c. 2007 Religion News Service

Senate OKs Stem Cell Bill, Bush Promises Veto

WASHINGTON (RNS) Conservative Christian groups joined President Bush in lamenting the Senate’s passage of a bill Wednesday (April 11) that would use federal tax dollars to support embryonic stem cell research.

The bill, similar to one that Bush vetoed last July, would ease restrictions on federal funding for research on embryonic stem cells that Bush approved in 2001. It passed 63-34 in the Senate, but Bush has promised to veto it when it comes to his desk.

“The bill crosses a moral line that I and many others find troubling,” Bush said.

Many religious and conservative groups oppose embryonic stem cell research because embryos _ what they call the earliest stages of human life _ must be destroyed to harvest the stem cells.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., summed up the conservative Christian position on the bill: “The embryo is not potential human life,” he said. “It is human life.”

Proponents of the bill, led by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, argue that the embryos in question would be discarded in any event, and that they should be used to research treatment and possible cures for conditions like Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and spinal cord injuries.

“The real question is, do we throw them away or use them to ease suffering?” asked Harkin.

Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, said members of Congress have been swept up “by hyped promises of `miracle cures’ from the destruction of human embryos.”

Doerflinger said taxpayers “would be forced to promote attacks on innocent human life in the name of scientific progress.” The belief in conservative Christian circles is that all life must be respected from natural birth to death.

“Rather than defend human dignity, a majority of senators approved legislation to force taxpayers to fund research that requires destruction of human life,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.

A second stem cell bill, promising alternative stem cell research methods, was also passed in the Senate 70-28. That bill would allow funding on research of “naturally dead” embryos. The White House said it would support that bill.

Neither the House nor the Senate is expected to have the two-thirds majority necessary to override Bush’s veto on Harkin’s stem cell bill. It’s unclear whether the bill supported by the administration can have any scientific impact because of the lack of consensus in determining when an embryo is “naturally dead.”

_ Philip Turner

Vatican Ambassador To Skip Holocaust Tribute

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican’s ambassador to Israel will not attend an annual Holocaust commemoration at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem museum on Sunday (April 15) in order to protest an exhibit critical of Pope Pius XII, the controversial wartime pontiff who is currently a candidate for sainthood.

Monsignor Antonio Franco said he would skip this year’s ceremony for Holocaust Remembrance Day, an event normally attended by the entire diplomatic corps in Israel, unless Yad Vashem changed or replaced a caption displayed with a photo of the former pope.

The caption states that Pius, who reigned during World War II, “did not protest either verbally or in writing” the Nazi campaign to exterminate European Jewry and “did not intervene” to prevent the deportation of Rome’s Jews to the death camp at Auschwitz.

“His silence and absence of guidelines obliged churchmen throughout Europe to decide on their own how to react,” the caption states.

“It hurts me to go to Yad Vashem and see Pius XII presented that way,” Franco told the Italian bishops’ SIR press agency. “Pius XII had nothing to be ashamed of given all he did to save the Jews, as historical sources make clear.”

Franco, who described his decision as a “dolorous refusal,” said he and his predecessor had both written to museum authorities to complain about the caption, which first appeared in 2005.

Yad Vashem released a statement expressing “shock and disappointment” that the Vatican envoy would not participate in Sunday’s event, and noted the museum had offered to reconsider its interpretation of Pius’s record if the Vatican opened its archives, which remain sealed.

Asked about Franco’s decision, Israel’s Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told the Italian wire service ANSA: “let everyone behave according to the dictates of his conscience.”

ANSA also reported that the Rev. Peter Gumbel, the church official responsible for documenting the late pope’s sanctity, said a 3,000-page dossier on Pius had been submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints earlier this month, and hoped for a judgment by the end of the year.

_ Francis X. Rocca

Court Dismisses Suit Against Boy Scouts

(RNS) A federal appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union that challenged the U.S. Department of Defense’s support of the Boy Scouts of America and their national jamboree.

The April 4 decision ended a dispute that began in 1999 when the ACLU filed suit claiming the “Boy Scouts’ policy requiring religious oaths” violated the separation of church and state.

The ACLU objected to the Defense Department letting the Scouts hold their national Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia every four years because the Scouts’ oath reads in part: “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and to my country.”

A lower court had ruled that a 1972 law that allowed the Defense Department to support the Scouts was unconstitutional because it advanced religion on government property. In the most recent decision, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that ruling and called the statute “an exercise of Congress’ powers under the military.”

“Although some support of the organization does occur, the (Jamboree) statute does not turn money or services over to BSA to handle any way it wants,” the court said in its opinion. “It is about the military’s use and disposition of its land and equipment.”

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a conservative legal group, had filed a brief on behalf of the 90 members of Congress asking for the case to be dismissed. Jay Sekulow, the ACLJ’s chief counsel, was pleased with the decision.

“We’re delighted that the federal appeals court reached the proper conclusion in this case,” Sekulow said. “The military provides the Boy Scouts with support and services that aid both the military and the Scouts without endorsing religion.”

_ Melissa Stee

Portland Archdiocese Close to $75 Million Bankruptcy Plan

PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) A federal bankruptcy judge is expected to rule soon on a $75 million plan to bring the Archdiocese of Portland out of bankruptcy.

The archdiocese _ which in 2004 became the first U.S. diocese to seek bankruptcy protection _ supports the plan. So do about 175 people who claim they were molested by priests, as well as groups representing nearly 400,000 Western Oregon Catholics and insurance companies that will kick in more than $50 million.

The only objection to the plan is from Paul and Deborah DuFresne, who claim their son, Nathan, suffered emotional distress after being labeled a bully and expelled from St. Thomas More school in Southwest Portland.

A federal judge recently estimated that Nathan DuFresne’s case was worth $100,000, while his parents would likely get nothing if the case went to trial.

The bankruptcy plan sets aside at least $3.8 million for unsettled lawsuits; the DuFresne’s case is the only suit left. But their lawyer, Douglas P. Cushing, told Perris on Tuesday (April 10) that she should not approve the plan because there might not be enough money if a jury awarded punitive damages.

Besides, Cushing said, there was no need to limit the amount available for the DuFresne family because the archdiocese had plenty of money.

“Clearly, the debtor has the capacity to take care of the claim in full,” Cushing said.

Thomas W. Stilley, who represents the archdiocese, said it made no sense to reject a plan supported by the vast majority of participants and included more than enough to cover what the DuFresne family was likely to ever get.

“There’s no child abuse here,” Stilley emphasized.

Perris said she would not rule from the bench, leaving in place a gag order that prevents the parties from talking publicly about the case.

Since Portland declared bankruptcy in 2004, dioceses in Tucson, Ariz., Spokane, Wash., San Diego and Davenport, Iowa, have sought bankruptcy protection. Tucson was the first to settle. Spokane has a pending settlement plan.

The parties in the Portland Archdiocese bankruptcy reached an agreement late last year after several months of intense mediation. The settlement plan includes $52 million from insurance companies. The Archdiocese also secured a line of credit that leaves parishes and schools free from being used to pay off settlements, a key issue for both church officials and parishioners.

Perris previously ruled that 10 test properties _ nine parishes and a school _ could be sold to pay off sex abuse lawsuits. Archdiocese officials appealed, claiming church law did not allow them to sell parish property. The settlement plan disposes of that dispute and allows the archdiocese to separately incorporate parishes.

So far, about 175 people who claimed they were molested by priests or other church officials have agreed to settle their cases for about $52 million. Another $20 million has been set aside for those who come forward after a deadline that was set earlier during the bankruptcy proceeding.

_ Ashbel “Tony” Green

Quote of the Day: Evangelist Billy Graham

(RNS) “Now that reading has become more difficult, I probably read the Bible less but pray more. Of course over the years I’ve memorized many passages from the Bible, and I’m especially thankful now that I did this. I wish we gave more attention to Bible memorization in our churches today.”

_ Evangelist Billy Graham, in an e-mail interview with the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune.

KRE/LF END RNS