c. 2000 Religion News Service
Texas Baptist Convention Adopts Policy toimport Monitor Clergy Abuse
(RNS) The Baptist General Convention of Texas has adopted a policy for monitoring complaints of clergy sexual abuse.
The executive board of the state convention of Southern Baptists made the decision Sept. 26, based on the recommendation of a task force, reported Associated Baptist Press, an independent news service.
In its report, the task force said it “immediately became aware that clergy sexual abuse is indeed a problem in many faith groups,” including Baptists.
Under the policy, employees of the convention’s executive board should send reports of abuse to the office dealing with minister/church relations, which will keep a file of some reported cases.
“A case will be put into the file only when a minister confesses to the abuse, there is a legal conviction, or there is substantial evidence that the abuse took place,” the adopted policy statement reads. Lawyers for the state convention will determine which cases have substantial evidence.
Clergy sexual abuse information will be provided only to officers of an inquiring church.
Phil Strickland, chairman of the task force recommending the policy, said those studying the issue weighed both its legal and its moral implications.
“If you keep a list, you are subject to liability,” he said. “If you do not keep a list, you are subject to liability. … But after the discussions, then we directed the focus to our moral obligation. That was a very, very short discussion.”
Any information disclosed will include the following legal disclaimer: “Churches are advised to investigate the background of potential employees or members of the clergy independent of the convention and not to rely exclusively on any information provided by the convention.”
Report: National Council of Churches May See More Cutbacks
(RNS) The National Council of Churches may need to lay off at least 11 more people and scale back some programs if the “fiscally challenged” ecumenical agency is to stay on budget for next year, a report said.
The NCC, a 51-year-old body representing 35 Protestant and Orthodox churches, has been struggling with staggering debts and a bloated infrastructure as it tries to reinvent itself and redefine its mission.
The NCC’s executive board wrapped up a three-day meeting in New York on Tuesday (Oct. 3) in preparation for the council’s November general assembly meeting in Atlanta. While a financial report showed significant progress, it indicated that problems may continue for the NCC.
According to NCC spokeswoman Carol Fouke, the report showed the NCC has balanced its budget for the first six months of 2000 and expects a balanced budget for the rest of the year. However, the council will have only $137,000 in available cash on Jan. 1.
Additionally, if current expenses and revenues continue at their current level, the NCC could face a $1.7 million shortfall by next June. That could mean that the NCC would have to lay off at least 11 more people, in addition to the 13 positions that have already been cut.
Barbara Ellen Black, the NCC’s new general manager, said she will report a balanced budget proposal in November that will find ways to reconcile the $1.7 million projected shortfall, but could not say whether that would mean staffing cutbacks, program cutbacks or something else.
The NCC has mostly been able to recover from a $6 million debt in its reserve funds, and many of its largest member churches have contributed nearly $2 million to help recoup those losses.
The NCC and its humanitarian arm, Church World Service, agreed to become financially independent of each other in July. That transition will result in structural and staff adjustments between the two bodies, which may mean that some positions will be cut, Fouke said.
The Rev. Bob Edgar, the NCC’s general secretary, told Religion News Service that the agency is on the road to recovery, although some difficult times may lie ahead. Edgar said it is still too early to say how many, if any, positions will need to be cut, but said most people will not see a difference in the programs to which the NCC is committed.
“It’s very rare for an organization that’s been fiscally challenged for the last 10 years to turn itself around overnight,” Edgar said. “Even Moses didn’t get his people out of the wilderness in less than 40 years. We’ve made some choices that I think are the right choices for this time.”
Florida Appeals Court Declares Voucher Law Constitutional
(RNS) A Florida appeals court has ruled that a school voucher law permitting taxpayer money to be used for private education is constitutional.
The decision by the 1st District Court of Appeals on Tuesday (Oct. 3) overturned a March ruling by a trial judge that the law violated Florida’s constitution, the Associated Press reported.
Appellate Judge Charles Kahn Jr. wrote in the decision that there was nothing in the constitution that “clearly prohibits the Legislature from allowing the well-delineated use of public funds for private school education, particularly in circumstances where the Legislature finds such use is necessary.”
Students at schools receiving poor ratings from the state can seek vouchers for private school tuition at the expense of taxpayers under the law adopted in 1999. The value of vouchers ranges from about $3,000 to $4,000.
Opponents filed suit challenging the law’s constitutionality the day after it became law _ and the first statewide school voucher program in the country.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs said the appellate court ruling will be appealed to the state Supreme Court.
Gov. Jeb Bush called the ruling a “tremendous victory for … parents whose kids are trapped in chronically failing schools.”
Last year, two elementary schools in Pensacola qualified for the program and 51 students who used vouchers last year can continue using them. No schools qualified for the program this year.
Magazine Names Top 10 Jewish Women to Watch
(RNS) A Conservative Maryland rabbi, the director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and a cutting-edge jazz musician have been named among the top 10 Jewish women to watch in the next year by Jewish Woman magazine.
The magazine listed 10 up-and-coming women as the most influential and interesting women in Judaism. The magazine’s publisher said these women have all found ways to integrate their Jewish identity with the larger culture.
“These women demonstrate the breadth and depth of accomplishments of Jewish women,” said Barbara Rabkin, publisher and president of Jewish Women International. “Their creativity and vision are bringing new energy to fields as diverse as jazz, medical research, the Internet and politics.”
Last week (Sept. 29), Jews welcomed the new year 5761 with Rosh Hashana. The women to look for in the Jewish new year include:
_ Rabbi Susan Grossman, leader of Beth Shalom in Columbia, Md., and a leading feminist voice in Conservative Judaism.
_ Aliza Sherman, 32, author of “Cybergirl: A Woman’s Guide to the World Wide Web.”
_ Ann Pulver, 50, a genetics researcher in mental illness at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
_ Sara J. Bloomfield, 49, director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
_ Susan Bass Levin, mayor of Cherry Hill, N.J., and a candidate for Congress.
_ Nancy Lublin, 29, founder of Dress for Success, a nonprofit charity that helps poor women find clothes for job interviews.
_ Myla Goldberg, 28, author of “The Bee Season.”
_ Jane Ira Bloom, 45, a jazz saxophonist.
_ Hilary Price, 30, creator of the “Rhymes With Orange” cartoon strip.
_ Gisele Ben-Dor, conductor and musical director of the Santa Barbara, Calif., Symphony.
German Chancellor Visits Firebombed Synagogue
(RNS) German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder met with Jewish leaders on Wednesday (Oct. 4) at a Dusseldorf synagogue that had been firebombed a day earlier and promised to use “all available means” to ensure the safety of Germany’s 80,000-member Jewish community.
“Decent people must rise up against this,” Reuters quoted the chancellor as saying. “There can be no more looking away.”
Authorities have announced an $11,000 reward for anyone with information about the incident, which came as the country celebrated the 10th anniversary of the reunification of west and east Germany.
The bombing, which also coincided with a vandalism attack at a memorial to the victims of the Buchenwald concentration camp, called into question the efficacy of attempts to revive the Jewish community nearly obliterated during the Nazi era, said Paul Spiegel, a leader in the German Jewish community.
The attack was the most recent in a string of racially motivated crimes in Germany.
A Mother Teresa Nun Admits Abusing Children
(RNS) A member of the religious order founded in India by Mother Teresa has admitted she abused four children last month after they confessed to stealing a coin worth about 10 cents to buy a toy.
“(Sister Francesca) admits her guilt with great sorrow,” read a statement issued by Sister Nirmala, the nun who succeeded Mother Teresa as Mother Superior of the Missionaries of Charity. “Her intention was to correct the children for stealing some money, but she definitely overstepped her limits.”
The incident came to light after Kabiram Mandal, the father of one of the children, filed a criminal complaint against the order, the Washington Times reported. A medical examination confirmed that Mandal’s daughter, 7-year-old Karabi, had “sustained injuries, including burns” on her left hand.
The order launched an internal inquiry into the matter and found Francesca, who is in charge of the Calcutta children’s shelter where the children lived, guilty of injuring the four children by scalding their hands with a hot knife. Francesca was released on conditional bail last month and is scheduled to appear in court, said Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency.
Nirmala declined to tell the news agency whether Francesca had been disciplined by the order, but did say “she is not there.”
Though not named in Kabiram Mandal’s complaint, Nirmala did apologize to him, the Times reported.
“I accept responsibility for the whole affair,” she said, promising Kabiram Mandal that the Missionaries of Charity would house his daughter and two of her sisters at another of the order’s children’s homes. She said Missionaries of Charity would take care of the three children for the remainder of their childhoods.
The 4,000 nuns run 647 charity homes in 124 countries worldwide. The Vatican is considering canonizing Mother Teresa.
Orange County Register Writer Wins Religion Reporting Award
(RNS) Carol McGraw, the religion writer for The Orange County (Calif.) Register, has won a new award for best in-depth reporting on religion from the American Academy of Religion.
The award, given for the first time this year, is for “excellent newswriting that incorporates scholarly research and perspectives,” said Barbara Deconcini, executive director of the Atlanta-based organization.
Bill Broadway of The Washington Post won a second-place honor and Bruce Bryant-Friedland of The Florida Times-Union came in third.
McGraw’s coverage included topics such as the Second Coming; practices of the Mahikari, a Japanese-based religion; and the whistleblower who revealed destruction of records on Holocaust survivors by Swiss bank officials.
The organization also named author Eileen V. Barker as the winner of its Martin E. Marty Award for Contributions to the Public Understanding of Religion. Barker is a sociologist of religion at the London School of Economics and author of such books as “New Religious Movements” and “The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing?”
She also is the founder of INFORM, which uses scholarly research to inform news media, government officials and the public about new religious movements.
The annual award, established in 1996, recognizes scholars whose work influences the general public as well as other scholars.
Previous recipients include Martin Marty, a historian of religion; Harvey Cox, a sociologist of religion; and Cornel West, a philosopher of religion.
Quote of the Day: Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.
(RNS) “It would be absolutely disgraceful for Joe Lieberman to meet with Louis Farrakhan. Sitting down with Farrakhan would be the same as meeting with the grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan or the head of the American Nazi Party.”
_ Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., responding to Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s recent comments on a radio talk show that he would be willing to meet with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
DEA END RNS
