c. 2005 Religion News Service

Archaeologists Discover `Earliest Church’ in Holy Land

JERUSALEM (RNS) Israeli archaeologists excavating on the grounds of a prison have discovered what they believe are the remnants of the earliest church ever discovered in the Holy Land.

Yotam Tepper, the dig’s chief archaeologist, said during a briefing for journalists Sunday (Nov. 6) that the find “is certainly the earliest church in Israel that we know of.”

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Thursday that excavations at the Megiddo Prison had unearthed “a rare Christian religious structure” from the third to fourth centuries. An inscription on the floor stated that the structure had been dedicated to “The God Jesus Christ as a memorial.”

The excavations were launched seven months ago after construction workers preparing to expand the prison discovered artifacts that, according to the IAA, warranted further investigation. Construction work is routinely halted in Israel, where ancient ruins abound, when artifacts or bones are discovered, so that archaeologists can perform what they call “rescue digs.”

The excavation, one of several being undertaken at Megiddo, the site of numerous battles and the place Christians believe Armageddon will occur, was performed by dozens of prison inmates under the guidance of IAA archaeologists.

The IAA said that three Greek inscriptions were discovered on the structure’s elaborate mosaic floor, which also contains motifs of fish _ a symbol often used by early Christians _ and geometric patterns.

Professor Leah Di-Segni of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, who translated the inscriptions, said that the northernmost one had been dedicated by a military officer named Gaianus, who contributed to the construction of the mosaic floor from his own funds. The easternmost inscription memorializes four women: Primilia, Kiraka, Dorothea and Crista. The westernmost inscription recalls “a certain god-loving Akeftos,” who donated the altar to “the God Jesus Christ as a memorial.”

Tepper said that pottery shards dating back to the third century had been found atop the mosaic. This, coupled with the inscriptions’ wording and style of their letters, strongly suggests that the mosaic is from this time period as well, he said.

“This is a unique and important structure vis-a-vis our understanding of the early period of Christianity as a recognized and official religion,” Tepper said.

While there appears to be no doubt that the structure is indeed ancient, some scholars wondered whether it had been built for another purpose and only later transformed into a church.

“We do know that Judeo-Christian communities lived all over the region, and definitely in the Galilee,” Yisca Harani, a Tel Aviv-based historian of Christian pilgrimage, said Monday in an interview. “But how is it possible that a church with such a public, grand structure that was so ornate survived under the eyes of the Roman rulers? There is no doubt that it was a church, but whether it predates the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem or the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, which both date from the time of Constantine the Great, is another matter.”

_ Michele Chabin

Carter Says He Worships `Prince of Peace,’ Not `Prince of Pre-emptive War’

WASHINGTON (RNS) Former President Jimmy Carter said Thursday (Nov. 3) he doesn’t doubt President Bush has a sincere faith, but they practice their Christianity differently.

“I have a commitment to worship the prince of peace not the prince of pre-emptive war,” the former president told a gathering of reporters at a breakfast meeting sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor.

Carter, the nation’s 39th president, said he also differs with the Bush administration on addressing poverty.

“I believe that Christ taught us to give special attention to the plight of the poor,” said Carter, a Baptist who ended his affiliation with the conservative Southern Baptist Convention in 2000. “In my opinion, this administration _ I’m not talking about President Bush personally _ has committed itself to extol the advantages of the rich. … Almost every major change that’s been made in our taxation system has been to enrich the already extreme rich Americans.”

Carter spoke at the Ritz-Carlton Washington, one of many appearances publicizing his new book, “Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis,” which was released Tuesday by Simon & Schuster. The author of 20 books said his latest one is his first political volume.

“I have felt for a number of years that we have had such a dramatic and profound and unprecedented change in basic American politics,” he said.

“There’s been an increase in basic fundamentalism … both within the religious community of our country and also within government and an unprecedented and overt _ not disguised _ merger of the church and the state, of religion and politics,” he said.

Asked about the Democratic Party’s handling of religion, Carter said he thinks the lack of a demonstration of “compatibility with the deeply religious people” has hurt it greatly.

“I felt at ease going to an African-American church and taking over the role of the pastor even … and there was a feeling, I think among deeply religious people in this country that maybe Bill Clinton and I were compatible with them,” he said. “I don’t think they had that feeling in 2004.”

Carter said Democrats need to make changes in their appeal to have more success in the next presidential election.

“I think to let the very … deeply religious people and the moderates on social issues like abortion feel that the Democratic Party cares about them and understands them is a crucial element that has to be inserted,” he said.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Jewish Leaders Praise Establishment of International Holocaust Day

JERUSALEM (RNS) Jewish leaders are expressing satisfaction over a United Nations decision to establish an International Holocaust Day, but said that such a gesture is long overdue.

The International Day of Commemoration will be held every year on Jan. 27, exactly 60 years after Allied forces liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

“This important declaration by the United Nations comes very late, but better late than never,” said Rabbi Michael Melchior, the Israeli deputy minister responsible for Israeli society and the world Jewish community. “By declaring this day, the United Nations is recognizing the importance of dealing with anti-Semitism, which gave birth to the most terrible crime in the history of humanity.”

The resolution passed Monday (Oct. 31) encourages member countries to promote Holocaust education and activities that will help their citizens better understand its implications as a means of preventing future acts of genocide. The resolution also renounces the practice of Holocaust denial, whereby people either deny that the Holocaust ever happened, or insist that its scale _ the number of Jewish victims, for example _ has been grossly exaggerated.

Jewish leaders consider the decision to commemorate the Holocaust in an official, fixed way especially significant because the initiative was spearheaded by Israel, a nation frequently criticized by Arab countries and their supporters.

Israel officially proposed the memorial day on Aug. 15, the day it began its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank, a move applauded by the world community. For many years Israel declined to propose resolutions, believing that they would be automatically denied by anti-Israel member states.

Israeli officials were delighted with the resolution’s passage, insisting that it signaled recognition not only of the suffering of the Jewish people, but of the often-maligned Jewish state.

“This is an historic decision which means that the U.N. relates to Israel as a country equal to other countries, and a step that contributes to Israel’s international standing,” Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said.

The number of living Holocaust survivors is dwindling. The vast majority are in their 80s and 90s.

“This is an important decision taking into account the fact that the number of Holocaust survivors is decreasing every year as they pass on,” said Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Zeev Bielski.

“This will guarantee that the memory of the Holocaust and its lessons will not be erased.”

_ Michele Chabin

FBI: No Racial Profiling of Muslims Detained at Pro Football Game

(RNS) The FBI is denying that five Muslims were victims of racial profiling when they were detained and questioned at a New York Giants football game after reports that they were seen bowing down for evening prayer.

An FBI spokesman said Wednesday (Nov. 2) the men merely were subjected to “routine, precautionary law enforcement” because they conducted their prayer session near the stadium’s main air intake duct.

Two of the five Muslims taken from their seats and questioned at Giants Stadium on Sept. 19 spoke of the incident Wednesday at a news conference in New York City to promote a “Pray for Understanding” awareness of Muslim religion and culture.

“We want people to be educated about Islam,” said Wissam Nasr, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, at whose Manhattan headquarters the news conference was held. “The more people learn about Islam, the more tolerant they become.”

One of the Muslims removed from the game, 27-year-old law school student Sami Shaban of Piscataway, N.J., said the episode left him with “a feeling of disappointment.”

“I’m as American as apple pie,” he said, describing himself as a Giants fan since the team’s 1986 Super Bowl victory. “Now I’m sitting there and I’m made to feel like an outsider for no reason other than I have a long beard and I prayed.”

Shaban said the men arrived at the stadium early in the first quarter, about 8 p.m., and found an open location off the concourse near Gate D where they said their evening prayer, one of five required daily by the Muslim faith.

Shaban demonstrated how four of the men stood in a straight line behind the fifth man who led the prayer. They then bowed halfway dropping to their hands and knees.

“This was my first Giants game and I’d say it wasn’t a pleasant experience,” said Mostafa Khalifa, 27, of Howell, N.J., who identified himself as an information technology professional.

The two said they were taken to a room, where they were questioned by the FBI for a half-hour about their faith, how often they pray, what mosque they attend. They were asked if they knew “the Sheik,” a reference to Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman, the blind Egyptian cleric convicted for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

The Muslim men said they were not contemplating a lawsuit and Nasr said he does not believe that would be an appropriate response to what happened.

“We want a positive outcome,” he said, “and the best way to achieve that is through public awareness, not a lawsuit.”

_ Rudy Larini and Russell Ben-Ali

Methodist Bishops Criticize Court Ruling on Gay Church Membership

(RNS) The bishops of the United Methodist Church have proclaimed homosexuality is “not a barrier” to church membership, despite a recent court ruling that allowed a Virginia pastor to keep an openly gay man from joining his church.

The Council of Bishops, meeting in North Carolina, criticized the Oct. 31 ruling by the church’s Judicial Council that has raised concerns that pastors are also able to discriminate based on race, marital status or theological beliefs.

“We call upon all United Methodist pastors and laity to make every congregation a community of hospitality,” the bishops said in a statement released Wednesday (Nov. 2).

On Monday, the court ruled in favor of the Rev. Ed Johnson, the pastor of South Hill (Va.) United Methodist Church who denied membership to a man who was involved in a gay relationship. The court’s ruling overturned Johnson’s suspension and said clergy may exercise “pastoral judgment in determining who may be received into the membership of a local church.”

The bishops quoted from the church’s constitution that implores “families and churches not to reject or condone lesbian and gay members and friends.” The bishops did not, however, say if they would try to overturn the ruling.

The bishops are also concerned that the ruling violates their authority to supervise clergy, and said they “affirm” the church’s tradition that makes pastors accountable to bishops, local superintendents and other clergy.

Bishop John Schol of Baltimore-Washington, an outspoken critic of the ruling, said the church may be divided over homosexuality but “the Council of Bishops is of one mind: gay and lesbian people are not to be excluded from church membership.”

_ Kevin Eckstrom

New Orleans Archdiocese Slowly Returns to Life

NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Life is slowly returning to the Archdiocese of New Orleans, a community of 491,000 Catholics that has begun the yearslong process of restoring itself from the most disastrous event in its 212-year history.

Nine weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck the area, life is nearly back to normal in outlying parishes, which were spared the worst of the storm’s effects. But in New Orleans and St. Bernard, in Slidell and lower Plaquemines Parish, in parts of Jefferson Parish, the archdiocese is grappling with a devastated landscape.

Across the region, 70 of the archdiocese’s 150 parishes and missions are closed, said the Rev. William Maestri, who doubles as schools superintendent and archdiocesan spokesman. Nearly 1,000 employees have been laid off.

The archdiocese estimates flood damage to its properties at $85 million; it’s still evaluating how much flood insurance coverage it has, he said. Of its 1,244 buildings, 387 were flooded; 864 suffered wind damage. Many buildings suffered both.

The church’s vast network of social services were damaged, destroyed or dislocated _ although many have restarted and begun dispensing relief under difficult circumstances.

Because church and community were intimately connected, the archdiocese’s damage closely mirrors that of the neighborhoods it serves: Empty, flood-damaged churches and schools are embedded in empty, flood-damaged communities.

A team of pastors from every district in the archdiocese is pulling together a set of recommendations for Archbishop Alfred Hughes that will suggest which damaged parishes to reopen first, and which to leave for later.

Their mission is to survey church properties, make their best estimate where parishioners are likely to return first, and make sure that black, Vietnamese and Hispanic Catholics are reached even if they cannot soon return in large numbers, Hughes said.

The idea, Hughes and others said, is to determine where to focus the first rebuilding efforts. He said he hopes to see a plan by Dec. 1. That would generally dovetail with the publication of New Orleans’ own blueprint for rebuilding.

“I think maybe God has provided a purification,” he said. “I hope it’s leading us to a place where we’ll be less consumer-oriented, less concerned with material things, and more loving and faith-filled.”

_ Bruce Nolan

Anti-Abortion Groups Criticize American Girl’s Link to Girls Inc.

(RNS) Two organizations known for their opposition to abortion have questioned a recent joint alliance between American Girl, maker of popular dolls and books, and Girls Inc., which supports abortion rights.

The Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League has called on its supporters to boycott American Girl products during the Christmas shopping season. The Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association has asked its supporters to contact American Girl to voice disappointment in its decision to be involved in a fundraiser for Girls Inc., formerly known as Girls Clubs of America.

In September, American Girl, the Wisconsin-based subsidiary of Mattel, launched the “I CAN” program to encourage girls to believe in themselves. It offers one-dollar “I CAN” bands that could be worn as a bracelet, or backpack charm, with proceeds benefiting Girls Inc.

Critics of Girls Inc. point to an advocacy statement on the organization’s Web site that says, “Girls Inc. supports a woman’s freedom of choice, a constitutional right established by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 in Roe v. Wade.”

Ann Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League, said the bracelet program is not consistent with her group’s values.

“We are asking people who care about little girls, and about the value of human life, to refrain from purchasing and visiting American Girl Place during the entire Christmas shopping season,” she said in a statement.

Randy Sharp, director of special projects for the American Family Association and the father of three girls, said his organization is in the midst of an “education campaign” about the links between American Girl and Girls Inc. and he has personally decided to boycott American Girl for the rest of the year.

A spokeswoman for American Girl could not be reached immediately for comment. Girls Inc. has issued a statement responding to some of the concerns.

“Recently, our mission to help girls develop their self-esteem and self-reliance has become the target of false, inflammatory statements from people who are pursuing a narrow political agenda,” Girls Inc. said. “Girls Inc. stands on its long positive history. The millions of lives we have touched speak for who we are and our values.”

In a separate development, a Catholic school in Brookfield, Wis., decided to cancel plans for an American Girl Fashion Show after learning of the connection with Girls Inc.

“I’m not advocating any boycott,” said the Rev. Frank Malloy, pastor of St. Luke Catholic Church, which runs the school. “It’s just not a good fit for us at St. Luke’s. I think it would be sending out a mixed message to be accepting the funding that also winds up going to Girls Inc.”

_ Adelle M. Banks

Hindus Protest British Christmas Stamp

LONDON (RNS) Britain’s 700,000 Hindu community is protesting a Christmas stamp just issued by the Royal Mail that shows Nativity figures with Hindu marks on their foreheads.

The stamp, a reproduction of a 1620 painting from the Mughal Empire, offers an Indian version of the Holy Family, with the figures of what are presumably Joseph and Mary bearing Hindu marks on their foreheads.

This, according to Ramesh Kallidai, secretary general of the Hindu Forum of Britain, is “insensitive and inappropriate” at a time when conversion is a very contentious issue in India. Christian missionaries there have been accused of “inappropriate” use of Hindu dress and customs amid charges of forced conversions.

The Royal Mail series of six Christmas stamps _ the first since 2000 to have a religious theme _ went on sale Tuesday (Nov. 1). They were intended to celebrate the multiculturalism of modern Britain, with European, Haitian, Italian, Indian, Native American and Aboriginal Australian depictions of the Madonna and child.

The Indian design appears on the 68-pence stamp, which is the denomination most likely to be used on Christmas cards sent by air mail to India and other destinations beyond Europe.

The Hindu Forum has asked for the stamp to be withdrawn, but they have already been distributed and put on sale. Because they were printed six months ago, any withdrawn copies could command a premium on the philatelic market.

“If Sainsbury’s (supermarket chain) had a product on their shelves which was going to cause cancer, they would withdraw it,” Kallidai said.

_ Robert Nowell

Pope Calls for `Patient Dialogue’ With Lutherans

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI praised dialogue between Lutherans and Roman Catholics on Monday (Nov. 7), but called on both groups to not ignore their differences on questions of doctrine.

“We should intensify our efforts to understand more deeply what we have in common and what divides us,” Benedict said during a meeting with Bishop Mark Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation.

Benedict underlined the 1999 Catholic-Lutheran “Joint Declaration on Justification,” calling the document “a significant milestone on our common path to full visible unity.”

In that document, Catholics and Lutherans aimed to settle their disagreements over justification _ the issue of whether salvation is God-given or earned through good works. Divisions over the issue played a key role in prompting the Protestant Reformation.

The joint declaration stated that salvation was a gift from God that reflected good works.

While praising that formula, Benedict stressed that new moral challenges faced their dialogue, expressing concern over “a general climate of uncertainty regarding Christian truths and ethical principles which formerly went unquestioned.”

“Our ecumenical path together will continue to encounter difficulties and will demand patient dialogue,” Benedict said.

The International Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity is expected to release a document on the “apostolicity of the church” in early 2006, addressing differences between the churches over issues such as apostolic succession.

Although Hanson noted “differences” between the churches in governing style, he stressed a commitment to addressing moral challenges to the Lutheran understanding of salvation.

_ Stacy Meichtry

Ruling in Intelligent Design Trial Expected in December or January

(RNS) A six-week federal trial in Pennsylvania over a school district’s policy on intelligent design has ended with both sides claiming victory on the issue of how science should be taught in public schools.

U.S. Middle District Court Judge John E. Jones III plans to issue a ruling in December or January on whether the Dover Area School District’s policy is constitutional, as the district has argued, or a violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, as is alleged by 11 parents who filed the lawsuit to have the policy revoked.

Since the start of the trial Sept. 26, the district’s lawyers have argued that the school board’s policy on intelligent design and the concept of intelligent design are not religious. The trial ended Friday (Nov. 4).

The policy, adopted last fall, requires that a statement on intelligent design be read to ninth-graders at the start of a science unit on evolution. The statement says evolution is “not a fact” and refers to intelligent design as an alternative explanation of the origin of life.

After both sides made closing statements, district lawyer Patrick Gillen evoked a biblical theme, noting that Thursday marked the 40th day and 40th night since the trial began.

“That is an interesting coincidence,” Jones responded. “But it was not by design.”

Many of the more than 100 people in the ninth-floor courtroom erupted in laughter, then applause.

At issue is not just whether the board’s policy was adopted with religious intent, but whether intelligent design _ which holds that some aspects of life are so complex they must be the work of an intelligent designer _ is religious.

“Regardless of what happens, this is the watershed event for the intelligent design movement,” Richard Thompson, president of the Thomas More Law Center, the Christian firm retained by the district to defend its policy, said outside the courtroom.

“It’s almost like the John Scopes trial of 1925,” he said. “That became the event for introducing evolution into all the classrooms. This is a watershed movement where you’re going to see intelligent design being introduced to classrooms all across the country.”

_ Bill Sulon

Quote of the Week: Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.

(RNS) “Moral Disaster of Monumental Proportion Reconciliation Act.”

_ Proposed title of the 2006 budget bill, offered by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. Lautenberg borrowed the “moral disaster of monumental proportion” language from a letter by religious leaders that criticized cuts in the proposed budget.

MO END RNS