c. 2005 Religion News Service
Conservatives Vow Not to `Follow’ Episcopal Church
(RNS) Conservative Episcopalians have drafted nine-point “covenants” for bishops, priests and parishioners to promise “I will not follow” if the Episcopal Church strays from the wider Anglican Communion.
The three “Windsor Action Covenants” were drafted by the Atlanta-based American Anglican Council and approved during an April 18-20 meeting in Bedford, Texas.
The oaths will be distributed prior to the church’s 2006 General Convention meeting in Columbus, Ohio, which promises to be a showdown between liberals and conservatives on gay clergy, same-sex unions and other issues.
“If General Convention chooses finally to walk apart, I will not follow, but will remain a faithful Anglican, God being my helper,” the covenants say.
Bishops who sign the covenant promise to “build a personal and diocesan relationship” with an overseas diocese. The covenant does not say whether that implies a direct role for foreign bishops in U.S. affairs, which has been a controversial point as conservative congregations seek to distance themselves from the Episcopal Church.
Signers also promise “a life of personal holiness” in marriage and other “family commitments.”
The statements were a response to the Windsor Report issued last October by Anglican Church leaders, which reprimanded the U.S. and Canadian branches of Anglicanism for allowing same-sex unions in both countries and an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire.
The report expressed concern that if the North American churches did not conform to the standards of the wider communion, “we shall have to begin to learn to walk apart.”
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Hundreds of Religious Leaders Protest Frist Role in Event on Nominees
(RNS) More than 400 religious leaders, including some high-profile liberals, have signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist asking him to consider withdrawing from a “Justice Sunday” event protesting Democratic filibusters of judicial nominees.
The national simulcast event, billed as a protest of “the filibuster against people of faith,” is being organized by the Family Research Council and has been supported by prominent conservative Christian leaders. It will be held Sunday (April 24) at a Louisville, Ky., church but is expected to be linked to more than 100 churches via satellite as well as Christian broadcast outlets across the country.
“We urge you either to withdraw your participation in this event or, if you participate, to use that opportunity to repudiate the message of divisiveness and religious manipulation that is at the core of the gathering,” the leaders wrote in their one-page letter delivered Thursday (April 21) to the office of the Tennessee Republican.
It was signed by people representing a variety of groups, ranging from rabbis to Unitarian Universalists. Signatories include the Rev. Jesse Jackson, president of Chicago-based Rainbow/PUSH Coalition; the Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, president of the Washington-based Interfaith Alliance; the Right Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire; and Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Washington-based Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
“As Senate majority leader, you have a responsibility to defend your colleagues on both sides of the aisle, public servants whom you know to be deeply religious people, from shameful and divisive accusations that they are attacking people of faith,” they wrote.
The Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, said leaders were unsuccessful in gaining a meeting with Frist to personally state their concerns.
“Time and time again, we were denied access to even have our voices heard on this issue,” he told reporters in a conference call Friday (April 22) in which he and other religious leaders discussed their opposition to Frist’s participation in the event.
A spokesman for Frist could not be reached immediately for comment.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Archbishop of Canterbury to Attend Papal Installation
LONDON (RNS) For the first time since the Reformation, an archbishop of Canterbury, the senior prelate of the Church of England and of the worldwide Anglican Communion, will be present in Rome at the installation of a newly elected pope.
Dr. Rowan Williams will be present at the ceremony in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday (April 24), wearing a pectoral cross presented to him by the late Pope John Paul II.
The first archbishop of Canterbury to be received by the pope since the Reformation was Dr. Geoffrey Fisher, who went to Rome in December 1960 to meet Pope John XXIII in what was described as “a courtesy visit.”
Since then, each successive archbishop of Canterbury _ Dr. Michael Ramsey, Dr. Donald Coggan, Dr. Robert Runcie and Dr. George Carey _ has made the pilgrimage to Rome, while Runcie was able to welcome Pope John Paul II to Canterbury Cathedral during the latter’s visit to Britain in 1982.
_ Robert Nowell
Holy Communion Wafer Removed From eBay
WASHINGTON (RNS) A second Holy Communion wafer posted on eBay after supposedly being blessed by the late Pope John Paul II has been removed from the site by the seller.
Less than a week after a similar wafer supposedly blessed by the late pontiff was sold on eBay, another wafer hit the online marketplace April 17, with a starting bid of 100 British pounds ($196). Bidding on the wafer was scheduled to end April 27, but it was removed from the site soon after being posted.
The British seller of the recently removed wafer had said in an online posting that he would sell the wafer, supposedly blessed by John Paul II at a 1996 Mass, only to a “bona-fide purchaser who can show me proof of his intentions not to use this item for an ulterior purpose.”
Although the seller would not comment on the unceremonious removal, eBay representatives said they do not remove items unless they are illegal or promote hatred against a certain group. The company also has strict rules against the sale of guns and for limited sale of alcohol.
“We will not pull a listing because a small handful of members … consider it to be morally wrong and morally offensive based on their own experiences,” said eBay spokesman Hani Durzy. “We understand that there are certain people out there that are incredibly offended that someone is selling this and that someone would consider buying it.”
Durzy said that the sale of religious items has often sparked controversy on the site, as when sacred Mormon garments were auctioned last year.
The eBay auction two weeks ago for a Communion wafer supposedly blessed by John Paul II closed at $2,000, prompting outrage from Catholics who believe a wafer consecrated by a priest becomes the actual body of Christ.
But the Associated Press quoted Monsignor Roger J. Augustine, administrator of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux City, as saying he met with the seller, who agreed not to follow through with the transaction, handing the host over to Augustine instead.
Augustine said he had disposed of it according to the dictates of the Catholic Church.
The Rev. Nicholas Gruner _ director of the Fatima Center in Ontario, Canada _ is calling for Catholics to boycott eBay, based in San Jose, Calif., until the site changes its policy.
“eBay is responsible for a public crime against religion,” said Gruner. “Catholics … should not use their services until the company apologizes and promises to never do it again.”
_ Shawna Gamache
New Pope Likes at Least One American TV Network
(RNS) Newly elected Pope Benedict XVI is a fan of at least one American television network, Eternal Word Television Network, a global Catholic satellite operation based in Irondale, Ala.
“He’s very much aware of the evangelizing outreach of EWTN,” said Bishop David E. Foley, head of the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham, Ala., who met with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger on several occasions in Rome. “He thanked me for my work with EWTN in teaching the catechism.”
Foley had a weekly program on EWTN called “Pillars of Faith” from 1994 to 2000 in which he explained the catechism, or summary of teachings, of the Catholic Church.
_ Greg Garrison
U.S. Senators Introduce Bill Addressing Human Cloning
WASHINGTON (RNS) A group of U.S. senators has a proposal it says will alleviate fears of stem cell research. But critics say it would do just the opposite.
A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Thursday (April 21) banning human cloning while simultaneously allowing embryonic stem cells to be used for medical research.
Proponents hope the proposal can toe the delicate line between scientists who maintain that access to the stem cells is vital to advancing health care and some conservative groups that fear such research debases the sanctity of human life.
“Stem cell research _ particularly embryonic stem cell research _ holds great promise,” said Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, one of the chief co-sponsors of the bill. “(It) could potentially be the scientific advance that takes the practice of medicine not just to the next level, but to five or 10 levels above and beyond.”
The legislation endorses somatic cell nuclear transfer, in which scientists inject a cell nucleus from a body cell into an egg from which the nucleus has been removed _ the same process Scottish researchers used to clone Dolly, a ewe, in 1996.
The bill would restrict development of these cells to 14 days and impose strict penalties on those found guilty of dabbling longer. In addition to 10 years in federal prison, violators would be subject to a fine of at least $1 million.
“Medicine must advance hand in hand with ethics,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., another co-sponsor. “And the legislation we introduce today will make certain that American research sets the gold standard for ethical oversight.”
Proponents say the bill will prevent what they call “human reproductive cloning,” but the bill’s critics maintain the very process it advocates is itself a form of cloning.
“This bill is not a cloning ban,” said Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee. “It is a bill to foster and legitimate human cloning.”
Opponents also say the 14-day development limit is 14 days too many.
“Since these are still living members of the species homo sapiens, we don’t think the government should be involved in the research that will kill them,” Johnson said.
_ Mike Lillis
Central American Priest Seeks Help From U.S. in Anti-Logging Campaign
(RNS) An environmentalist priest has come to the U.S. for Earth Week (April 18-24) to speak out against logging and urge U.S. citizens to boycott Honduran wood.
The Rev. Andres Tamayo, 47, a Salvadoran Roman Catholic priest, said in the 21 years he has worked in Honduras he has seen millions of acres of forest destroyed.
“Luxury furniture is being enjoyed in the world, and leaves a disaster _ hunger, poverty _ in Honduras,” Tamayo said.
To address deforestation _ which he said causes drought, bad harvests and emigration _ Tamayo started the Environmental Movement of Olancho in the northern part of Honduras, which has been gathering support from priests and lay people.
Their demand: a prohibition of logging until strong safeguards against illegal cutting of trees are in place and more of the profits are kept within the communities, Tamayo said.
“We have put the problem on the table in front of the population, in front of the government,” Tamayo said.
Tamayo said he has sought dialogue with the Honduran government, “but the government withdraws when we speak of making agreements.”
President Ricardo Maduro told The Los Angeles Times that he has tried to cut back on illegal logging in the past three years and that a prohibition would be a “simplistic” solution.
In his work to end illegal logging, Tamayo has survived three assassination attempts.
The rural church has united around the issue of logging, Tamayo said, in spite of the risks, and members have blocked loggers at some sites by placing their bodies between the trees and the saws.
He said national church leaders have largely been supportive of the environmental movement, though not hopeful of its success.
Tamayo’s work was recognized Monday (April 18) when he received the Goldman Environmental Prize in San Francisco.
The San Francisco-based Goldman Environmental Foundation offers the $125,000 award each year to leaders from six continents _ Tamayo is the recipient for Central and South America.
_ Celeste Kennel-Shank
Quote of the Day: Catholic League President Bill Donohue
(RNS) “From the Jewish Forward (newspaper) to People magazine, we have learned that the new pope previously governed at a Catholic office once associated with the Inquisition. After listening to these people rant, the idea of bringing it back is awfully tempting.”
_ Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, calling for “non-Catholics to butt out” of commenting on the new pope, Benedict XVI.
MO/PH END RNS
