c. 2008 Religion News Service
National Cathedral slashes staff, budget
WASHINGTON (RNS) Washington National Cathedral announced dramatic cuts to its budget, programs and staff on Wednesday (Nov. 19) as the faltering economy continues to hit religious institutions nationwide.
The landmark cathedral, which welcomes nearly 700,000 visitors a year and has hosted the state funerals of three presidents, will slash its budget by 40 percent next year, from $24 million to $14.4 million.
More than 40 staffers will be laid off, retail operations at the cathedral’s gift shop will be outsourced and the Cathedral College’s residential course offerings will cease as of March 31, 2009, according to the cathedral.
“Like many other institutions around the world,” said the Very Rev. Samuel Lloyd III, the cathedral’s dean, “Washington National Cathedral has been affected by the serious downturn in the financial market.”
Last spring, the cathedral’s endowment was valued at $66 million, but has since declined by about 25 percent, according to Michael Hill, the cathedral’s executive director for external relations. In May, the cathedral cut $3.5 million from its budget by firing 33 employees and closing its greenhouse.
The cathedral, which celebrated its centenary this year, regularly hosts high-profile guests, concerts and events _ such as the memorial service after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the 2006 installation of Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.
However, the huge Gothic cathedral is not supported financially by the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, the national Episcopal Church or the federal government. The endowment, private donations and revenue from events fund its budget, Hill said.
“Serving as the nation’s church and as a place of prayer and spiritual renewal is a significant responsibility,” Lloyd said. “And we are committed to being conscientious stewards of this revered cathedral building.”
_ Daniel Burke
`Swinging’ vicar defrocked for `conduct unbecoming’
LONDON (RNS) A Church of England vicar who rode to her job on a motorcycle and bragged to colleagues that she was a “swinger” has been defrocked for “conduct unbecoming to holy orders.”
A church tribunal also heard testimony that the Rev. Teresa Davies had been under the influence of alcohol at four separate services at St. Martin’s Church in the English Midlands village of Welton, Northamptonshire.
Davies, a 37-year-old mother of two, first gained attention when she sped into town on her motorcycle, claimed she was “laddish” and told parishioners that she and her husband were swingers.
The Rev. Peter Davis, a friend, said she had related over a pub lunch how the couple had gone on vacation to an area in France notorious for wife-swapping _ then told Davis as he gave her a lift home that “I think I have said too much.”
The vicar blamed her problems on alcohol, which she told the tribunal had become a “self-destruct mechanism.”
The disciplinary tribunal stripped Davies of her post for failing to comply with the high standards expected of Christian behavior and banned her from the ministry for at least 12 years.
The Diocese of Peterborough said in a statement that “it is always a matter of regret when any clergy fail to set an example of Christian behavior in word and deed” and that “we are very sorry that Teresa Davies has failed to set such an example.”
The tribunal itself described Davies’ actions as “scandalous.”
_ Al Webb
Christian leaders ask Bush to lobby India on violence
WASHINGTON (RNS) Prominent Catholic, Orthodox and mainline Protestant leaders are asking President Bush to express America’s “abhorrence of the continued violence against Christians and other minorities” in India.
Because Bush signed a bilateral nuclear trade agreement with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the leaders are asking him to hold the Indian government accountable to its own constitution that guarantees religious freedom to all citizens.
In order to stop the violence against Christians by Hindu nationalists, the U.S. church leaders say Bush must urge Singh to pressure the local governments to protect the religious rights of its people.
“Only if India agrees and acts with good will toward all its citizens will it continue to be viewed as a responsible global partner worthy of a place on the world stage with other democratic nations,” the leaders said.
The World Hindu Council has blamed the deaths of two charismatic Hindu leaders on India’s small Christian community, which led extremist Hindu groups to retaliate by attacking Christians and other religious organizations, according to the letter.
The religious violence began in the eastern state of Orissa, but has since spread to six other states. More than 60 people have been killed, and thousands more have been left homeless or in hiding.
“The situation demands a strong and urgent American response to a strategic democratic global partner such as India,” they said.
Among the leaders to sign the letter were Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; the Rev. John H. Thomas of the United Church of Christ; Ken Benson of Habitat for Humanity; Carl A. Moeller of Open Doors USA; and the Rev. William Shaw of the National Baptist Convention, USA.
_ Ashley Gipson
Mass. bishops clash with Web site that promotes affairs
(RNS) The head of an Internet company that facilitates adulterous liaisons called the Roman Catholic bishops of Massachusetts “naive” after they issued a joint statement condemning advertisements that encourage infidelity.
“Life is short. Have an affair,” reads an online ad for the Ashley Madison Agency, which promotes itself as “The World’s Premier Discreet Dating Service.”
“They want to blame a TV campaign or a Web site for the changing landscape in regards to marriage, and I think that’s a very naive view,” said Noel M. Biderman, president and CEO of Toronto-based Ashley Madison Agency.
Biderman, who described infidelity as a “worldwide phenomenon,” said he is satisfying a demand. “As an entrepreneur, I’m filling a market need, right?” he said.
The four Bay State bishops issued their statement Friday (Nov. 14) after the company launched an ad campaign in Boston.
“The ads encourage the use of an online dating service for married persons contemplating adulterous relationships. This wrongful enterprise threatens not only the oldest and most foundational of human institutions, but also the common good of all,” the bishops wrote.
“The activity promoted by this advertising effort will not benefit families and the ads send the wrong message to our young (people),” the bishops added.
The statement was penned by Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell of Springfield, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, Bishop Robert J. McManus of Worcester and Bishop George W. Coleman of Fall River.
Biderman said his company did not single out the Boston market and that Ashley Madison advertises throughout the United States, including buying advertising on CNN, ESPN and Fox. The company also advertises in Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Biderman said a radio or television ad will not lead someone to cheat on his or her spouse, and that his potential customers have already made that decision. “The truth of the matter is infidelity exists in droves,” he said.
Biderman also said the bishops did not have the moral authority to speak out on sexual relationships given the clergy sex abuse scandal of recent years, especially since Boston was the epicenter of the scandal.
Mark E. Dupont, spokesman for the Springfield diocese, declined to comment on Biderman’s assertion. “I think his (Web) site speaks for itself,” Dupont added.
_ Michael McAuliffe
Quote of the Day: Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif.
(RNS) “Jonestown is no longer the first thing on my mind, but I would be lying if I said I don’t think of it often. A car backfiring or the sound of fireworks or a violent scene in a movie hits me much like the truck I thought ran over me while lying on that tarmac.”
_ Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., recalling her trip as a congressional aide during an investigation of the Peoples Temple in Jonestown in 1978, when she was attacked by followers of Jim Jones, who were massacred in a tragedy 30 years ago. The sensation of being run over by a truck was actually the first of five bullets that tore her flesh. She wrote about her memories in the San Francisco Chronicle.
KRE/AMB END RNS
