c. 2005 Religion News Service
Islamic Satellite Will Impact Moon Sightings, Holiday Observances
(RNS) An Islamic satellite is expected to go into orbit by the end of the year to help determine the exact timing of a “new moon” to begin the holy month of Ramadan.
Ali Jama, the mufti of Egypt and head of the Islamic Supreme Committee of the Islamic Satellite, told the Emirates News Agency that “the satellite would solve many problems like crescent sighting due to differences over the lunar months, a fact which prompted Arab and Muslim countries to support the project.”
Muslims rely on sighting of the new moon to determine the beginning of each month. Particularly during the holy month of Ramadan, when a precise declaration of the sighting of the moon determines when the daily fasts begin, moonsighting is a central practice in Islam worldwide.
Different countries, however, have different standards of determining that the new moon is visible. In an attempt to universalize the procedure for moon sightings, the $8 million satellite was approved by committee members from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
In the United States, said Muslim calendar expert Imad Ahmad, Muslims of different nationalities often disagree about how to determine the visibility of the new moon.
Many American Muslims contact families or imams in Muslim countries as their basis of accepting a moonsighting. Others rely on methods from simple naked-eye visibility to scientific calculations.
The satellite, Ahmad said, will impact the debate in America, where a group known as the Fiqah Council _ made up of religious authorities around the country _ currently teleconferences to agree on an official new moon date.
“This will be introduced as an alternative, and there will be a debate over whether to accept this alternative or stay with their existing methods,” Ahmad said.
_ Holly Lebowitz Rossi
Colorado Legislator Named 2005 `Christian Statesman’
(RNS) Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., has been named the 2005 Distinguished Christian Statesman by the Center for Christian Statesmenship.
She was honored in a Wednesday (April 27) ceremony on Capitol Hill.
“We have a rich legacy of Christian statesmen in America,” said George Roller, executive director of the Washington-based center.
“Great leaders, including Patrick Henry, George Washington, John Jay, John Adams and Abraham Lincoln. These names ring with a distinguishable presence attainable by those who hold great faith in the God of the Bible. We rank Rep. Musgrave among those whose character and integrity are proclaimed louder by their lives than by their words.”
Past recipients of the honor include former Attorney General John Ashcroft, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.
The Center for Christian Statesmanship is a division of Coral Ridge Ministries Media and was founded by the Rev. D. James Kennedy, a leading religious conservative who is senior minister of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Yale Honors Activist Minister With Two Days of Discussion on Faith and War
(RNS) Yale Divinity School celebrated the life and ministry of the Rev. William Sloane Coffin Jr. with a two-day event that ended Friday (April 29).
More than 200 Yale graduates who developed close relationships with Coffin _ a Yale alumnus and the university’s chaplain from 1958-1975 _ joined the festivities. Among them were Garry Trudeau, political cartoonist of “Doonesbury” fame, and Calvin Hill, former football player for the Yale Bulldogs and the Dallas Cowboys.
Despite health concerns, Coffin took part in the celebration, including speaking in the panel discussion “God and War at Yale.”
The events looked at the past and future of an activist ministry like Coffin’s. A Thursday (April 28) panel, “Faith and Activism: The Legacy of the Sixties Generation,” remembered the decade in which Coffin was arrested as a “Freedom Rider” on a bus tour opposing racial segregation and led protests against the Vietnam War.
The panel featured, among others, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) and the Rev. Scotty McLennan, Stanford University chaplain, both Yale graduates.
A third panel included a Yale alumnus, the Rev. John Chane, Episcopal bishop of Washington. It explored, “The Future of Ministry in the `Prophetic Tradition.”’
In 1977, after leaving Yale, Coffin became senior minister at Riverside Church in New York City, known by many for its commitment to interracial fellowship. Ten years later, he became president of the largest grass-roots peace organization in the U.S., SANE/FREEZE, now called Peace Action, based in Washington.
Coffin has also written a number of books, including the 2004 best-seller “Credo.”
_ Celeste Kennel-Shank
Used Volkswagen Golf Once Owned by Pope Hot Item on German eBay
(RNS) A used Volkswagen Golf that once belonged to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger _ who is now Pope Benedict XVI _ is getting plenty of action on eBay’s German Web site.
As of Friday (April 29), the high bid was 45,000 euros ($58,500), with six days left for the bidding to go even higher.
“It drives as though it were in paradise,” said its present owner, Benjamin Halbe, 21, who bought the car in January.
“The name Joseph Ratzinger appears in the Golf’s documents with papers giving permission to ship it outside the Vatican,” Leonie Bechtoldt, told reporters.
The car, first registered in 1999, is painted metallic gray and has 75,000 kilometers (45,000 miles) on its odometer. It is described as being in good condition and having all available accessories although its hi-fi system is not the latest model.
Bidding started at 9,900 euros ($12,870) when the car first was offered four days ago but began rising when the name of the previous owner came to light in the German online tabloid Bild Zeitung. Bidding closes at 7:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. EDT) on Thursday (May 5).
As pope, Benedict is now driven around Rome and the Vatican in a black Mercedes with Vatican city-state licences plates CSV-1.
Price of John Paul II Coins Skyrockets
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Memorabilia for Pope John Paul II, who died on April 2, continues to command high interest.
Thousands of people camped in the street overnight for a chance to buy the last set of Vatican coins bearing his image when they went on sale Thursday (April 28). The official price for each of the 75,000 sets was 23 euros, but on Friday scalpers already were asking 400 euros ($520).
In the southern province of Lecce, an unidentified bettor won a Lotto prize of 3,062,250 euros ($3,980,925) Thursday by choosing numbers related to John Paul’s life and death.
The winning combination was 19-78-26-2-85 _ 1978 for the year he was elected pope, 26 for the number of years of his reign, 2 for the day of his death and 85 for the birthday he would have celebrated on May 20.
_ Peggy Polk
Quote of the Day: Center for American Progress President John Podesta
(RNS) I’m Catholic. … I attend Mass. I take Communion. It’s a source of strength for me. I think it’s really what makes me a progressive.”
_ Center for American Progress President John Podesta, former White House chief of staff in the Clinton administration, speaking Tuesday (April 26) at a Washington forum on “Faith, Politics and Progressives” sponsored by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
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