c. 2004 Religion News Service

Pope Lists Formidable Challenges Facing Bishops of the Americas

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope John Paul II told the Catholic bishops of the Americas on Friday (Nov. 5) that they face formidable challenges in their efforts to “consolidate the Christian identity of the continent.”

The 84-year-old pope addressed a committee of bishops from North, South and Central America reviewing the progress of the American church since a special assembly of bishops held in 1997 to prepare the Americas for the new millennium.

Drawing up a balance between the “pressing challenges” the bishops face and the “many resources” on which they can draw, the pope said, “Much still remains to do to consolidate the Christian identity of the continent.”

The first challenge, he said, comes from other churches. “If, in fact, Catholicism predominates in Latin America, in other countries the presence of other Christian confessions is more solid,” the pope said.

The pope advised ecumenical dialogue, but warned against letting dialogue “crack the firm conviction in Catholics that only in the Catholic Church is there the fullness of the means of salvation established by Jesus Christ.”

John Paul said other challenges include “the ill-omened action of sects” and “the negative consequences of globalization, especially when absolute value is attributed to economics.”

In addition, the pope cited “growing urbanization with inevitable cultural uprooting; commerce and consumption of drugs; modern ideologies that consider the concept of the family founded on matrimony outdated; the progressive increase of the divide between rich and poor; violations of human rights; migratory movements; and the complex problem of foreign debt.”

John Paul attacked a “culture of death,” which he said can be seen in the arms race “and the execrable practice of violence let loose by guerrillas and international terrorism.”

But, he said, “the Christian people can count on many resources to continue their mission with renewed hope. They can count first of all on faith, the gift that not only formed the Christian identity of the continent but throughout its history showed itself in the moral principles and ideals that have fed the culture of its peoples.”

The pope said the Americas can draw on a “popular piety,” which “purified and enriched with the genuine elements of Catholic doctrine can be a useful instrument to help believers adequately face the challenge of secularization.”

John Paul also praised the Americas for a “social sensibility” that leads them to help the poor. He noted that it was American bishops who asked the Vatican to draw up the “Compendium of Social Doctrine of the Church,” which the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace issued last month.

_ Peggy Polk

Mainline Church Leaders Once Critical of Bush Congratulate Him

WASHINGTON (RNS) Leaders of mainline Protestant churches, who have been at odds with President Bush over the war in Iraq and other issues, urged national unity in congratulatory statements sent after his win Tuesday.

Bush and his wife, Laura, both United Methodists, received Bibles signed by the 130 members of the Methodist Conference of Bishops at their meeting in St. Simon’s Island, Ga. The signed Bibles are a 200-year tradition for the bishops.

“We pledge to work with President Bush to build bridges of understanding that we pray will lead to overcoming the gulfs that divide the nation and the world,” said Bishop Peter Weaver of Boston, president of the bishops conference.

The bishops vehemently opposed Bush’s decision to invade Iraq and complained that they had little access during Bush’s first term. Bishop John Schol, the new bishop of Washington, said he hoped to mend those fences.

“I know the Council of Bishops wants to have an open line of communication with President Bush,” he said. “As the bishop of Washington, D.C., I too want to establish a good working relationship.”

Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, who criticized both Bush and Sen. John Kerry in September for the negative tone of their campaigns, promised to pray for the president and his family.

“The American electorate has spoken in this election about its deep concern for personal moral values and faith,” Hanson said. “It is my hope that we will not separate personal morality from public responsibility for the complex moral issues of hunger and poverty, HIV/AIDS, environmental degradation, civil war and social inequities.”

When in Washington, Bush occasionally attends services at St. John’s Episcopal Church, located one block from the White House across Lafayette Square. Episcopal Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold prayed for healing for the nation after a “vitriolic and divisive” campaign.

“What is needed now is a unifying vision, clearly articulated, of our great nation as a servant of all the world’s peoples in their yearning after justice and peace,” he said.

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Southern Baptists Create Task Force to Boost Hispanic Missions

(RNS) The Southern Baptist Convention has appointed a task force to increase its mission efforts to the nation’s growing Hispanic population.

“The explosive growth of the Hispanic population is surpassing even the most aggressive demographic projections,” said Bob Reccord, president of the denomination’s North American Mission Board, in an Oct. 28 announcement.

“It is going to take unprecedented communication and cooperation between national, state and local SBC leaders to reach Hispanics in North America for Christ.”

Reccord said he created the task force of Hispanic leaders to determine the needs and hopes of Hispanic churches within the denomination.

Daniel Sanchez, director of the Scarborough Center for Church Planting and Church Growth at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, will chair the 15-member task force.

“As Hispanic Baptist leaders, we are faced with the awesome challenge of discerning the signs of the times and providing leadership in designing creative, bold and culturally relevant strategies for reaching our people for Christ in larger numbers than we have ever done before,” he said in a statement.

The task force is expected to make recommendations to the mission board next year.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Strong Brew Returns to Canterbury Cathedral

LONDON (RNS) A monastic tradition has been revived with the brewing of a strong ale for sale within the precincts of Canterbury Cathedral.

In the Middle Ages the Benedictine monks who served the cathedral had their own brew house. Though the monks disappeared with the Reformation, the tradition of brewing ale within the cathedral precincts is believed to have continued until at least the early 19th century.

Now bottles of Cathedral Ale are available in the cathedral’s shop. It is brewed by Shepherd Neame of nearby Faversham, one of Britain’s best-known independent breweries, which already has a well-known brew called Bishop’s Finger.

The ale is fairly strong: 6.5 percent alcohol by volume. It is described as “a malty ale with toffee and sultana flavors balanced by Kentish hops.”

Canterbury is not the first English cathedral to offer its own brand of beer. In 1999 Ripon Cathedral in Yorkshire launched its own cathedral ale, available both in bottles and on draught as a cask ale, with royalties on sale of the beer going to boost the cathedral’s finances. In 2000, Chester Cathedral launched its own Chester Pilgrim Ale, again with the aim of generating income.

_ Robert Nowell

Quote of the Day: First Amendment Attorney Jay Sekulow

(RNS) “This is not the same movement that we saw in the 1980s. This is a religious resurgence, and also a retooling. This is a much more diverse group of people, united across a broad range of issues.”

_ Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative public interest law firm in Washington, D.C. Speaking about religious conservatives, he was quoted in the Nov. 5 Newsday.

MO/PH END RNS