c. 2003 Religion News Service

Survey: Two-thirds of Homeless on Streets for Less Than a Year

(RNS) Almost two-thirds of homeless people say they have been on the streets for less than a year and more than a third are experiencing homelessness for the first time, the annual survey by the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions reported.

The 15th annual Snapshot Survey of the Homeless, released Tuesday (Nov. 11), found that 65 percent of homeless people have been without a place to live for less than a year, an increase from 2002 when 59 percent made that claim.

Thirty-seven percent have never before been homeless, an increase from the previous year, when 32 percent said they were homeless for the first time.

The annual survey involved more than 20,000 homeless people across North America. It was conducted at more than 150 rescue missions affiliated with the association, which is based in North Kansas City, Mo.

The state of the economy was a significant factor for some respondents, with 38 percent of them attributing their homelessness to it. Sixty-one percent said it was harder to find a job today than six months ago.

The majority of homeless families _ 57 percent _ include women with children, an almost equal percentage as the year before.

Families including a father, mother and children make up 26 percent of the families served, an increase from 2001 when they made up 17 percent of families served.

“The loss of a job can affect more than just the worker,” said the Rev. Steve Burger, executive director of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions, in a statement.

“Whole families are coming to the rescue mission for help.”

_ Adelle M. Banks

Pope Condemns Bombing of Italian Troops in Iraq as `Vile Attack’

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope John Paul II on Wednesday (Nov. 12) condemned as a “vile attack” the bombing of an Italian military headquarters at Nasiriyah in southern Iraq near the ruins of the biblical city of Ur of the Chaldeans.

The bombing early Wednesday claimed 23 lives. At least 15 Italian troops and eight Iraqis were killed and 15 Italians and 12 Iraqis wounded.

The Roman Catholic pontiff sent a telegram of condolence to Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi expressing his “deep sorrow” over the deaths of paramilitary Carabinieri and soldiers “generously carrying out their peace mission.”

In an indication of his personal concern, the Polish-born pope signed the telegram himself. Normally, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, sends condolence messages in the pope’s name.

“I learned with deep sorrow the news of the vile attack at Nasiriyah in Iraq where Italian Carabinieri and soldiers lost their lives while generously carrying out their peace mission,” the pope said.

“I express my most firm condemnation of this new act of violence, which, added to other brutal gestures carried out in this tormented country, does not aid its pacification and the recovery,” he said.

John Paul, who strongly opposed the U.S.-led war against Iraq, said he sent his “prayerful solidarity” to Italian military and civil personnel engaged in “the difficult task of service” to Iraqis.

Flags were lowered to half-staff at public buildings in Rome, and both houses of Parliament observed a moment of silence. The Italian Olympic Committee asked athletes to wear black armbands this week and begin matches with a moment of silence.

Although millions of Italians demonstrated against the war, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi supported Washington. Italian peacekeeping troops began arriving in Iraq in June and now total 2,500, most of them based in southern Iraq.

Nasiriyah, where U.S. Pvt. Jessica Lynch was kidnapped and rescued during the war, is located on the Euphrates River 230 miles south of Baghdad and near the archaeological site of Ur, which, according to the Bible, was the home of the Prophet Abraham.

The pope had hoped to start his Holy Year 2000 pilgrimage to biblical sites at Ur, but Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said a United Nations economic embargo against Iraq and the no-fly zones imposed by the United States and Britain made a papal visit impossible.

One of the Middle East’s most important collections of ancient Sumerian, Assyrian and and Babylonian artifacts is housed in a museum in the city of Nasiriyah, which was founded in 1870 by Sheik Nasir Sadun.

_ Peggy Polk

Arab Volunteers Save Lives of Orthodox Jewish Infants

JERUSALEM (RNS) Two dozen Arabs are being credited with helping to save the lives of Orthodox Jewish infants Friday night (Nov. 7) after Israel’s Ministry of Health determined imported infant baby formula may have caused the deaths of three other infants and neurological damage in several others.

Ministry officials urgently needed a way to reach Orthodox Jewish consumers of the formula during the sabbath, which began at sundown on Friday. During Shabbat, religious Jews do not use the telephone or turn on a radio or television.

Ministry officials deemed the matter especially urgent because ultra-Orthodox Jews have many children and consume large quantities of the nondairy, soy-based formula made in Germany.

Despite it being the weekend, ministry officials contacted Zaka, a religiously run organization that aids in the rescue, recovery and body-part identification of accident and terror victims, as well as Magen David Adom, the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross.

The organizations in turn recruited two dozen Arab drivers who frequently volunteer to drive emergency vehicles during Shabbat and holidays, ensuring that Jewish volunteers do not have to desecrate the sabbath.

With the blessing of the a leading rabbi, Arab volunteers drove to Orthodox neighborhoods around the country and, using loudspeakers, warned parents to immediately stop using the formula.

A Zaka spokesman told RNS that “we are a national organization and are always eager to help both Jews and Arabs. When necessary, we are happy to be aided by them as well.”

_ Michele Chabin

Bishops’ Lawyer Warns Against Threat to Religious Freedom

WASHINGTON (RNS) The top lawyer for the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops warned Wednesday (Nov. 12) that religious freedom is under attack from opponents who want to “force people to choose between God and government.”

Mark Chopko, general counsel for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said all religions are threatened when Catholic hospitals or employers are forced to provide abortions or contraceptives against church teaching.

“We cannot allow the principle of religious freedom and the tradition of making accommodations for conscience to be eroded,” Chopko said. “Forcing people to choose between government and God has never been the American way, nor should it be now.”

On Dec. 2, the California Supreme Court will hear an appeal from Catholic Charities on whether they _ along with Catholic hospitals and universities _ should be required to provide contraceptives to employees. A similar case is pending in New York.

Chopko said church institutions have been threatened with loss of tax-exempt status or denied access to tax-free bonds unless church teachings were not enforced. He also said church-run social service agencies should be allowed to hire only Catholics, a provision that has been heavily debated in President Bush’s faith-based initiative.

In earlier speeches, Chopko said the church’s sexual abuse scandal has weakened its public position and made it vulnerable to state-imposed changes to its internal rules.

“The trends I describe, left unchecked, will hurt everyone,” he said. “It is desperately clear that religious people must support each other, whether they perceive the threat to them personally as real or imminent.”

Bishops said the church must be more vigilant, especially when it comes to the issue of abortion. “There have been times when we have been entirely too benign, in fact supine, in dealing with the government and our rights,” said Bishop Joseph Martino of Scranton, Pa.

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Southwestern Seminary Professors Move to New Institute

(RNS) Four professors of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary have resigned from the Fort Worth, Texas, school and become faculty members of the new B.H. Carroll Theological Institute.

The new school was started by former leaders of the Southern Baptist seminary, reported Associated Baptist Press, an independent news service.

Bruce Corley, who had served at the seminary as a New Testament professor, has been named president.

The appointments of Corley and the three other professors are effective Jan. 1.

The institute’s faculty members were announced by Scotty Gray, the institute’s director who is a retired Southwestern dean, and Russell Dilday, who was fired as president of Southwestern in 1994 by theologically conservative trustees.

Organizers said the institute, named for the founder of Southwestern, will use “teaching churches” instead of a residential campus and will use the Internet for some of its instruction. Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas was named the first teaching church.

Organizers have said in the past that the school would be “Baptist in orientation” but not affiliated with any organization.

Southwestern Seminary President Paige Patterson said in a statement that he wished the departing faculty members well “in every noble enterprise they attempt for Christ.”

Quote of the Day: P.O.D. (Payable on Death) Band Member Sonny Sandoval

(RNS) “I believe in Christ with all my heart, mind and soul. But when people label you `Christian rock,’ it’s segregation, and it tells somebody who doesn’t believe that they can’t listen to this music because we write for Christians. We never have.”

_ Sonny Sandoval, a singer with the band P.O.D. (Payable on Death), a group that is vocal about its Christian beliefs but does not want to be labeled as a Christian band. He was quoted by USA Today.

DEA END RNS