c. 2005 Religion News Service
California Bishop Apologizes for Denying Funeral to Gay Man
(RNS) Gay rights groups thanked the Roman Catholic bishop of San Diego for his apology to the family of a gay man who was barred from having a Catholic funeral because he owned two gay nightclubs.
Bishop Robert Brom said he made the wrong decision in denying a church funeral for John McCusker, 31, and offered to preside at a Mass in his memory, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
“I deeply regret that denying a Catholic funeral for John McCusker … has resulted in his unjust condemnation, and I apologize to the family for the anguish this has caused them,” Brom said in a statement, according to the family.
Brom had said the church would not provide burial rites for McCusker because of his “business activities” which were “contrary to sacred Scripture and the moral teaching of the church.”
McCusker’s standing-room-only funeral March 18 was held at an Episcopal church instead.
Francis DeBernardo, director of the Maryland-based New Ways Ministries, a gay Catholic group, applauded Brom’s change of heart. “I hope that this decision will be a sign for all lesbian/gay Catholics to keep steadfast, faithful and prophetic, even in the darkest moments,” he said.
Winnie Stachelberg, vice president of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, a Washington-based gay rights group, also praised Brom for “admitting mistakes.”
“It is encouraging that the bishop recognizes the importance of faith in people’s lives,” she said. “We hope the McCusker family now will find the solace they need in the arms of their church.”
Brom said, out of respect for the family, he would have no further comment on the issue.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
American-Born Rabbi Convicted in Peace Demonstration in Israel
JERUSALEM (RNS) A Jerusalem court has convicted an American-born Israeli rabbi for attempting to prevent Israeli bulldozers from destroying illegally built Palestinian homes.
Rabbi Arik Ascherman, who heads the Jerusalem-based organization Rabbis for Human Rights, was found guilty Tuesday (March 22) of “impeding police operations” twice in 2003. Ascherman and two others stationed themselves in front of bulldozers about to demolish a house; later they planted themselves in the room of a home slated for demolition.
Ascherman, originally from Erie, Pa., is considered a peace activist by some and a danger to public order by others.
His organization, comprised of dozens of Israeli rabbis, often intervenes on behalf of Palestinians engaged in conflicts with Israel. Its members often take part in left-wing demonstrations, stand at Israeli military checkpoints and plant olive trees in Palestinian villages. It also assists Israeli victims of terror and other needy Israelis.
The prosecutor said the conviction was particularly important at a time when the Israeli military is preparing to force Israeli settlers to leave the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the West Bank. The Israeli government fears that the “disengagement” scheduled for July will be complicated by widespread civil disobedience, and perhaps outright violence, by those opposed to the evacuation.
While eager to find the three guilty, the prosecutor requested that they be required to perform community service rather than serve time in prison. These “are not criminals,” the prosecutor said. “In fact, they are upstanding citizens.”
In a highly unusual move, the prosecutor asked the court not to saddle them with a criminal record as long as they agreed to perform community service.
Ascherman said in an interview that his Jewish faith compels him to battle against home demolitions and other Israeli government policies that, in his opinion, run contrary to Jewish law. “As a rabbi, when I see the Torah trampled on, there comes a time when one has no choice but to stand in front of the bulldozers,” Ascherman said.
_ Michele Chabin
Poll: Churchgoers Support Removal of Schiavo Feeding Tube
(RNS) Despite intense lobbying by Christian conservatives on behalf of Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged Florida woman whose feeding tube was removed Friday (March 18), a majority of churchgoing Americans believe Schiavo should be removed from life support, according to a new Gallup poll.
About half _ 51 percent _ of people who attend church weekly supported the decision, joined by 55 percent who attend monthly and 60 percent who attend seldom or never, the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found.
Just 37 percent of weekly attendees opposed the decision, followed by 31 percent of monthly worshippers and 27 percent of occasional attendees. The poll did not detail which faith groups were asked the question.
Schiavo’s parents have so far been unsuccessful in having the tube reinserted, despite support from Congress and President Bush. A federal judge ruled Monday (March 22) that Schiavo should be allowed to die; that ruling was upheld by a three-judge appellate panel Wednesday.
Overall, 56 percent of Americans supported the decision to remove the tube (31 percent opposed), suggesting that the fervor of religious conservatives to keep her alive is not shared by the general public.
Majorities of Republicans, independents and Democrats supported the decision. Just half _ 50 percent _ of conservatives supported the decision (38 percent opposed), while majorities of moderates and liberals also supported it.
Fifty-six percent of Americans said they would make the same decision if their child were in the same position, and 61 percent agreed if it were their spouse. The poll of 909 adults, conducted March 18-20, had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Reform Rabbinate Names New Leader
(RNS) The rabbinical arm of the Reform Jewish movement will install the rabbi of the only Reform congregation in Memphis, Tenn., as its new president on March 30.
Rabbi Harry K. Danziger, 66, was named to the two-year term as president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR). Current president Rabbi Janet Marder, from Los Altos Hills, Calif., completes her term this month.
The CCAR, which counts 1,800 rabbis among its members, represents the largest American Jewish denomination and is the world’s largest group of Jewish clergy.
In addition to leading the only Reform congregation in Memphis as rabbi emeritus, Danziger is a visiting rabbi to two Reform congregations in Mississippi.
His experiences there _ combined with stints in Louisiana, Missouri and Baltimore earlier in his career _ led to what he sees as a need to look beyond political ideologies to advance what he calls “non-negotiable Jewish goals” like health care, education and care of the elderly.
“We must take seriously all proposals that might advance those goals _ whether they come in `Red’ or `Blue’ packages,” he said in a statement announcing his appointment.
Other themes that Danziger emphasized include continuing the Reform practice of blending ancient tradition with modern innovation, respecting diverse views and practices from within the rabbinate, and aiding the continuing education and professional fulfillment of Reform rabbis.
Rabbi Paul J. Menitoff, who is the executive vice president of the CCAR, said Danziger’s experience in the movement, including high positions on the Committee on Ethics and Appeals and the National Commission on Rabbinic-Congregational Relations, will help him to become an effective leader of the rabbinate as a whole.
“He will be able to help the CCAR address the needs of colleagues in distress,” Menitoff said.
_ Holly Lebowitz Rossi
Rick Warren Keeping in Touch With Former Hostage Who Read His Book
(RNS) Best-selling author Rick Warren says he’s keeping in touch with the Atlanta-area woman who recently used his “Purpose Driven Life” book to help free herself when she was held hostage.
“As soon as I heard about this, we were in touch by e-mail, and now we are in regular pastoral conversation,” Warren told USA Today in an interview published Wednesday (March 23). “We talk every day about verses of the Bible and pray together, and I encourage her.”
Warren, who recently returned from a trip to Africa, also was a guest on CNN’s “Larry King Live” on Tuesday. He told King that Ashley Smith’s time with alleged courtroom murderer Brian Nichols demonstrates “that God can use anybody.”
“Ashley will tell you, she’s just an ordinary person,” Warren said. “She wasn’t some saint. She wasn’t some preacher or some theologian. God uses normal ordinary people in daily life. And if God only used perfect people, nothing would get done.”
Warren’s book soared in Web site sales after the media reported how Smith read from it to Nichols. USA Today said it would top its best-seller list Thursday.
In both interviews, the Southern Baptist pastor deflected attention to his book’s success to God and the Bible, on which it was based, and away from him.
“There’s not a single new thought in `Purpose Driven Life’ that hasn’t been said in historic Christianity or Judaism,” he told the newspaper. “I’m just a communicator for the 21st century.”
In both interviews, Warren weighed in on the situation facing Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman in Florida.
“She’s alive and breathing, so God wants her to live for a purpose, even if that purpose is lived out through other people,” he told USA Today.
Warren, who is marking his 25th anniversary as pastor of Saddleback Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif., told King he intends next year to kick off his plan to “mobilize hundreds of thousands of small groups” that have studied the principles in his book to work on creating new churches, helping the poor and caring for the sick.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Quote of the Day: The Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance
(RNS) “A family’s grief over the loss of a loved one is being compounded by pontifical posturing among politicians and religious leaders who know too little about the situation even to comment on it, much less to attempt to control it.”
_ The Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance, commenting on the case of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman in Florida. His clergy-led, grass-roots organization is based in Washington, D.C.
KRE/PH END RNS
