c. 2005 Religion News Service

Christian Peace Group Blames Abductions on U.S. War Policy in Iraq

(RNS) A Christian peace organization whose workers were kidnapped in Baghdad is blaming the Bush administration’s war policy.

“We are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the result of the actions of the U.S. and U.K. governments due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people,” said a statement posted on the Christian Peacemaker Teams Web site.

Two Canadians, an American and a Briton kidnapped in Baghdad on Saturday (Nov. 26) are affiliated with the organization, based in Chicago and Toronto. The organization emphasizes “truth telling” from international hot spots, attempting to relay the stories of ordinary people. It was one of the first to disclose reports of American abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

The four were abducted by the Swords of Righteousness Brigade, a previously unknown group, according to the Al-Jazeera television network, which broadcast a videotape of the hostages. The captors called them spies working undercover as Christian peace activists, a charge rejected by both CPT and the captives’ friends and families.

“We are deeply disturbed by their abduction,” CPT said in a written statement. “We pray that those who hold them will be merciful and that they will be released soon.”

Two of the hostages, Tom Fox of Clearbrook, Va., and James Loney of Toronto, are long-term CPT workers. The other two were identified as Norman Kember of London and Harmeet Singh Sooden, a Canadian studying at a New Zealand university. They are members of a short-term delegation to Iraq led by Loney, who is CPT’s program coordinator in Canada.

Fox was based in Baghdad, where CPT has maintained a presence since 2002, documenting abuses of detainees and connecting Iraqis to local and international human rights organizations. CPT still has three workers in Baghdad and does not intend to remove them, the organization said.

CPT is one of the few international organizations remaining in the country after a rash of kidnappings and killings of foreigners in 2004 and early 2005. News reports said the kidnapping, the first of foreigners in more than a month, occurred in a particularly dangerous section of western Baghdad.

A statement from CPT said its workers are aware of the dangers they may face and it does not advocate the use of violence to rescue them.

“In loving both friends and enemies and by intervening non-violently to aid those who are systematically oppressed, we (hope) we can contribute in some small way to transforming this volatile situation,” the statement said.

_ Rich Preheim

Pope Calls for Religious Efforts Aimed at `Eradicating’ AIDS

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI joined the United Nations Wednesday (Nov. 30) in calling for renewed support from the international community in combating HIV/AIDS and praised the contributions of Catholic relief workers.

Speaking at a weekly general audience on the eve of World AIDS Day, Benedict said he felt close to the millions of people infected with HIV.

“I encourage the many initiatives aimed at eradicating this disease, particularly those undertaken by the ecclesiastical community,” Benedict said, adding, “I feel close to those sick with the disease and to their families.”

According to U.N. figures released in December 2004, an estimated 39.4 million people are living with HIV worldwide. More than 25 million live in sub-Saharan Africa.

Calling the figures “alarming,” Benedict said, “The church has always considered taking care of the sick an integral part of its mission.”

The pope did not mention the Vatican’s opposition to the use of condoms, a policy that has led to frequent clashes with the U.N., which considers condoms a key to HIV/AIDS prevention.

On Tuesday (Nov. 29) the Vatican’s health care office issued a message for World AIDS Day attributing the spread of AIDS to a “pansexual culture that devalues sexuality, reducing it to mere pleasure without any further meaning.”

“Radical prevention in this field must come from a correct conception and practice of sexuality, where sexual activity is understood in its deep meaning as a total and absolute expression of the fecund giving of love,” the message said.

The U.N. argues that condom use is essential to protecting women who live in countries with high levels of sexual violence and prostitution fueled by socio-economic inequality.

Last week the Vatican dropped a Brazilian singer from its Christmas concert lineup for openly supporting condom use to fight HIV/AIDS.

_ Stacy Meichtry

Target Targeted for Religion Policy on `Morning-After’ Pill

(RNS) The Planned Parenthood Federation of America is targeting Target Corp. over the retailer’s policy allowing pharmacists in its stores to refuse to fill prescriptions for the “morning-after pill” for religious reasons.

Target operates 1,400 stores, and 1,149 of them have pharmacies. Planned Parenthood has asked members to e-mail Target national headquarters in protest. The retailer expressed surprise and disappointment at Planned Parenthood’s reaction.

“Our policy is similar to that of many other retailers and follows the recommendations of the American Pharmacists Association, so it is unclear why Target is being singled out,” a company statement said.

Target’s policy requires objecting pharmacists “to take responsibility” for getting a customer’s prescription filled “in a timely and respectful manner,” either by another Target pharmacist or at a different pharmacy.

“Under no circumstances can the pharmacist prevent the prescription from being filled, make discourteous or judgmental remarks or discuss his or her religious beliefs,” according to the company statement.

But Target’s policy “brings up questions as far as pharmacists second-guessing doctors, and it does bring up questions of discrimination and delay,” said Stephanie Underwood of Planned Parenthood of the Susquehanna Valley, in Pennsylvania, which is part of the effort to target Target.

Plan B, or the “morning-after pill” as it is commonly known, is a high dose of the regular birth-control pill. It is generally prescribed when a woman has had unprotected sex either consensually or because of rape or when another method, such as a condom, has failed. Its use is opposed by many religious groups that object to abortion, including the Catholic Church.

The pill, which “doesn’t allow for an egg to implant in the womb,” must be taken within 120 hours of having sex to be effective, Underwood said.

Planned Parenthood’s criteria for a good policy on emergency contraception includes what Underwood called “in-store solutions” to a pharmacist’s refusal, so the customer never knows the refusal occurred.

Planned Parenthood cited reports of “refusal incidents” in Target stores in more than 20 states, including two in the Philadelphia area.

Target’s statement says the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires the company to accommodate “sincerely held religious beliefs” of employees.

_ Ellen Lyon

Catholics Warn Church of England About Ordaining Women Bishops

LONDON (RNS) The Roman Catholic bishops of England and Wales have warned the Church of England that going ahead with women bishops risks destabilizing both the Church of England and the whole Anglican Communion.

In a report, the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales referred to “tremendous and intolerable ecclesiogical risk” involved in ordaining women bishops without the assurance that it is right and irreversible.

The Church of England decided in 1992 to allow the ordination of women to the priesthood, and its first women priests were ordained in 1994. It is now considering whether to allow women to become bishops, with a debate expected at its general synod next February. Following that, draft legislation to allow women bishops will be drawn up and presented to the synod.

The chief sticking point is how the Church of England will accommodate the minority of its members who do not recognize women priests and who are able to rely on the ministry of “flying bishops” appointed to look after those parishes that will not accept women priests.

The Catholic bishops’ argument against going ahead with women bishops addressed the effects on the Church of England more than the difficulties that might occur for ecumenical cooperation.

“How could women priests be held to hold valid orders if it were one day discerned that the original decision to ordain them was not consonant with the will of God as expressed in Scripture and tradition?” the Catholic bishops ask.

_ Robert Nowell

Quote of the Day: Dr. William F. Harrison

(RNS) “It’s not a baby to me until the mother tells me it’s a baby.”

_ Dr. William F. Harrison, 70, a Fayetteville, Ark., physician who estimates he has terminated about 20,000 pregnancies. He was quoted in The Los Angeles Times.

MO/PH END RNS