c. 2005 Religion News Service

Doctors Say Pope Recovered From Medical Crisis Faster Than Expected

ROME (RNS) Pope John Paul II made a faster-than-expected recovery from the breathing crisis that forced his hospitalization, but he will need more time to complete his convalescence, the head of his medical team said Wednesday (Feb. 16).

Rodolfo Proietti said in an interview with L’Avvenire, a Catholic daily newspaper with close ties to the Italian Bishops Conference, that the pope’s general condition is good.

An anesthesiologist and reanimation specialist who is head of the Emergency Department of Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic hospital, Proietti led the medical team that treated the 84-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff during his nine-day hospitalization earlier this month.

Asserting that there was “absolutely no mystery” about John Paul’s health, Proietti said the pope was suffering only from “acute laryngeal tracheitis with crisis of spasms of the larynx” when he was rushed to the hospital by ambulance the night of Feb. 1.

Proietti said that the inflammation of the windpipe with spasms that closed off the larynx “fortunately was resolved with relative rapidity and without the appearance of other complications.”

The pope, he noted, is 84 years old and has had previous illnesses but is “by character very strong.” John Paul has had intestinal and hip replacement surgery and suffers from Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative neurological condition.

“The time he took to heal was faster than we had initially foreseen. All the diagnostic investigations carried out showed a good and quick response to therapy, the resolution of the acute laryngeal tracheitis and the absence of complications,” the specialist said. “At that point we were able to anticipate his leaving of the hospital by one day.”

Asked what condition the pope is in following his discharge from the hospital, Proietti said, “Certainly in good general condition even if he will have to conclude a period of convalescence.” He said it would take John Paul “some time to recuperate his full energy.”

_ Peggy Polk

Despite Settlement, Some N.J. Sex Abuse Victims Still Bitter

MORRISTOWN, N.J. (RNS) As a group, they will receive $5 million to settle their claims that Catholic clergy sexually abused them. But several of the 27 plaintiffs said the money does little to relieve their bitterness and disillusionment toward the Paterson Diocese.

“It’s a lot of money, but the only thing that can solve my problem is if they build a time machine and let me go back to 12 years old and discover sexual intimacy on my own terms, not have it forced on me by a pedophile that they employed,” said Buddy Cotton, 42, one of 21 plaintiffs who accused former priest James Hanley of sexually abusing them when they were children. Five other clergy members were accused in the lawsuit.

Cotton was among a half-dozen plaintiffs who appeared at a news conference here Tuesday (Feb. 15) to discuss the settlement, which was reached last month and first reported last week.

Members of the group said they are upset the settlement did not include an admission of wrongdoing by the diocese or a chance to see the accused priests’ personnel files. They also complained the church used hard-nosed legal tactics until November. The lawsuit was filed a little more than a year ago.

In November, Superior Court Judge Deanne Wilson, sitting in Morristown, ruled that the diocese could not automatically use the statute of limitations to avoid paying damages. It was the judge’s ruling, not the church’s compassion, that led to the final settlement, several of the plaintiffs said.

“Judge Wilson changed the priorities for Paterson in settling this case,” Cotton said. “Judge Wilson made it clear that they could not hide behind the statute of limitations.”

Johnny Vega, a plaintiff who accused the late Rev. Jose Alonzo of abusing him at a Paterson church, criticized the diocese for not releasing personnel records of accused clergy as part of the settlement.

“I want Bishop (Arthur) Serratelli to do right by releasing all of the files … of priests who have been (credibly) accused,” he said.

The suit involved the most notorious clergy sex abuse case in New Jersey since the national scandal received heightened attention in 2002. Most of the plaintiffs said they were abused by Hanley, who worked at St. Joseph’s in Mendham and Our Lady of Good Counsel in Pompton Plains from 1968 to 1982.

_ Jeff Diamant

Disciples Say New Church Program Is Making Huge Strides

(RNS) The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) said a plan to start 1,000 new churches by 2020 is going so well that the denomination may meet its goal in half the time.

The Indianapolis-based church planted 102 new churches in 2004, for a total of 289 new churches since the initiative was launched in 2001. The new churches represent some 20,000 parishioners.

The 102 new churches are the largest number in a century. Last year the Disciples established 82 new churches. The church had not reported such significant rates in a half-century, since 76 churches were started in 1953.

If the Disciples maintain the current growth rate of 2.76 percent _ well above the projected 1 percent _ church leaders say they will meet their goal by 2011 or 2012, nine years ahead of schedule.

In 2003, the Disciples reported 770,793 members in the United States.

The Rev. Rick Morse, director of New Church Ministry for the Disciples, said most new members did not previously attend church, and said the secret to success is providing a support network for the pastors of these new churches.

“We’ve got a comprehensive program for working with new church pastors for the first seven years,” he said. “We don’t just train them and send them out. We provide coaching … and continuing education.”

The Disciples’ initiative has made inroads in racial, ethnic and immigrant communities _ especially among Hispanics and Haitians.

Still, the Disciples, like other mainline churches, continue to bleed members. Between 2000 and 2003, the denomination lost some 49,000 members. Morse said the new churches are not included in those numbers but will be once they are a “chartered” congregation, usually after year three.

Other mainline churches have similar goals. The Episcopal Church, through its 20/20 initiative, hopes to double Sunday worship attendance by 2020. And the Presbyterian Church (USA) is planning a $40 million appeal to plant new churches at home and abroad.

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Church of England Takes First Step in Considering Women Bishops

LONDON (RNS) The Church of England’s general synod voted overwhelmingly Wednesday (Feb. 16) in favor of moving rather gingerly toward deciding whether or not it should have women bishops.

The move comes 12 years after the synod voted to allow women priests and 10 years after the ordination of England’s first women priests.

The synod decided Wednesday that at its next meeting in July it will determine whether it wishes to start the lengthy and complex process of legislation to make this possible.

What is not yet known is what shape the proposed legislation will take _ whether it will be as simple as a one-clause measure accompanied by a code of practice to accommodate those opposed to women bishops, or a more complex arrangement that could even go as far as the creation of a “third province” for dissenters.

This will be decided by the House of Bishops _ if the July synod votes in favor of introducing legislation, as it is expected to do.

At present, Church of England parishes that do not accept the ordination of women to the priesthood can request the ministry of “flying bishops” with similar views rather than be ministered to by a diocesan or suffragan bishop who accepts women priests. This arrangement would clearly come under severe strain if the episcopate included women.

July will be the last meeting of the present synod, elected five years ago, and elections for a new synod will take place in the autumn. Sources say the elections will unquestionably be dominated by the issue of women bishops.

_ Robert Nowell

Catholic Nun Seen as a Martyr for the Environment She Defended

(RNS) Catholics in the United States are mourning the shooting death of Sister Dorothy Stang in northern Brazil, but have hope it will bring attention to environmental destruction in the Amazon.

Bishop John Ricard, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ International Policy Committee, in a Tuesday (Feb. 15) letter to the Brazilian ambassador to the United States, expressed “deep concern and revulsion” over Stang’s murder.

Stang, a Dayton, Ohio-born missionary, had worked since the 1970s in Brazil’s Para state organizing poor workers against deforestation of the Amazon by ranchers, loggers and land speculators. She was murdered Feb. 12.

Witnesses and police say Stang’s assassins may have been hired by a local rancher, according to reports in several U.S. newspapers.

In a letter to Stang’s religious community, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Ricard drew a parallel between Stang and Chico Mendes, a Brazilian Amazon activist who was killed in 1988. Two ranchers were convicted of his assassination, which drew international attention to deforestation in the Amazon.

Ricard said Stang’s death may also cause a global outcry.

“We can hope that Sister Dorothy’s sacrifice will lead to greater justice for the poor landless workers with whom she worked tirelessly and for whom finally she laid down her life,” Ricard said in the letter.

Sister Leanne Jablonski, a Marianist nun in Dayton, of the Marianist Environmental Education Center, said in an interview that she considers Stang to be among “contemporary martyrs,” and a defender of both the poor and rain forests.

Stang “used her identity as an American and as a religious sister to stick her neck out,” Jablonski said. “I think this is what it really means to be a Christian.”

_ Celeste Kennel-Shank

WCC Leader Sees Destabilization Effort in Lebanon Assassination

(RNS) The Lebanese moderator of the World Council of Churches said Tuesday (Feb. 15) that the assassination of his country’s former prime minister was a “tragedy of far-reaching consequences” and an attempt to destabilize the country.

Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and at least 13 others were killed Monday when a massive car bomb exploded as Hariri’s motorcade drove through Beirut.

“After a long war, security in Lebanon was being re-established and reconciliation was happening,” Catholicos Aram I, the WCC moderator and head of the Armenian Apostolic Church (see of Cilicia), said at a news conference in Geneva, where the international ecumenical body’s central committee is meeting.

“This assassination was an attempt to destabilize the situation,” Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based news agency, quoted Aram I as saying.

Aram’s comments echoed those of other Arab leaders.

“The stability of Lebanon is in the interest of the Palestinians,” said Palestinian National Security Adviser Jibril Rajoub, the AP reported. “The assassination of Hariri threatens regional security.”

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, also expressing widespread fears, said in a statement he hoped “this bloody assassination … will not be a return to the days of civil war in Lebanon.”

Lebanon went through a bloody 15-year civil war between 1975 and 1990, pitting Christian militias against Syrian-backed Muslims. Tensions have been rising in Lebanon since the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution calling for Syria to end its political dominance and withdraw its 15,000 troops.

Hariri, who served as Lebanon’s prime minister for 10 of the last 14 years, was considered a moderate who was pushed out of power last fall in a power struggle with pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.

Aram, in his remarks in Geneva, said it was important “for the churches to promote mutual understanding and trust.

“Full sovereignty for Lebanon is a sacred responsibility which the churches must support.”

_ David E. Anderson

Quote of the Day: Tom Stang, brother of slain nun Dorothy Stang

(RNS) “We knew she wanted to die with her boots on. Even in retirement, she was doing whatever she could to help people unite and struggle and claim their human rights.”

_ Tom Stang, brother of slain nun Dorothy Stang, on how his sister’s faith led her to decades of work for the people and environment of the Amazon. She was gunned down Saturday in northern Brazil. He was quoted in the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday (Feb. 16).

MO/PH RNS END