c. 2003 Religion News Service

Archbishop of Canterbury Appeals for Unity

(RNS) The archbishop of Canterbury, faced with a deepening split between conservative Third World churches and liberal Western churches in the Anglican Communion, appealed to his archbishops to maintain unity.

Archbishop Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of the world’s 70 million Anglican Christians, said the 38 churches in the Anglican Communion “need more than ever to pay attention to one another.”

“What makes this a significant time in the Communion is that a number of the choices faced by various provinces are choices that will clearly take us either nearer real communion or further from it,” Williams said in a letter sent Wednesday (July 23) to the primates, or leaders, of each church.

The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion.

Williams was responding indirectly to a statement issued the same day in Fairfax, Va., by six primates and 15 Episcopal bishops from the United States on the eve of the Episcopalians’ General Convention.

The conservatives’ statement promised a “dramatic realignment” of the global church if the Episcopalians allow an openly gay priest to serve as the next bishop of New Hampshire, or allow the blessing of same-sex unions.

Third World leaders, especially in Africa and Asia, oppose the Western church’s liberal policies on homosexuality. They cut ties with a Canadian diocese after it allowed the blessing of gay unions, and forced the withdrawal of an openly gay bishop-elect in the Church of England.

The leader of the U.S. church, Episcopal Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, did not respond directly to the conservatives’ threats, but in his own letter to the primates on Tuesday asked them to resist “efforts that have been made to draw you into this impending debate.”

At least one African primate, Archbishop Ndungane Njongonkulo of Cape Town, South Africa, dismissed the conservatives’ threats. “I believe that it is wrong and contrary to our Anglican tradition and understanding of canon law to presume to interfere in the affairs of another province. Such actions are a major threat to the fabric of our Communion. Let us respect the integrity of each province,” he said.

Williams, who personally holds a more liberal attitude toward homosexuality but has vowed to uphold church teaching against homosexual acts, told the primates that if they value the Communion, “we are bound by our duties and responsibilities as bishops to care for its survival and coherence.”

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Couple Files Suit Over Rejection of Religious Text on Brick

CHICAGO (RNS) A Chicago couple filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday (June 22) after the Chicago Park District rejected their proposed inscription on a commemorative brick because it contained a religious message.

When their local park district announced a “buy a brick” fund-raising campaign for a new playground last fall, Mildred and Robert Tong wrote out a check for $50 and filled out a form for the brick’s inscription: “Missy, EB, and Baby: Jesus is the cornerstone. Love, Mom & Dad.”

A few days later, on Oct. 12, 2002, they received a call from the local park district saying the religious message might be “problematic.” And in March 2003, they received a notice from the Chicago Park District stating, “Your religious message poses serious constitutional problems for the Park District.”

“They sent us a letter saying that we needed to change our message or get our money back,” Mildred Tong said. Tong said that she and her husband asked a lawyer friend to do some research into the issue. He concluded that the play lot was a “public forum” and the message should be allowed.

After the Park District refused the Tongs’ request that they reconsider the decision, the couple contacted the Washington-based Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty, which agreed to represent them.

The lawsuit claims the Park District violated the Tongs’ rights of free speech and free exercise of religion. Besides requesting an injunction allowing their message to be displayed, the Tongs asked for $1 in damages.

Lupe Garcia, general counsel for the Park District, told the Chicago Tribune that district guidelines do not allow religious or political messages on commemorative signs.

The Tongs are members of the Moody Memorial Church, a nondenominational evangelical congregation. Mildred Tong says she doesn’t think their message would “convert anyone” but hopes it “might spark someone to ask questions about Jesus.” She said that she and her family go to Senn Park, located two blocks from their home, several times a week.

There have been similar disputes over religious messages in public “buy a brick” campaigns in Tennessee, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia and Washington state. After noticing several paving tiles with religious messages at the Redmond, Wash., public library, Matthew Barry bought four tiles of his own in protest, inscribed with messages like “First Amendment: Keep Church & State Separate” and “Jehovah, Allah, Zeus, Thor & Brahma. They’re All Myths.”

_ Bob Smietana

Survey: Americans Do a Good Deed About Every Three Days

(RNS) About once every three days, the average American is likely to do a good deed, according to a study released Friday (July 25) by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

The altruism study counted as charitable acts everything from helping out around the house and donating money to charity to lending an ear to a friend having a rough go of it.

Those most likely to give unto others: regular churchgoers and other worshippers.

In fact, weekly service attendees performed 33 percent more altruistic acts in 2002 than those who refrained from worship, the study showed. To study author Tom W. Smith, that was not an altogether surprising discovery, considering the philanthropic message of most places of worship.

“For most religions, an important part of the belief system is an admonition to love other people and to do good deeds,” Smith said. “The people who attend weekly services hear that quite a lot.”

Turns out it didn’t so much matter whether they heard that message from churches in the small towns of America’s Heartland or in its fast-paced cities, where just about everyone’s a stranger. Residents of both locales were just as likely to help others out, the study showed.

Likewise, men and women were equally willing, or unwilling, as the case may be, to reach out.

Smith set out thinking that individuals who hold socially liberal values probably would be the most likely to practice socially liberal acts. But those beliefs had little influence in determining who was the most benevolent.

The altruism study, which surveyed 1,366 people of all faiths, also delved into matters of empathy and compassion _ areas where gender ended up making a big difference.

Almost half of the women responding said they were disturbed by the problems of others, while only 25 percent of men surveyed empathized with others’ bad experiences.

The research was part of the National Opinion Research Center’s General Social Survey, of which Smith is the director. The General Social Survey is an in-person survey of American adults conducted every year or two.

_ Emily Dagostino

UCLA to Study College Students’ Religious Practices

(RNS) Researchers at UCLA will spend $1.9 million to survey the religious habits and attitudes of college students, an area they say has been largely ignored by campus leaders.

The school’s Higher Education Research Institute plans to survey 90,000 students on 150 public, private and religious campuses in the fall of 2004. A preliminary study of 3,700 juniors at 46 schools was completed last spring to help focus the survey.

“Higher education today has increasingly neglected students’ `inner’ development _ the sphere of values and beliefs, emotional maturity, spirituality and self-awareness that are fundamental to their capacity to understand others,” said the institute’s director, Alexander Astin, who will lead the study with his wife, Helen Astin.

Researchers plan to ask how many students are “actively searching and curious about spiritual issues,” how often they attend religious services and which rituals or religious behaviors are most attractive to students. Researchers also want to know what role doubt plays in students’ spiritual journeys, and whether school or peer pressure “get in the way” of spiritual development.

“The spiritual growth of students, in the broadest sense, receives virtually no attention in discussions about educational reform,” Alexander Astin said.

The study, which does not have a final release date yet, is funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Covenant House Names New President

(RNS) Covenant House, the nation’s largest shelter for runaway youths, has named a nun from South Dakota as its new president.

Sister Patricia A. Cruise, currently executive vice president of the Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, S.D., will become the new president of Covenant House in September.

The New York-based charity was founded in 1972 and operates runaway shelters in 15 U.S. cities and six centers in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Canada. Last year Covenant House helped 66,000 youths with a budget of $120 million.

Cruise, a member of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, replaces Sister Mary Rose McGeady, who is retiring after 15 years. McGeady was named president in 1990 when the agency’s founder, the late Rev. Bruce Ritter, was forced to resign after several young men accused him of abuse. He died in 1999 and charges were never filed.

Cruise said she shares McGeady’s vision. “I am keenly aware that that vision is permeated with a boundless concern for young people in need and a single-minded commitment to give their lives new hope and meaning,” Cruise said in a statement. “I share that same concern and that same commitment.”

Brian McAuley, chairman of the board of directors, thanked McGeady “for her leadership and we celebrate her achievements. We are thankful for the strong organization she leaves us which will be the platform for even greater progress in the future.”

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Quote of the Day: Editorial in National Catholic Reporter

(RNS) “Any other institution in this society _ government, business, nonprofit _ would rightly show these men the door. Enron was a catastrophe, but Ken Lay is now unemployed; Howell Raines no longer edits The New York Times. It’s called accountability.”

_ National Catholic Reporter, an independent newsweekly, calling for the resignation of five bishops _ John McCormack of Manchester, N.H.; Thomas Daily of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Robert Banks of Green Bay, Wis.; William Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y.; and Alfred Hughes of New Orleans _ who previously served as auxiliary bishops under Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston. All six were implicated in a report by Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly for not doing more to protect children from abusive priests.

DEA END RNS