c. 2003 Religion News Service
Presbyterians to Launch Second Probe of Missionary Children Abuse
(RNS) The Presbyterian Church (USA), which last year documented scores of abuse cases against missionary children in the Congo, will launch a second probe to investigate abuse allegations from Egypt and Cameroon.
The church’s General Assembly Council authorized the investigation last month. A three- to five-member Independent Abuse Review Panel is expected to begin its work by Oct. 1.
The panel, which will continue its work through 2009, will investigate alleged abuse against missionary children at the American Presbyterian Mission in Alexandria, Egypt, between 1950 and 1980, and at the Hope School in Elat, Cameroon in the 1960s, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
“We want to be part of the healing for anyone who has already had something happen to them that shouldn’t have happened, but we also want to prevent something from happening again,” said the Rev. Marian McClure, director of the church’s Worldwide Ministries Division.
The panel would only handle abuse claims against former church employees. Any charges that are filed against current employees would be handled in a separate process, according to Presbyterian News Service.
The panel was called because the allegations in Egypt and Cameroon were beyond the scope of a 173-page report issued last October that unearthed abuse at a missionary school in the Congo. That report found 48 separate incidents of abuse _ involving at least 22 women and girls _ involving the late Rev. William Pruitt between 1946 and 1978. Pruitt died in 1999 and was never charged.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Greek Orthodox Leaders Protest Athens’ Brothel Policy During Olympics
(RNS) Leaders of the Greek Orthodox Church say plans by Athens officials to boost the number of brothels during the 2004 Summer Olympics would turn the city into a “huge bordello.”
Athens leaders said they hope to register as many as 230 brothels, which are legal in Greece as long as they employ no more than three prostitutes and are not located near hospitals, schools or churches.
The church’s Holy Synod said June 30 that the policy is “an insult to the city of Athens and will only satisfy the gangs of procurers who carry out the unchecked trafficking of young foreign women,” according to Ecumenical News International.
“It will convey the impression that our country’s largest municipality is showing an untoward interest in sex tourism, and talking about turning itself into a huge bordello.”
The church also said the brothel policy would allow Greece to be listed on the U.S. State Department’s list of countries that allow sexual trafficking.
City officials say they just want to control an activity that they cannot stop. “We can’t take an ostrichlike approach to this,” Deputy Mayor Ira Valsamaki told ENI. “All we’ve said is that we want to bring some order by getting brothel owners to register their establishments.”
A statement from the city said “the Holy Synod was obviously not fully aware of our decisions and intentions,” according to USA Today.
Olympics organizers are staying out of the feud. “This issue is not of our concern,” Athens Olympic Organizing Committee spokesman Serapheim Kotrotsos told Agence France Presse.
Two countries, however _ Iceland and Sweden _ have complained to the International Olympic Committee about the prostitution.
President of Missouri Synod School Resigns Amid Its Financial Troubles
(RNS) The president of a Luthern Church-Missouri Synod school is resigning due to the school’s poor financial condition.
George C. Heider’s resignation as leader of Concordia University, River Forest, Ill., is effective Aug. 3, the denomination announced.
The university’s board of regents accepted the resignation “with great regret” and appointed an interim president and a person to serve as chief operating officer and chief executive officer.
Ralph Reinke, who is in the latter role, said the university’s “current level of debt is up to about $50 million.” That figure increased by more than $4 million in the fiscal year that concluded on June 30.
Earlier in the year, the university announced that it was cutting 36 staff and 21 faculty positions.
“It has become increasingly apparent to both the board of regents and me,” Heider said in a letter to the school’s faculty and staff, “that the university’s creditors are looking for a dramatic statement of Concordia’s determination to move forward with full accountability for those responsible for its leadership.”
_ Adelle M. Banks
HHS Announces More Than $15 Million in Abstinence Education Grants
WASHINGTON (RNS) Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has announced $15.2 million in new grants to support abstinence education for teens, some of which have been given to faith-based groups.
“When adolescents become sexually active, it can have negative effects on their physical and emotional health,” Thompson said in a July 2 statement. “These grants create an environment within communities that supports teens in their decision to remain abstinent until marriage.”
Catholic Charities of Honolulu in Hawaii received a grant of $735,032, one of the higher amounts among the recipients. Other awardees of the 28 grants for programs for young people ages 12 to 18 included Lawndale Christian Health Center in Chicago, which was granted $461,278; Metro Atlanta Youth for Christ, which received $363,936; and Catholic Social Services of Fall River, Mass., which was granted $124,918.
Recipients included hospitals, youth services agencies and colleges.
HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration plans to announce the availability of another round of abstinence grants in the fall.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Abuse Suit Involving Tolkein’s Son Settled
LONDON (RNS) A former Boy Scout who claimed he was sexually abused by the Rev. John Tolkien, the priest-son of the author of “The Lord of the Rings,” has been paid $24,000 in compensation _ but without any admission of liability _ by the Archdiocese of Birmingham.
Christopher Carrie, now 57, brought a civil case against the archdiocese after the Crown Prosecution Service decided that the priest was too ill to be charged. Tolkien died in January at 85, before the civil case could be completed.
_ Robert Nowell
Quote of the Day: Archbishop-elect Sean O’Malley of Boston
(RNS) “We’ve all suffered because of the crisis in our church. We need to renew our commitment to follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd. … Sometimes the task seems overwhelming, and our resources very limited. But at such moments, we must remember that Jesus never promised nothing would go wrong. He promised he would always be with us.”
_ Archbishop-elect Sean O’Malley of Boston, in his final sermon as bishop of Palm Beach, Fla., describing the tasks ahead. O’Malley will be installed as the new archbishop of Boston on July 30.
DEA END RNS
