c. 2007 Religion News Service

Christian Leaders Commit to Tackling `Scandal’ of Poverty

(RNS) Christian leaders from the country’s broadest-ever ecumenical group have issued a statement condemning the “scandal of widespread poverty” and calling for action by the public and private sectors to combat it.

“As leaders in Christian Churches Together, we believe that a renewed commitment to overcome poverty is central to the mission of the church and essential to our unity in Christ,” they said in a Feb. 9 statement.

The statement was released at the conclusion of the formal launch of Christian Churches Together, which includes five “families” of Christian faith groups (Catholics, evangelicals and Pentecostals, Orthodox, mainline Protestants and racial/ethnic churches).

Some of the 36 founding members who gathered in Pasadena, Calif., for the Feb. 6-9 meeting noted the rarity of such a broad group of Christians working together. The poverty statement calls for working with other faith groups as well as individuals and families, and the public and private sector.

“We believe substantial success in reducing domestic poverty requires an overall framework that insists that overcoming poverty requires both more personal responsibility and broader societal responsibility, both better choices by individuals and better policies and investments by government, both renewing wholesome families and strengthening economic incentives,” the statement reads.

The leaders cite four objectives to address domestic poverty: strengthening families and communities; reducing child poverty; combating racism and ensuring full-time work provides a “realistic escape from poverty and access to good health care”; and strengthening the educational system, particularly public schools.

The denominational executives pledged to continue addressing the issue at their 2008 annual gathering in Washington.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Gospel Artist Kirk Franklin Wins Two Grammys

(RNS) Gospel artist Kirk Franklin took home two Grammy Awards on Sunday (Feb. 11), winning best gospel song for “Imagine Me” and best contemporary R&B gospel album for his album “Hero.”

Christian rock band Third Day was awarded its third career Grammy for “Wherever You Are” in the best pop/contemporary gospel album category.

The group’s lead singer said being recognized by the Grammys was an affirmation for them and their fans.

“I always say the cliche, `It’s great just to be nominated,”’ said Mac Powell. “And it’s true. But I tell you what, it sure is more fun to win.”

Other gospel winners were:

_ Best gospel performance: “Victory” by Yolanda Adams

_ Best rock/rap gospel album: “Turn Around” by Jonny Lang

_ Best Southern, country, or bluegrass gospel album: “Glory Train” by Randy Travis

_ Best traditional gospel album: “Alive in South Africa” by Israel & New Breed

The awards aired on CBS, but gospel category honorees were recognized during a pre-telecast ceremony.

_ Melissa Stee

Woman Bishop Says Gender Wars Haven’t Flared in Cuba

(RNS) The first female Anglican bishop in Latin America and the developing world says the divisions common in other Anglican bodies over the role of women have not affected the Episcopal Church in Cuba.

Nonetheless, in an interview with the Associated Press, the Rev. Nora Cot Aguilera said the 10,000-member church faces a “great challenge” as it moves toward greater autonomy as a national church body.

Cot, 69, a former schoolteacher, will be formally consecrated as a suffragan (auxiliary) bishop in a ceremony in June at the Episcopal Holy Trinity Cathedral in Havana, where she holds the position of cathedral pastor. An announcement of her appointment was made at a ceremony Feb. 4 in Cardenas, Cuba, the site of a well-known interdenominational Christian seminary.

Cot and Ulises Aguero, the other auxiliary bishop named, will work under interim Bishop Miguel Tamayo in overseeing the 40 Anglican congregations in Cuba, the Episcopal News Service reported. Tamayo, the diocesan bishop, is also the bishop of Uruguay.

Among those attending the Feb. 4 ceremony were Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman to hold the position of presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, and Canadian Anglican Archbishop Andrew Hutchison.

Jefferts Schori, hailing Cot as the “first woman bishop outside the `first world,”’ told the AP that Cot’s appointment serves as a “wonderful reminder that in some nations leadership is primarily about gifts for service and not about gender.” Jefferts Schori’s own ascension to the post of presiding bishop has proven controversial among some conservatives within both her denomination and the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The Cuban church was a diocese of the U.S. Episcopal Church until 1967, a time of tension between the U.S. and Cuban governments. While no longer a branch of the U.S. church, it has retained the Episcopal name and has maintained close ties with the Episcopal diocese of Florida.

Oversight for the Cuban church comes from a body known as the Metropolitan Council of Cuba, which is chaired by Hutchison and also includes Jefferts Schori and Archbishop Drexel Gomez of the West Indies.

Cuban church synods have reportedly found it difficult to select a diocesan bishop, the news service of the Anglican Church of Canada reported. The appointment of the two suffragan bishops is seen by church observers as a step toward Cubans eventually selecting their own permanent bishop, the news service reported.

_ Chris Herlinger

Nuns Reimbursed for Home That Was Commandeered During Katrina

NEW ORLEANS (RNS) In the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, one of the facilities that emergency workers commandeered and operated from for weeks was a home for the elderly belonging to the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Almost 18 months after the storm, the religious order is finally getting paid for the use of its building.

The New Orleans City Council on Feb. 1 approved ordinances appropriating $43.7 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursements to various city departments.

The total included $4.1 million for the Fire Department, and buried in that figure was the $1.4 million owed to the Little Sisters of the Poor for the use of their Mary Joseph Residence for the Elderly.

The building housed local and out-of-state firefighters, police and National Guard members in the days after Katrina.

The nuns had evacuated to Baton Rouge before the storm with several dozen low-income senior citizens who lived at the residence. Before they could return, emergency workers took over the building.

The Mary Joseph Residence, which was scheduled to close by the end of 2005 anyway and has not reopened since Katrina, was one of 30 homes for the elderly operated by the Little Sisters of the Poor nationwide. Many of its former residents have moved to the order’s other homes.

The nuns said last month they were upset that they had not yet received the $1.4 million, which FEMA had finally approved and given to the city. City officials said they didn’t know they had gotten the money until Jan. 3, and then had to go through governmental channels to appropriate it.

_ Bruce Eggler

Quote of the Day: Presidential candidate Barack Obama, D-Ill.

(RNS) “If your name is Barack Hussein Obama, you can expect it, some of that. I think the majority of voters know that I’m a member of the United Church of Christ, and that I take my faith seriously.”

_ Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in a interview with The Associated Press, while at a campaign stop in Iowa Falls, Iowa, explaining that he doesn’t believe voters have a “litmus test” on religion or his childhood years spent in Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country.

KRE/PH END RNS