c. 2004 Religion News Service
Sudan Crisis Is Worst Disaster on Planet, a Top Bishop Says
(RNS) The refugee and military crisis in Sudan is without question the most dire humanitarian situation anywhere in the world, according to a top Catholic bishop who recently returned from a visit to the war-torn country.
Bishop John Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., chairman of the U.S. bishops’ international policy committee, said the international community must not wait for formal declarations of ethnic cleansing or genocide before acting.
“I don’t think it matters very much to the people who are affected what name we give this,” Ricard told reporters on a conference call. “What’s clear is this is a massive, very serious, very dangerous situation that needs the attention of the international community.”
The United Nations estimates that almost 1.4 million Sudanese have been displaced _ including 180,000 who have fled to neighboring Chad _ in ongoing violence committed by government-backed Arab militias against black African tribes.
Ricard traveled to the western Darfur region, a Texas-size area that has seen the most intense violence with at least 30,000 killed. He said humanitarian efforts have been hampered by the government in Khartoum, which refuses to recall the militias or provide security for outsiders.
“It’s very clear that this government is controlled by a small elite that labors under the ideology that the country of Sudan should be Islamic and Arabized,” he said. “It does not tolerate the presence of others.”
The United States’ top bishop, Wilton Gregory of Belleville, Ill., has asked other bishops to offer prayers for Sudan this Sunday (Aug. 22) and take up special collections to aid in the relief efforts.
“There is very limited knowledge about how bad this is and how long it’s going to remain bad,” said Ken Hackett, president of Catholic Relief Services, who traveled with Ricard Aug. 1-6.
Catholic Relief Services is working on the ground with Caritas Internationalis, an umbrella group of global Catholic aid agencies, and Action by Churches Together (ACT), the humanitarian arm of the World Council of Churches.
At the same time, the Mennonite Central Committee is preparing to spend $4.6 million on 100,000 blankets, 4,500 metric tons of sorghum, 1,000 durable shelters and 6,830 school kits for refugees in Darfur.
Willie Reimer, director of food, disaster and material resources for the MCC, said the school kits with four notebooks, four pencils, colored pencils, a ruler and an eraser are important in camp schools for traumatized children.
“Having at least a place where they can meet together and (do) some learning and have a teacher looking after them is quite crucial in a situation like that,” he said.
_ Kevin Eckstrom and Rich Preheim
Hudson Resigns as Bush Adviser After Harassment Charges Resurface
WASHINGTON (RNS) A conservative publisher who has attacked John Kerry’s Catholic credentials has stepped down as an adviser to the Bush campaign after a decade-old sexual misconduct charge against him resurfaced.
Deal Hudson, publisher of Crisis magazine, said he does not want “lowbrow tactics to distract from the critically important issues in this election” after a Catholic newspaper questioned him about an incident with a female college student.
“No one regrets my past mistakes more than I do,” he said in a column posted Wednesday (Aug. 18) on the Web site of National Review Online.
For the past four years, Hudson has been an adviser to the Bush White House and a close associate of White House political adviser Karl Rove. He was a regular participant in a weekly conference call between Catholic leaders and Republican Party officials.
Hudson said he was questioned about sexual harassment charges filed against him by a female student while he was an assistant professor of philosophy at Fordham University. Hudson left Fordham in 1995.
“At the time, I dealt with this in an upright manner and the matter was satisfactorily resolved long ago,” he wrote. “It was now being dug up, I believe, for political reasons _ in an attempt to undermine the causes I have fought for.”
A Fordham spokeswoman told The New York Times that Hudson left in 1995 after “something inappropriate was done.” The Times reported that Hudson allegedly made sexual advances toward an undergraduate student in a bar.
“Like many people, I have done things in my life that I regret,” he said.
Hudson said he was questioned by a “liberal Catholic publication” about the incident, along with whether he sought annulments for at least two of his previous marriages. The Times identified the paper as the National Catholic Reporter.
Hudson is a former Southern Baptist who converted to Catholicism 20 years ago. He said he and his current wife of 17 years _ he has been married at least twice before _ “are happily married” with two children.
He has also been a vocal critic of Sen. John Kerry in his race for the White House, lambasting him for his support of abortion rights. In his column, he said a Kerry presidency “would be a disaster for the church” and vowed to remain “fervently committed to supporting President Bush’s re-election.”
Study: A Third of U.S. Teens Have Religious Mission, Service Experience
WASHINGTON _ Nearly three in 10 U.S. teens have gone on at least one religious mission or participated in a religious service project, a new study says.
In a random telephone survey of 3,290 teens age 13 to 17 conducted by The National Study of Youth and Religion, 29 percent said they have participated in an organized religious service project or mission.
Among teens who participated in such an activity, the survey found that 43 percent attend church once a week or more, 25 percent once or twice a month, and 21 percent less than once a month. Only 9 percent of teens who said they participated in religious service projects “never” attend church.
Seventy percent of Church of the Latter-day Saints teens reported religious service involvement, the most among all denominations. Even though they have not yet embarked on their traditional two-year mission by the age of 17, Mormons are taught the importance of service early on, said Latter-Day Saints spokesman Dale Bills.
“We involve our youth in service opportunities of many kinds to give them firsthand experience in the joy of helping others,” Bills said. “We teach them that God will often meet the needs of others through us; that when we are in the service of others, we are in the service of God.”
Among other denominations, 43 percent of mainline Protestant teens said they participated in service projects and missions, while Catholic and Jewish teens reported the least involvement, 23 percent each.
The study also found that mothers with college degrees are more likely to have teenagers involved in religious service projects. One-fifth of teens whose mothers have less than a high school education said they participated in service projects, compared with 37 percent of the children of women with master’s degrees.
The percentages drop, however, among children of women with doctorates or professional degrees. Only 13 percent of those teens said they participated in religious projects. The study did not mention a correlation between fathers’ education and religious service.
“In terms of the effect of religion on service, education can boost the effect up to a point, and then among your most highly educated you tend to have less investment in religion,” said Melinda Denton, project manager for the study. “There’s some relationship between increased religion and decreased religiosity at those higher levels of education.”
_ Jonah D. King
Maine Hospital Alters Gowns to Address Muslim Modesty
(RNS) Maine Medical Center has revamped its hospital gown after learning that Muslim women used to being completely covered were skipping appointments so they wouldn’t have to wear the immodest version.
The old garment, known as a “johnny,” exposes a patient’s legs and rear end. As of this summer, the more modest variety covers patients fully.
Administrators at the Portland facility took action last November when they identified a high rate of no-shows among Muslim women from African countries such as Somalia, the Associated Press reported. As many as three out of 10 women were skipping appointments, said Osman Hersi, a medical interpreter at the hospital.
“This is a great example of a challenge raised by a specific community that can ultimately benefit all patients,” said Dana Farris Gaya, manager of interpreter and cross-cultural services.
Shamso Abdi, who recently visited the hospital and formerly lived in Mogadishu, Somalia, told the AP that she appreciated a gown for patients that permitted her to maintain her principles.
“I’m so happy they made the change,” she said, speaking through an interpreter. “I’m so happy that they considered us.”
Quote of the Day: Atlanta Pastor James Merritt
(RNS) “A man of nobility stands for the truth when nobody else will. It doesn’t take courage to be a part of the moral majority; it takes courage to be a part of the moral minority.”
_ Atlanta pastor James Merritt, addressing the Promise Keepers conference for evangelical Christian men held in Atlanta Aug. 6-7.
DEA/PH END RNS
