c. 2003 Religion News Service
Bishops Set June Deadline for Abuse Policies
WASHINGTON (RNS) In slightly more than three months, all Catholic dioceses in the United States must have in place blueprints to create “safe environment” programs to protect children from sexual abuse.
The nation’s 194 dioceses have until June 20 to finalize their plans on how to protect children, educate parents and investigate church workers with access to children, including priests.
A comprehensive plan must be in place by the beginning of the 2003-2004 school year, according to a directive sent in late February from the Office of Child and Youth Protection, which was established last June by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
All church employees with access to children must sign a written code of conduct and undergo training about children and abuse, including how to prevent, detect, respond to and report suspected abuse.
The guidelines, issued by executive director Kathleen McChesney, also mandate “background investigations of personnel who have regular contact with minors … by a reputable professional agency, law enforcement or social service agency.”
McChesney said that, where legal, background checks should also include asking the employee or volunteer if he or she has ever been accused or investigated for abuse or harassment but not convicted.
The programs should also include training and materials for parents and age-appropriate education programs for children on how to spot inappropriate behavior by adults.
The bishops likely will revisit their new abuse policies when they hold their semi-annual meeting in June in St. Louis. Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the bishops conference, told bishops to expect a churchwide audit on abuse policies, including a preliminary report in early June on the scandal’s cost and scope, as well as another study on the causes of the abuse crisis.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Conservative Christians Suggest Principles for Bush AIDS Policy
(RNS) More than a dozen conservative Christian leaders have applauded President Bush’s global HIV/AIDS initiative and proposed principles for future policy addressing the disease.
“We commend you for proposing the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief,” the leaders said in a recent letter to the president commenting on his $15-billion plan to address the pandemic over a five-year period. “We believe that your principles as outlined are the right approach to stem the tide of this devastating epidemic.”
Leaders such as Prison Fellowship Chairman Chuck Colson and Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, outlined their own principles for global AIDS legislation that reflect their stands for abstinence and against abortion.
They urged that prevention techniques use the “ABC” model that has been successful in Uganda _ focusing on abstinence first, then being faithful to a monogamous partner and, thirdly, condoms.
“Condoms must no longer be treated as a panacea of HIV prevention,” they wrote in the Feb. 27 letter.
The leaders called for separating efforts to treat AIDS from programs that promote abortion.
“The moral integrity and effectiveness of U.S. global AIDS funding must not be threatened by being permitted to be used to subsidize organizations that perform and promote abortion,” they wrote.
The signatories also called for inclusion of faith-based organizations as a key aspect of prevention and treatment programs, protection of victims of sexual violence, and preservation of families.
“Prioritizing treatment for pregnant women and families with children will help alleviate the ever-growing epidemic of AIDS orphans who have lost their parents to HIV and maintain social order,” they wrote.
Other signatories included James Dobson, president of Focus on the Family; Sandy Rios, president of Concerned Women for America; the Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president of governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals; Ken Connor, president of Family Research Council; Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse; and Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America.
_ Adelle M. Banks
New England Bishops Call for Environmental Protection
(RNS) The Episcopal bishops of New England said the region risks losing its treasured fall foliage because of global warming and called on parishioners to work for environmental protection.
In a joint pastoral letter, the 11 bishops of New England said Christians are called to protect God’s creation from acid rain, suburban sprawl, smog and dangerous pesticides.
“Today, the natural world is under assault, forest are being stripped and oceans plundered, natural resources are being exhausted and entire species killed,” the bishops said in the Feb. 27 pastoral letter. “Today, the world is being stripped, beaten and left half dead.”
Global warming threatens to strip the region of its maple, birch and beech trees within the next century, the bishops said. “We face the loss of our spectacular fall colors and the end of fall-foliage tourism, as well as the destruction of our region’s maple sugar industry,” they said.
The bishops of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut said Christians have a sacred obligation to care for the planet by recycling and practicing “environmental stewardship.”
“The land and the rivers, the air and the sea belong to God, not to human beings,” the bishops said. “We are part of the created order, not separated from it, and our first calling by God is to be the caretakers of creation.”
New England Episcopalians have experimented with several forms of “green power” in churches across the region. In Boston’s historic Copley Square, the landmark Trinity Church last year harnessed geothermal energy for cooling and heating that leave the church pollution-free.
The bishops mailed their statement to all members in their dioceses and called for an environmental summit to be held this year.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Researchers Find Colleges Need to Address Moral, Civic Issues More
(RNS) The nation’s colleges and universities need to do more to address moral and civic learning among undergraduates, scholars have concluded after a three-year study.
“Students’ moral and civic development is not a high priority in American higher education,” said Anne Colby, a scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
“We have been struck again and again by the many lost opportunities for moral and civic growth in curricular and extra-curricular programs on most campuses.”
Colby is one of the authors of “Educating Citizens: Preparing America’s Undergraduates for Lives of Moral and Civic Responsibility.”
The authors urge campuses to proactively address such values as truth, mutual respect and tolerance for others in academic life.
“Colleges and universities ought to place these values at the center of their work if they are committed to graduating engaged and responsible citizens,” said Tom Ehrlich, another author and scholar at the foundation in Menlo Park, Calif.
The authors examined practices at more than 100 colleges and universities nationwide and did more extensive study of a dozen campuses that have made moral and civic development a core part of their educational programs.
They recommend integrating civic and moral issues into the curriculum and using extracurricular activities such as leadership development programs and political and service clubs as strategies to prepare socially responsible, civic-minded graduates.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Anti-War Sentiment Brings Irish Muslims, Christians Together
(UNDATED) (RNS) Despite fierce winds that forced the cancellation of a planned march through the village, more than 100 Christians and Muslims prayed together for peace last Saturday in the fishing village of Spiddal, 12 miles west of Galway, Ireland.
Imam Khalid Sallabi of the Galway mosque and members of his congregation joined Canon Tom Cadhain and his parishioners in the Catholic church.
In response to the canon’s welcome, the imam answered in Irish: “… tranquillity and peace be with you in abundance.”
He urged the congregation not to give up the struggle for peace.
After Christians and Muslims had exchanged a sign of peace, a dozen prayer mats were laid out and the Muslims turned away from the altar to face Mecca in prayer.
Meanwhile despite the rain at least 10,000 people turned out in Manchester, England, on Saturday for an anti-war rally _ one of several held in towns and cities throughout Britain. Anglican Bishop Nigel McCulloch, warned: “No conclusive case has yet been made in favour of unilateral military action by the United States with the United Kingdom.”
Such military action cannot be morally justified at this time.”
With the bishop was Afzal Khan, of the Manchester Council of Mosques and also representing the Muslim Council of Great Britain.
“We are united in our belief that all pressure on Iraq must be through the United Nations and that no moral case has been made for any kind of unilateral action spearheaded by the United States and the United Kingdom,”said McCulloch.
Meanwhile, Roman Catholics in the British armed forces have been assured by Bishop Tom Burns that if they are ordered to invade Iraq they could regard an order to go to battle as “morally decent, in pursuit of a morally good purpose.”
In his Lenten pastoral letter Burns said the Iraq crisis has led everyone to examine their consciences, “particularly those of us serving in the armed forces.”
Stressing war is “always a tragedy and a defeat,” Burns said it must be a last resort, a point only reached when all other measures had either proved ineffective or were doomed to be ineffective.
Noting that in their recent joint statement Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, archbishop of Westminster, and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams had judged that the case for war as a last resort had not yet been demonstrated, the bishop said the practical question to be faced was whether the process of weapons inspection had now run its course or whether even at this stage Iraq would be prepared to cooperate sufficiently.
“If in spite of every attempt Saddam still refused to obey the will of the international community, it might then be possible to argue that all options other than military action had been exhausted,” Burns wrote. “The armed forces, tragically, would be called upon to do their duty.
“In such a case it would be most important to note that the archbishops have recognized that it is for the government to make the final decision. This is not the responsibility of church leaders or military commanders.
“Accordingly, if the government did indeed order the invasion of Iraq, this would be a legitimate order by a legitimate government. To obey it would not conflict with the church’s teaching.
_ Robert Nowell
Quote of the Day: Kansas City, Mo., Pastor J. Lowell Harrup
(RNS) “We would, in no way, try to hold on to funds that were illegally gained. You don’t build a church that way.”
_ J. Lowell Harrup, senior pastor of the Northland Cathedral in Kansas City, Mo., which plans to give away $600,000 it received from convicted former pharmacist Robert Courtney who diluted drugs to raise money to meet his pledge for the church building fund. Harrup, who is giving the money to victims of Courtney’s scheme, was quoted by the Associated Press.
DEA END RNS