c. 2006 Religion News Service

Pope Asks For a Meeting With Muslim Leaders

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Under pressure to clarify his position on Islam after making remarks that angered many Muslims, Pope Benedict XVI has invited representatives of Muslim countries to meet with him in Rome on Monday (Sept. 25).

In a statement issued Friday (Sept. 22) the Vatican announced that Benedict and his top adviser on Islam, Cardinal Paul Poupard, had called a meeting with Muslim clerics at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence outside of Rome. Ambassadors to the Holy See and other officials representing Muslim countries were also expected to attend.

The meeting comes amid continuing protests over an address Benedict delivered at the University of Regensburg, in which he quoted a Medieval text that described the teachings of the prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman.” The pontiff also challenged the concept of jihad, which he defined as “holy war.”

On Sunday, Benedict said he was “deeply sorry” that his comments provoked Muslim anger, but some clerics and Muslim leaders have said the apology was not enough.

Numerous Muslim clerics have denounced the pope and questioned his plans to visit Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, in November. Churches were firebombed in the West Bank, threats were issued from terrorist groups, and a nun was gunned down in Somalia hours after a local cleric instructed Muslims to “hunt down” the pontiff and kill anyone who offends Muhammad.

The Turkish gunman who shot the late Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square in 1981, has also warned Benedict not to visit Turkey in November.

Mehmet Ali Agca, who is currently serving a prison sentence in Istanbul, issued the warning through his lawyer, who reported the comments to the Associated Press.

“As a man who knows these things, I am saying that your life is in danger, don’t come to Turkey,” the AP quoted Agca as saying. Agca also appealed to Benedict to step down as pope and retire to Germany, the AP reported.

_ Stacy Meichtry

California Episcopal Church Won’t Comply with the IRS

(RNS) A California Episcopal Church voted Thursday (Sept. 21) to defy the Internal Revenue Service’s demands for documents concerning an anti-war sermon given shortly before the 2004 presidential election.

All Saints Church’s lay leader, Bob Long, said they have nothing to hide from the IRS.

“We came to this decision because we believe that these summonses intolerably infringe upon our Constitutional rights,” he said in a statement Thursday.

The governing board of the Pasadena, Calif., church voted 26-0 to deny the IRS request, firmly placing the ball back in the IRS’s court.

IRS regulations prohibit nonprofits, including churches, from participating in any political campaign on behalf of one candidate. Possible penalties if found guilty are numerous, the most drastic being the loss of tax exemptions.

The church came under IRS scrutiny after the Rev. George Regas, the church’s former rector, delivered a guest sermon in October 2004, called “If Jesus Debated Sen. Kerry and President Bush.” Regas depicted Jesus addressing Bush, calling the president’s doctrine of pre-emptive war a “failed doctrine.”

The sermon did not endorse a particular candidate but has been under investigation by the IRS since June 2005.

The Rev. Ed Bacon of All Saints, and supportive religious leaders around the country say the investigation is an attack on the church’s freedom of religion and freedom of speech.

“We are also here not for ourselves alone but to defend the freedom of pulpits in faith communities throughout our land,” he said.

_ Chansin Bird

Presbyterian Church Leaders Meet With Iranian President

(RNS) Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) officials, along with more than 40 Christian and Muslim leaders, met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Wednesday (Sept. 20) in New York, according to the church’s news service.

The meeting’s participants discussed faith, justice and peace issues, according to the Presbyterian News Service.

“We did not want to miss this opportunity to give witness to the Presbyterian Church’s support of Israel and to reject the false and disturbing rhetoric of Holocaust denial used in the past by President Ahmadinejad,” Sara Lisherness, associate director of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, told PNS.

The controversial Middle East leader last year called for Israel to be “wiped off the map” and called the Holocaust a “myth.”

The delegation of Muslim and Christian leaders also affirmed Israel’s right to exist, expressed concerns about Ahmadinejad’s anti-Semitic statements,addressed nuclear non-proliferation, and discussed stability and security in the Middle East.

“We made statements that came in the form of questions. It was a (time of) sharing, it was dialogue,” Lisherness said, according to PNS. “Specifically we shared our concerns about some of the inflammatory rhetoric and very hostile statements he has made about Israel and about America. We challenged him on his denial, or his clear misunderstanding, of what happened in the Holocaust.”

PC(USA) Executive Director Linda Valentine, who was not present at the meeting with Ahmadinejad, said the denomination was invited to attend the meeting and that the PC(USA)’s involvement was “carefully thought out.”

“We had a number of conversations about it,” she told PNS. “We were careful about understanding who would be attending the meeting, the format of the meeting.”

“I fully support constructive engagement and being a witness to our faith,” she said. “We went with the intention of speaking out on issues that are of concern to us as Christians.”

Though the Iranian president did not agree with everything discussed, “he seemed open to hearing what we had to say,” Lisherness told PNS. “At the end of the conversation he said that he was willing to continue to talk about matters of faith with religious leaders.”

_ Chansin Bird

Quote of the Day: Focus on the Family Founder James Dobson

(RNS) “Pennsylvania is too important for us not to be here … especially in your Senate race. Get to the polls. You know who to vote for. I won’t tell you, because you already know.”

_ Focus on the Family Founder James Dobson speaking in a radio interview about the conservative Christian organization’s rally in Pittsburgh Sept. 20. He was quoted by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

DSB/JL END RNS