c. 2008 Religion News Service
Lutherans find no consensus on homosexuality
(RNS) A long-awaited draft statement by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America shies from taking a position on homosexuality, saying the church has yet to reach consensus on the matter.
Current ELCA policies, which bar non-celibate homosexual clergy, are not discussed in the draft released Thursday (March 13).
And while the church “recognizes the historic origin of the term `marriage’ as … between a man and a woman,” the statement also notes that some ELCA pastors and congregations support same-sex unions.
“After many years of study and conversation, this church does not have consensus regarding loving and committed same-gender relationships,” the statement reads.
Nearly seven years in the making, “Journey Together Faithfully” is intended as a framework for future ELCA debates on sexuality.
Compiled by a 15-member committee of bishops, pastors, psychologists, professors and a homemaker, the draft now begins an eight-month comment period within the ELCA, the nation’s largest Lutheran body. A second draft will be produced after the comment period.
If approved by a two-thirds majority at the ELCA’s Churchwide Assembly next year, the statement will be used to guide church policy for its 4.8 million members.
At last year’s Churchwide Assembly, delegates voted to uphold a ban on sexually active gay and lesbian clergy but cautioned bishops against applying the ban too strictly.
“Although this church lacks consensus, it encourages all people to live out their faith in the community of the baptized,” the draft says. “We call on congregations to welcome, care for and support same-gender-oriented people and their families, and to advocate for their legal protection.”
_ Daniel Burke
Polish priest wins 2008 Templeton Prize
NEW YORK (RNS) Michael (Michal) Heller, a Polish cosmologist and Roman Catholic priest whose commitment to combining the insights of science and religion stretches back to his youth in war-torn Europe, has won the 2008 Templeton Prize.
The $1.6 million award is the largest annual monetary prize given to a single individual, for work in connecting the realms of physics, cosmology, theology and philosophy.
Heller, 72, is a professor of philosophy at the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Krakow, and has fond memories of discussing science and religion with a young Karol Wojtyla, the archbishop of Krakow who later became Pope John Paul II.
In prepared remarks at Wednesday’s (March 12) announcement of the award, Heller said he had “always wanted to do the most important things, and what can be more important than science and religion? Science gives us knowledge, and religion gives us meaning. Both are prerequisites of the decent existence.”
In nominating Heller for the prize, Karol Musiol, rector of Krakow’s Jagiellonian University, said the scientist-priest has “brought to science a sense of transcendent mystery and to religion a view of the universe through the broadly open eyes of science.”
Heller’s current work focuses on the fields of non-commutative geometry and groupoid theory in mathematics. More broadly, Heller has been interested in such foundational questions as “does the universe need to have a cause?” and has been able to engage intellectual sources from different academic disciplines, the John Templeton Foundation said.
Britain’s Prince Philip will formally give Heller the award _ the Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries About Spiritual Realities _ at a May 7 ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London.
_ Chris Herlinger
Indiana voters send second Muslim to Congress
WASHINGTON (RNS) Indianapolis voters on March 11 chose Andre Carson to fill a seat vacated by his late grandmother, making him the second Muslim ever elected to serve in Congress.
Like Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who in 2006 became the first Muslim elected to Congress, Carson is a black convert to the faith.
The 33-year-old Indiana Democrat was raised Baptist and attended Catholic schools but converted to Islam more than 10 years ago.
Carson called himself a “a proud Hoosier … I just happen to be a Hoosier of the Muslim faith,” according to The Associated Press.
He said his legislative priorities include ending the “useless war” in Iraq, and that he plans to run for a full term in May during his party’s primaries.
Carson’s election “demonstrates the strength of our political system and the growing positive role of American Muslims in our society,” said Corey Saylor, legislative director of the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations.
_ Daniel Burke
Palestinians start own `Birthright’ program
JERUSALEM (RNS) After seeing how successful Birthright Israel has been in acquainting young Diaspora Jews with Israel and Judaism, a Palestinian group has established Birthright Palestine to help youths of Palestinian descent connect with their roots.
The program is organized by the Palestine Center for National Strategic Studies (PCNSS), which is based in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, and the Siraj Center of Holy Land Studies in nearby Beit Sahour.
The program is intended for first-generation, Western-born Palestinians over the age of 18. Organizers hope to bring young Palestinians to their “ancestral homeland” so that “they can reunite and witness firsthand how their brethren are living under illegal Israeli military occupation, while assimilating them into Palestinian society.”
The program will involve education, touring, hospitality and volunteering. It was “created to maintain Palestinian unity on an international level and to make foreign-born Palestinians feel at home in their homeland,” a press statement said.
The program’s Web site (http://www.birthrightpalestine.com) tells potential participants that “we are assuming that your parents did not leave their native homeland by choice and rather unwillingly abandoned their homes due to the grave difficulties that they faced under occupation and war.
“Thus, your parents, as well as their descendants (you) are technically refugees. You are a refugee because the reason you are living in a foreign state is due to the fear of persecution in your homeland simply for being born an Arab.”
The first Birthright Palestine participants will come to the West Bank this summer, right after Israelis celebrate their country’s 60th anniversary. Participants will be housed by families living in the Dheisheh refugee camp.
Unlike Birthright Israel, which provides young Diaspora Jews with a free 10-day trip to Israel, participants in the Palestinian program will stay for two to three months and are expected to pay their own way.
Gidi Mark, international director of marketing for Birthright Israel, declined to comment on the Palestinian program. A Birthright Palestine spokesperson was also unavailable for comment.
_ Michele Chabin
Episcopal bishops oust breakaway California bishop
(RNS) The Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops voted Wednesday (March 12) to officially oust a conservative bishop who last year led his California diocese to secede and join a more like-minded Anglican province.
Bishop John-David Schofield of the Fresno-based diocese of San Joaquin is the first bishop removed for breaking ties with the national church since feuds over homosexuality and the Bible erupted in 2003.
Wednesday’s vote at a semiannual meeting of Episcopal bishops in Texas was widely expected after Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori restricted Schofield from ministry in January.
“As of today he is no longer a bishop in the Episcopal Church,” Jefferts Schori said.
Schofield resigned from the House of Bishops earlier this month and maintains that the Episcopal Church has no jurisdiction over him.
“I am still an active Anglican bishop, and I continue to be the bishop of the diocese of San Joaquin,” Schofield said in a statement.
Last December, the San Joaquin diocese, with Schofield’s encouragement, voted to secede from the Episcopal Church and place itself under the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, which is based in South America. The Anglican Communion has 38 provinces; the Episcopal Church is its U.S. branch.
Communion members have fought bitterly since the election of openly gay V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.
San Joaquin’s unprecedented secession led Episcopal bishops to determine that Schofield had “abandoned” and “repudiated the doctrine, discipline and worship of the Episcopal Church.”
“This is a bit like saying, `You can’t quit, you’re fired,”’ said the Rev. Daryl Fenton, a member of the Anglican Communion Network, a conservative group of North American churches and dioceses.
Already, Jefferts Schori has moved to rebuild the diocese with the estimated 2,000 Episcopalians the church says remain loyal to it. A convention is planned for March 29 to elect a new bishop.
_ Daniel Burke
UpDATE: Adventist found guilty of fraud scheme
LONDON (RNS) A Seventh-day Adventist who conned hundreds of his fellow worshippers in London out of millions of dollars to fund a life of luxury has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Lindani Mangena was convicted of persuading some 1,000 fellow Adventists to invest about $6.4 million in a string of bogus investments with promises of profits of up to 3,000 percent in just six months.
Prosecuting attorney Stephen Winberg told a jury that “the victims were much more ready to believe what they were told because it came from members of the same tight-knit religious community.”
Winberg said Mangena spent the money on luxury cars, expensive apartments and visits to luxury Middle Eastern hotels, including about $111,630 for one night at a seven-star hotel in Dubai.
He was found guilty of fraudulent trading, money laundering and carrying on an unauthorized investment business.
_ Al Webb
Faith-based groups support water relief effort
WASHINGTON (RNS) World Vision, Islamic Relief and Catholic Relief Services are among several faith-based groups supporting the new U.S. WASH-in-Schools Initiative, which aims to bring clean water to Third World schools.
“There’s something everyone can be doing,” said David Douglass, president of Water Advocates. “It’s a really unusual situation. Here you have one of the world’s most serious problems and it can be solved.”
Approximately 1 billion people living in underdeveloped countries are sickened by preventable illnesses related to poor water quality, humanitarian groups said. Girls are unable to attend school because they are either gathering water or caring for the sick.
Having clean water is a basic need taken for granted in most countries, but for children living in underdeveloped countries, accessible clean water can be life-changing.
“It is a fact that student absenteeism decreases dramatically when water-related sickness and illnesses decrease,” said Gil Grosvenor, chairman of the National Geographic Society.
Water Advocates chose water for schools as the best way to approach a crisis that affects entire communities. The goal of the WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) program is to bring fresh water to schools so children spend their day in a classroom learning, rather than outside hauling water.
American schools are getting involved through H2O for Life, a program that pairs a school in the U.S. with one in the developing world. Public schools, however, cannot support an overseas religious school under the program.
“We have to be cautious of that just because of the church and state separation,” said Patti Hall, president of H2O for Life. “But if (for example) a Catholic school wanted to do a match, then certainly we can do that if the Catholic school is fine with supporting a school that either is Catholic or not.”
_ Brittani Hamm
Feds say minister diverted flood aid
NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Federal prosecutors have charged the former pastor of a church damaged by Hurricane Katrina with diverting thousands of dollars in private donations and public flood relief money to his private bank account.
The U.S. attorney’s office said it filed a bill of information charging the Rev. Noah A. Thomas Jr., former pastor of Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, with a single count of mail fraud. He led the church until October 2006, authorities said.
Thomas was unavailable for comment. His telephone number is unlisted and the identity of his attorney could not be immediately determined.
Prosecutors said the church applied for a donation from the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, a private philanthropy headed by the two ex-presidents. The church also applied for a Small Business Administration rebuilding loan, they said.
The Bush-Clinton Fund donated $35,000 to the church and the SBA approved a rebuilding loan of $252,000, prosecutors said.
Thomas opened a new bank account over which he had sole control and deposited into it the $35,000 from the Bush-Clinton fund, as well as the first installment of $10,000 from the SBA, prosecutors said. His purpose was “to conceal the award of those funds and to illegally use the money for his own personal benefit,” according to the bill of information filed with the court.
The church appears to be functioning today. A sign outside the property identifies the new pastor as the Rev. Brian K. Richburg, who was unavailable for comment.
U.S. Attorney Jim Letten would not say whether prosecutors have evidence that Thomas spent any of the money on himself. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail and a fine of $250,000.
_ Bruce Nolan
Survey: Drugs and abortion are sins, but not gambling or dancing
(RNS) The vast majority of Americans believe that sin exists but they differ on which behaviors are sinful, according to a new survey by Ellison Research.
The Phoenix-based marketing research company found that 87 percent of Americans believe in the concept of sin. While most Americans think adultery is sinful (81 percent) and consider racism to be a sin (74 percent), far fewer Americans would put gambling (30 percent) or telling a “little white lie” (29 percent) in that category.
Other activities described as sinful include:
_ Using “hard” drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, LSD: 65 percent
_ Not saying anything if a cashier gives you too much change back: 63 percent
_ Having an abortion: 56 percent
_ Homosexual activity or sex: 52 percent
_ Underreporting income on your tax returns: 52 percent
_ Playing the lottery: 18 percent
_ Not giving 10 percent of your income to a church or charity: 16 percent
_ Dancing: 4 percent.
Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research, said the survey, which was released Tuesday (March 11), showed inconsistent thought patterns.
“For instance, over a third of all Americans believe failing to take proper care of their bodies is sinful,” he said. “Yet far fewer believe tobacco or obesity are sins _ even though medical science consistently shows using tobacco and being overweight are two of the most harmful things they can do to their bodies.”
The survey was based on a sample of 1,007 adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Knights of Columbus founder inches closer to sainthood
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday (March 15) authorized a decree recognizing the “heroic virtue” of the founder of the Knights of Columbus, bringing the Connecticut-born priest one step closer to sainthood.
The Rev. Michael J. McGivney (1852-1890) founded the Knights in 1882 as a mutual aid society for Catholic men. Still headquartered in New Haven, Conn., it now claims more than 1.7 million members worldwide.
According to the Vatican decree, McGivney will now be known as a “Venerable Servant of God.”
If a miracle is attributed to his intercession, he could eventually receive the distinction “blessed.” A second miracle, occurring after beatification, would then be required for him to become a saint.
McGivney would be the first American-born priest to be canonized as a saint. So far, the Vatican has canonized only two natural-born U.S. citizens: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Katherine Mary Drexel.
_ Francis X. Rocca
BBC under fire for portrayals of Judas, Pilate
LONDON (RNS) The BBC has come under fire from Christian traditionalists who claim that a new TV series portrays Judas Iscariot and Pontius Pilate in a sympathetic light in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Christian Voice, a religiously motivated lobby group in Britain, targeted the BBC for what it saw as an attempt to exonerate Judas, Pilate and high priest Caiaphas, who concocted the plot to kill Jesus.
The BBC drama, “The Passion,” is being broadcast in four parts over the Easter period. It portrays Judas as torn between his loyalty to both Jesus and Caiaphas, while Pilate is depicted as trying to “keep a lid” on tensions in Jerusalem while battling to manage his wife’s social aspiration and to save his own career.
Stephen Green, a former Anglican turned fundamentalist who is national director of Christian Voice, accused the BBC of trying to rewrite the Gospels and complained to the broadcaster that “yet again a revisionist slant has to be put on a story that is transparent.”
“It is fine to have an alternative look at the motivation of people such as Caiaphas, Pilate and Judas,” he said, “but the fact remains that these guys were instrumental in an innocent man meeting his death.”
“These are bad men,” he said.
The BBC insisted in a statement that “we are not seeking to subvert or rewrite the Gospel narrative. We are just retelling it to bring it alive for a contemporary audience.”
The network quoted Frank Deasy, the TV drama’s author, as conceding that “I’ve always had a problem with Judas in Passion stories in that he suddenly and inexplicably betrays Jesus,” and added that “I was keen to develop a psychological reality to Judas’ portrayal.”
This was not the first time the BBC has crossed swords with British religious organizations. Last year it drew criticism from the Christian Prayer Book Society for portraying Mary and Joseph as illegal immigrants in a retelling of the Christmas story, and it was accused by Christian Voice of blasphemy for screening “Jerry Springer _ The Opera.”
_ Al Webb
Quote of the Week: New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson
(RNS) “In my most difficult moments it feels as if, instead of leaving the 99 sheep in search of the one, my chief pastor and shepherd, the archbishop of Canterbury, has cut me out of the herd.”
_ New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, about being uninvited to the Lambeth Conference, a once-a-decade meeting in England of all Anglican bishops.
KRE END RNS
