c. 2005 Religion News Service

Pope Condemns Trafficking of Children, Prays for Tsunami Victims

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Marking the Feast of the Epiphany, which Italians devote to children, Pope John Paul II on Thursday (Jan. 6) condemned child trafficking as “despicable” and prayed for young victims of the tsunami disaster in southern Asia.

“While I renew my prayers for the little victims of the seaquake in Asia, I cannot forget the child victims of hunger and sickness, war and terrorism or also children kidnapped, lost or exploited for despicable trafficking,” the pope said.

John Paul spoke from his study window to some 40,000 pilgrims, including many families with young children, who gathered for the midday Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square in a festive mood.

UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency, has estimated that children made up about one-third of the more than 150,000 victims claimed on Dec. 26 by a massive earthquake under the Indian Ocean and the giant sea surges it triggered.

The agency warned that children who survived the disaster would be more vulnerable than adults to the effects of homelessness, hunger, thirst and disease. “Many people are already talking about the tsunami generation,” a spokeswoman said.

Authorities have also expressed fear that criminal gangs might try to kidnap orphaned and injured children for trafficking in sex or organs.

The Feast of the Epiphany commemorates the manifestation of Christ to the whole world as represented by the Magi, or Three Wise Men, who came to worship the Christ child, bearing gifts. In Italian popular culture, an old witchlike woman on a broomstick, known as the Befana, delivers presents to children on the day.

Celebrations at the Vatican began with a procession into St. Peter’s Square of 1,500 people dressed in medieval costume, 23 horses, five floats and a living creche made up of 125 people, headed by the Wise Men.

After leading the Angelus prayer, the pope offered a “cordial wish for peace and happiness in the Lord to our brothers and sisters of the Eastern churches,” who are celebrating Christmas at present. Restoring the unity between East and West that was broken by the Great Schism of 1054 is a major goal of John Paul’s pontificate.

_ Peggy Polk

Sri Lankan Church Council Decries Tsunami Looting

(RNS) The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka has decried what it called the “dastardly conduct” of looting in areas devastated by the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami that rocked Sri Lanka and other south Asian nations.

The council, an umbrella organization for eight Protestant churches, also expressed its “deepest sympathies” to families hit by the tsunami, reported Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency.

More than 150,000 people in nations on the Indian Ocean rim have been killed.

“We appeal to them (looters) to kindly desist from such dastardly conduct and join with the several who are helping those in need,” the church council statement said.

The Women and Media Collective group in Sri Lanka said it had received reports of incidents of rape, gang rape, molestation and physical abuse of women and girls in the course of unsupervised rescue operations, Reuters said.

R.C. Ratnakumar, who is supervising the Sri Lankan church council relief efforts, told ENI 50 truckloads of food, medicine and shelter material had been dispatched across the island.

In addition, he said, the council was purchasing relief material and was receiving planeloads of medicines and other materials from church charities abroad.

“During the last two days, we have been reducing the supplies as there are reports that some areas are flooded with material while others have not received enough,” Ratnakumar said. “We will be dispatching further relief material after assessing local needs.”

The Rev. Damian Fernando, director of Caritas Sri Lanka, the Roman Catholic relief agency, said there has been “a lack of coordination in the distribution of relief material. We are holding back our material now,” he said, adding, “The initial enthusiasm will fade away.”

_ David E. Anderson

Poll: Americans Go to Church More Regularly Than Canadians

TORONTO (RNS) Americans attend church more regularly and interpret the Bible more literally than Canadians, according to a recent Gallup Poll, reinforcing earlier surveys that consistently showed higher levels of religious observance in the United States than in Canada.

In surveys of more than 1,000 adults conducted last month in both countries, Gallup gave respondents a choice of three options to describe their beliefs: The Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word; the Bible is the inspired word of God but not everything in it should be taken literally; or the Bible is an ancient book of fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by humans.

Twice as many Americans as Canadians believe that the Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally _ 34 percent versus 17 percent respectively.

About half of both Americans (48 percent) and Canadians (51 percent) agree the Bible is the inspired word of God but that not everything in it should be taken literally.

Fifteen percent of Americans believe the Bible is a collection of fables, legends and writings of people, while 29 percent of Canadians agree.

Forty-six percent of Americans who go to church at least monthly think the Bible is the actual word of God, but just 32 percent of Canadian weekly and monthly church attendees feel the same way.

The poll noted that Americans are twice as likely as Canadians to attend church every week _ 35 percent compared to 18 percent.

The latter figure may be too low, according to Reginald Bibby, a University of Lethbridge sociologist and Canada’s leading tracker of religious trends.

Bibby cites recent polls suggesting that weekly church attendance in Canada is about 25 percent, indicating a steady increase, especially among teenagers and young adults, since the early 1990s.

That’s still a far cry from 1945, when a Gallup Poll pegged weekly church attendance in Canada at about 60 percent.

Another recent survey, cited by Canadian author and pollster Michael Adams, showed that 69 percent of Canadians believe in heaven but only about 43 percent believe in hell and the devil.

In the United States, 81 percent believe in heaven and 70 percent in hell and the devil.

An Ipsos-Reid poll last year showed that 19 percent of Canadians (12 percent Protestant and 7 percent Catholic) are evangelical. In the United States, estimates of evangelicals vary, depending on definitions, but most counts show evangelical Christians comprising about one-third or more of the population.

_ Ron Csillag

Funds From Fellowship of Christians and Jews Beef Up Israeli Security

(RNS) Funds from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews provided 86 metal detector-gates and six X-ray machines for Israel’s transportation system, according to Gideon Ezra, Israel’s minister of public security.

The new security devices will be installed by February as the second phase of Operation Safe Bus, an initiative aimed at increasing security at bus and railway centers.

The fellowship, with offices in Chicago and Jerusalem, is a collaboration of American Jews and Christians in support of Israel. A donation of $2 million from the fellowship in February 2004 spurred the first phase of the security operation, enabling 1,000 hand-held metal detectors to be used by guards at bus stops and terminals in Israel.

“As Israel’s terrorism experts identify advanced technological systems for the detection and neutralization of explosive devices, we will do everything we can to support their lifesaving efforts,” said Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of the fellowship.

According to an Israeli government report, attacks by suicide bombers have decreased in the past year. In spite of the drop in attacks, the number of threats has increased, Ezra said. Since September 2000, 200 Israelis have been killed by bombings on buses.

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews may raise an additional $5 million for further transportation security measures, Eckstein said.

In recent years the fellowship has given over $100 million for Jewish immigration, resettlement and social welfare in Israel, in addition to aid for Jews in other parts of the world.

_ Celeste Kennel-Shank

Quote of the Day: Secretary of State Colin Powell

(RNS) “We’d be doing it regardless of religion. But I think it does give the Muslim world and the rest of the world an opportunity to see American generosity, American values, in action. … America is not an anti-Islam, anti-Muslim nation. America is a diverse society where we respect all religions. And I hope that as a result of our efforts, as results of our helicopter pilots being seen by the citizens of Indonesia helping them, that value system of ours will be reinforced.”

_ Secretary of State Colin Powell, touring Indonesia following the devasting tsunami, on U.S. aid efforts in the region. He was quoted by The New York Times.

MO/PH RNS END