c. 2007 Religion News Service

Pittsburgh takes first step toward leaving Episcopal Church

(RNS) The Diocese of Pittsburgh has taken a big step out the door of the Episcopal Church, declaring itself at odds with the denomination’s more liberal view of Scripture and homosexuality and paving the way to join a more conservative Anglican branch.

By a tally of 227 to 82, lay and ordained delegates to Pittsburgh’s annual convention on Friday (Nov. 2) voted to change their diocese’s constitution, removing language that requires “accession” to the national church.

“As a diocese we have come to a fork in the road,” Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan told delegates on Friday. “Indeed, it has become clear that our understandings are not only different, but mutually exclusive, even destructive to one another.”

Pittsburgh is the third U.S. diocese to take that step, following San Joaquin, Calif., and Quincy, Ill. Constitutional changes require the approval of two consecutive diocesan conventions. San Joaquin is scheduled to hold its second vote on the constitutional change in December.

Duncan said Pittsburgh’s action “announces an intention without actually making a change. … Of course, in another sense, adoption signifies an intention, gives warning, opens a possibility.”

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori publicly warned Duncan before the convention not to lead his diocese from the church.

Duncan, who leads an effort to realign U.S. Anglicans upset with the liberal drift of the national church, responded defiantly to Jefferts Schori.

“Here I stand, I can do no other,” the bishop said, quoting Martin Luther’s famous declaration. “I will neither compromise the faith once delivered to the saints, nor will I abandon the sheep who elected me to protect them.”

_ Daniel Burke

Religious coalition urges clear rejection of torture

(RNS) The National Religious Campaign Against Torture is calling on the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject any attorney general nominee who is not forecefully “against the use of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”

But the call by the 130-member coalition seems likely to be too little, too late as the committee appears ready to send to the full Senate the nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey to replace Alberto Gonzalez.

In a Nov. 1 letter to the Judiciary Committee, the interfaith group said it was “deeply concerned” about Mukasey’s answers on the volatile issue of torture and what interrogation techniques may be permissible.

“Our country already knows what happens when we have an attorney general who countenances torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment,” the letter said. “We lose our moral compass; decent Americans are called upon on our behalf to commit acts that damage their souls; our soldiers who may be captured are placed in greater jeopardy; we are shamed in the eyes of the world.”

“It would be tragic to allow an individual who has not clearly rejected the illegal and immoral practices of torture … to become the leading law enforcement officer of our nation.”

Mukasey’s refusal to clarify his views on what amounts to torture _ especially the technique known as “waterboarding” _ has caused a number of senators to oppose his confirmation. Waterboarding simulates the experience of drowning and has reportedly been used by the CIA against alleged leaders of al-Qaida.

But two key Democrats on the committee _ Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California and Charles Schumer of New York _ announced they would support the nomination. Schumer said he had met privately with Mukasey and the nominee had “pledged to enforce” laws that ban a number of harsh interrogation methods.

On Sunday (Nov. 4), Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, told CNN’s “Late Edition” that while he is bothered by Mukasey’s refusal to say waterboarding is torture, he will still support the nomination.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Mukasey’s nomination on Tuesday (Nov. 6).

_ David E. Anderson

N.J. bishops urge vote against stem cell measure

TRENTON, N.J. (RNS) A state referendum on whether to fund stem-cell research in New Jersey has prompted the state’s Roman Catholic bishops to take a public stand against the question, although their flocks appear split on whether to follow.

Trenton Bishop John M. Smith has joined other church leaders in opposing the $450 million measure on the Tuesday (Nov. 6) ballot, even as many Catholics in the state supported the measure in a recent opinion poll.

Church leaders oppose research using stem cells from embryos _ which the church regards as human lives _ and the bishops support the use of adult stem cells in scientific and medical research. The referendum, Public Question No. 2, would fund research of both types of stem cells.

How New Jersey Catholics view the question could determine its fate. The state’s 3.4 million Catholics comprise 40.2 percent of New Jersey’s population, according to a 2000 estimate by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies.

“I ask everyone to pray that the people of New Jersey will vote against the funding of embryonic stem cell research this November, and that we will all continue to support and respect life, especially the lives of the most vulnerable among us,” Smith wrote in a letter read in parishes.

A poll conducted by Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute found that likely voters support the referendum 57 percent to 36 percent, while registered Catholic voters support it 48 percent to 41 percent. Those who identify themselves as evangelical or born-again Christians support it by a margin similar to Catholics, 48 percent to 42 percent.

“On this issue, just like on abortion, Catholics don’t always very closely follow the position of the church,” according to David Masci, a senior research fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

A Pew Forum poll found that nationally, Catholics support stem-cell research by a wider margin than the general public.

Washington-based Catholics for a Free Choice has taken a position in favor of stem-cell research. Executive Director Jon O’Brien said the bishops’ emphasis on the embryos rather than the potential future benefits of the research is misplaced.

“They’re wasting their political and social influence by placing themselves in the margins of the (issue’s) margins,” O’Brien said of the bishops’ position.

_ Andrew Kitchenman

Quote of the Day: Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston

(RNS) “When I was growing up, denominations were a big deal. I don’t see that today. In our church, we have Baptists, Methodists, Jewish people, all kinds of people. I think a lot of those walls have come down.”

_ Houston megachurch pastor Joel Osteen, in an interview with USA Today. Osteen, about his new book, “Becoming a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day.”

KRE/CM END RNS