c. 2005 Religion News Service
In Bulgaria: No Tax on Sale of Church Candles
(RNS) Patriarch Maxim, head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, has persuaded the government to see the light _ he’s won agreement to exempt the sale of church candles from the country’s Value Added Tax.
The sale of candles is a lucrative business for the church in a country and culture where the burning of candles every day is part of Orthodox rites.
Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news service, said the agreement to snuff the tax on candles was reached during a meeting between Maxim and Bulgarian Finance Minister Milen Velchev in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, on Jan. 13.
Bulgaria’s Orthodox community has been sharply divided in the post-communist era. Among the topics of the Maxim-Velchev talks was the so-called “Alternative Synod” set up in opposition to the patriarch.
The synod opposed Maxim’s tenure as patriarch because he was appointed with the collusion of Bulgaria’s former communist regime. Maxim maintains the Alternative Synod is illegally denying his church access to funds, including rental of church property once controlled by the Synod.
_ David Anderson
N.J. Muslim Leaders Urge Restraint in Wake of Coptic Killings
(RNS) Leaders of Muslim and Arab groups in New Jersey are denouncing the killing of a Coptic Egyptian family and are calling for an end to speculation that the crime was committed by Muslim extremists.
Tensions between Coptic Christians and Muslims in Jersey City’s large Egyptian community have run high since the bodies of Hossam Armanious, his wife and two daughters were found on Jan. 14.
Some Coptics speculate the murders were committed by Muslim fanatics angered by an online religious debate involving Armanious. Police believe Armanious, his wife, Amal Garas, and daughters Sylvia, 15, and Monica, 8, were stabbed to death two days before their bodies were found.
Billed as a show of unity between the two groups, the Wednesday (Jan. 19) news conference at a Jersey City hotel took an awkward turn when invited Coptic leaders did not show up. Muslim leaders said two Coptic church leaders who had been invited could not attend due to a funeral and a religious holiday.
“I have no doubt in my mind that if it was possible for them to be here physically, they would be here,” said Suzanne Loutfy, a leader of the Jersey City-based Egyptian-American Group.
Loutfy said she had met with Bishop David, a main Coptic leader, and described the encounter as “a friendly meeting.” Bishop David had agreed to send another priest, who was subsequently waylaid by a funeral.
Muslim leaders called for restraint until investigators confirm a motive for the murders.
“We condemn this heinous crime, and we ask that all members of the Christian and Muslim communities refrain from inflaming the present situation and not place blame until the investigation is completed,” said Ghazi Khankan, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ New York office.
A feud over religion is one possible motive being explored by investigators. Evidence gathered from the scene, including the victims’ empty wallet and purse, however, indicate they were robbed.
Hudson County First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Gaetano expressed confidence that those responsible will be apprehended. “We haven’t lost our optimism,” he said. “We’re going to continue to work through this.”
_ Brian Donohue
Jewish Groups Launch New Abortion Rights Initiative
(RNS) Jewish groups from across the religious spectrum are heading into President Bush’s second term with a fresh agenda for protecting abortion rights.
The main feature of the new initiative, which is spearheaded by the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), is a letter to senators urging them to support choice as a civil rights and religious freedom issue.
Over 150 Reform and Conservative rabbis have already signed the letter, which will be distributed to senators, organizers say, at the most opportune political moment, most likely when Bush makes an important judicial nomination. The NCJW is also in conversation with Orthodox leaders who may sign the letter.
At issue for Jews is the potential for an all-out ban on abortion to contradict Jewish law, which mandates abortion in situations where the mother’s life is in danger, and may permit it in cases of rape, incest or other case-specific circumstances.
Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, a Washington, D.C.-based Orthodox rabbi who says he will not sign the letter but is involved with the issue of reproductive choice, said that while the “baseline” of Jewish law prohibits abortion, there are nuances in the interpretation of the law that would likely clash with a government ban.
“If government gets involved in legislating when and under which circumstances abortion is allowed and not allowed, there could conceivably come a time when the government could prohibit abortion at a time when Jewish law mandates it,” Herzfeld said.
Other Jewish leaders agree.
“Imposing a single belief of reproductive rights compromises our freedom to abide by our own religious teachings,” said Rabbi Joel Meyers, who is the executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, the organization of Conservative rabbis.
The letter, which was made public on the eve of the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, emphasized the religious freedom implications of a possible future decision to overturn those rights.
“Religious freedom speaks to the right of individuals to be respected as moral decision-makers, able to make choices based on their religious beliefs and traditions as well as their consciences,” the letter read. “The federal courts are key to maintaining this basic democratic tenet.”
_ Holly Lebowitz Rossi
Lutheran Publisher Makes Cutbacks in Staff, Products
(RNS) With revenue decreasing over the past decade, Augsburg Fortress, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s publishing house, has cut 24 staff positions and eliminated some products.
“We want to concentrate our energy on promising new product lines in core ministry areas, and that means we need to discontinue new development in other selected product lines,” said Beth A. Lewis, president and chief executive officer of the Minneapolis-based Augsburg Fortress.
“Putting our resources to work in a more focused way will help us serve the church and be financially stable,” she said.
While in the past Augsburg Fortress has offered a variety of products, the publisher will now focus on church supplies and resources for education, worship, music and leadership.
The employees who lost their jobs _ from a staff of 168 in Minneapolis and 67 around the United States and Canada _ will receive severance and job placement packages, or early retirement if qualified.
Job cuts were especially difficult to make, Lewis said, but the executive staff needed to reduce expenses. Augsburg Fortress, funded entirely through its sales, continues to incur operating losses, she said.
Despite the reduced offerings, James Myers, chairman of the publisher’s board of trustees, said the cuts of some lines will allow staff to build on new resources, such as the Lutheran Voices book series and Introduction to the Hebrew Bible with CD-ROM.
“These changes are necessary to ensure the future of the publishing ministry of the ELCA at Augsburg Fortress,” Myers said.
_ Celeste Kennel-Shank
Quote of the Day: Tom Kenny, voice of SpongeBob SquarePants
(RNS) “Let me ask you, who would you rather go bowling with, SpongeBob and his friends or … James Dobson? Who would you rather go out with and have a few beers? Probably the only common ground I have with … Dobson is that I haven’t seen the video, and I’ll bet he hasn’t either. All he knows is that it’s a little yellow guy full of holes who’s saying its OK for men to be with men.”
_ Tom Kenny, who provides the voice for the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants, reacting to comments by James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, that SpongeBob was featured in a “pro-homosexual video.” He was quoted by the Post-Standard of Syracuse, N.Y.
KRE/RB END RNS
