c. 2005 Religion News Service
Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Decides to Open Financial Books to Public
(RNS) In a move expected to inspire imitation far beyond Massachusetts, the Archdiocese of Boston has pledged to disclose all of its finances to the public next year, even if the state Legislature doesn’t require it.
“During the first quarter of 2006, we will release consolidated audited reports for fiscal years 2004 and 2005 with full disclosure and explanation of the archdiocese’s organizational structure,” Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley wrote in the Friday (Oct. 21) edition of the archdiocesan newspaper, The Pilot. He explained his hopes in an interview with The Boston Globe.
“My hope is that when people realize there are not any great mysteries here, that they will be more confident in their willingness to continue supporting the works of the church,” O’Malley told the Globe.
Critics of the church have intensified calls for greater financial transparency as laypeople worried how the church would fund an $85 million clergy sexual abuse settlement. Despite staunch opposition from the Massachusetts Council of Churches, state lawmakers have been considering a proposal that would require all Massachusetts religious organizations to file financial reports with the state attorney general.
Before such proposals take root in other states, more dioceses are apt to follow Boston’s lead, said David O’Brien, professor of Roman Catholic Studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.
“I expect the new Vatican regime eventually will … compel dioceses to greater financial disclosure in order to head off at least some of the court intrusions into church life which bankruptcies bring _ and to get lay leaders on board to deal with angry legislatures like ours,” O’Brien said in an interview, referring to the Massachusetts legislature.
Critics, however, remain wary of the church acting voluntarily. Peter Borre is co-chair of the Council of Parishes, which includes laity from Boston area congregations scheduled for closure.
“The core issue is trust, and self-policing will not suffice,” Borre told the Globe. “Too many people remember the archdiocese’s dissembling, and worse, during the sexual abuse decades.”
_ G. Jeffrey MacDonald
On Canadian TV, Catholic Priest Discloses `I’m Gay’
TORONTO (RNS) “I’m a Roman Catholic priest and I’m gay.”
With that confession, 63-year-old Karl Clemens became the first priest in Canada to openly declare his homosexuality.
Clemens made the disclosure on a documentary aired nationally on Friday (Oct. 21) by Vision TV, a multifaith network in Canada.
Newspaper articles followed, reporting that Clemens’ superior, Archbishop Anthony Meagher of Kingston, Ont., immediately ordered a transcript of the program, but made no comment.
The program reported that a letter from Meagher had cautioned Clemens about his “gay lifestyle” because “people in the neighbourhood” referred to the priest’s roommate as his lover.
Clemens, a priest for 33 years who retired from the Kingston diocese seven years ago, now lives in Toronto, calling an area in the city’s gay village his parish. “I don’t have a parish,” he told Vision TV. “My parish is the street _ the highways, the byways, the bars.”
He ministers to many HIV-AIDS sufferers and lives with a man, a terminal AIDS patient, whom he takes care of. He also says he has maintained his celibacy.
He also estimates that as many as half of all priests in Canada are gay. “I don’t think that would be overstating it,” he said.
He said he refuses to worry about the consequences of coming out.
“There’s probably something more that God has for you to do that you can’t do if you don’t do this first,” Clemens said.
_ Ron Csillag
Harper San Francisco to Publish English Translation of Quran
(RNS) An American publisher has signed a deal with a top Islamic scholar to publish a rare English translation of the Quran, complete with the most extensive commentary ever published on the Muslim holy book.
Harper San Francisco, known for books tackling contemporary themes in modern religion, expects the project to take three years, according to Religion BookLine, an electronic newsletter from Publisher’s Weekly magazine.
“Arabic is a particular challenge to translate,” said Steve Hanselman, former publisher at Harper San Francisco and now an author’s agent involved in the deal. “That’s why we brought on board the foremost scholars in the field.”
They include Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a professor at George Washington University in Washington, who will head up the editing team.
The matter is sensitive because Muslims hold that Quran’s text was given directly in Arabic from Allah to the prophet Muhammad. The pure revelation, therefore, cannot be translated without ceasing to be the actual Quran. Only the meaning can be translated.
The most popular translation of the Quran’s meaning at this point is from Abdullah Yusuf Ali, who was born in 1872 and completed the work in 1937. Ali’s version is being distributed free of charge by the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations.
A team of four general editors and 28 contributing editors will deliver the new translation and commentary, according to Publishers Weekly.
_ G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Religious Movies Win Awards at Conservative Film Festival
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (RNS) A Jewish filmmaker’s portrait of “radical Islam” was named best feature film at the second annual gathering of conservative filmmakers seeking a voice in Hollywood.
The 70-minute documentary “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West,” by filmmaker Wayne Kopping, took top honors at the three-day Liberty Film Festival, which ended Sunday (Oct. 23). It showcased dozens of religiously and politically themed documentaries, short films and dramas.
Now in its second year, the festival is a growing venue for conservative filmmakers who feel alienated from more liberal venues like the Sundance and Toronto film festivals.
At one point during the Liberty festival, the audience of about 350 booed “Obsession” footage of controversial filmmaker Michael Moore, then cheered at seeing Winston Churchill, the late British prime minister.
The 30-minute film “Brainwashing 201,” about political correctness on college campuses, won the festival’s best short film award. Other short films explored religious symbols on government seals, religion in the workplace and a Catholic priest who brings families closer together by making them well-cooked dinners.
The success of Mel Gibson’s 2004 film “The Passion of the Christ” remains an inspiration for both conservative filmmakers and Hollywood studios.
“They’re all going after the `Passion dollars,”’ said author and talk show host Michael Medved, a prominent Liberty festival supporter.
_ David Finnigan
Editors: `Preacher Moss’ in 3rd graf is cq.
Muslim Comedians Win Award for `Allah Made me Funny’
(RNS) Azhar Usman, a Muslim comedian from Chicago, says he looks forward to performing later this year in Europe.
“I’m so used to people hating me because I’m a Muslim,” he said. “It’ll be nice to finally be hated just for being an American.”
Usman, Azeem Muhammad and fellow comedian Preacher Moss were honored Oct. 1 at the annual media awards dinner of the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council.
The stand-up trio make up what they call “Allah Made Me Funny: The Official Muslim Comedy Tour.” They were feted for poking fun at Muslim stereotypes, “as well as Muslims’ own idiosyncrasies,” said MPAC Edina Lekovic, communications director.
MPAC also honored an episode of the FX Network documentary series “30 Days,” about a Christian man who lives with a Muslim family for a month.
A former mental health worker, Muhammad, 32, has performed comedy full time for four years, traveling extensively from his home in Colombia, S.C. Raised in an African-American Christian church, he said he became a Muslim at 17 and had to learn Islamic terms in Arabic.
“They have more phrases than a football playbook,” the father of four said in an interview. “People always try to make fun of us. Nobody wants to be a friend of a Muslim until they go to prison.”
The “Allah Made Me Funny” tour is in Orlando, Fla., on Nov. 3, followed by an eight-day stint in Great Britain before heading back to the U.S. for performances in Washington in late November and Kansas City in December.
_ David Finnigan
Quote of the Day: Coretta Scott King
(RNS) “Surely Mrs. Rosa Parks was sent to us by God, because few among us were so well prepared to play such a momentous role in history,”
_ Coretta Scott King, widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., on the Monday death of Rosa Parks, a woman whose refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus launched the civil rights movement. Mrs. King was quoted by The Birmingham News.
MO/LF END RNS
