c. 1999 Religion News Service

Judge: Regent University does not qualify for tax-exempt bonds

(RNS) Regent University, a Christian graduate school founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, does not qualify for tax-exempt construction bonds because its”primary purpose is religious training,”a Virginia judge ruled Friday (July 30).

Calling the school”pervasively sectarian,”Richmond Circuit Court Judge Randy Johnson thwarted the school’s efforts to use $55 million in bond proceeds to pay for construction on its Virginia Beach main campus and to develop a site in Alexandria.

In the ruling, Johnson cited the university’s admission and employment policies, which he called clearly religious in nature.”This means that Pat Robertson cannot have Virginia’s taxpayers support his ministry,”Ayesha Kahn told The Washington Post. Kahn argued against Regent’s plans on behalf of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington-based watchdog group.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia also argued that the proposal would violate the U.S. and Virginia constitutions.”This is an important ruling that reaffirms the doctrine of separation of church and state,”said Kent Willis, the group’s executive director.

In court, Regent officials presented another side.”Our job is not to proselytize, nor do we attempt to do that,”said Regent’s chief academic officer George Selig. He said Regent University does not require students to be Christian.

Selig acknowledged that the school’s application asks about church membership and requests a recommendation from a pastor. But he said applicants can substitute another recommendation in place of a pastor. He also noted that”no violations of religious freedom”were found during a recent review for accreditation.

Regent University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Universities and its law school has been accredited by the American Bar Association.

Regent officials are considering whether they will appeal the ruling.

Pope urges renewed negotiations in Colombia

(RNS) Expressing concern over continued violence in Colombia, Pope John Paul II has urged renewed negotiations between the government and guerrilla forces as”the only road to travel for reconciliation.” Speaking Sunday (Aug. 1) at his summer residence in the Alban Hills, 25 miles south of Rome, the pope said the Vatican supports all peaceful efforts to achieve reconciliation among Colombians.”In recent weeks I have followed closely the sad events of the armed conflict that exists in Colombia with hundreds of kidnappings, the destruction of centers of habitation and also of places of worship and with the assassination of defenseless persons,”the Roman Catholic pontiff said.”Worrying, too, is the difficulty that has been encountered in the advancement of the hoped-for peace process, the only road to travel for reconciliation among Colombians,”he said.”The Holy See, which decisively promotes every force for peace between peoples and internally among a people, encourages and supports the work of reconciliation undertaken by the Colombian bishops by all men of good will,”John Paul said.

American bishops have urged the U.S. government to resume its role in the peace process. The government ended its involvement in negotiations after the murders on March 4 of three American environmentalists, blamed on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

In a July 26 letter to Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick of Newark, N.J., chairman of the International Policy Committee of the U.S. Catholic Conference, said the bishops”abhor”the murder of the environmentalists, attacks on human rights workers and other violence that has displaced hundreds of thousands of Colombians.”This does not mean, however, that negotiation is wrong; it means rather that even greater persistence, firmness and creativity are necessary to make it succeed,”McCarrick wrote.

The bishop called on the State Department to resume direct involvement in the peace process but to also condemn human rights violations from any quarter and withhold assistance to the Colombian military if necessary to ensure”the highest standards of human rights conduct.” McCarrick acknowledged that direct contacts with the parties to the conflict involves”the risk of conferring unmerited status on some participants.””But,”he said,”I believe that risks are justified in pursuit of an end to the carnage that has become Colombia’s daily fare.”

Arab-American replaces Muslim on panel on terrorism

(RNS) An Arab-American was named to serve on a national commission on terrorism Friday (July 30) after protests by Jewish groups led to the withdrawal of an earlier Muslim nominee to the panel.

Justice Department civil rights lawyer Juliette N. Kayyem replaced Salam Al-Marayati who was originally nominated for the panel. The commission is set to review national policy on preventing and punishing terrorism.

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and other Jewish groups sharply criticized Al-Marayati’s nomination, accusing the head of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles of excusing terrorism.

Following the outcry, House Minority leader Richard A. Gephardt, D-Mo., withdrew the original nomination on July 9, maintaining that it would take too long to get security clearance for Al-Marayati.

Al-Marayati said he believed the dismissal was solely the result of the protests.

Kayyem already has security clearance for her work in the office of the assistant attorney general for civil rights. There, Kayyem reviewed federal policy on using classified information in deportation and worked to eliminate the practice of unjustly profiling Arabs and Muslims in airport anti-terrorism efforts, The New York Times reported.

But Kayyem’s Lebanese Christian descent disappointed some groups hoping for a Muslim voice on the panel.”We have nothing against her personally, but we’re disappointed that the commission won’t have a Muslim representative. This leaves the issue of Muslim exclusion from the political process unresolved,”said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Bomb explodes in Serbian Orthodox cathedral in Kosovo

(RNS) A bomb exploded early Sunday (Aug. 1) in a Serbian Orthodox cathedral located in Pristina, Kosovo.

The blast did little structural damage to the half-built Cathedral of Holy Salvation, leading some to speculate the intent was to intimidate. The explosion that came at 1:20 a.m. is the latest of several recent attacks on Serbian holy sites.

Father Sava, the spokesman for Bishop Artemije, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, condemned the attacks. The spokesman described the bombings as part of a campaign by Kosovo Albanians to remove all traces of the church in Kosovo, The New York Times reported.

United Nations and NATO officials joined church representatives in denouncing the bombings.

A NATO spokesman in Kosovo called the bombing a”cowardly attack against a place of worship.” Inside the church, the scaffolding was just slightly disturbed. Two small holes and marks show where the charges had exploded. Bricks were shattered and an iron girder was twisted.

Dr. Bernard Koucher, the United Nations chief administrator for Kosovo, visited the site soon after the bombing. Koucher said he would not accept such acts of revenge regardless of what the Albanians had suffered.

One security worker with an international relief organization speculated on the apparent ineffectiveness of the blast.”It was not someone who knew what he was doing,”said the guard.”Or he was just making a statement.” But weeks of intimidation and violence seem to be taking a toll. Officials in nearby Zitinje watched Monday as all the town’s Serbs fled under the protection of a U.S. military escort. One soldier said all of Zitinje’s 450 Serbs left with the convoy. The town has 650 Albanians.

Quote of the day: The Rev. Don Harp of Atlanta

(RNS)”It’s a case of `Lord, come and heal our broken spirits.’ It has not been a good time for us across America, and I don’t really know what to think about it. The world would pay us a lot if we knew how to solve this fear.” _ The Rev. Don Harp of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta, reacting to the brutal July in Atlanta in which 23 people have died in three high-profile shootings. He was quoted in The Washington Post.

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