c. 2006 Religion News Service

PETA Ad Claims Pope Opposes Animal Farming; Vatican Official Objects

VATICAN CITY (RNS) A new People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) ad campaign depicts Pope Benedict XVI as an opponent of animal farming and an advocate for vegetarianism, but a Vatican official is challenging its accuracy.

The advertisement, which PETA is pushing to place in newspapers across Europe, juxtaposes a photo of the pontiff, smiling, with images of a goose being force-fed and hens that have been de-beaked. The advertisement quotes Benedict criticizing such practices and invites readers to “try delicious vegetarian meals” in bold print.

A PETA press release announcing the ad campaign describes Benedict “as the first pope ever to speak out against factory farming.” PETA’s Web site on Friday (April 14) depicted a photo of Benedict in papal garb with a large headline: “Pope Benedict’s XVI’s Easter Message.”

A click leads readers to an article about PETA’s new ad highlighting comments Benedict made before he was named pope.

A senior Vatican official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, rejected PETA’s ad as a distortion.

“These comments that (PETA) is quoting are not part of Pope Benedict’s magisterium,” the official said.

The advertisement quotes a lengthy passage from “God and the World,” a book-length interview Benedict, then known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, gave to the German journalist Peter Seewald in 2000.

“Certainly, a sort of industrial use of creatures, so that geese are fed in such a way as to produce as large a liver as possible, or that hens live so packed together that they become just caricatures of birds, this degrading of living creatures to a commodity seems to me in fact to contradict the relationship that comes across in the Bible,” Benedict said.

“We’re not trying to cast it as part of his magisterium, we’re trying to cast it as his view, and it certainly is part of his view,” said Bruce Friedrich, a PETA spokesman.

Friedrich said PETA is currently in negotiations with newspapers in predominantly Catholic Italy and Benedict’s homeland of Germany to carry the ad after Easter. There are also plans to place the ad in U.S. publications.

Since he took office, the Vatican has pushed to distance Benedict from many comments he made as the Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, such as an interview he gave to the French daily Le Figaro questioning Turkey’s bid to join the European Union.

_ Stacy Meichtry

Comedy Central Censors Animated Muhammad Image, Allows Defecating Jesus

(RNS) An image of the Prophet Muhammad scheduled to be shown on the controversial cartoon show “South Park” Wednesday (April 12) was censored by Comedy Central, but the network did show an animated Jesus defecating on an American flag.

The decision marks the third time in recent show history that the network interfered with a “South Park” episode dealing with religion. Comedy Central also pulled reruns of episodes dealing with Scientology as well as a show depicting a menstruating statue of the Virgin Mary.

Comedy Central issued a single-sentence statement regarding the Muhammad episode: “In light of recent world events we feel we made the right decision.”

“South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have not responded publicly to the decision.

In the censored episode, the second of a two-part series called “Cartoon Wars,” Americans went into a panic, literally burying their heads in sand because the Fox animated series “Family Guy” threatened to show an image of Muhammad on an episode, prompting terrorist threats.

Any image of Muhammad is prohibited by Islam, and an unflattering depiction of Muhammad in Danish editorial cartoons last fall sparked massive protests and some violence worldwide.

At the end of “Cartoon Wars,” Kyle Broflovski, the 8-year-old hero of “South Park,” convinced the president of Fox to show Muhammad as a defense of free speech. The plot had the “Family Guy” episode with the Muhammad image airing, causing terrorists to retaliate with a cartoon depicting Jesus Christ defecating uncontrollably on bystanders and an American flag.

But all that “South Park” viewers watching Comedy Central at home saw was this message, written out over a black screen: “Comedy Central has refused to air an image of Muhammad on their network.”

The image of a defecating Jesus, however, was uncensored.

Rabiah Ahmed, spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said, “We welcome their responsible decision making,” but urged that respect should be given to all of the prophets, including Christ.

Charmaine Yoest, vice president of the Judeo-Christian advocacy group Family Research Council, was upset that one religious figure was satirized while another was spared.

“It’s outrageous that they would show that kind of disrespect,” said Yoest, “and it only adds insult to injury that Comedy Central is so sensitive to the feelings of Muslims without seeming to care one little bit with how Christians would react.”

_ Piet Levy

Gallup Analysis: Church of Christ Members Have Highest Attendance Rate

(RNS) A new analysis by the Gallup Organization finds that Church of Christ members and Mormons are most likely to attend worship services often.

Pollsters found that 68 percent of Church of Christ members said they attend services at least once a week or almost every week, followed by 67 percent of Mormons who said they followed the same practice.

The Princeton, N.J.-based research organization, which released its results Friday (April 14), analyzed worship attendance by looking at more than 11,000 Gallup Poll interviews conducted between 2002 and 2005.

It found that denominations known for conservative or evangelical theology have higher reported attendance than those that traditionally considered mainline denominations. For example, 60 percent of Southern Baptists reported attending church at least once a week or almost every week compared to 44 percent of Methodists.

The research also showed that Catholics are close to the average percentage of people who worship once a week or almost every week _ 44 percent. Forty-five percent of Catholics reported such attendance in the interviews between 2002 and 2005.

That demonstrates a shift in attendance patterns from decades ago. Gallup data from 1971 showed that 57 percent of Catholics said they had attended church “within the last seven days,” compared to 37 percent of Protestants.

Among the lowest percentage of service attenders between 2002 and 2005 were Episcopalians, with about a third reporting regular attendance, and Jews, with 15 percent reporting regular synagogue attendance.

The breakdown for some specific denominations was as follows:

Church of Christ: 68 percent

Mormon: 67 percent

Pentecostal: 65 percent

Southern Baptist: 60 percent

Nondenominational Protestant: 54 percent

Catholic: 45 percent

Methodist: 44 percent

Presbyterian: 44 percent

Lutheran: 43 percent

Episcopal: 32 percent

Jewish: 15 percent.

_ Adelle M. Banks

EU Word Usage Guidelines Would Discourage `Islamic Terrorism’

LONDON (RNS) The European Union, worried about offending Muslim sensibilities, is compiling new word usage guidelines that would discourage “Islamic terrorism,” “Islamist,” “fundamentalist” and “jihad” to describe acts of terrorism and murder.

What the diplomats in Brussels hope to have down on paper by June for its officials and politicians is a set of guidelines aimed at making it clear that nowhere in the Islamic religion is there justification for outrages such as the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York City and Washington, and the more recent terrorist bombings in Madrid and London.

“Certainly `Islamic terrorism’ is something we will not use,” an unnamed EU official in Berlin told the Reuters news agency. Instead, he said, the preferred reference will be to “terrorists who abusively invoke religion.”

Omar Faruk, a Muslim lawyer who advises the British government on EU issues, told journalists the phrase “Islamic terrorism” is a contradiction in itself: “Those words cannot sit side by side. Islam is actually very much against any form of terrorism. … Islam in itself means peace.”

“Jihad” in the pejorative sense used by al-Qaida and other terrorist groups to mean warfare against infidels is also on the list. “Jihad means something for you and me, it means something else for a Muslim,” the EU official in Berlin said.

“Jihad is a perfectly positive concept of trying to fight evil within yourself,” he insisted.

The new lexicon will not be legally binding _ a loophole that could weaken its impact across the 25-nation organization.

The idea, the official in Berlin said, “is to help us understand what we are saying and try to avoid making mistakes. It’s for the self-guidance of EU institutions and member states.”

The lexicon has received a lukewarm reception from British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government. A Home Office spokesman said, “We believe there is a balance to be struck between raising awareness of the impact that language can have and not letting extremism go unchallenged.”

_ Al Webb

Alabama Church Arson Trial Scheduled for June

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) Three men charged in nine rural Alabama church fires could go to trial in less than two months.

U.S. Magistrate Judge John Ott set a June 5 trial for the trio, but defense attorneys said that could change.

Cases in the federal system are set relatively fast because there’s a speedy-trial law. It’s not uncommon to see a trial set, as required, within 72 days following an indictment.

“It’s probably not that realistic, but that’s up to the court,” lawyer Tommy Spina said. “There’s a lot to be reviewed, a lot of things to be done and that’s a fairly short fuse, so I’m hopeful the court will give us as much time as we need to work toward a resolution of this matter.”

Russell Lee DeBusk Jr., 19, of Hoover; Benjamin Nathan Moseley, 19, of Grayson Valley; and Matthew Lee Cloyd, 20, of Indian Springs, were indicted last month on conspiracy and arson charges. They also face state charges in the fires set Feb. 3 and Feb. 7. They have remained jailed in Shelby County since their March arrests.

The college students appeared in federal court Thursday (April 13), all dressed in orange jail jumpsuits and shackled at the ankles. None of them spoke, but the lawyers for the three waived the reading of the federal indictment and entered not guilty pleas as required under federal law.

Lawyers said it’s early in the process.

“Don’t be expecting too much too quick,” said Spina, who represents Cloyd. “This involves lots of people, lots of documents and a lot needs to be discussed before we can get to the point where we would like to be, which is to restore some balance to these communities and those most affected by these actions.”

_ Carol Robinson

Quote of the Day: Ohio Secretary of State and GOP Candidate Ken Blackwell

(RNS) “I come fully dressed every day in my faith. It’s a very integral part of who I am. I’m not just a political being. I’m not just an economic being. I’m not just a social being. I’m also a spiritual being.”

_ Ohio Secretary of State and GOP candidate for governor Ken Blackwell, meeting recently with editors of The Plain Dealer newspaper in Cleveland. He was quoted in The Plain Dealer.

MO/PH END RNS