c. 2003 Religion News Service
Israeli Astronaut Carries Torah Scroll on Shuttle
(RNS) Ilan Ramon, the air force colonel who is the first Israeli ever to fly on a space shuttle mission, is carrying with him a miniature Torah scroll that, along with its owner, survived the Holocaust.
Ramon, who is part of a 16-day mission aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, has made several gestures to dedicate his flight to solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people.
Before he left, Ramon consulted a rabbi for advice on how to observe the Sabbath in space, and he is carrying a dollar bill from the Lubavitcher Rebbe _ believed to have protective powers _ with him on the flight, which left Jan. 16.
The Torah scroll belongs to Yehoyahin Yosef, a professor of planetary physics at Tel Aviv University. Yosef, who is working with Ramon on a scientific experiment aboard the shuttle, is also a survivor of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
When he was a young boy in the camp, Yosef was given a miniature Torah scroll by a rabbi who shared his barrack. The rabbi, who died in the camp, taught Yosef from the Torah, preparing him for his bar mitzvah at age 13.
While meeting at Yosef’s home to discuss the experiment two years ago, Ramon apparently noticed the scroll and asked if he could take it, along with a journal of Yosef’s, on the flight as a symbol of the survival of the Jewish people.
_ Holly Lebowitz Rossi
Newark Archbishop Bans Eulogies at Funerals
NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) It began slowly in the 1970s and has evolved into a common and cherished feature of many Roman Catholic funerals, a few short words of remembrance delivered by a loved one from the altar at the end of the Mass.
But now, Archbishop of Newark John J. Myers has decided eulogies should not be part of the funeral Mass because some speeches have become too long and do not often address the spiritual aspect of the deceased.
In a directive sent to priests in the state’s largest diocese last week, Myers recommended eulogies be delivered during the wake, at the burial site or at a side chapel before the Mass begins.
“They were beginning to creep into the funeral Mass itself and take away from the solemnity of the rite and taking away from the focus of the Mass, which is faith and the promise of new life,” said Jim Goodness, a spokesman for Myers.
The directive appears to rule out eulogies delivered after Holy Communion and before the funeral procession out of the church as allowed by church doctrine.
Over the past several days, the decree has prompted some funeral homes and priests to tell families that eulogies are prohibited, upsetting some mourners.
But in an interview Wednesday (Jan. 22), Goodness clarified the directive, saying brief statements will still be allowed at the end of the Mass, as spelled out in the church’s Order of Christian Funerals.
“It’s not a barring of eulogies,” Goodness said. “That is still an option that’s open to pastors.”
According to the written directive, Myers said the measure was needed to address what he called the “growing abuse” as requests for eulogies have increased. Some of the problems cited by church officials include instances of five or six speakers during one Mass delivering eulogies lasting more than an hour or people becoming too emotional to speak.
Myers’ decree reminded priests that the funeral homily or sermon should not be a mere eulogy but should focus on the message of Jesus.
Other New Jersey dioceses, including the Diocese of Paterson and the Diocese of Metuchen, have attempted to address similar problems. Both have instructed priests to limit eulogies to one short speech by a single speaker and ask that written remarks be submitted to the priest for review ahead of time. But they still allow eulogies at the end of the Mass.
“We are trying to walk a fine line between respecting the liturgy and respecting the desires of the family who want to reminisce or say something in tribute,” said Monsignor William Benwell, vicar general of the Diocese of Metuchen. “Our own bishop’s stance is to try to take that balance, that middle approach.”
_ Brian Donohue
Focus on Family Pushes `Shepherd’s Covenant’
(RNS) Concerned that denominations and local churches aren’t holding pastors to high enough moral standards, Focus on the Family is courting 50,000 pastors to adopt a “Shepherd’s Covenant” for greater accountability.
“Everywhere we look, we see (pastors with) marriage problems, infidelity, pornography,” said H.B. London, vice president of ministry outreach and pastoral ministry. “Nearly every one of them has unresolved issues at home, little time alone with the Lord and little accountability. … This is about building a hedge of protection around your ministry and your family.”
Pastors who sign the five-point covenant and wear the shepherd’s crook lapel pin as a sign of their pledge would first and foremost be availing themselves of peer scrutiny. They would promise to have “colleagues in our lives who will ask us hard questions and allow us to do the same with them.”
Holding pastors accountable to vows taken during ordination has traditionally been the domain of local churches or denominations that confer ordained standing on clergy. But because the Gallup Poll shows clergy approval at an all-time low, London said, the need for fresh accountability standards seems clear.
“We’re going to plead for denominations to use this covenant with their pastors,” London said. “We don’t care who gets the credit.”
In pledging also to maintain good relationships, be vigilant, and have a “shepherd’s heart” and an “intimate” relationship with God, pastors would theoretically make their covenant with denominational officials or with lay leaders in a local parish.
Since announcing its program via e-mail earlier this month (January), Focus on the Family is reporting interest from about 1,500 pastors. To enroll 50,000 participants, Focus on the Family is prepared to spend $84,000 on program administration, London said.
Focus on the Family is a nondenominational, evangelical organization based in Colorado Springs, Colo.
_ G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Religious Alliance Provides Fossil Fuel Alternative
(RNS) Maine residents and businesses no longer have to depend on the burning of fossil fuels to power their computers and toasters.
That’s because an alliance of 12 religious organizations Thursday (Jan. 23) rolled out two new options for those willing to pay more for energy from “green” _ or renewable _ sources.
“We don’t need to build complicated, and some would say dangerous, nuclear power plants or rely on foreign oil for our energy,” said Erika Morgan, a board member and technical adviser for Maine Interfaith Power & Light. “We have all we need. This is a homegrown alternative to the oil addiction we have.”
Maine’s electricity marketplace, deregulated since March 2000, allows power generators to sell directly to customers. So far, however, the only seller of green power discontinued the venture after one year because only about 100 customers came forward to pay the 20 percent higher price.
Now the faith community is banking on its clientele being more comfortable with electricity shopping and more receptive to its tailored options, even though its rates will be at least 25 percent higher than the competition’s.
Under one plan, customers would pay 6.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for power generated from Maine’s wood-burning plants and from dozens of small dams on the state’s rivers. A second option would enable customers to buy a portion of their energy, however much they choose, from wind and solar generators in the Pacific Northwest at a rate of 6.9 cents per kilowatt-hour. Customers who make no selection receive a default option from Central Maine Power Co., which sells power from fossil fuel sources at 4.9 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Maine Interfaith Power & Light has more than 1,300 customers, including 90 churches, on record as saying they would be interested enough to pay more for green power. If those buyers do indeed choose one of the faith community’s new options, Morgan said, the venture will be economically viable.
_ G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Egan, Bevilacqua Criticized for Abuse Policies
(RNS) A national group of sexual abuse victims said the cardinals of New York and Philadelphia need to improve the way they handle sex abuse cases in their archdioceses.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) criticized Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua for not including their suggestions in set of proposed reforms to address the issue.
An 11-member archdiocesan review board submitted a list of recommended improvements to Bevilacqua, including hiring victims’ advocates, avoiding confidential settlements and notifying parishes when priests are accused of abuse.
“We met with them for four hours and not one of our recommendations is in this report,” John Salveson, coordinator of the Philadelphia SNAP chapter, told the Associated Press. Salveson said he wants to advertise for abuse groups in church bulletins.
In New York, members of a church-sponsored National Review Board said Cardinal Edward Egan would not attend a routine meeting with them and prohibited them from attending a Catholic dinner.
Members of the 13-member board, appointed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to oversee reforms, said Egan did not celebrate Mass for the group, prevented some members from attending a Knights of Malta dinner and kept the bishops’ child abuse supervisor from addressing a Manhattan church.
“We certainly mean no disrespect to him, but we have a job to do and we’re going to do it, and we want and expect his full cooperation,” board member Robert Bennett told The New York Times. Board members are conducting a series of meetings with U.S. bishops on new sex abuse policies.
Egan spokesman Joseph Zwilling said scheduling conflicts prevented the cardinal from meeting with the group, and said the dinner request was turned down because he didn’t want the group to bring unwanted publicity to the Knights, a Catholic fraternal group.
David Cerulli, the SNAP coordinator in New York, said, “It seems that the cardinal is more concerned with preserving his perceived authority and independence than with keeping children safe.”
Quote of the Day: Maryland State Sen. Ida G. Ruben
(RNS) “We have had some of the most beautiful invocations in the past that haven’t addressed any specific Lord or God or whatever you want to call it and I think it would be a shame if that stopped.”
_ Sen. Ida G. Ruben, a Democratic state senator in Maryland, addressing the interest of some senators in changing the guidelines for the opening prayer for its legislative business. She was quoted by The Washington Post.
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