c. 2000 Religion News Service

Cuban Catholic Leader: Elian Being Used to Attack Church

(RNS) In a statement issued Wednesday (Feb. 9), Cuba’s Roman Catholic leader charged some Cubans have seized on the controversy surrounding the custody dispute over 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez as an opportunity to launch an attack against the church.

Cardinal Jaime Ortega said the Cuban media is unfairly criticizing the nun who helped arrange a meeting between the little boy and his grandmothers as well as the pope for not demanding Elian’s return to Cuba.

Though Sister Jeanne O’Laughlin, the president of Barry University, should not support Elian remaining in the United States, she is not _ as portrayed in the Cuban media _ a “devil,” Ortega said.

O’Laughlin helped orchestrate a meeting last month in Florida between Elian and his grandmothers after the two women traveled to the United States with the hope of returning to Cuba with their grandson.

Elian, who currently lives with relatives in Miami, was rescued in November from a boat wreck off Florida’s coast in which his mother died. Though the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service did decide to return him to Cuba, that decision is being challenged in court by Elian’s U.S. relatives.

Three days after the Miami Beach meeting, O’Laughlin announced that she believed Elian should not return to Cuba, a move that prompted criticism from Cuban media.

Ortega, the archbishop of Havana and Cuba’s only cardinal, said he hoped the anti-Catholic sentiments were from “sharpshooters pointing at any place” rather than an organized government effort. He also spoke out against “repeated references in the media to the sexual conduct of priests in the United States and statistics about clergymen sick with AIDS.”

Hillary Clinton Criticizes Giuliani’s Putting Religion in Senate Race

(RNS) Accusing New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of “injecting religion” into the U.S. Senate race, Hillary Rodham Clinton denounced a Giuliani fund-raising letter that accused her of “hostility toward America’s religious traditions.”

“As a person of faith, I am appalled that he would make false statements about me and my respect for religion in order to raise money for his campaign,” candidate Clinton said at a Rochester, N.Y., news conference Wednesday (Feb. 9), according to the Washington Post and the New York Times. Clinton, a former Sunday school teacher, is Methodist.

“I am outraged that he would inject religion into this campaign in any form whatsoever,” she said. “And to do it in a way to raise money for his campaign is something that he should take responsibility for.”

Giuliani’s eight-page letter _ mailed to conservatives _ claimed Clinton opposed Texas Gov. George W. Bush’s plan for faith-based solutions to social problems and cited that as another example of her “hostility.”

“Hillary Clinton further revealed her hostility toward America’s religious traditions when she attacked Gov. George W. Bush’s idea that we should look toward America’s faith-based charities more than government programs to address social problems,” the letter said.

A spokesman for the first lady’s campaign denied that charge. Howard Wolfson said Clinton does support allowing faith-based charities to manage social programs if it is done without violating the Constitution.

Giuliani, whose letter also supported allowing public schools to post the Ten Commandments, defended the document, which was revealed in the Village Voice and placed on the weekly newspaper’s Web site on Tuesday (Feb. 8).

“I stand by everything I said in the letter,” Giuliani said, adding he wished every New Yorker would read it. He said he believed Clinton was attempting to “create an issue” since the fund-raising letter was mailed last October.

Clinton declined to demand an apology outright from Giuliani.

“He’ll have to decide what he is going to do,” the first lady said.

Update: Justice Department Won’t Investigate Americans United

(RNS) The U.S. Justice Department has decided not to investigate Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which had been accused by several U.S. senators of intimidating voters through its efforts to counter the Christian Coalition.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General John C. Keeney, in a Feb. 4 letter to the Washington public policy group, said the two criminal statutes that would relate to such a complaint “reach only threats of physical or economic harm that are communicated to voters to stimulate or deter them from registering to vote or voting in federal elections.

“They do not reach the mere expression of opinions concerning the possible tax ramifications to organizations that engage in such activities. For that reason, we declined to initiate a criminal investigation of the matter about which the senators had complained.”

The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United, welcomed the decision and called on the senators to apologize.

“Each one of those senators owes Americans United an apology,” Lynn said in a statement. “With absolutely no evidence, these six men asked the top law enforcement official in the land to undertake a criminal investigation of my organization. This grotesque abuse of power should alarm every American.”

The six Republican senators who wrote to Attorney General Janet Reno were Jesse Helms of North Carolina, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Paul Coverdell of Georgia, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Don Nickles of Oklahoma and Strom Thurmond of South Carolina.

None of the senators could immediately be reached for comment.

In their letter to Reno, the senators had questioned whether Americans United had “attempted to disenfranchise religious voters by intimidating people of faith into not participating in the political process.”

Americans United had sent materials to churches across the country advising them that Christian Coalition voter guides are partisan and distributing them could cause churches to lose their tax-exempt status. The Christian Coalition believes its guides are nonpartisan.

Lynn said his organization plans to launch a campaign later this year to urge churches to reject Christian Coalition materials and keep out of partisan politics.

“With this full exoneration in hand, we will redouble our efforts during this election year,” he said.

Update: Georgia Pastor to Accept Baptist Presidential Nomination

(RNS) Georgia pastor James Merritt has announced that he will accept being nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention. If elected, he would be the first baby boomer to lead the convention, which is the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

Merritt, 47, is pastor of First Baptist Church, Snellville, located in a suburb of Atlanta.

Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas, plans to nominate Merritt for the presidential post and believes he has the support of the denomination’s conservatives.

“I feel very confident and enthusiastic about the prospect of James being the first president elected in the 21st century,” said Graham. “I believe he is the unilateral choice of conservatives across the convention.”

If elected, Merritt said he would work to bridge the generations within the denomination, reported Baptist Press, the news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.

“We should seek ways to involve more of our younger generation, my generation and the next generation, into the life of the convention,” he said. “It’s an issue we need to address _ how we can continue to bring the denomination to the level of the grass-roots, to get our laypeople to understand who we are and what we are about.”

Merritt’s name had been floated as a possible presidential nominee at a recent annual pastors’ conference in Jacksonville, Fla.

Since Merritt arrived at the Snellville church in 1985, the congregation has grown from 2,000 members to more than 11,000 members.

Merritt, the immediate past chairman of the SBC Executive Committee, has a teaching ministry called “Touching Lives” that is broadcast on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, the local Fox affiliate in Atlanta and FamilyNet, an inspirational and family programming service of the SBC’s North American Mission Board.

Vermont Legislative Committee Opts for Gay Benefits, Not Marriage

(RNS) A Vermont House committee has decided that gay couples should be given the same rights and benefits as heterosexual couples through a broad civil rights statute rather than marriage.

The Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday (Feb. 9) to draft legislation to extend legal rights to homosexual domestic partnerships. Three of the 11 committee members wanted a bill that would have made gay marriage legal.

If such a bill is enacted, Vermont would become the state providing the most rights and benefits to gay couples.

“This is a momentous vote,” said Gov. Howard Dean. “It’s a vote to move forward and become the first state to really grant equal rights” to gays and lesbians.

The full House must approve any legislation and various changes could be introduced at that level, the Associated Press reported.

The state’s Legislature has been struggling to respond to a state Supreme Court ruling in December that declared gay couples are unconstitutionally denied benefits and rights that accompany legal marriage.

Members of the Vermont committee emphasized that their decision to bypass marriage was a tough one and was not intended to discriminate or offend.

“This has been the most gut-wrenching and emotional issue I’ve faced,” said Rep. John Edwards. “It is time we put the prejudice behind us. Somehow, when you listen to the compelling stories of gay and lesbian people, it demystifies who they are, what they stand for, and how valuable they are in our communities. I believe we should work toward legal benefits.”

Cardinal O’Connor Says Farewell to Pope

(RNS) Cardinal John O’Connor of New York, who is 80 years old, ailing and expected to retire soon, had a farewell audience Thursday (Feb. 10) with Pope John Paul II.

As is customary, the Vatican did not report what was said at the private meeting in the pope’s study overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

But O’Connor’s secretary, Monsignor Gregory Mustaciuolo, said the cardinal came to Rome on “a personal trip to say thanks and goodbye.” He wanted to thank the pope “for all he has done for him” and say farewell to other Vatican officials, Mustaciuolo told the Associated Press.

The cardinal will return to New York on Friday or Saturday, his aide said.

O’Connor, who has served since 1984 as spiritual leader of the 2.4 million Roman Catholics of Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and seven upstate New York counties, underwent surgery in August for the removal of a brain tumor.

The oldest practicing bishop in the United States, he already has remained in his post five years past the normal retirement age of 75 for clergy. At the age of 80 he became ineligible to vote in the conclave that will chose the next pope.

Celebrating his 80th birthday Jan. 15, O’Connor joked about his impending retirement, saying, “I will soon be evicted. I don’t know when it will be.” But, he added, “I will have the distinction of being the first living cardinal to be thrown out.”

Since his brain surgery, O’Connor has been unable to stand for long periods, but he has resumed celebrating Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, sitting through parts of the ceremony.

A native of Philadelphia, O’Connor was ordained in 1945 and served as bishop of Scranton, Pa., before John Paul named him archbishop of New York. He became a cardinal in 1985.

Update: Souper Bowl of Caring Reaps More Than $2.8 Million

(RNS) The Souper Bowl of Caring, a grass-roots effort to help the hungry at the time of the annual Super Bowl football competition, raised more than $2.8 million this year.

The Rev. Brad Smith, founder of the initiative, said more than 11,500 congregations participated, an increase from the 11,000 that took part in 1999. The congregations contribute food and cash donations received during the effort to local soup kitchens.

Last year the effort raised $2.5 million.

Smith, associate pastor of Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia, S.C., said he appreciated the generosity of the participants “in the face of the biggest ice storm the South has seen in a number of years.”

He said some churches, which usually collect donations on Super Bowl Sunday, delayed their collection from Jan. 30 to the following Sunday.

“I bet we’ll get to $3 million,” he told Religion News Service Wednesday (Feb. 9). “We’re still getting calls because people did it this past Sunday.”

The effort, which began in 1990 and went nationwide in 1993, often involves the youth of the individual congregations that participate.

Rabbis Won’t Meet Pope at Western Wall

(RNS) Pope John Paul II will meet Israel’s chief rabbis in their synagogue offices during his upcoming trip to the Holy Land, averting a symbolic tiff with Jewish leaders over who should host whom for the historic meeting.

Originally, the pope had planned to meet the rabbis at the Western Wall, Judaism’s most holy site, but Chief Rabbi Israel Lau said on Tuesday (Feb. 8) that simply going to meet the pontiff at the outdoor plaza would be inappropriate.

“I was very happy to hear that the decision by the pope was taken to visit the rabbis in their house of worship, rather than waiting for the rabbis to come to meet the pope. This is appropriate because he comes here as a pilgrim, paying respect to the mother religion, Judaism,” said Rabbi Shear Yishuv Cohen, chief rabbi of Haifa. He spoke Wednesday at a Jewish-Muslim-Christian briefing on the upcoming papal pilgrimage.

Meanwhile, Monsignor Pietro Sambi, chief Vatican representative in the Holy Land, said the Vatican was also trying to organize a three-way meeting between the pope and the top Jewish and Muslim leadership in the Holy Land, but it was not yet clear if the event would happen.

“I tell you frankly, the interfaith meeting between the leaders of the three monotheistic religions _ I consider it one of the most important meetings and one of the strongest messages the pope could send to humanity,” said Sambi, adding, “but we will announce it when we know.”

Sambi said the pope’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land would, in effect, be a pilgrimage of millions of Christians around the world “who might never have the chance to visit” but would watch the event vicariously.

He said he hoped the pilgrimage would not just transmit “ceremonies” but also a series of religious and moral “messages” around the world during key moments of the pope’s tour.

Those would include the Mass celebration on the Mount of Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee with thousands of young Christian youths in which the pope hopes to convey the ancient homilies of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to a new generation of youth.

Sambi also said the pope would visit a West Bank Palestinian refugee camp to underline that the “right of everyone to be in his home in his land is a sacred right.”

And, he said, the pope will seek to underline the burden of history humankind carries as a result of the Holocaust in a visit to the Holocaust memorial site, Yad Vashem.

“This is the humiliation of humanity to which we want to say `never again’ for the third millennium,” Sambi said.

And the Quote of the Day is from Catherine Bertini, director of the United Nations World Food Program

(RNS) “We need to confront the simple fact that the United Nations sends unarmed aid workers into environments where member governments will not send their own armed troops.”

_ Catherine Bertini, director of the World Food Program of the United Nations in an speech to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday (Feb. 9) urging greater protection for humanitarian aid workers.

DEA END RNS