c. 2000 Religion News Service
Bomb Attack on Church in Southern India
(RNS) A bomb exploded outside a Christian church Sunday (July 9) in southern India, the second such attack in less than two days.
No one was injured in the attack at St. Peter’s and Paul Church in Bangalore, capital of Karnataka state, but the “low intensity” bomb did damage windows and walls, officials told the Reuters news agency.
The attack echoed a bomb explosion a day earlier outside a Christian church in Hubli, about 250 miles north of Bangalore. In June, four churches in Karnataka and two neighboring states were bombed, and a Roman Catholic priest was beaten to death in a northern town.
The government of Karnataka will provide security for churches in the region, said Karnataka Home (Interior) Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge.
Christian leaders and missionaries in India, who comprise less than 2 percent of the nation’s billion-strong population, have claimed the nation’s coalition government does not adequately protect India’s minority populations. Though they suspect right-wing Hindu groups linked to the Hindu nationalist-led government are responsible for much of the violence targeted at Christians, Hindu groups deny the charges.
Underscoring their concern, a rally Sunday protesting violence against Christians attracted about 100,000 Christians in Andhra Pradesh.
Salt-scattering Episcopalian Resigns Post After Protest
(RNS) A delegate to the General Convention meeting of the Episcopal Church resigned his position Saturday (July 8) after he scattered salt around the convention floor _ an ancient Anglican purifying and exorcising rite _ and offended more than 800 other delegates with his demonstration.
The 2.5 million-member church is meeting in Denver for its 73rd General Convention to set policy. The 832-member House of Delegates, comprised of lay members and clergy, stopped debate on Friday (July 7) so the salt could be swept up.
The Rev. Nelson Koscheski of Dallas placed salt underneath the tables of church delegates from several conservative and liberal dioceses, including the delegation from the diocese of Newark, N.J. The Newark diocese is among the most liberal in the nation, and a delegate from the diocese asked that the meeting be stopped until the salt could be cleaned up.
Koscheski never said what he was trying to do with the salt, but an old Anglican tradition uses salt to exorcise evil spirits, and the New Testament repeatedly talks about Christians being the “salt of the earth” to act as purifiers, healers and preservatives.
Koscheski said he brought the salt with prayers for healing in the church, which is torn on the issue of homosexuality. Earlier on Friday, church delegates defeated a resolution decrying the sin of “heterosexism” which gives heterosexuals power and privilege at the expense of homosexuals.
“The pain as I watch my own church and those I love being turned aside as we are being identified as heterosexual sinners is more than I can bear,” Koscheski said.
Another clergy delegate from the Dallas diocese, the Rev. Mark Anschutz, rose to speak and apologized for the incident, saying the salting was not the action of the entire Dallas delegation. Koscheski resigned his seat on Saturday, apologizing to the assembly for his actions.
Pope Condemns Gay Pride Celebrations, Asks Clemency for Prison Inmates
(RNS) Pope John Paul II’s bitter denunciation of Gay Pride celebrations in Rome Sunday (July 9) stood in sharp contrast to the loving words he addressed only hours earlier to prison inmates.
On the eve of his departure for a vacation in the mountains of northern Italy, the Roman Catholic pontiff presided at a Mass for inmates of Rome’s Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven) Prison, then leveled an unusually harsh attack on last week’s World Pride Week.
“In the name of the Church of Rome I cannot but express bitterness at the affront to the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 and at the offense to the Christian values of a city that is so dear to the hearts of Catholics throughout the world,” the pope said.
Standing at his study window, the 80-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff addressed some 30,000 pilgrims gathered below in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus prayer.
“The church cannot keep silent over the truth because it would fail in its faith in God the Creator and would not help to discern what is good from what is evil,” John Paul said.
Several hours earlier, the pope greeted 73 prison inmates “with brotherly affection” and said, “I present myself to you as a witness to the love of God.”
Making his third prison visit since he became pope in 1978 to mark the church’s Jubilee in Prisons, John Paul reiterated an appeal for reductions in prison sentences worldwide as a Holy Year gesture, which was contained in a message for the occasion issued June 30.
The pope told the inmates he had a deep conviction that clemency would “encourage a commitment to repentance and press (them) to mend their ways.”
The Vatican for months had been urging the Italian government to cancel or at least delay until after Holy Year the World Pride celebrations that drew tens of thousands of homosexuals, lesbians and transsexuals to Rome.
Authorities withdrew official sponsorship of the events but did not cancel the week of fashion shows, concerts and conferences, which culminated Saturday with a parade past the ancient Colosseum to the Circus Maximus.
Minister of the Interior Enzo Bianco said that about 70,000 people, including a priest, marched in the parade, far less than the 200,000 originally expected.
The priest, the Rev. Vitaliano Della Sala, who traveled to Rome from Naples, said Sunday that he felt bitter over “such a clear lack of tolerance towards the homosexuals.”
“It is sad to think that the homosexuals made no attack on the church or the pope, but it was the pope who produced the invective,” Della Sala said.
John Paul flew Monday (July 10) morning to the village of Les Combes in mountains of the Valle d’Aosta. He will spend 12 days walking in the woods and resting in a house with a view of Mount Blanc, provided by the Salesian Order.
Following his annual visit to the mountains John Paul will move to his summer residence in Castelgandolfo overlooking Lake Albano in the Alban Hills south of Rome.
Pope’s Gunman Calls for Papal Resignation
(RNS) Following a courtroom outburst Monday (July 10) in which he declared the Vatican “the enemy of God” and humanity, the man who shot Pope John Paul II released a letter demanding the pontiff resign as leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
“My dear brother pope, resign! Resign immediately and go back to Poland,” Mehmet Ali Agca wrote in a statement distributed by his lawyer, Reuters news agency reported. “You are a good person but you cannot sit at the head of the Vatican, that rubbish dump of history and the headquarters of the devil.”
The handwritten statement, distributed outside the Turkish courtroom where Agca stood trial for a 1979 armed robbery and vehicle theft, claimed the Vatican was responsible for the attempted murder of the pope in 1981 and had altered the prophecies of Fatima, which the Vatican released earlier this month and which supposedly predicted the assassination attempt.
“My Catholic brothers, I love you, why do you not abandon a Vatican which arranges the assassination of its own pope?” read the statement, which a judge would not allow Agca to read in court.
Agca served nearly 20 years in prison for shooting the pope, and at the pope’s request was granted a pardon from Italy last month. Agca was then extradited to Turkey to finish a 10-year prison sentence for the 1979 murder of a newspaper editor.
After his pardon Agca had said he was thankful for the Roman Catholic church’s support, but during his appearance in court Monday, Agca denounced the Holy See and said the Catholic church was “a betrayal of the Bible, of the messiah and of God.”
“I will make the Vatican Empire _ the enemy of humanity _ feel remorse,” said Agca. “I have launched a cultural war against the Vatican.”
State Church of China Will Not Cede Authority to Vatican
(RNS) The Vatican must break relations with Taiwan if diplomatic relations with China are to resume, but the Holy See will never take the place of China’s official state church, a Chinese government spokeswoman said Friday (July 7).
“Our policy is that China wants to improve relations with the Vatican but two principles must be followed,” said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue. “The Holy See must break diplomatic relations with Taiwan and recognize the People’s Republic of China.”
Zhang’s remarks came as Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji culminated a four-day visit to Italy. The prime minister did not meet with Pope John Paul II or any other papal officials, Zhang said.
Diplomatic ties between China and the Vatican have been severed since the 1950s, and remain deadlocked over the Holy See’s recognition of Taiwan, which China wants incorporated into the mainland. Last year, in an effort to improve relations, the Vatican’s Secretary of State announced the Holy See would consider moving its embassy from the Taiwanese capital to Beijing.
Earlier this year the ordination of seven bishops into China’s state-sanctioned Patriotic Catholic association _ which claims about 4 million members and does not recognize the Pope John Paul II’s authority _ drew an outcry from the Vatican. The practice has long been a thorny issue between the two churches because the Patriotic Catholic Association does not seek papal approval for ordinations.
Zhang said the Vatican should not intefere “in internal Chinese affairs” and also should not exploit “religion to interfere in Chinese affairs.” She said China’s state church will never concede authority to the Vatican.
“I am not an expert on ecclesiastical affairs but I know the Patriotic Association will continue to exist,” said Zhang, adding that the Patriotic Catholic Association reflected “the desire of the mass of Chinese believers” for religious independence.
Michael Hyatt named new publisher of Thomas Nelson Publishers
(RNS) Michael S. Hyatt has been named senior vice president and publisher of Thomas Nelson Publishers, the Nashville, Tenn.-based Christian publishing company.
Hyatt, who begins the new position immediately, replaces Rolf Zettersten who resigned Thursday (July 6). Zettersten plans to start a Christian publishing imprint for Warner Books of New York.
Hyatt, who has been serving as senior vice president of marketing for Thomas Nelson, has worked in the Christian book publishing arena for 23 years and has authored three books.
James Hill, Fairfield Four, dead at 83
(RNS) James Hill, the leader of the gospel group the Fairfield Four, died Thursday (July 6). He was 83.
Hill, a baritone, died at a hospital in Nashville, Tenn. No cause of death was immediately announced.
The group formed in 1921 and gained popularity after Hill joined in the mid-1940s, the Associated Press reported.
After two decades in semi-retirement, the Fairfield Four re-emerged in the 1980s and recorded three albums in the 1990s. The singers were awarded a Grammy in the best traditional soul gospel album category in 1998 for “I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray.” They worked with such celebrities as John Fogerty, Elvis Costello and Johnny Cash.
Born in Bessemer, Ala., Hill lived in Nashville most of his life.
“While others may take the foreground with their singing, James’ spirit was the one guiding the group,” Costello told The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville, Tenn.
Quote of the Day: The Rev. Lowell Almen, secretary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
(RNS) “Ecumenism is not a virus spread by contact.”
_ The Rev. Lowell Almen, secretary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, commenting on the new “full communion” agreement between the ELCA and the Episcopal Church.
DEA END RNS
