c. 2004 Religion News Service

Faiths Offer Prayers for Victims of South Asian Earthquake, Floods

WASHINGTON (RNS) As relief organizations collect aid for the South Asian victims devastated by Sunday’s (Dec. 26) earthquake and tidal waves, religious groups are holding services for families in the United States who have lost relatives in the disaster.

The Washington Buddhist Vihara, whose members are mostly from Sri Lanka _ home to an estimated 18,000 of the 44,000 victims _ will hold a memorial service on Friday (Jan. 31).

Katugastota Vidura, a monk at the Washington temple, said he and other monks have been visited by many families and conducted funeral services for their relatives who died in Sri Lanka. The rites include “transference” ceremonies to release the positive energy of the deceased’s life work. The Vihara is also collecting funds to send to survivors.

Some of the hardest-hit American Muslims are those with relatives in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, where the 9.0 earthquake originated off the coast of the island of Sumatra.

“Our chapters in various states are organizing prayer services for those who have lost loved ones,” said Rabiah Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “There is a prayer that Muslims engage in for those who have lost loved ones in a distant land, in the absence of the body. On Friday, the holy day, many mosques, I’m sure will be asking people to pray and give aid.”

Relief organizations have begun assessments of the disaster and are developing strategies to aid survivors, 1 million of whom are displaced and homeless.

Monsignor Karel Kasteel, secretary of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which directs relief aid from the Vatican, said the pope is being kept informed on news from the affected nations. Cor Unum is working with the Catholic charity Caritas International to send aid and medical assistance.

“It is not only necessary to aid the people who have lost everything, tens and tens of thousands of persons, who no longer have anything, no work, house, livestock, but are threatened with epidemics,” Kasteel said.

Aid workers are especially concerned about cholera and other water-borne diseases. Kasteel said Catholic aid groups will focus on sending medical aid.

“From the picture arriving, everything is needed, but for now it is necessary to concentrate our forces on medicines to avert epidemics,” he said.

_ Celeste Kennel-Shank, with reporting by Peggy Polk at the Vatican

Pope May Rescind Miracles Needed for Sainthood

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope John Paul II is reported to be considering a proposal to abolish miracles as requirements for sainthood.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, archbishop of Genoa, told the Genoa newspaper Secolo XIX recently that there is a growing feeling that the key requirement for sainthood is a life of “heroic virtue” and that miracles are “anachronistic.”

Bertone said the proposal was sent to the pope by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Until two years ago the cardinal held the No. 2 post of secretary in the congregation, the Vatican’s arbiter on questions of faith and morals.

An official of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, which is in charge of the process of creating saints, refused to discuss the report but indicated that doing away with the miracle requirement would be little short of revolutionary.

Asked for how long miracles have been needed for sainthood, he replied: “Always.”

There have been two major reforms in saint-making over the centuries. Pope Sixtus V centralized the process at the Vatican in 1588, and John Paul streamlined it in 1983 by cutting the number of miracles required from four to only one for martyrs and two for other candidates.

John Paul considers saints important examples for Catholics living in an increasingly secular world. In 26 years, he has proclaimed 483 saints and 1,345 blesseds, more than all his predecessors combined over the last four centuries.

At present, the three steps leading to sainthood are determination that the candidate has lived a life of heroic virtue and is therefore worthy of the title of venerable; beatification, which carries the title of blessed, and canonization, or sainthood.

Candidates who are not martyrs must qualify for beatification with a miracle. All candidates must be credited with another miracle after they have been beatified.

A miracle often is the cure of a terminally ill patient, who had prayed to the candidate to intercede for them. A panel of five medical experts, drawn from a pool of 100, must certify that the cure was “sudden, complete and permanent” and has no medical explanation.

_ Peggy Polk

Defrocked Lesbian Minister Decides to Appeal Conviction

(RNS) A United Methodist pastor who was defrocked because she is living in a lesbian relationship said she will appeal the verdict, in part to force the church to confront its deep divisions over homosexuality.

Irene “Beth” Stroud was stripped of her ministerial credentials in a church trial on Dec. 2 after she was found guilty of violating a church ban on “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy. She remains a paid staff member at First United Methodist Church of Germantown in Philadelphia.

Stroud announced her appeal on Monday (Dec. 27), saying she wanted to wait until after Christmas to reveal her plans. The case now goes to an appeals panel of the church’s Northeastern Jurisdiction.

“Whether my appeal is successful or unsuccessful, my hope is that the discussion will be healthy in the long run for the church and will ultimately change these portions of the (constitution) that I feel are morally wrong,” she said in an interview.

Stroud said the judge in her case, retired Bishop Joseph Yeakel, denied her due process by not allowing witnesses who would challenge the merits of the church’s gay clergy ban. She also contends that Yeakel erred in disqualifying jurors who could not promise to uphold church law.

Stroud said she hopes to put a human face on the gay clergy issue. She said her trial has caused many people to rethink their positions on homosexuality. “That’s really critical for the future of the church, and I hope my appeal can continue to contribute to that,” she said.

Although the jury of 13 pastors voted 12-1 to convict Stroud, the vote to defrock her was much closer, 7-6. Another lesbian pastor, Rose Mary Denman, was defrocked in 1987, while a third, the Rev. Karen Dammann, was acquitted last March in a verdict that angered conservatives.

Last May, the church’s highest court ruled that the practice of homosexuality is a “chargeable offense” for clergy and said defendants found guilty may not be appointed by bishops to new church posts.

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Brethren Leaders `Cautious’ After Visit From Draft Officials

WASHINGTON (RNS) Leaders of the Church of the Brethren said they are satisfied but still “cautious” that an unannounced visit by a Selective Service official to the historic peace church does not signal the military’s intent to reinstate the draft.

Brethren officials, who traditionally shun military service in favor of conscientious objector status, were surprised when Cassandra Costley made an impromptu visit to the church’s Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., on Oct. 8.

Costley, who directs the Alternative Service Division of the draft program, said she stopped by to meet church leaders while she was in the area. The Maryland center was where conscientious objectors were trained for alternative service during World War II and Vietnam.

Phil Jones, director of the Brethren Washington Office, said Costley stressed that the Pentagon has no plans to reinstate the draft and considers conscientious objection a “legitimate response.” Still, he said the visit “raised red flags” with church leaders.

“The meeting went well,” Jones said in an interview, “but they didn’t totally convince us that there’s not any preparations for a draft.”

Costley met again with church leaders on Dec. 2 to address their concerns, and Brethren officials said they were satisfied but still “cautious.” “There’s a side of me that says be a little careful, that’s all,” said Dan McFadden, director of Brethren Volunteer Service.

If the draft were reinstated _ and President Bush has dismissed rumors that it will be _ Costley’s office would arrange for conscientious objectors to serve in two-year domestic service projects in lieu of military service. Jones said about 30 people have registered as objectors with his office this year.

“If we can take them at their word, they are not preparing specifically for a draft any time soon,” Jones said. Costley did not immediately return calls for comment.

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Quote of the Day: Biomedical Ethicist David Magnus

(RNS) “It’s morally problematic and a little reprehensible. For $50,000, she could have provided homes for a lot of strays.”

_ David Magnus, co-director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics at Stanford University, commenting on the first cloned-to-order pet sold in the United States to an owner who spent $50,000 for a clone of her beloved cat that died last year. He was quoted by the Associated Press.

KRE/JL END RNS