus Crusade for Christ, an evangelical Christian ministry, raised $264.6 million, ranking 19th.

Fund raisers attribute the increase in giving to the strong economy.”With the creation of capital for so many Americans, the last three or four years have been the best time for nonprofit fund-raising in over 25 years _ for as long as I’ve been in the field,”said Lauren Libby, chief operating officer at The Navigators, a religious missionary organization that saw an 8 percent rise in its domestic contributions.

In addition to the economy, some groups say they are starting to see a sizable intergenerational wealth transfer, the newspaper reported.

The Christian and Missionary Alliance received so many requests regarding estate planning from donors that it has created a separate entity to advise donors on deferred gifts, such as bequests. In 1998, the alliance handled 414 transactions involving deferred gifts, an increase from 250 in the previous year. It is bringing in about $25 million in deferred gifts each year.

Charitable donations also have been driven by donors reaching out to victims of natural disasters.

Catholic Relief Services said it received $21.2 million in cash gifts specifically for victims of Hurricane Mitch.

Said Albert Brill, director of development for the Catholic group,”The phones started ringing on the day that the hurricane news hit the media, and they didn’t stop for weeks on end.”

Lutherans, Catholics sign accord ending Reformation-era doctrinal dispute

(RNS) In prayerful but festive ceremonies over the past weekend (Oct. 30-31), top Roman Catholic and Lutheran officials said in a joint statement that the two faith bodies now hold similar views on salvation _ a key dispute that led to the 16th century Reformation and the split of the Lutheran reformers from the Roman Catholic Church.”In the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,”said Cardinal Edward Cassidy, the Vatican’s top ecumenical official and Pope John Paul II’s emissary to the signing ceremony.”Let us then pursue all that makes for peace and builds up our common life.” The Reformation Day ceremonies in Augsburg, Germany, marked the signing of the historic Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, a significant breakthrough in Roman Catholic and Lutheran relations in which the two sides said they had reached a consensus on how the doctrine of salvation works and had overcome simplistic stereotypes fostered by the 482-year-old dispute.

Bishop Christian Krause of Brunswick, Germany, and the Rev. Ishmael Noko of Zimbabwe represented the Lutheran World Federation.”We are witnessing a significant day in the history of our churches,”Krause said.”For the first time in history, here in Augsburg, we are again setting foot on common ground.”Antagonism and frequently even enmity between our churches have been the source of conflicts, distress and suffering for many people, in many countries on this Earth,”he said.”May God give us new strength for reconciliation and the courage to seek peace.” The Sunday signing began with a worship service at the Catholic Basilica of St. Ulrich and Afra and then processed for the blessing and signing to the Lutheran Church of St. Anna. Joint Roman Catholic-Lutheran services hailing the accord were held in countries around the world.”This is a critical breakthrough; it’s the first major step toward reconciliation between the two churches since the Reformation,”the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, told the Washington Post.”Now we understand that we have creeds in common, and that removes the taint of heresy.” But Cassidy said as significant as the accord is, there remain many obstacles to reunion between the two churches.”As we give thanks for the progress we have made, let us realize that the road ahead is difficult,”he said.

Update: Judge rules N.Y. museum should get city funds

(RNS) A federal judge has ordered New York City officials to restore millions of dollars to the Brooklyn Museum of Art, which lost the funding during a dispute over a controversial art exhibit.

U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon filed an opinion Monday (Nov. 1) that granted the museum’s request for a preliminary injunction against the city.

She determined that the museum”has established irreparable harm and a likelihood of success on its First Amendment claim,”the Associated Press reported.

The judge also has barred Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and other city officials from”taking steps to inflict any punishment, retaliation, discrimination or sanction”against the museum for opening the exhibit called”Sensation”in October.

Giuliani criticized the museum for showcasing a portrait of the Virgin Mary accented with elephant dung.

The museum sued the city, claiming its First Amendment rights had been violated when Giuliani decided to freeze a $7.2 million subsidy _ about a third of its annual budget. The museum sought the injunction to restore the money until the legal dispute could be settled.

Blair: no change in law barring Catholics from British throne

(RNS) British Prime Minister Tony Blair has ruled out any idea of changing the law barring Roman Catholics from the British throne.

Blair, in a letter to a Conservative member of the Scottish Parliament, Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, said the government had no plans to seek repeal of the 1701 Act of Settlement which bars from the throne”all and every person and persons who … is, are, or shall be reconciled to or shall hold communion with the see or church of Rome or shall profess the popish religion or shall marry a papist.” Blair said any attempt to amend the act would be”complex in the extreme”because it would involve amending or repealing eight other pieces of legislation. In addition, identical amending legislation would need to be passed by at least 15 other Commonwealth countries of which Queen Elizabeth is queen.

Lord James argued that because Britain is now a multifaith nation, the law prescribing the heir to the throne could not succeed if married to a Roman Catholic was out of date.”This provision arises out of conflicts several hundred years ago,”he said.”This requirement is totally out of line with the socially inclusive multifaith community which the government professes to believe in.” He called the ban”a glaring unfairness inflicted on a very large community in Britain.”

Sharansky: U.S. intelligence prompted Israeli expulsions

(RNS) Intelligence from U.S. and British law enforcement agencies prompted Israeli police to seek the deportation of 21 tourists who were members of two Christian millennial sects operating in Jerusalem, Israeli Interior Minister Natan Sharansky said Sunday (Oct. 31).

Sharansky, in an interview with the English-language Jerusalem Post, spoke in the wake of allegations that extremist groups in the United States, and possibly Israel, may be preparing to carry out acts of violence linked to the new millennium. The warnings are contained in a new FBI report dubbed”Project Megiddo,”the Washington Post said Sunday.

Fifteen U.S. citizens and two Britons whose visas had expired have been deported by Israel since police raids last week on a number of residences rented by the two Christian sects in east Jerusalem’s Bethany neighborhood. One Australian tourist was released from police custody because she already had made plane reservations to return home next month.

The last three detainees, including the leader of one of the millennial sects known as Brother David, are due to be deported Tuesday, said Israeli police spokesman Rafi Jaffe. He said the deportations would be carried out after the full identity of the three American tourists has been established in cooperation with U.S. authorities.

Brother David, a former resident of upstate New York who has been living in Israel for over 20 years, has in the past refused to give Israeli police full details of his identity in order to avoid expulsion.

Falun Gong members go underground after new law is passed

(RNS) Members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement largely went underground after the Chinese government brought charges against four leaders of the group and imposed new penalties, including capital punishment, on”cults.” After a week during which Falun Gong members consistently demonstrated peacefully in Beijing demanding official recognition for the movement, only a small number of followers appeared in Tiananmen Square Monday (Nov. 1). The Associated Press reported that six Falun Gong followers were detained Monday.

As many as 3,000 were reported arrested during last week’s demonstrations.

On Sunday, the Chinese government said it had brought criminal charges against four”principal”Falun Gong leaders for”organizing a cult to undermine the implementation of the laws.”They were Li Chang, a former police official, Wang Zhiweng, Ji Liewu and Yao Jie.

Li, Wang and Yao also were charged with”violating China’s state secrets.”Ji and Yao were charged with running illegal businesses, the official New China News Agency reported.

The charges were announced one day after Chinese lawmakers approved a law banning cults and imposing harsh penalties, including the death sentence, on those convicted under the law.

The People’s Daily, the newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party, said the new law was a”powerful legal weapon to smash evil cultist organizations, especially Falun Gong. Evil cults are a cancer in society and an international phenomenon that no responsible government can tolerate.” Falun Gong combines elements of Buddhism and Taoism with traditional Chinese”qigong”meditation and physical exercises. The movement is said to have several million followers in China. The group was banned three months ago in China but has continued to challenge officials.

Former British chief rabbi Jakobovits dies

(RNS) Lord Immanuel Jakobovits, the former chief rabbi of Great Britain and the first Jewish religious leader to gain a seat in the House of Lords, has died. Jakobovits, who was Orthodox, died Sunday (Oct. 31) at 78.

He died at his north London home from an apparent brain hemmorhage, according to his successor, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. His body was flown to Israel for burial on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives.

Jakobovits, a refugee from Nazi Germany, served as chief rabbi of Britain and the commonwealth of ex-colonies from 1967 to 1991. Previously, he had been chief rabbi of Ireland.

He also served as the spiritual leader of New York’s Fifth Avenue Synagogue before returning to Britain at age 46. He had gone to Britain in 1936 as a refugee before coming to the United States.

The Thatcher government appointed him to the House of Lords in 1988.

Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey called Jakobovits a”stalwart defender of shared values based on the belief that we are all God’s children.” Quote of the day: Islamic scholar Mohamed Abd El Maksud

(RNS)”Imagine when your time is due and God gives you a second chance. I feel a responsibility to do more good deeds.” _ Islamic scholar Mohamed Abd El Maksud, who at the last minute decided to stay an extra day in the United States and not return home to Cairo as scheduled on the ill-fated EgyptAir flight that crashed Sunday (Oct. 31). He was quoted in the New York Times Monday.

DEA END RNS