c. 2008 Religion News Service
Holy Land church leaders appeal for Gaza
JERUSALEM (RNS) Christian leaders from the Holy Land are demanding that Israel, President Bush and the world community “put an end to this suffering” of Gaza residents caught in the crossfire between Israel and the Hamas militants who rule the Gaza Strip.
“There is no time to waste when Human life is endangered,” said the Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
The clerics, many of them Palestinians, called on Israel to put the control of Gaza’s borders under Palestinian responsibility to ensure that fuel, food and medicine reaches those who need it.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sealed Gaza’s borders in order to pressure Hamas to stop shelling the Israeli town of Sderot and nearby communities. In recent days, Hamas has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip, which Israel evacuated 21/2 years ago.
The situation in Gaza became desperate Monday (Jan. 21) when fuel shortages led the Hamas-led government to shut Gaza City’s main power station. Much of Gaza City, including hospitals, was without electricity until Olmert, under international pressure, permitted the import of fuel and some humanitarian aid.
“There are a half million people imprisoned and without proper food or medicine; 800,000 without electricity supply. This is illegal collective punishment, an immoral act in violation of the basic human and natural laws as well as International Law. It cannot be tolerated anymore. The siege over Gaza should end now,” the church leaders said.
“This siege will not guarantee the end to rocket firing, but will only increase the bitterness and suffering and invite more revenge, while the innocents keep dying. True Peace building is the only way to bring the desired security.”
The clerics also urged the warring Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah “to unite in ending their differences for the sake of their people in Gaza.” By firing rockets into Israel, they added, “you encourage public opinion outside this Land to feel there is a justification for this siege.”
_ Michele Chabin
`Da Vinci Code’ chapel bans cameras
LONDON (RNS) The medieval Scottish chapel with a starring role in “The Da Vinci Code” has now banned all cameras and video equipment on grounds that they could pose a dangerous safety problem.
Officials at the 15th century Rosslyn Chapel, near Edinburgh, blame the building’s cracked and uneven flooring, which they claim poses a health and safety threat to tourists peering at its ornate but poorly lit ceiling through their camera lenses.
They also say flash photography in such a small, enclosed space could trigger attacks of epilepsy.
The ban went into effect this month, but Colin Glynne-Percy, director of the Rosslyn Chapel Trust, said he did not believe it would affect the number of visitors, estimated at 160,000 in 2007.
Rosslyn Chapel, which dates back to 1446, has long been associated with the Holy Grail legends. It came to global prominence for its role in author Dan Brown’s best-selling novel, and the subsequent blockbuster movie triggered massive tourist interest two years ago.
Those planning a visit are now warned in a succinct message on the chapel’s Web site of what to expect: “Please note that for the safety, comfort and overall enjoyment of our visitors, there is no interior photography allowed at Rosslyn Chapel.”
_ Al Webb
Protestants object to rosaries in Anglican cathedral
LONDON (RNS) The dean of the Anglican St. Patrick’s cathedral in Dublin says his church will continue selling rosary beads despite opposition from Protestants in neighboring Northern Ireland who claim it should not peddle “things that are Roman Catholic.”
The Very Rev. Robert MacCarthy told the Belfast Telegraph newspaper that the cathedral has been selling rosary beads for 37 years and the business is now worth more than $100,000 a year.
Wallace Thompson, secretary of the Northern Ireland-based Evangelical Protestant Society, insists that “in a Protestant church, I don’t think they should be selling things that are Roman Catholic.”
A Protestant church such as St. Patrick’s, he said, “should stock Protestant literature, not things like that.”
The Evangelical Protestant Society, which claims around 3,000 supporters, is one of the most hard-line anti-Catholic organizations operating in Northern Ireland _ a province where religious fervor and politics have often proved a turbulent mix.
MacCarthy said his cathedral gets “about two letters a year” objecting to its sale of rosary beads, and those are “usually from Northern Ireland,” which has a predominantly Protestant population.
The dean also said St. Patrick’s gets about 320,000 visitors a year, and that “if a large number of those want to use rosaries as visual aids in their prayers, we’re delighted.”
Thompson, who raised his objection to the beads after a recent visit to the Dublin cathedral, is also a member of the Democratic Unionist Party, the largest political party in the province, and is an adviser to the Northern Ireland Executive, which governs it.
_ Al Webb
Jesuit leader downplays reports of tensions with Vatican
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The newly elected leader of the Jesuits, the Catholic Church’s largest religious order, dismissed speculation about tensions with the Vatican, likening their relationship to a strong though sometimes turbulent marriage.
The Rev. Adolfo Nicolas, superior general of the Society of Jesus, made the remarks Friday (Jan. 25) at a press briefing in the order’s headquarters in Rome. It was his first press conference since his election Jan. 19 as the 30th leader in the Jesuits’ 468-year history.
Nicolas remarked on the quantity of news coverage that had greeted his election, and characterized some stories as “not so helpful.” He complained in particular about reports of a supposed “antithesis” between the Jesuits and the Holy See, which he dismissed as an “artificial impression created from outside.”
“The Society of Jesus has always been, from the beginning, and continues to be in communion with the Holy Father, and we are happy to be so,” Nicolas said. “Sometimes we have difficulties, but this is normal. If you are married, you know what I am talking about.”
Jesuits take a unique vow of obedience to the pontiff, which over the centuries has earned them the nickname of the “pope’s light cavalry.” But in recent years, the Vatican has censured several Jesuit theologians for deviations from orthodoxy on such matters as the uniqueness of the Catholic Church and the compatibility of Christianity with the teachings of Karl Marx.
Earlier this month, at the opening of the Jesuit meeting that elected Nicolas, the Vatican cardinal in charge of religious orders delivered a homily that expressed “sorrow and anxiety” over the unwillingness of “some members of religious families” to “think with the church” and obey the hierarchy.
Then Pope Benedict XVI himself, in a letter to Nicolas’ retiring predecessor, asked the Jesuits to reaffirm their “total adhesion to Catholic doctrine, in particular on those neuralgic points which today are strongly attacked by secular culture,” including “the relationship between Christ and religions, some aspects of the theology of liberation,” divorce and homosexuality.
_ Francis X. Rocca
Pope calls for consistency in annulments
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI called for greater consistency in the granting of annulments, suggesting that Catholic church authorities in some countries have been too lax in declaring marriages void.
Benedict made his remarks on Saturday (Jan. 26) to members of the Roman Rota, the highest church panel with authority in marriage cases, at a ceremony marking the start of the judicial year.
Warning against “subjective and arbitrary interpretations” of church law governing marriage, the pope insisted that the “same general principles and norms of justice must be applied” in all cases.
“There is always a risk of the formation of `local forms of jurisprudence,’ ever more distant from the common interpretation of positive laws and even from church doctrine on matrimony,” Benedict said.
Under canon law, a marriage can be declared null and void for a variety of reasons, including impotence, a previous marriage, or a lack of psychological maturity at the time of the union. A Catholic who divorces and remarries must obtain an annulment of the first marriage in order to continue receiving Communion.
Most decisions on annulments are made at the diocesan level, and degrees of strictness vary.
In 2002, according to a study by the Italian Catholic magazine “30 Giorni,” church courts in Europe granted annulments in 85 percent of cases, compared with 97 percent in the United States. The U.S. generated 57 percent of the requests for annulments that year, despite having only 6 percent of the world’s Catholic population.
In a widely noted recent case, the Archdiocese of Boston annulled the marriage of former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, D-Mass., to Sheila Rauch, who then appealed that decision to Rome. In 2005, the Rota declared the Kennedy-Rauch marriage still valid.
_ Francis X. Rocca
Leader of Greek Orthodox Church dies at 69
(RNS) Archbishop Christodoulos, spiritual leader of Greece’s Orthodox Church, died Monday (Jan. 28) of cancer. He was 69.
Christodoulos’ decade as archbishop of Greece was marked by improved relations between Orthodox Christians and Catholics.
In 2001, he received Pope John Paul II, the first pope to visit Greece in centuries, thawing tensions dating back to the 11th century schism between the Eastern and Western churches. Five years later, Christodoulos returned the favor, visiting the Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, where the leaders agreed to work together to combat abortion, euthanasia and the “de-Christianization of Europe.”
Born Christos Paraskevaidis in 1939, Christodoulos was ordained a senior priest in 1965, and was tapped to lead Greece’s estimated 11 million Orthodox Christians in 1998.
Following his diagnosis last year, Christodoulos spent several weeks in Miami awaiting a liver transplant, but the operation was canceled in October when doctors discovered the cancer had spread. He died at home in Athens.
Archbishop Demetrios, spiritual leader of America’s Greek Orthodox Christians, expressed his sadness at the loss of his Greek counterpart.
“I had the special honor to know him from the time he attended high school, and afterwards, to appreciate his dynamism, his kindness, his intellect and his great offering to the church in important areas such as the divine worship, pastoral and social care, as well as inter-Orthodox and inter-Christian relations,” Demetrios said, in a statement released by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Demetrios, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and other Orthodox leaders are heading to Greece to attend Christodoulos’ funeral on Thursday (Jan. 31) at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens.
Church leaders will elect a new archbishop on Feb. 7, also at the cathedral.
_ Nicole Neroulias
Romney campaign disputes view of Mormon beliefs
WASHINGTON (RNS) Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign is disputing a statement by Focus on the Family’s political arm that Romney said his Mormon beliefs are not Christian.
Tom Minnery, senior vice president of Focus on the Family Action, the Colorado ministry’s political arm, declared in a webcast on Jan. 19 _ the day of the South Carolina Republican primary _ that “Mitt Romney has acknowledged that Mormonism is not a Christian faith and I appreciate his acknowledging that.”
But the Romney campaign has denied that the candidate has made such a statement about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“The governor has not made that acknowledgment,” said Alex Burgos, a Romney spokesman. “He has said that his belief is not the same as others. But there is no doubt that Jesus is at the center of the LDS church’s worship.”
Focus on the Family Action, responding to questions about Minnery’s remarks, issued a brief statement that said it had moved beyond the South Carolina primary.
“Like the candidates, our attention is now on the Florida primary,” said Gary Schneeberger, a spokesman for the organization. He did not mention the dispute over Romney’s remarks.
In a widely watched speech in December, Romney said he believes that “Jesus Christ is the son of God and the Savior of mankind,” but he added, “My church’s beliefs about Christ may not all be the same as those of other faiths.”
_ Adelle M. Banks
Creationists launch scientific journal
(RNS) Answers in Genesis, the Christian ministry that founded the $27 million Creation Museum in Kentucky last year, has now launched an online technical journal to publish studies consistent with its biblical views.
The Answers Research Journal will disseminate research conducted by creationist theologians and scientists “that are consistent with the biblical account of origins.”
Ken Hamm, president of Answers in Genesis, said submissions will be peer- reviewed, but the journal’s guidelines discourage asking non-creationists to conduct those reviews.
The journal is needed because of academic bias in most scientific journals against creationists, Hamm said.
“As soon as you overtly say it’s to do with creation, they say it’s not science and refuse to publish it,” he said.
Earlier this month, a top panel of U.S. scientists said that belief in the theory of evolution and religious faith are not incompatible, but that creationism has no place in science classes.
The panel also laid out scientific evidence supporting the theory of evolution.
_ Daniel Burke
Cincinnati archbishop bans trips to `Bodies’ exhibit
(RNS) The Roman Catholic archbishop of Cincinnati has barred Catholic schools from visiting a controversial science exhibit on the human body, saying that it “fails to respect the persons involved.”
“Bodies … The Exhibition,” which displays preserved human cadavers and organs posed to demonstrate how the body works, begins a seven-month run at Cincinnati’s Museum Center on Friday (Feb. 1).
But Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk said Catholic schoolchildren should not see it.
“The public exhibition of plasticized bodies, unclaimed, unreverenced, and unidentified …is unseemly and inappropriate,” he said. “It seems to me that the use of human bodies in this way fails to respect the persons involved. Therefore I do not believe that this exhibit is an appropriate destination for field trips by our Catholic schools.”
The traveling exhibit, currently on view in 10 cities around the world, has drawn 4 million viewers, according to its organizers. It has also drawn controversy from those who question how the cadavers were obtained. The cadavers are unclaimed or unidentified bodies from a university in China, according to Premier Exhibitions Inc., the group that runs the exhibit.
The exhibit’s director of education, Cheryl Mure, told reporters she was surprised by the archbishop’s statement.
“The exhibition has been seen by more than 350,000 schoolchildren, including those of Catholic schools. This is the first time a diocese has taken this stance with `Bodies,”’ Mure said.
The diocese of Pittsburgh expressed concern last year about where the cadavers came from, but later said it was shown documentation that the bodies were of those who had died of natural causes and had been deceased and unclaimed for at least four years.
Moreover, the diocese said it was told that the bodies would be returned to China “at the proper time for cremation or interment,” and that fetus cadavers had died naturally and not as a result of abortions.
_ Daniel Burke
Bush touts push for permanent faith-based programs
BALTIMORE _ President Bush on Tuesday (Jan. 29) visited a Baltimore faith-based program that helps ex-offenders as part of his renewed push for continued federal funding for religious social service programs.
Standing between two men who had been trained for new jobs after leaving prison, Bush said efforts like the Jericho program should not have to worry about losing federal funding when people’s needs are being met.
“We shouldn’t say to programs such as this, `We’ll help you with a Department of Labor and Justice grant’ and then turn our back on the program when it’s successful,” Bush said. “There ought to be consistency of policy. … We ought to say, thank God there are people such as this in our neighborhoods and societies helping these good men.”
Bush visited the program run by Episcopal Community Services of Maryland after he used his State of the Union address on Monday to ask Congress to permanently extend a provision of the welfare reform law called “charitable choice.” The provision has increased governmental funding of faith-based social services.
In his speech, Bush said such a move would “help guarantee equal treatment of faith-based organizations when they compete for federal funds.”
The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said he doubted Congress would agree to Bush’s proposal.
“Bush’s `faith-based’ initiative has been a colossal failure,” Lynn said. “It undercut civil rights laws and jeopardized important religious liberty safeguards. I don’t believe Congress is going to adopt it at this late date in the administration’s tenure.”
The Jericho program Bush visited received a three-year, $1.8 million grant from the Department of Labor’s Prisoner Re-entry Initiative in 2006. It reports that the recidivism rate of its nonviolent male ex-offenders is 22 percent, less than half of Baltimore’s average recidivism rate of 52 percent.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Quote of the Week: The Rev. Walter Coleman of Chicago
(RNS) “It’s unfortunate we have to do this. This church has other priorities, like helping the poor in this neighborhood. But God didn’t give us a choice. When God says do this, we say `Yes, sir!”’
_ The Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago, where Mexican immigrant Flor Crisostomo is seeking protection from deportation. Crisostomo is the second woman in the past year to seek sanctuary in the church.
KRE END RNS
