c. 2003 Religion News Service
Australian Church Leader Says Iraq War Could Be `Warranted’ If …
(RNS) A top Australian church leader said a war to dislodge Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is “warranted” if Iraq indeed provides weapons and assistance to global terrorist groups.
Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney said Christian tradition allows civil government to engage in “just wars” to protect its citizens. He said borderless terrorist networks such as al-Qaida do not fit easily into traditional understandings of “threats.”
“The difficulty for leaders of nations is that they are dealing with a new and radically different form of violence,” Jensen said in a statement. “The justice of attacking Iraq is made more complex because the Australian government has a duty to protect its citizens from the terrorists’ declaration of war.”
Prime Minister John Howard recently met with President Bush and European leaders to discuss a possible war in Iraq. Howard has been staunchly supportive of Bush’s crackdown on terrorism, in part because 88 Australians were killed last October in a terrorist attack on an Indonesian resort.
Jensen, one of the few Anglican leaders to signal that a war may be justified, said Saddam has not cooperated with United Nations demands to disarm and questioned whether he should be given “endless tomorrows” to comply.
He also said if U.S. and British reports are true that “Saddam is providing either safe haven or weapons for terrorists whose fanaticism has led to irrational attacks, then action against his regime is warranted.”
Jensen said war should be a last resort because of its “brutal and pitiless” nature and the possibility that it will “bring both chaos and the potential for anarchy to Iraq.” He asked for prayers for world leaders, saying “they must know that we expect them to act with compassion, justice and wisdom.”
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Gates Foundation Gives $1 Million to Interfaith Aids Group
(RNS) The Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance, a 3-year-old nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, has received a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help its efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in Malawi.
The grant will be used to launch a project to train a network of women in rural villages on how to prevent the disease and care for those affected by it.
The alliance has trained hundreds of health and religious workers in the Africa countries of Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.
“GAIA is profoundly grateful to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for its support in allowing us to expand our work in Africa in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention and care,” said Dr. Charles Wilson, chair of the alliance’s trustee board and emeritus chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco.
“Empowering women continues to be a major barrier to health education and treatment. This grant will help to empower women and reduce HIV incidence.”
The alliance was founded in 2000 by Wilson and the Rev. William Rankin, former president and dean of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., who serves as its president.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Long Island Bishop Pledges to Deal `Openly’ With Sex Abuse Cases
(RNS) The Roman Catholic bishop of Long Island pledged to deal “openly, honestly and responsibly” with clergy sex abuse cases after a grand jury found the diocese had made a “hollow promise” to protect victims and remove abusive priests.
Bishop William Murphy said the 1.3 million-member diocese is “fully in conformity” with new church rules that require the swift removal of abusive priests. Much of the abuse occurred prior to Murphy’s arrival in Long Island in September 2001.
“I can only repeat what I have tried to say throughout the last year, that I am deeply sorry for this failure, I ask forgiveness from every person affected by this horrible scandal,” Murphy said in a lengthy statement in his diocesan newspaper.
The 181-page grand jury report, issued Monday (Feb. 10), accused the diocese of systematically protecting abusive priests and trying to silence alleged victims. The report did not include indictments because the statute of limitations had expired in most cases.
Murphy has come under fire for his handling of abuse cases in the Archdiocese of Boston as a deputy to former Cardinal Bernard Law from 1995 to 2001. On Wednesday, Murphy testified before a Massachusetts grand jury and said he had answered all questions “honestly and completely.”
In his six-page statement, Murphy said the diocesan policy remains “a work in progress,” adding, “This church is not perfect. This bishop is far from perfect.” He also defended himself from critics who say he lives a lavish lifestyle in a new bishop’s residence that was custom-designed by the new bishop.
“I know I have my many defects,” he said. “Greed and sumptuous lifestyle are not among them.” He also conceded that “I am sure that for some of you I seem an import from Boston, which makes me suspect automatically.”
_ Kevin Eckstrom
`Coral Ridge Hour’ Named TV Program of the Year by Religious Broadcasters
(RNS) The National Religious Broadcasters honored “The Coral Ridge Hour” as the 2003 television program of the year during its recent annual convention.
The program features the weekly worship service of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where D. James Kennedy is pastor, and was chosen by a vote of members of the organization of broadcasters.
“FamilyLife Today,” a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, was honored as the radio program of the year. Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade, was honored with the board of directors’ award and Hermano Pablo, founder of Hermano Pablo Ministries in Costa Mesa, Calif., was granted the chairman’s award.
Adrian Rogers, founder of the “Love Worth Finding” broadcasts and pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame.
Frank Wright, the new president and chief operating officer of the broadcasters’ association, said the organization passed a resolution committing members to pray for President Bush and deployed members of the military. The president addressed the gathering Monday.
Noting that his organization has not taken a position on a possible war with Iraq, Wright called the resolution “more of a patriotic gesture than a policy statement.”
In an interview, Wright said the organization is broader than its name, with representatives from 43 countries attending the meeting in Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 7-11.
“We don’t just broadcast any longer,” he said. “We transmit by the Internet, cable, direct satellite, in addition to the traditional media.”
_ Adelle M. Banks
Cardinal Law Plans Move to Maryland
(RNS) Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned as archbishop of Boston last December after a yearlong sex abuse scandal, plans to move to Clinton, Md., and live with a community of nuns.
In a statement released last week (Feb. 7), Law said he will live in a house owned by the Sisters of Mercy of Alma, a conservative order of nuns based in Alma, Mich., according to the Associated Press.
“I am very grateful to the Sisters of Mercy of Alma for their kind invitation to be their guest during this time of transition,” Law said. “It is my hope to be of assistance to the sisters as a chaplain.”
Law resigned Dec. 13 after months of charges that he protected abusive priests by moving them throughout his archdiocese. Law, who is currently on retreat, said he planned to move outside the archdiocese when he resigned. He will continue to hold the rank of cardinal.
Sour Economy Wounds Church of England
LONDON (RNS) A financial report from its commissioners shows that $660 million was wiped off the value of the Church of England’s assets last year, sparking more concern about its fiscal health amid the current economic global crisis.
The preliminary results released by the Church Commissioners calculated that its investment fund was worth about 10 percent less compared with the same period a year earlier.
The figures were certain to deepen worries about the Anglican Church’s financial state and long-term prosperity, particularly at a time when other data show congregations shrinking steadily in most religious denominations in Britain.
But Andreas Whittam Smith, the first church estate commissioner, insisted that given the global economic climate, the Church of England hasn’t suffered badly. “Compared with almost all other funds,” he said, “these are very good figures.”
Whittam Smith conceded that the financial weather report amounted to a “rainy day” for the church, but he insisted that “our historic inheritance of properties, both commercial and rural, which the commissioners have held for generations, will see us through.”
The commissioner said the church’s investment fund had achieved a steady return of 10 percent a year over the past decade despite a lackluster performance by stock markets and that it was now worth about $5.2 billion.
“That is a magnificent performance,” he said, “and many institutions would like to achieve that.”
Whittam Smith said the church fund had seen a strong showing by its property holdings, which total about 40 percent of its total assets. That performance, he explained, helped offset the slump in stocks and shares.
The commissioner suggested that some of the church’s assets need to be reallocated into property with long-term growth potential to guarantee future generations an equally good inheritance.
“Like all such exercises,” he said, “future generations of commissioners will have to make good the fund for future rainy days.” Meanwhile, he added, “we are not anticipating any problems in meeting the promises we made to the wider church or meeting our legal responsibilities.”
The investment fund finances cathedrals and bishops as well as parishes in some of the most needy areas of the country, and it pays clergy pensions for those in service before 1988.
_ Al Webb
Quote of the Day: Best-selling author Rick Warren
(RNS) “Everybody needs a ministry in the body of Christ and a mission in the world. A nonministering Christian is a contradiction.”
_ Rick Warren, author of the best-selling “The Purpose Driven Life” and pastor of Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif. He was quoted by Baptist Press.
DEA END RNS
