c. 1996 Religion News Service

(Following is a collection of international religion stories compiled by RNS staff, wire and denominational reports.)

Tutu speaks out in support of homosexuals

(RNS)-Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa has spoken out in support of homosexuals, comparing discrimination based on sexual preference to the racial discrimination of apartheid.

Tutu’s remarks came in a letter sent in January to Norwegian Lutheran Bishop Rosemarie Kohn. Kohn, who also backs homosexual rights, had asked for Tutu’s guidance in the current dispute over homosexuality within the 3.8 million-member Lutheran Church of Norway, according to Ecumenical News International, a church-sponsored news agency.

Homosexual couples have full legal rights in Norway. However, gays and lesbians in such relationships are banned by the church from holding any official position within the church. Kohn is one of three Norwegian Lutheran bishops, out of a total of 10, who oppose the ban.

In his letter, Tutu said,”It is my prayer and hope that in the same way the Church in Norway stood by us in our struggle against oppression, so it will continue to champion the cause of justice on the part of those who are marginalized by society or discriminated against simply for being gay or lesbian.” Tutu also said that he is working to retain a clause in the South African Constitution-currently undergoing a post-apartheid revision-that prohibits discrimination against homosexuals.

Last year, Tutu criticized President Robert Mugabe of neighboring Zimbabwe after he had harshly attacked homosexuality as a Western import that had no place in Africa.

Pope tells Mexican president not to forget society’s `least protected’ (RNS)-Pope John Paul II has told Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo that efforts to strengthen his nation’s economy must take into account the needs of the”least protected members of society”who must not be forced to shoulder the”heaviest burden.” John Paul said the Roman Catholic Church was paying close attention to Mexico’s efforts at economic development, adding that such steps should always be inspired by”ethical principles,”the Associated Press reported.

The pope made his comments during a 30-minute meeting Thursday (Feb. 1) with Zedillo at the Vatican. It marked the first visit by a Mexican president to the Vatican since diplomatic ties were established between the Vatican and Mexico in 1992.

The diplomatic breakthrough ended Mexico’s official anticlerical position that had been in effect since the church took a stance in opposition to the Mexican revolution that occurred early in this century. The antichurch policy had remained in effect even though the majority of Mexicans are Catholic.

The official position did not prevent John Paul from twice visiting Mexico prior to 1992, however. His last visit to Mexico came in 1993.

The southern Mexican state of Chiapas has been the scene of a simmering Indian and peasant rebellion, but the pope apparently did not refer directly to the uprising in his meeting with Zedillo, according to press reports.

The pope did hint at it, however, by calling for”dialogue and respect for the particular characteristics of ethnic minorities.”He also mentioned peasants, Indians, youth and the unemployed as those who are among society’s”least protected members.”

Religious activists arrested trying to transport computers to Cuba

(RNS)-Eleven religious activists were arrested Wednesday (Jan. 31) when they attempted to bring used computers destined for Cuba across the United States-Mexico border. Federal border agents and police also confiscated the 300 computers, saying efforts to get them to Cuba violated the U.S. embargo against the communist island.

The activists were associated with the New York-based Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) and a related group, Pastors for Peace, headquartered in Minneapolis. The groups intended to ship the computers from Tijuana, Mexico, to Cuba via airplane.

The arrests occurred at Otay Mesa, a border crossing near San Diego, when two trucks tried to cross the border without a permit stipulating that the computers were intended as humanitarian aid, according to The Los Angeles Times.

The Times reported that scuffles broke out when some of the activists tried to race across the border carrying computers, only to be stopped by police.

The Rev. Lucius Walker, a Progressive National Baptist minister from New York and executive director of both IFCO and Pastors for Peace, told officials,”I do not need a license to do God’s work,”according to the Times.

Walker was among those arrested.

While U.S. law allows humanitarian aid to reach Cuba, the computers were deemed non-humanitarian because they were intended for a Cuban government agency. Yuri Guerra, Pastors for Peace national co-coordinator, told Religion News Service that the computers were intended for the Cuban health ministry. IFCO and Pastors for Peace has unsuccessfully tried before to ship embargo-restricted materials to Cuba. Those attempts were made at Laredo, Texas, and Buffalo, N.Y. The groups’ ultimate goal is to convince the U.S. government to end its embargo of Cuba.

Israeli Jew sentenced for shooting spree in Catholic church

(RNS)-An Israeli Jewish soldier has been sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison for firing dozens of bullets inside a Roman Catholic church in Tel Aviv’s Jaffa section last year.

No one was hurt in the incident at St. Anthony’s Church, but the shooting set off two days of street protests by Arabs in the mixed Arab-Jewish neighborhood.

The soldier, 22-year-old Cpl. Hanial Koren, said at the time of his arrest that he sprayed the church with an automatic weapon because Jews are required to”destroy symbols of idol worship.” Just two days before his shooting spree, Koren had set fire to a church in Jerusalem.

Hans Kung retires from teaching

(RNS)-Hans Kung, a leading Swiss Roman Catholic theologian who has often upset the Vatican, has retired from teaching.

Kung, who will be 68 in March, gave his last lecture Jan. 22 at Tubingen University in Tubingen, Germany.

In 1979 the Vatican withdrew Kung’s authorization to teach Catholic theology. Among other positions upsetting to the church, Kung has challenged the Catholic doctrine of papal infallibility.

Bronfman relected as World Jewish Congress head

(RNS)-Edgar Bronfman, a Canadian business executive, has been re-elected to a fourth five-year term as president of the World Jewish Congress, which represents Jewish issues worldwide.

Bronfman is chief executive officer of Seagram Inc. and a member of the board of directors of Du Pont.

His re-election came during the World Jewish Congress’ annual meeting in Jerusalem, held in January.

Chinese monks block sale of”Buddha”beer

(RNS)-Buddhists monks in China have persuaded a local brewery to stop using the brand name”Buddha”beer.

The monks at Dafo Buddhist Temple in Zhejiang province settled out-of-court with Xinchang Brewery after first filing a suit that claimed the name was insulting to them, the Associated Press reported.

A report said the brewery agreed to pay the monks $600 in damages and to apologize for the monks'”loss of face.”

MJP END