c. 2000 Religion News Service

NCC Official Voices”No Qualms”About Advocating for Cuban Boy’s Return

(RNS) After meeting with the family of a 6-year-old Cuban boy caught in a custody battle, the former general secretary of the National Council of Churches said she has”no qualms”about advocating for his return to his homeland.

The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, who represented the New York-based ecumenical group, commented late Monday (Jan. 3) on her visit earlier in the day with Juan Miguel Gonzalez, father of the boy, and other relatives.”I would feel very good about advocating that Elian Gonzalez come back to his father and family in Cuba,”said Campbell, who officially retired as the NCC’s general secretary Dec. 31.”I have no qualms about that.” U.S. officials gave custody of Elian to his great-uncle in Miami in late November after he was discovered clinging to an inner tube off Florida’s coast. The boy’s mother died in an apparent attempt to immigrate illegally to the United States.

Campbell said she had an emotional visit with the family members in Cardenas, their hometown about a two-hour drive east of Havana.”The father and the rest of the family are very sad,”Campbell said, according to a statement released by the NCC.”There is some anger since they don’t understand why no one will tell them when their son, this little 6-year-old, will be returned. They feel very strongly that everyone should know that this is where they believe the boy should be.” Campbell said she was particularly touched by the viewpoints of the boy’s maternal grandmother.”She lost her daughter at sea and now she says, `Elian is all I have left,'”Campbell said.”None of them knew that the mother was leaving with Elian. They were all shocked and surprised that she left. … When the mother of the mother wants her former son-in-law to raise this child, that tells you a lot about both the family relationships and the respect for this young man as a father.” The Washington Post reported Tuesday (Jan. 4) that Cuba would take”under advisement”a U.S. request that it provide an exit visa to ease a U.S. visit by Elian’s father. The paper quoted a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The paper said preliminary plans called for Gonzalez to be flown to Miami, where he would gain legal custody of Elian and could leave the country with his son, but Elian’s Miami relatives could seek a temporary restraining order to prevent the action.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service has scheduled a Jan. 21 hearing on the boy’s case.

Kellogg’s, America’s Second Harvest Turn Stockpiles Into Hunger Help

(RNS) Kellogg’s and America’s Second Harvest have joined forces to kick off the new year with”Y Go 2 Waste,”a national campaign to give goods stockpiled in case of millennial disasters to food banks for distribution to the nation’s poor.

Food donated during the monthlong drive, held from Jan. 15 until Feb. 15, will benefit the food banks of America’s Second Harvest, the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States with nearly 200 regional food banks nationwide.”Y Go 2 Waste”is sponsored nationally by Kellogg’s, a major cereal producer.”We encourage Americans to donate their stockpiled food, especially their boxes of Kellogg’s cereal and other convenience food products, to benefit the hungry in their local communities,”said Joseph M. Stewart, Kellogg’s senior vice president of corporate affairs.”This is a great opportunity for every American to get involved in the crusade against hunger. Every donation makes a difference.”

Religious Freedom Commission Says Chinese Repression Worsening

(RNS) The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom says religious repression in China has worsened over the past weeks with the sentencing of several Falun Gong and Christian leaders to prison.”The exercise of state power in trying to quash religious expression _ including arrests, imprisonment and the use of state-run media to slander people because of their religious practices, worship or teaching _ is alarming to all those who care about religious freedom,”said Rabbi David Saperstein, chairman of the commission.”This can only set back China’s current efforts to participate fully in a world community committed to international rights and liberties.” Since the new year began, more than 100 practitioners of the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual movement have been detained, including those who participated in silent protests in Tiananmen Square, according to the Information Center for Human Rights and Democratic Movement, based in Hong Kong.

In December, Chinese courts sentenced four Falun Gong leaders to prison terms as long as 18 years. That same month Li Fujun, an assistant professor at a medical college in Henan province, became the ninth Falun Gong leader jailed after receiving a four-year sentence for protest-related activities, according to the Information Center.

Falun Gong _ a blend of Buddhism, Taoism and traditional Chinese exercise _ has been banned in China since July 1999.

In late December, Chinese authorities sentenced six leaders of Protestant Christian groups in central China to”labor education camps”for one- to three-year terms, according to the Information Center.

Saperstein said the commission will monitor closely the events unfolding in China, and will recommend the United States respond through changes in its foreign policy.

The commission was created by the International Religious Freedom Act passed by Congress in 1998 to give independent recommendations on issues of religious freedom and persecution to the executive branch and Congress.

Vatican Disappointed at China’s Ordination of”Patriotic”Bishops

(RNS) The Vatican expressed”astonishment and disappointment”Tuesday (Jan. 4) over a report that China will install new pro-government bishops on the day of Pope John Paul II’s annual consecration of Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops.

Beijing’s move, reported by the Rome-based missionary news agency Misna, appeared to throw cold water on the Vatican’s hopes for a rapprochement with China’s Communist government.”I must manifest the astonishment and disappointment of the Holy See that this decision comes at a moment when reports from many sides give good hope for a normalization of relations between the Holy See and Beijing,”Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in a statement.”This gesture places obstacles that certainly hamper such a process,”he said.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao refused to confirm or deny the report, Reuters said.”Religious matters are China’s internal affair. We believe that no country, including the Vatican, can interfere in China’s internal affairs, including through religious means,”Zhu told a news conference.

Misna said the Patriotic Association of Chinese Catholics would ordain three newly elected bishops in the cities of Suzhou, Hangzhou and Nanjing on Thursday (Jan. 6), which Roman Catholics celebrate as the Feast of the Epiphany. The Vatican already has named its own apostolic administrators for its underground church in Suzhou and Nanjing.

The pope, who every year personally administers each of the church’s seven sacraments, reserves the Feast of the Epiphany to confer episcopal ordination on bishops and archbishops he has appointed.

John Paul is scheduled to consecrate 12 bishops and archbishops-elect from countries throughout the world during a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica commemorating the visit of the Magi from the East, which signifies the manifestation of Jesus to the world.

The Vatican has not had diplomatic relations with China since the Communist government expelled its last apostolic nuncio, the pope’s ambassador, in 1951. The government in 1957 established the patriotic Catholic church, which has no ties to the Vatican and was condemned by Pope Pius XII.”The Chinese government, which is once again forcing its desire for absolute control on Catholics, is certainly behind the ordination decision,”Misna said.

Beijing cites the Vatican’s diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which it terms a renegade province, as the main impediment to renewed relations. It has pointedly ignored strong Vatican signals the Holy See would be willing to change diplomatic partners.

The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, told reporters last year the Holy See was ready to move its apostolic nuncio from Taipei to Beijing in the space of”only one day.” The real problem, according to the Vatican, is China’s reluctance to grant full religious liberty.

Chinese officials say the patriotic church has 4 million members. The Vatican believes at least an equal number of Catholics loyal to the pope continue to practice their religion underground.

Beliefnet.com, New Online Site, Explores Religion, Spirituality

(RNS) Beliefnet.com, a new online location exploring religion, spirituality and morality, launched on the Internet Tuesday (Jan. 4).

The independent and multifaith Internet site aims to offer information, inspiration, news and support in a manner that treats all religions and beliefs with tolerance and respect.”Unlike most religious sites, Beliefnet.com offers an open community where all faiths and belief systems get careful editorial coverage,”said Robert Nylen, co-founder of Beliefnet.com and founding CEO of New England Monthly.”We welcome the pious as well as the curious, and we don’t fear controversy. We want to spark some healthy arguments. … We welcome alternatives to traditional thinking as well as conventional spiritual views.” Nylen is co-founding Beliefnet.com with Steven Waldman, former national editor of U.S. News & World Report.

The site will include content about major denominations, smaller denominations and newer forms of spirituality.

Funded by the Boston-based Highland Capital Partners, the for-profit business features dialogue groups, message boards, memorials and seminars as part of its emphasis on building a spiritually focused community online.

Its more than 50 contributors include Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong, Roman Catholic priest and sociologist Andrew Greeley, Margot Adler, Armstrong Williams and Rabbi Joseph Telushkin.

Quote of the Day: Journalist David Aikman

(RNS)”Christian journalists often feel lonely. They feel often their editors don’t understand them, or in some cases are even a little suspicious of them. They also find sometimes the churches they go to don’t like journalists. They’re caught between a rock and a hard place.” Free-lance writer and former Time magazine reporter David Aikman, discussing his formation in 1998 of a loose-knit, international group of Christians working in the media. He was quoted in The Washington Post’s Tuesday (Jan. 4) edition.

DEA END RNS