c. 2003 Religion News Service
Disciples Leader to Resign in October
(RNS) Saying he does not have the energy to continue in his job, the top executive of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) said he will resign his post this fall, two years before his 12-year term expires.
The Rev. Richard L. Hamm, general minister and president of the 800,000-member church, said the church needs a leader who can take a “fundamentally new look” at how to move the denomination forward.
“I have neither the time in office nor the reserve of energy necessary to lead Disciples in the kind of change we now must make to move boldly forward the vision before us,” Hamm said Wednesday (Feb. 26) in a letter to the church.
Hamm said he has completed the work he was called to when he was elected to the post in 1993. Hamm is widely credited with soothing differences in the church, helping to battle institutional racism and launching the Disciples on an aggressive church-planting campaign.
The Disciples have started more than 100 new churches in the past two years, up from an annual average of five or six in previous years. The goal is to start 1,000 new congregations by 2020.
Despite the progress, Hamm said he is “tired” and needs a little “rest for the weary.” Hamm said his health is fine, he is not “discouraged” and he was not forced out of the job.
Hamm, 55, said he will remain in office until October, when the church is scheduled to hold its biennial General Assembly meeting in Charlotte, N.C. The church’s moderator, the Rev. Alvin O. Jackson, said he will convene a task force to consider the next steps and transition process.
“God called Dick to this ministry at a critical time in the life and work of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ,” Jackson said. “His judicious and compassionate ministry served to heal division, renew the bonds of trust and forge new relationships befitting a faith community that claims to be one in the spirit of God.”
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Presbyterian Minister Fred Rogers, Children’s Program Host, Dead at 74
(RNS) The Rev. Fred Rogers, the popular host of the children’s TV program “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and a minister of the Presbyterian Church (USA), died Thursday (Feb. 27). He was 74.
Rogers had recently been diagnosed with stomach cancer, the Associated Press reported.
He was a neighbor to the nation’s children on the show he produced from 1968 to 2000 at Pittsburgh public television station WQED. The final new episode was taped at the end of 2000 and aired the following August, but PBS affiliates continued to air old episodes.
“I have never really considered myself a TV star,” Rogers said in a 1995 interview. “I always thought I was a neighbor who just came in for a visit.”
The Emmy Award-winning children’s advocate came out of retirement to record public service announcements advising parents on how to help their children cope with the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
His advocacy included setting up a playroom at a state prison in Pittsburgh that could be used by children during family visits.
Rogers, a native of Latrobe, Pa., was ordained in 1962 by the Pittsburgh Presbytery with a charge to continue to minister to children and families through his television work. Prior to his well-known show, he was an unseen puppeteer on a local WQED show.
“He not only served as a neighbor and friend to viewers but was held in great esteem by many members of the Presbyterian Church and a variety of folks in the television industry,” said the Rev. Jim Mead, pastor to Pittsburgh Presbytery, in a statement.
In an interview in the March 1998 issue of Presbyterians Today magazine, Rogers spoke about how his faith and work intertwined.
Before taping each show he would pray to God: “Let some word that is said be yours.”
He attended seminary for eight years, taking Bible and theology courses on his lunch breaks.
Rogers told the magazine that he believed Jesus welcomed children and the church should, too: “I think Jesus delighted in the presence of children.”
_ Adelle M. Banks
Pope Changes Rules to Allow Expedited Abuse Trials
(RNS) Pope John Paul II has quietly changed church law to make it easier for abusive priests to be removed from the priesthood.
In a Feb. 7 decision, the pope gave greater authority to the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to “laicize” a priest who admits the abuse, or if it involves a particularly serious offense.
The rule change allows the priest to be removed without a church trial, an option that had previously only been available to the pope himself. In addition, the pope will now allow trained lay people or deacons to serve on church tribunals, which previously had been restricted to priests.
“I think they want to make the procedures as user-friendly as possible,” Monsignor Francis Maniscalco, spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told The New York Times. “They are taking into account that not every bishop has the resources” for tribunals composed only of priests.
The decision, which was first reported by the independent National Catholic Reporter, is an outgrowth of new sex abuse rules adopted last year by the American bishops. The bishops had asked for the trial process to be streamlined in exchange for giving accused priests greater legal protection.
In Boston, the epicenter of last year’s sex abuse scandal, Cardinal Bernard Law and one of his top former deputies were grilled by a grand jury that is mulling whether to file criminal charges against the church for its handling of the abuse problem.
Law resigned as archbishop last December for his role in the scandal, but spent a full day on Tuesday (Feb. 25) answering questions from jurors. On Wednesday, New Orleans Archbishop Alfred Hughes, a former top aid to Law, spent nine hours in front of the same jury.
Bishop John McCormack of Manchester, N.H., another former Law deputy, again rebuffed calls for his resignation. McCormack has come under heavy fire for his handling of the abuse cases, but said Tuesday that “I am not deaf to those who have called me to leave, but I do not see doing so as consistent with who we are as a church or who I am,” according to the Associated Press.
Still another former Law deputy, Bishop Robert Banks of Green Bay, Wis., offered to resign to the pope in accordance with mandatory retirement at age 75. “I feel too young to be handing in my resignation of Green Bay, but 75 seems to be a reasonable age to ask for someone’s retirement,” he said.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Pope Meets Spanish, Iranian Leaders on Iraq Crisis
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope John Paul II met with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and a high Iranian official Thursday (Feb. 27) and urged redoubled efforts to seek a peaceful solution to the Iraq crisis.
Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, the pope’s foreign minister, called envoys of the 175 countries that have relations with the Holy See to a briefing to explain why the Vatican would consider a U.S.-led war against Iraq “a crime against peace.”
Aznar and Sayyed Mohammad Reza Khatami, vice president of the Iranian parliament, brought to six the number of leaders who have met with the 82-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff this month to discuss the growing threat of war in Iraq. In Washington, however, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Monday the pope’s views would not affect President Bush’s judgment on the need for war.
The Spanish prime minister explained his support for Washington’s threat of force to strip Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and remove President Saddam Hussein from power. Khatami delivered a letter from Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, his brother, expressing fear over the consequences of such a conflict.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in a written statement that the meeting of about 30 minutes between the pope and Aznar was “cordial” and they agreed “on the gravity of the situation created in Iraq and on the necessity for a solution.”
“The Holy Father hopes that all the parties involved _ without exception _ will adopt just decisions and undertake initiatives that are peacefully effective and conform to justice, inspired by international law and ethical principles,” it said.
Aznar, explaining his government’s policy, underlined to the pope and later to Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, and Tauran the need for common action under the auspices of the United Nations to avert “the threat of terrorism,” the statement said. “On such arguments, a convergence of opinions with the Holy See was noted.”
The Vatican said that the pope and Khatami exchanged “opinions on the necessity to safeguard peace in the Middle East area.” Vatican sources said the Iranian government had requested the meeting to discuss the Iraq crisis.
Khatami told reporters before the audience that Tehran’s position was “very close” to the Vatican’s. Iran and Iraq fought a bloody eight-year war in the 1980s over disputed territory. If there is a new war, Khatami said, “Iran will remain completely neutral.” It will provide only humanitarian aid, he said.
The Iranian official described Saddam as a “threat to international security” and the leader of “a dictatorial regime” but said these are not sufficient grounds for a conflict that could destabilize the region, endanger Iran’s reformist government and polarize religious groups.
_ Peggy Polk
Supreme Court Rules RICO Incorrectly Applied to Anti-Abortion Groups
(RNS) Groups on opposite sides of the abortion issue had varying reactions to the Supreme Court’s decision Wednesday (Feb. 26) that a federal racketeering law was wrongly used to halt abortion opponents such as Operation Rescue.
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, writing for a 8-1 majority, said there is no disagreement that abortion protesters interfered with operations at abortion clinics and committed crimes in some cases, the Associated Press reported.
“But even when their acts of interference and disruption achieved their ultimate goal of `shutting down’ a clinic that performed abortions, such acts did not constitute extortion,” he wrote.
Conservative Christian groups cheered the decision concerning the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
“The court was right to say that those who oppose the slaughter of innocent life should not be treated like racketeers,” said Focus on the Family President James Dobson.
Several groups supporting the verdict said it would help other kinds of protesters as well.
“Not only will abortion protesters be free from the threat of future RICO suits, protesters of all causes will not have to labor under such threats,” said Catholic League President William Donohue.
The president of the National Organization for Women, which was among the groups that sued Operation Rescue and others, criticized the “shocking decision” and said NOW would continue to work to see that the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act is enforced.
“We will use whatever is at our disposal to see to it that religious and political extremists do not resume their reign of terror at women’s clinics,” said Kim Gandy of NOW.
Officials of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and the American Humanist Association, vowed similar responses.
“This is clearly a setback to women who may now, or in the future, need the services of a health clinic,” said Tony Hileman, executive director of the American Humanist Association.
Ken Connor, president of the conservative Family Research Council, said that violent acts against abortion clinics can be prosecuted without the use of RICO.
“What NOW and other pro-abortion groups want to do is threaten pro-lifers with financial ruin in order to silence debate,” he said.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Quote of the Day: “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” Host and Presbyterian Minister Fred Rogers
(RNS) “I have a very modulated way of dealing with my anger. I have always tried to understand the other person and invariably I’ve discovered that somebody who rubs you the wrong way has been rubbed the wrong way many times.”
_ Fred Rogers, host of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and Pittsburgh-based Presbyterian minister, who died Thursday (Feb. 27). He was quoted by the Associated Press.
DEA END RNS
