c. 2005 Religion News Service
Ailing Pope Conducts General Audience by Video-Conference for First Time
VATICAN CITY (RNS) For the first time ever, an ailing Pope John Paul II has conducted his weekly general audience by video-conference.
The 84-year-old pontiff had been scheduled to greet pilgrims from his open study window overlooking St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday (Feb. 23), but rain, hail and strong wind forced Vatican officials to make a last-minute change in plans.
Instead, some 10,000 pilgrims assembled in the Paul VI Audience Hall where a giant screen showed John Paul sitting on a white throne in his study under a celebrated painting of the Resurrection by the 15th century Italian master Perugino. Milwaukee-born Archbishop James Harvey, prefect of the Papal Household, was at the pope’s right and an official of the Secretariat of State at his left.
The pilgrims in the hall and a small crowd of late-comers watching the scene on screens in St. Peter’s Square applauded the pope at length at the start and end of the audience and called out his name.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said that officials decided not to risk the pope’s health by exposing him to the bad weather. He is still recovering from severe breathing problems caused by an inflammation of the windpipe, which forced his hospitalization for nine days earlier this month.
The use of video-conference technology is the latest in a series of measures his staff has taken to preserve his strength.
Because Parkinson’s disease has made it difficult for him to move, John Paul presides over the Mass sitting on a throne on wheels which can be elevated at the altar. When he flies, he boards the plane by a cargo lift.
In brief opening remarks, which were read for him, the pope urged Catholics to observe the penitential liturgical season of Lent leading to Easter with “prayer, fasting and a major solidarity toward fellow men, especially toward the poor and the needy.”
The half-hour ceremony was John Paul’s longest public appearance since his hospitalization, Feb. 1-10. On the previous two Sundays he appeared at his study window for about 15 minutes to lead the Angelus prayer and speak briefly.
_ Peggy Polk
Religious Groups Say Bill Would Hurt Legitimate Asylum Seekers
WASHINGTON (RNS) A broad cross-section of Christian and Jewish organizations are objecting to legislation seeking to increase requirements for refugees coming to the United States.
The REAL ID Act _ passed Feb. 10 in the House of Representatives and currently being considered by a Senate committee _ would demand greater evidence of persecution from asylum seekers while giving judges more power to decide if the evidence presented is adequate. Proponents say it will increase national security against terrorism.
Nineteen faith-based organizations are opposing the legislation, arguing current asylum provisions are rigorous in keeping potential terrorists out of the United States. They said in a statement that proposed changes to the asylum process could bar legitimate asylum seekers.
Believers in the United States have a responsibility to receive people who have been rejected or mistreated because of their religious practices, the statement said.
Mitzi Schroeder, advocacy director of Jesuit Refugee Service in Washington, said the U.S. government needs to be fair and generous in its asylum policy.
Accepting immigrants seeking a haven, Schroeder said, is “based on our faiths’ depictions of all people as children of God.”
Dori Dinsmore, advocacy director for World Relief, an evangelical aid organization based in Baltimore, said the arguments for the bill are based in fear rather than facts.
“They’re bringing up very fearful images and using (those) as a justification for these provisions,” Dinsmore said.
Other groups endorsing the Feb. 3 statement include: B’nai B’rith International, a Washington-based Jewish advocacy organization, Church World Service, an Elkhart, Ind.-based relief organization, and the Religious Freedom Coalition, a Washington-based conservative religious rights group.
_ Celeste Kennel-Shank
Religious Groups Say Buyout of Video Chain Could Increase NC-17 Rentals
(RNS) A coalition of religious groups is opposing Movie Gallery Inc.’s proposed buyout of Oregon-based Hollywood Entertainment Corp., fearing that Movie Gallery would stock some of Hollywood’s 2,000 movie-rental stores with adult videos.
The Campaign for Corporate Responsibility bought full-page ads last week in at least three newspapers _ The Oregonian, USA Today and The Washington Post _ urging Hollywood’s board and its shareholders to reject Movie Gallery’s $13.25-a-share bid to buy Hollywood. Movie Gallery, based in Alabama, is the nation’s No. 3 movie-rental chain by revenue. Hollywood is the nation’s No. 2 chain.
The coalition includes Citizens for Community Values, based in Cincinnati, and American Family Association, based in Tupelo, Miss. Stronger Families of Oregon, based in Salem, also is a member of the coalition.
Many of Movie Gallery’s movie-rental stores carry videos with an NC-17 rating or no rating. The coalition contends such movies are “very damaging,” said Randy Sharp, director of special projects for American Family Association, which has led a boycott against Movie Gallery for four years.
“It creates a very hostile environment wherever this material is viewed, an aggression toward women and in many cases to children,” Sharp said.
A Movie Gallery spokesman did not return several calls seeking comment. It is unclear whether the chain would seek to add adult titles to offerings at Hollywood Video stores, which do not carry adult and NC-17 movies.
The campaign comes as the country’s No. 1 movie-rental chain, Blockbuster Inc., is making an offer directly to shareholders to buy Hollywood for $14.50 a share in cash and stock. The Hollywood board has urged shareholders to reject that bid.
Although Blockbuster does not carry NC-17 or adult videos, the coalition said its action is not meant to be an endorsement of the Blockbuster bid. It said it receives no funding from the Dallas-based chain. A Blockbuster spokesman also denied any involvement in the campaign.
Hollywood founder Mark Wattles, who resigned as chairman and chief executive earlier this month, has for years said he would not stock adult titles. Wattles, who is a Mormon, said he opposes carrying such movies because of his religious, family and personal beliefs.
Wattles has received hundreds of e-mails, he said, from advocates of The American Family Association and others asking him about his position on the Movie Gallery deal.
_ Helen Jung
Soul Singer Aretha Franklin, Others To Be Honored For Gospel Ties
(RNS) Longtime soul singer Aretha Franklin is among the latest artists to be inducted into the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
The Detroit-based Hall of Fame announced its 2005 inductees on Feb. 22 (Tuesday). They will be formally honored at a ceremony on Oct. 22 in Detroit.
Franklin was just a teenager when she first recorded as a gospel artist, the Hall of Fame said. In 1972, she produced an album titled “Amazing Grace” with James Cleveland and recorded another gospel album, “One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism,” in 1987.
Others to be inducted this year include:
_ The Rev. F.C. Barnes, known for his recording of the hit, “Rough Side of the Mountain” with the Rev. Janice Brown in 1983.
_ Luther Barnes & The Sunset Jubilaires, a traditional gospel group that has performed together for almost 35 years.
_ John P. Kee, a writer and producer of gospel music, known for his work with the New Life Community Choir.
_ Bishop Paul S. Morton, who has recorded several albums with the choir of his Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church in New Orleans.
_ Myles Munroe, who toured the Bahamas with the Gospel Visionaries in the 1960s and ’70s.
_ The Rev. Lawrence Roberts, gospel record company producer and writer of dozens of songs, including “I Had a Talk With God Last Night.”
_ The Rev. Timothy Wright, who founded the Timothy Wright Concert Choir in 1976 and is known for such hits as “Troubles Don’t Last Always.”
In a statement, David Gough, founder of the Hall of Fame, said the inductees were nominated from around the globe and chosen by the organization’s board.
“We had our largest-ever online voter turnout this year,” he said. “The reach of gospel music is truly global, and it is gratifying to see its influence grow.”
Nominees for the Hall of Fame must have been involved in gospel music for at least 25 years. Previous inductees include Donnie McClurkin, CeCe Winans, Della Reese and Milton Brunson’s Thompson Community Choir.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Two Years After Arson, Orthodox Christian Church Rebuilds
LOS ALTOS, Calif. (RNS) An Arab-American church destroyed by an arsonist in the aftermath of Sept. 11 has raised $2.6 million to rebuild, with more than $300,000 coming from sympathetic faith groups across the country.
With the arsonist at large, investigators hesitated to label the fire at the Antiochian Orthodox Church of the Redeemer a “hate crime,” but they noted the April 2002 incident marked the latest in a string of attacks on Bay Area Muslims and Jews.
The church, which has a predominantly Palestinian congregation, may have been targeted for hosting the bimonthly Arab-Jewish Dialogue of the South Bay, an interfaith group that also met at a local synagogue.
Now approaching the two-year anniversary of the devastating blaze, parishioners say they have abandoned fantasies of vengeance, in the spirit of the charred Gospel pages recovered from the embers _ “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek.”
The Rev. Samer Youssef, who hails from Syria, said his congregation’s prayers were instead answered by the sight of new church walls going up this month and the outpouring of support from a neighboring Methodist parish and other groups of faith.
With insurance and donation checks counted, the $3.3 million rebuilding project is still $800,000 short, but Youssef is confident the 6,000-square-foot church will open this summer. When construction is completed, Bishop Joseph will travel from the Antiochian Orthodox chancery in Los Angeles to anoint the altar and walls with holy oil.
Although several Orthodox Christian churches and a local synagogue offered their services, the 200 families of the Church of the Redeemer remained at their Los Altos site, worshipping under a canopy.
“We were determined to worship on the same ground,” Youssef said. “Even with the cold and the rain and the canopy tipping over a lot of water on us and our feet soaking wet, we stayed there.”
The Antiochian Orthodox faith is one of the oldest forms of Christianity. There are more than 200 Antiochian Orthodox churches in North America, with services held in English and Arabic.
_ Nicole Neroulias
Quote of the Day: Christian Research Institute President Hank Hanegraaff
(RNS) “At the end of the day, as he’s discovered, we all get sick and we all die.”
_ Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Irvine, Calif.-based Christian Research Institute, referring to Gene Scott, a television preacher who died Feb. 21 after preaching for years that people can be physically healed by faith. Hanegraaff was quoted in the Los Angeles Times.
MO/JL RNS END
