c. 2003 Religion News Service
Progressive Catholics Petition Bishops on Celibacy
WASHINGTON (RNS) Progressive Catholics delivered more than 7,000 petitions to Catholic bishops on Tuesday (Oct. 11), asking for a churchwide discussion on priestly celibacy.
Activists from FutureChurch and Call to Action presented the petitions to members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting here.
“We’d rather have a discussion without a decision than a decision without a discussion,” said Sally Orgren, a Call to Action organizer from Buffalo, N.Y.
Church officials said the celibacy policy _ which is mandatory for the vast majority of Catholic priests _ is not up for discussion. “Change has never come about because its too hard or it can’t be lived up to,” said Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Galante of Dallas.
Cleveland-based FutureChurch, which also supports the ordination of women, has compiled statistics showing a dramatic decline in the number of Catholic clergy. During the 25-year reign of Pope John Paul II, activists say, the total Catholic population has grown by 40 percent while the number of priests has declined by 4 percent.
FutureChurch has posted the figures across a 27-year period, starting in 1976. Some dioceses in the Northeast have seen the numbers of priests dwindle, while others in the fast-growing south have seen their numbers skyrocket.
Sister Chris Schenk, director of FutureChurch, said celibacy per se is not the problem. “We don’t want this to be interpreted as celibacy bad, marriage good. The problem is when celibacy becomes mandatory.”
The Rev. Jack O’Malley, a Catholic chaplain in Pittsburgh, said “there are priests who are called to the priesthood, but maybe not to celibacy.”
_ Kevin Eckstrom
New Magazine Covers Jews of the Southern U.S.
(RNS) A new magazine, aimed at covering Jewish life in the American South, debuted in October with features on cultural, religious and social issues facing the community.
“Jewish South” magazine, a glossy general-interest publication that is the first of its kind in the region, published its 224-page inaugural edition and distributed it to 23,000 homes.
The magazines were mailed to selected households in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas. The Atlanta Jewish Times, a 78-year-old Jewish newspaper with a readership of 25,000, publishes Jewish South.
Included in the first issue were features on a kosher barbecue contest in Memphis, the challenges that Jewish singles face in small towns and the proliferation of recent new museums and exhibits on the history of the Jewish community in the South.
Also featured were profiles of interesting Jewish Southerners, including a musician from Birmingham, a newscaster from Tennessee and a boxer from Savannah. The magazine also contains a 23-page directory of community resources with listings for each of the five states.
Two issues of Jewish South are expected in 2004, according to the publisher, who hopes that circulation will expand to Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.
“There is something unique about Jewish life in the South and the cultural and social connections that unite our communities,” said Steve Levene, publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times. `The first issue of Jewish South only touches the surface of a rich trove we hope to mine in the future.”
_ Holly Lebowitz Rossi
Justice Department Seeks Speedy Reconsideration of Abortion Ban
(RNS) The Bush administration is seeking a speedy judicial review of a new law banning a late-term abortion procedure after it was temporarily blocked from enforcement.
The U.S. Justice Department filed a motion Monday (Nov. 10) asking a Manhattan federal judge to hold a single proceeding within 120 days to consider whether the injunction should be lifted as well as the merits of the law, the Associated Press reported.
The filing was a response to a ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard Casey, who issued a temporary stay of the law signed by President Bush on Wednesday.
The National Abortion Federation, the professional association of providers of abortion in the United States and Canada, won the stay, which will be in effect until at least Nov. 21.
The Justice Department said Congress determined that the procedure, which critics call “partial-birth” abortion, is inhumane and is never a medical necessity. It said an evidentiary hearing is necessary to determine if Congress made reasonable findings.
“The best way to fulfill these important obligations is to work quickly to compile the strong record of the truth behind partial-birth abortion and to seek court review on the full record at the earliest possible time,” it said.
A spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the National Abortion Federation, could not be reached for comment.
Under the law, a doctor could face as much as a two-year prison term as well as civil lawsuits for performing the procedure, which is defined as intentionally killing a fetus after it has been partially delivered.
Ala. Attorney General Calls For Ouster of Suspended Chief Justice
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (RNS) Attorney General Bill Pryor called Monday (Nov. 10) for suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore to be removed from office for what he called flagrant ethics violations.
Moore placed himself above the law when he defied a federal court order to remove his Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building rotunda and his removal is necessary to protect the public, Pryor wrote in legal documents filed in preparation for Moore’s trial Wednesday before the Court of the Judiciary.
“Because the chief justice intentionally and publicly engaged in misconduct, and because he remains unrepentant for his behavior, this court must remove the chief justice from office to protect the Alabama judiciary and the citizens who depend upon it for fair and impartial justice,” Pryor wrote.
“While the head of Alabama’s judicial system, Chief Justice Moore flagrantly disobeyed the law, incited the public to support his misconduct and undermined the integrity, independence, and impartiality of the judiciary,” Pryor stated.
Moore’s attorney disagreed. “The exact opposite is true,” said Terry Butts, a former state Supreme Court justice. “The chief justice, by following his oath, upheld the integrity of the judiciary, because as chief justice he has a fundamental duty to restore the moral foundation of law and to speak on it.”
Pryor is prosecuting Moore on behalf of the state Judicial Inquiry Commission, which accused Moore of violating six state judicial ethics rules. Under the state constitution, he is suspended with pay while the charges are pending. If the court finds that Moore has violated the ethics rules, it can remove him from office, continue his suspension with or without pay or impose other sanctions.
At a news conference Monday, Moore said he is apprehensive about his upcoming trial but “not afraid of the truth.”
“My apprehension is that the truth is not going to come out,” he said. He wouldn’t say what he might do if he is removed from office.
Pryor said Moore’s six ethics violations are that he failed to respect and comply with the law; to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary; to observe high standards of conduct; to avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety; to conduct himself in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, and to avoid conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.
Butts said Moore is innocent of all six of the charges.
_ Stan Bailey
Irish Bishop Urges `New Kind of Politics’ for Northern Ireland
LONDON (RNS) A call for “a new kind of politics” in Northern Ireland has come from Catholic Archbishop Sean Brady of Armagh in an appeal to Catholics to cast their votes wisely in the Nov. 26 elections for a new assembly.
“Participation in the political process is a moral obligation,” he reminded them in a statement.
Reaffirming his enthusiastic support for the 1998 Good Friday Agreement _ “a very honest and fair attempt at reconciling the different political aspirations and cultural traditions of the people of Northern Ireland” _ the archbishop said:
“Northern Ireland at this time needs perhaps a new kind of politics _ focused more on moral principles that simply on cultural or traditional affiliations, more on the needs of the poor and vulnerable than simply accepting the existing status quo, more on the pursuit of the common good rather than partisan advantage.”
The kind of questions people should ask themselves before voting on Nov. 26 include: “How best can my vote serve the common good? In what way does it enhance the human dignity of all citizens? Does it contribute to fairly sharing the blessings, burdens, and challenges of living in Northern Ireland at this time? In what way does it pursue greater justice, foster the fragile peace which we enjoy, and promote greater reconciliation _ in short, create a society genuinely founded on truth and authentic ethical and civil values?”
Voters, he added, shoul ask whether their votes “help everyone have a seat at the table `in this place in time’ which is Northern Ireland in 2003.”
Brady focused particularly on poverty and inequality, citing a recent report which showed that in Northern Ireland poverty was more prevalent than in either Britain or the Republic of Ireland and that found “Northern Ireland is one of the most unequal societies in the developed world.”
“Must not all traditions and political parties and citizens join forces to fight this scandalous and intolerable situation?” he asked.
_ Robert Nowell
Former DePauw University Professor Wins Damages
(RNS) An Indiana jury has awarded a former part-time professor at DePauw University $10,401 in damages after she alleged that she was demoted for apparently keeping copies of a conservative Christian magazine in her classroom.
The six-member Clay County jury decided Oct. 31 that the Methodist-affiliated school improperly followed its faculty handbook policies when it reduced the duties of Janis Price, the Associated Press reported.
Price, a part-time instructor until July 2001, sued the university in 2002, claiming the school violated her rights when her job and salary were reduced.
At the time, DePauw did not want her to continue teaching her one class based on her reviews and declining enrollment in the teacher education program, school officials said in a statement.
Price remains an administrator in the school’s education department.
Her lawyer, John Price, who is not relation, argued that the school reduced her duties because she had made an issue of “Teachers in Focus” that addressed homosexuality in the classroom available to her students. The attorney said some of the students thought the magazine, a publication of Focus on the Family, was offensive.
“I’m proud of Janis’ courage and pleased the jury upheld the principle of academic freedom,” her lawyer said.
DePauw said the jury decision was based on contract law because her claims about freedom of speech and religion were dismissed earlier.
The university intends to appeal.
The magazine in question formally ceased publication in January 2001, reported CitizenLink, an e-mail newsletter of Focus on the Family.
Quote of the Day: Irish Archbishop Diarmuid Martin
(RNS) “Violence, even where it is legitimate, is a blunt weapon in the fight against terrorism. It may even provide new ammunition for embittered and fanatical people to continue with their folly. It may win more hearts for the folly of violence, than it does convert hearts to the prospect of democracy and participation.”
_ Coadjutor Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, Ireland, speaking to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Monday.
DEA END RNS
