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Carter working with Graham to help suffering Iraqis

(RNS) Former President Jimmy Carter has sharply criticized the U.S. policy of sanctions against Iraq and said he is working with evangelist Billy Graham to help people who are suffering in that country.”In Iraq … our ill-advised, sustained sanctions on shipments of food and medicine and so forth have caused a quintupling of the infant mortality rate in the last seven years,”Carter said in an interview with Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, Public Broadcasting Service program.

The interview was scheduled for broadcast beginning Friday (Oct. 29).

Through The Friendship Force, an organization he started with his wife, Rosalynn, Carter has been building relations with Christian and Muslim leaders in Iraq.”Billy Graham and I agreed _ I contacted Billy Graham personally _ that it would be a good thing to bypass Saddam Hussein and to go directly to the religious leaders of Iraq,”Carter said.

Carter said both he and Graham have met with those leaders in the United States. The two men are considering writing an op-ed piece together, he said.”What we are trying to do is to let the American people know … that when we try to impose sanctions to hurt Saddam Hussein, we actually hurt the people who are already suffering under his despotic leadership,”said Carter.

Carter’s son Chip is vice president of The Friendship Force, which also hopes to have a future meeting with leaders in Iraq.”We’re talking about the possibility of my son and Billy Graham’s son (Franklin) … going to Baghdad as highly publicized visitors who would certainly avoid the political aspect associated with Saddam Hussein, but who would give publicity to the plight of the people in Iraq who are suffering.” Carter commented on numerous other topics, including the”charitable choice”provision of the 1996 welfare reform legislation that permits faith-based groups to use public funds to provide services such as job training, food and basic medical care.”I don’t espouse and don’t approve of government grants to churches to carry out the ministry of Christ, which should be a direct responsibility of their members, who profess to be Christians,”Carter said.

He said church members need to spend their own money and time with people in need.”I’ve seen too many times _ and I’ve been part of it _ the self-satisfaction of a homogeneous church congregation who feels very self-satisfied when we go to religious services every Sunday, and we dress in our nice clothes and we sit next to people with clothes just like ours …,”he said.”And we don’t even know the people that live half a mile away, who might not have any of the advantages that we have.” Armenian church elects new leader

(RNS) The Armenian Apostolic Church has elected Archbishop Karekin Nersissian, 48, as the new head of the Orthodox Christian denomination’s branch in Armenia. He will be known as Karekin II.

His election came Wednesday (Oct. 27), the same day gunmen burst into the Armenian parliament and killed Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian and seven other government officials.

Karekin, archbishop of the largest diocese in Armenia, became the 132nd”Catholicos of All Armenians.”The former church head, Karekin I, died of throat cancer in June.

The election was to be a day of celebration, but the violence in the parliament cut short the festivities. In place of festivities, church leaders held a memorial service. The formal consecration ceremony for Karekin II, normally a grand event, was postponed to Nov. 4.

Prior to the election, several prominent church officials blasted the Armenian government for openly supporting Karekin and politically interfering in the selection process. A few bishops hinted they would not accept him if he was elected.

In the end, 263 out of 452 delegates representing the church’s 29 dioceses voted for Karekin.

In the fourth century, Armenia became the first nation to declare Christianity its official religion. More than 2 million of Armenia’s 3.5-million people belong to the church, which claims many additional members around the world.

The Armenian Apostolic Church is organized into two”catholicosates,”or sees. One is the Holy See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia headed by Karekin. The second is the Holy See of Cilicia located in Lebanon, which has great influence over the Armenian church in the United States. Relations are strained between the two sees because of jurisdictional claims and Armenia’s former status as a Soviet republic.

Report: Vietnam steps up pressure on unofficial Christian groups

(RNS) Vietnamese police reportedly have raided a number of Christian gatherings in recent months and have detained and harassed scores of worshippers.

Religious sources in Vietnam told Reuters news agency that the Hanoi government is apparently seeking to increase pressure on Christian groups that operate without official sanction.

As many as five prayer or informal church gatherings have been raided across Vietnam since May, the news agency reported Thursday (Oct. 28).

In one incident, police reportedly raided a prayer meeting of the unofficial Vietnam Assemblies of God Church on Sept. 19. The meeting was held in a village home in Quang Nam province. Seventeen people were handcuffed or tied together and forced to walk to a government office, where they were held for several hours.

Along the way, a policeman reportedly held up a Bible and told bystanders that anyone who was a Christian would be treated the same way. The incident was recounted in a petition sent to Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.

Vietnam, a former French colony, has 8 million Catholics, the largest number in Asia after the Philippines. The overall number of Christians in the nation is unknown, however.

Vietnam’s treatment of religious believers, both Buddhist and Christian, has long been criticized by religious activists and the U.S. State Department.

Asheville, N.C., mayor ends proclamations after flap over pagans

(RNS) The mayor of Asheville, N.C., says she will no longer use proclamations to honor people or groups after her recent recognition of pagan religions prompted anger and protest in the community.”I am deeply saddened that a gesture of good intention to support religious tolerance and freedom has caused division in our community,”Mayor Leni Sitnick said Wednesday (Oct. 27).

She had proclaimed the week of Oct. 25 as”Earth Religions Awareness Week”to recognize Earth-centered, or pagan beliefs.

Opponents worried that the event might prompt students to be interested in the occult and witchcraft. Local Christian ministers asked the mayor to instead designate”Lordship of Jesus Christ Awareness Week,”the Associated Press reported.

Byron Ballard, high priestess of a circle of witches known as Notre Dame del Herbe Mouillee, said she returned the proclamation because it had become a source of infighting in the Christian community.”It was never, never our intention,”Ballard said.”We just wanted to raise awareness that there are people in this community who have this particular spiritual path.” Sitnick had intended to sign the”Lordship”proclamation, but abandoned that plan after some local ministers said it would violate the separation of church and state.

Vatican rejects nuns’ plan to run drug safe house in Australia

(RNS) The Vatican has rejected plans for a nun-monitored safe house in Australia where heroin addicts could inject themselves.

The Sisters of Charity, an order of Roman Catholic nuns, had plans to set up the safe house in Kings Cross, a suburb of Sydney known for prostitution and drug use.

The so-called”shooting gallery”was supposed to give addicts a safe environment and clean needles while trying to keep them off the streets and wean them off drugs. It had been approved by the New South Wales state government and police.

But Sydney Catholic Archbishop Edward Clancy notified the Sisters of Charity of Australia on Thursday (Oct. 28) that the proposal was unacceptable. The Vatican reportedly was concerned that the involvement of the nuns would be viewed as the Catholic Church condoning the use of drugs, the Associated Press reported.

The nuns have said they will abide by the Vatican’s order. State authorities, meanwhile, are looking for other community groups to help run the safe house.

The Rev. Peter Norden, a Catholic priest and the director of Jesuit Social Services in Melbourne, said the Vatican’s decision will translate into increased deaths among intravenous drug users.

Addicts”are injecting themselves in church toilets and school grounds in unhygienic conditions,”Norden said.”Our drug treatment programs in Melbourne are all directed toward moving addicted persons toward rehabilitation and a drug-free lifestyle,”he added.”Catholic Church agencies are clearly not intending to give the message that drug addiction can be tolerated.”

Presbyterian Church (USA) Foundation names new president

(RNS) The Presbyterian Church (USA) Foundation, one of the nation’s largest religious philanthropies, has named a Hershey, Pa., banking executive to be its new president and chief executive officer.

Robert E. Leech, a lifelong Presbyterian, joins the foundation after serving eight years at Keystone Financial Inc., in Harrisburg, Pa. He has been president and chief executive officer of the bank holding company’s asset management division.

Although Leech, 54, is expected to begin his new duties on Jan. 1, final approval of his appointment will not come until his selection is confirmed at the denomination’s General Assembly next summer. The denomination’s General Assembly Council also must concur with the appointment when it meets in February, the Presbyterian (USA) News Service reported.

The foundation has served the church since 1799 through the cultivation and management of endowments and gifts. It manages assets exceeding $1.8 billion and has distributed more than $350 million in support of Presbyterian mission and ministries in the past five years.

Quote of the Day: The Rev. Kent Haralson,”Christian karate”advocate.

(RNS)”The Bible doesn’t teach pacifism.” _ The Rev. Kent Haralson, whose”martial-arts ministry”at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Lewistown, Mont., offers”Christian karate.”He was quoted in the Wall Street Journal on Oct. 28.

IR END RNS