c. 1999 Religion News Service

Lutherans pledge $300,000 to fiscally troubled church council

(RNS) The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will make a one-time allocation of $300,000 to the financially troubled National Council of Churches to help the ecumenical agency overcome a deficit of some $3.5 million.

The action by the ELCA’s Church Council was contingent on the NCC approving a balanced budget for the year 2000.”There seems to be no malfeasance but a lot of sloppiness,”Bishop H. George Anderson, ELCA presiding bishop told the council, which functions as the denomination’s board of directors.

The deficit prompted one major contributor to the NCC _ the United Methodist Church _ to suspend a payment of more than $300,000 to the council in an effort to make its leadership seriously grapple with the issue.

At its Nov. 9-12 General Assembly the NCC put in place a new leadership and delegates from its 35 member denominations approved a plan to radically downsize the organization in order to deal with the financial crisis. Much of the deficit was generated by spending approved by the general assembly but not budgeted for, including some $2.4 million paid in consultant fees.

But the assembly did not approve a budget for the year 2000 because details of the restructuring and downsizing program were still in flux.

The Rev. Bruce Robbins, chief executive of the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, said that although the NCC”made large strides”in addressing the problem, it did not indicate when the Methodists might lift their suspension. He said he hopes it occurs before the end of the year.

The Rev. Daniel Martensen, director of the ELCA’s Department for Ecumenical Affairs, told the ELCA Church Council the NCC is at a promising point of transition.”We left a team there in which the NCC can trust,”he said of the new leadership of the Rev. Andrew Young as president and the Rev. Bob Edgar as general secretary. The new team will take over in January.

Indictment of Naples cardinal sought in loan-shark probe

(RNS) Magistrates in southern Italy have requested the indictment of Cardinal Michele Giordano of Naples and two members of his family on charges of complicity in a loan-sharking operation.

The magistrates reported the findings of their two-year investigation in the case late Thursday (Nov. 18). Giordano, 69, has denied all the accusations against him.”I don’t know anything and I haven’t received anything,”he said with a smile Thursday night.”What is important is to be clean here inside and to know that somebody up there knows it.” It was believed to be the first time Italian authorities have sought to bring criminal charges against a cardinal. A preliminary investigating judge will decide within the next few months whether to order Giordano to trial or shelve the case.

The Vatican did not comment on the magistrates’ request, but it reacted with an angry protest in August 1998 when the investigators searched the cardinal’s offices and tapped his telephones. Vatican officials accused Italy of violating a church-state concordat granting church property extra-territorial status.

In the last such clash between the church and the state, the Vatican refused investigators’ requests to question Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, head of the Vatican bank, in connection with the $2 billion collapse of the Banco Ambrosiano almost 20 years ago. Marcinkus, of Cicero, Ill., has since retired and returned to the United States.

The request for indictments of Giordano and some 20 fellow suspects was filed by Magistrates Michelangelo Russo and Manuela Comodi in the town of Lagonegro, 95 miles south of Naples.

Others accused in the case included the cardinal’s brother, Mario Lucio Giordano, his nephew, Nicola, and Filippo Lemma, former manager of the Banco di Napoli branch in Sant’Arcangelo near Lagonegro. Two other nephews, sons of Mario Lucio Giordano, were among 40 people cleared of suspicion.

The magistrates charged that the cardinal gave his brother checks totaling about $800,000 to finance the loan-sharking operation.

The bank manager allegedly spotted clients in financial difficulties, and Mario Lucio Giordano and his associates in the so-called Credit Cooperative offered them loans at up to 300 percent interest.

The cardinal said he had given his brother blank checks to help him meet financial obligations.

The investigation also covered his alleged misappropriation of funds from the sale of property belonging to a church institution. Investigators said wire taps indicated the money went to Giordano’s relatives.

The magistrates asked that Giordano be tried on charges of association with a usury operation and wrongful appropriations and the other suspects be tried on usury charges.

Two jailed in Comoros Islands over `Jesus’ video

(RNS) Two people in the Comoros Islands, officially an Islamic republic, have been sentenced to prison after being caught watching or possessing the video”Jesus,”a two-hour tape produced by Campus Crusade for Christ as a tool for evangelization.

Taki Islam, 22, was sentenced to 10 months in prison and another eight months under court supervision, while Alo Toibibou, reportedly in his late 20s, received an eight-month sentence, half of which was suspended, according to Human Rights Without Borders, an independent organization based in Brussels, Belgium.

At a joint hearing in the Indian Ocean nation, the two men were found guilty of”anti-Islamic activity and disturbing the peace,”HRWB reported Friday (Nov. 19).

Campus Crusade, an interdenominational evangelical Protestant ministry based in Orlando, Fla., has translated”Jesus”into more than 520 languages.

First Baptist Church of Dallas loosens ties with Texas group

(RNS) In a historic move for Texas Southern Baptists, the First Baptist Church of Dallas voted Wednesday (Nov. 17) to loosen its relationship with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.”With absolutely no malice or criticism of our brothers and sisters in the BGCT, but with sad hearts, we loosen our ties, but with great anticipation that God is about to do something new,”said Senior Pastor Mac Brunson and Pastor Emeritus W.A. Criswell in a statement.

The 12,000-member church has been one of the larger congregations within the 2.7-million-member BGCT. Evangelist Billy Graham is a longtime member of the congregation.

The church attributes its decision to the BGCT’s move”away from its historic relationship, commitment, and cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention.” The BGCT, which is controlled by moderate Baptists, offers giving options to its member churches that support moderate and other causes. A conservative-led group begun last year called the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention sends more of the undesignated funds it receives to the conservative-controlled Southern Baptist Convention.”Because of the decided direction of the elected leadership of the BGCT, we at (First Baptist Church Dallas), after much prayer and agony, will dually align with the Southern Baptists of Texas and minimally with the BGCT,”the church’s statement continues.”We will continue to be a part guardedly of the BGCT in prayer and hope that it will soon return to its historic support of the SBC.” The decision comes a week after the BGCT voted to reject the revised statement of faith adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1998 because it now calls for wives to”submit … graciously”to their husbands.

But the Dallas church’s decision came after two years of study by a special committee appointed by its deacon board.

The summary of the committee’s report called for a separation from the BGCT because of its moderate leanings.

The church will continue to send $24,000 annually to the BGCT but will send most of its donations to Southern Baptist causes through the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, designating $24,000 to be retained by the conservative state group.

United Methodists see members decline, attendance increase

(RNS) While the membership of the United Methodist Church has continued to decline, attendance at Sunday worship services has seen a slight increase.

Statistics recently released by the denomination’s General Council of Finance and Administration show that average Sunday attendance in 1998 was 3,495,641 in United Methodist churches. That marks an increase of 1,300 or 0.37 percent.”I think the statistics about attendance do not point to a trend yet,”said the Rev. Ezra Earl Jones, staff head of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship.”I think we ought to rejoice in what we are seeing but keep watching to see if it is really significant in the long term.” While the numbers could indicate that United Methodist churches are attracting worshippers, some of those attending will never join, he said.

Lay membership in the denomination decreased 40,727 to 8.36 million, United Methodist News Service reported. That total marks a decrease of 0.48 percent. The U.S. membership totals 8.4 million when the 43,688 clergy members and 4,043 military personnel who do not hold membership in a U.S. congregation are included.

The total membership in the country reached a peak of 11.5 million when the denomination formed in 1968 with the union of the Methodist and the Evangelical United Brethren churches.

The United Methodist Church also has an estimated 1.2 million members in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Pope urges drug firms to lay aside the profit motive and help the poor

(RNS) Pope John Paul II called on the pharmaceuticals industries today to lay aside the profit motive and give the poor and the people of developing countries equal access to life-saving medicines.

Addressing 588 delegates from 70 countries opening a three-day Vatican conference on”Economics and Health,”the Roman Catholic pontiff said it is”not tolerable”and”not admissible”to deny health care to the poor and the weak.

To reduce the problem of health care to simple economics, he said, leads to”the many unjust inequalities existing in the economics-health relationship.””I ask the pharmaceuticals industries not to make economic profit prevail over considerations of human values but to show themselves sensitive to the needs of those who do not enjoy social insurance by putting into action effective initiatives favoring the most poor and marginalized,”John Paul said.”It is necessary to work to reduce and, if possible, eliminate the existing differences between the continents, urging the more advanced countries to put experience, technology and part of their economic riches at the disposition of those less developed,”he said.

The pope said he also appealed to government leaders and international agencies to”let themselves be guided only by the search for the common good”when faced with the economic consequences of providing health care.”It is not tolerable, in fact, that the limitation of economic resources experienced by various countries today is compensated for, de facto, mainly by depriving the weak strata of the population and the less wealthy areas of the world of necessary health care,”John Paul said.”Equally,”he said,”it is not admissible that such limitation leads to the exclusion of health care for those at some times of life or in situations of particular fragility and weakness, such as, for example, newborn life, old age, serious disability and terminal illness.”

Church of England urged to emphasize parenting, marriage preparation

(RNS) The Church of England’s 44 dioceses have been urged to encourage their parishes to run courses in marriage preparation and parenting and to ensure they have the resources and training facilities necessary for such programs.

The call came in a resolution presented at the Church of England’s general synod seeking to make sure the church does something practical toward strengthening family life. It was passed unanimously Friday (Nov. 19) at the end of its weeklong session in London.

The motion was put forward by Sheila Fletcher, who for the past 10 years has worked as the family life and marriage adviser in the diocese of Exeter.

Citing examples of the way in which parenting programs had enabled parents at the end of their tether to learn how to cope, she said that such practical ways had saved”hundreds”of family lives.”I know that the church can do much to strengthen family relationships,”she said.”What we need is action, not just words.” Britain apparently has one of the highest divorce rates in Europe.

But the church’s approach must respect the people it is trying to help.

Hence the need, she argued, for a professional person in each diocese with the necessary experience, expertise, and perhaps above all commitment to train others to do the work. Roughly half the 44 dioceses have a family life and marriage adviser.

Quote of the day: Life Space leader Koji Takahashi

(RNS)”I am a guru. I need not bathe because I cannot get dirty.” _ Koji Takahashi, leader of Life Space, a hitherto unknown Japanese sect that has drawn attention since police found a man’s dead body in a hotel with his wife and son, Life Space sect members, keeping vigil over it.

DEA END RNS