c. 2006 Religion News Service
Ndungane, Ally of U.S. Church in Africa, to Retire in 2008
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (RNS) Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, 65, announced he will retire in 2008 from his position as leader of the 4 million- member Anglican Church in Southern Africa.
“It is an extremely demanding position with many wide-ranging responsibilities, and although _ according to the canons of our church _ I could continue to fill it until I am 70, I have decided that the time is coming for me to step down,” Ndungane said in a statement Thursday (May 18).
The successor to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, Ndungane has been the spiritual leader of an Anglican province stretching from South Africa to the northern limits of Angola and Mozambique. Before his retirement, Ndungane anticipates serving alongside his successor, who will be chosen next year.
He said the new archbishop will be in a position to carry forward decisions made during the 2008 Lambeth Conference _ a global gathering of Anglican bishops _ after an extensive training period.
For 10 years, Ndungane has drawn wide respect throughout the 77 million-member Anglican Communion, serving as a chair of the influential Lambeth Conference in 1998 and as an Anglican representative at the Vatican.
But in recent years, he has been a focus of controversy for strongly supporting openly gay Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson and the liberal-leaning U.S. church. Confrontations with Nigeria’s Archbishop Peter Akinola, who vociferously condemns the ordination of homosexuals, has largely overshadowed Ndungane’s attempts at social reform.
Ndungane, a political detainee during the apartheid era, said he is ready to pursue other passions, particularly the African Monitor _ an organization he developed as a watchdog over spending of donated funds on the continent.
“Happily for me, there is life after being an archbishop and there are many projects I wish to pursue once I have retired. I will continue my interest in issues of development,” Ndungane said.
Since 1996, Ndungane has led attempts to refocus the mission of the church from issues of sexuality toward the completion of the United Nations anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals. He said he also hopes to support the revival of traditional church schools in South Africa, which fostered an educated black elite during the apartheid struggle but have since fallen into disrepair.
“Most of all, what I believe our church needs now is an injection of youthful energy and enthusiasm so that it continues to serve southern Africans in ways that meet their present-day needs,” he said.
_ Jason Kane
Turkish Judges Shot Over Headscarf Case
ISTANBUL (RNS) A lone gunman killed one judge and wounded four others in Turkey’s highest administrative court in Ankara on Wednesday (May 17) in an apparent dispute over Islamic head scarves.
Alparslan Aslan, an attorney who was later arrested, was protesting the judges’ controversial ruling against a teacher who wore the head scarf. Aslan shouted “God is great” as he stormed into the chamber and opened fire. According to national newspaper Radikal, he also said, “This court’s decision violates God’s justice. God’s wrath will be on this court!”
The court’s February ban on head scarves was unpopular with conservative Muslims. One of the injured judges, Mustafa Birden, has been criticized for his ruling that forbids public school teachers from wearing head scarves even on the way to school.
Currently, head scarves are banned at universities and can’t be worn by teachers or public employees. Proponents of the law say that head scarves are a political symbol that degrades the secular state.
The ban on Islamic head scarves has also prompted reactions from religious media. After the verdict was produced by Council of State in February, the names and photos of the five judges were printed an Islamist daily newspaper with a headline that read, “These are the members.”
The head scarf debate exists on all levels of Turkish society. President Ahmet Sezer, a staunch secularist, said the event was “an attack against our Republic and our Republic’s irrevocable, democratic and secular character.”
However, Prime Minster Recep Erdogan is generally opposed to headscarf bans. Last November he made waves with secularists when he said that courts shouldn’t decide the fate of head scarves, but “that right belongs to the scholars of Islam.”
_ Scott Rank
Nevaeh _ A Rather Backward Name _ Soars in Popularity
(RNS) Spell heaven backwards and what do you get? The 70th most popular name for American baby girls.
Nevaeh, usually pronounced nuh-VAY-uh, cracked the top 100 names for newborn baby girls for the first time in 2005, with 4,457, according to the New York Times.
It is the fastest-rising name since the Social Security Administration began keeping such records more than a century ago. In 1999, only eight newborn girls were named Nevaeh.
The Times reports that the name, which holds no Biblical significance, is popular among African-Americans and evangelical Christians. Nevaeh was more popular last year than names like Amanda, Sara and Vanessa.
The major reason for the surge in Nevaeh is MTV. Christian rocker Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D. mentioned his new baby daughter Nevaeh on the network in 2000. That year, there were 86 Nevaehs. The next year the number shot up to 1,191.
The name Heaven ranked 245th in 2005.
_ Nate Herpich
Small Jewish Group Joins Boycott Call for `Da Vinci Code’
WASHINGTON (RNS) A small Jewish group has joined several vocal Christian organizations in denouncing “The Da Vinci Code,” pressing for a boycott of the new film based on Dan Brown’s controversial novel.
“Da Vinci Code” director Ron Howard “has a First Amendment right to make this garbage,” said Don Feder, president of Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation. “We have a First Amendment right to criticize it and encourage people not to see it.”
Feder urged people not to “reward the perpetrators of this trash by spending your hard-earned dollars at the box office” at a Wednesday (May 17) press conference sponsored by the Inter-Faith Coalition Against “The Da Vinci Code.”
But the coalition was hardly interfaith; Feder represented the sole non-Christian presence on a panel that included representatives of conservative organizations such as the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, Concerned Women for America and the Cardinal Newman Society.
The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, an anti-abortion Catholic group, also urged a boycott, saying the film “proselytizes Satanism,” and comparing it to the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” “Birth of a Nation” and “Mein Kampf.”
Ted Baehr, of the Hollywood watchdog Movieguide.org, said the film amounts to a campaign by people who hate Christians.
And Feder, in addition to criticizing the book’s take on Christianity, called it “anti-Judaic.” He challenged a passage in Brown’s book that claims in ancient times Jewish men had sex with priestesses in a holy temple as a sort of spiritual ritual.
None of the speakers has seen the film. Only coalition member Austin Ruse, director of The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, said he plans to, and Baehr’s Movieguide will review it.
The book and film, directed by Oscar-winning director Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, argues that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene, married, and had a son together, and that a secretive sect of the Catholic Church knew about it and killed to protect it.
_ Piet Levy
`Da Vinci Code’ Gets Disclaimer in India
CHENNAI, India (RNS) India’s government will allow “The Da Vinci Code” to be screened in theaters nationwide, but only with two disclaimers that label the film “fiction” after heavy pressure from Christian leaders.
The government-appointed Central Board of Film Certification on Thursday (May 18) approved the movie for public screening but gave it an A-rating (for adults only) and said it must carry a disclaimer both at the beginning and the end that says the film has no relation to historical facts.
The decision followed a special preview screening on Wednesday at which the federal minister for information and broadcasting, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, invited Christian leaders who were asked for comments after viewing the film.
The six-man panel included Bishop Anil Couto, auxiliary bishop of Delhi; Dr. Donald H.R. De Souza, deputy secretary general of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India; and Dr. Valson Thampu, a member of the National Integration Council.
In a letter sent to Dasmunshi after the screening, the Christian leaders said the movie’s storyline was “unacceptable,” adding: “It tries to present fiction as truth and there is a likelihood that many people could end up with a distorted and erroneous view of Church and Christianity.”
Dasmunshi said guidelines allow the board to consult experts in cases where a film affected social, ethnic or religious sensitivities. The minister said he had received close to 300 requests to not allow the film in India.
Director Ron Howard, in a message sent from the film’s premiere in Cannes, France, to the Calcutta newspaper The Telegraph, said: the film “is supposed to be entertainment. It’s not theology. It should not be misunderstood as such. Yes, it stimulates conversation, but that’s what good fiction does. And I think in that spirit it’s ultimately positive.”
_ Achal Narayanan
Quote of the Day: Religious Broadcaster Pat Robertson
(RNS) “If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms.”
_ Pat Robertson, host of the Christian Broadcasting Network’s “The 700 Club,” making a prediction May 8 about upcoming weather based on revelations he said he gained during his annual personal prayer retreat in January. He was quoted by the Associated Press.
KRE/RB END RNS
