c. 1998 Religion News Service
Cuban cardinal makes unprecedented TV appearance promoting papal visit
(RNS) Cardinal Jaime Ortega has made an unprecedented appearance on Cuban television to advertise the upcoming visit of Pope John Paul II.
Ortega’s half-hour, prime-time appearance Tuesday (Jan. 13) fulfilled a government promise to give the Cuban Catholic Church access to state-run television to promote the papal visit, which begins Jan. 21.
It was the first time a Catholic cardinal has been allowed to address Cubans on state television since the early days of the 1959 revolution that brought communist strongman Fidel Castro to power, according to the Associated Press.
Ortega used his TV time to give a brief Bible lesson, reading passages describing how Jesus wanted the Apostle Peter to organize his followers into a church. Roman Catholics regard Peter as the first pope.
In a more sensitive vein, Ortega also touched on the issues of human rights and John Paul’s role in the overthrow of communism in his native Poland.
Ortega said the pope”has a very complete vision of the rights of man.”The pope, the cardinal continued, believes in”liberty understood in a Christian way”_ liberty that allows people to seek the truth.
As for the pontiff’s role in Poland, Ortega portrayed the pope as a patriot rather than an anti-communist. Ortega said the pope’s interest was in restoring Polish independence and ending Soviet oppression of the Polish people.
Also Tuesday, Cuba’s envoy to the Vatican said no limit had been placed on what the pope may say in Cuba. Vatican officials have made the same assertion in recent weeks.
Hermes Herrera Hernandez said Castro wants the pope’s trip to go smoothly and”he can also talk about things over which we don’t agree.” In a related development, the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, joined a coalition of business leaders, lobbyists, members of Congress and prominent former U.S. officials to urge a relaxation of Washington’s economic embargo of Cuba. The coalition, organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, calls itself Americans for Humanitarian Trade With Cuba.
While some coalition members said they wanted the embargo dropped to allow U.S. firms to do business with Cuba, others argued only for allowing food and medicine to be more easily sent to the island nation, which suffers severe shortages of both commodities.”It is wrong for the United States to use 11 million Cubans as ammunition in an economic war against one man (Castro),”Brown said.
She noted that on a recent visit to Cuba she saw”firsthand how U.S. restriction on the sale of food, medicine and medical supplies undermines health and nutrition in Cuba.” Among the other coalition members were Lloyd Bentsen, treasury secretary in the first Clinton administration; Frank Carlucci, national security adviser and defense secretary under President Reagan; Carla Anderson, housing and urban development secretary under President Gerald Ford and trade representative under President George Bush; Elliot Richardson, attorney general in the Nixon administration; Rep. Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y.; and Dwayne Andreas, chairman of the agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co.
Suspension extended for Methodist minister in same-sex union flap
(RNS) United Methodist Bishop Joel Martinez of Nebraska has extended the suspension of the Rev. Barry Creech, the Omaha pastor who performed a same-sex union ceremony at his church Sept. 14.
Martinez originally suspended Creech Nov. 10 for 60 days while a panel began an investigation of whether Creech, in performing the union ceremony for two lesbians in his congregation, had committed a”chargeable”offense, meaning whether or not his action will prompt a church trial.
Creech’s original expiration ended Jan. 9, but Martinez said he was extending it another 60 days in response to a recommendation of the investigating panel.
The suspension bars Creech from clergy duties at his church, First United Church of Omaha, said United Methodist News Service, the denomination’s official news agency.”It is my best judgment that additional time will serve the best interest of all, considering the continuing volatility of the climate at both First United Methodist Church and in the Nebraska Annual Conference,”Martinez said in a statement.
Creech said he was”shocked and disappointed”at the bishop’s action.”This is a real disservice to First United Methodist Church and the extension of my suspension is not going to contribute to any reconciliation regarding my presence there,”he told the news service.
Creech said a hearing on the case has been set for Jan. 23. Such a hearing is roughly comparable to a grand jury hearing. If the complaint filed against him is determined to be the basis for a chargeable offense under church law, he could face a church trial.
Soviet exile Vins, founder of Russian ministry, dead at 69
(RNS) Soviet exile Georgi Vins, the founder of Russian Gospel Ministries International, died Sunday (Jan. 11) in Elkhart, Ind.
Vins, 69, was diagnosed with a malignant inoperable brain tumor last fall, reported Baptist Press, the official news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.
In 1979, he was stripped of his Soviet citizenship and exiled to the United States with four Soviet political dissidents, in a swap arranged by then-President Jimmy Carter for two Soviet spies caught in the United States.
Vins had served as the general secretary of the Council of Evangelical Baptist Churches in the former Soviet Union. The council was a leadership organization of 2,000 persecuted congregations.
He had spent years in prison for his Christian activities, which included opposition to 1929 legislation that required religious groups to be registered with the government.
After travel restrictions were lifted by a special decree, Vins was able to return to his native Russia in 1990.
When he became ill, Vins wrote that he wanted the work of his ministry, which is based in Elkhart, Ind., to continue.
Russian Gospel Ministries publishes and translates Christian literature, supports 50 pastors in the former Soviet Union, and supports the building of new churches in the region.
International Bible Society reorganizes, closes New York office
(RNS) The International Bible Society, which was founded in New York City, has announced its decision to reorganize its national operations.
The society, now based in Colorado Springs, Colo., has closed its office in New York and its bookstore on West 57th Street. The society plans to maintain its relationship with the Rev. Charles Rigby, former director of IBS-New York and head of Christian Urban Partnership, by providing grants relating to evangelism.”Part of IBS’ vision for the U.S. is to have a broader and deeper ministry impact in other parts of the country,”said Paul-Gordon Chandler, the society’s U.S. chief executive officer and executive vice president.”Based on this vision the time was right to evaluate and restructure our important work in New York City.” IBS plans to focus on 10 major metropolitan areas _ including New York, Houston, Detroit and Chicago _ to increase its domestic work.
The society was founded in 1809 as the New York Bible Society and was involved in placing Bibles in hotels, distributing Scriptures to immigrants passing through Ellis Island and ministering to the homeless. In 1983, the organization changed its name to the International Bible Society and in 1988, it moved to Colorado Springs.
Israeli panel urges making the adoption of non-Jewish children easier
(RNS) An Israeli government-appointed panel has recommended changes that would make it easier for Israeli Jews to adopt non-Jewish children, including one proposal that is sure to upset ultra-religious members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition.
The committee’s recommendations are designed to ease the problems associated with some 100 children adopted from abroad who are not Jewish. In Israel, official registration as a Jew greatly simplifies marriage and other such personal issues.
Perhaps the most controversial of the panel’s recommendations, issued Monday (Jan. 12), was dropping the requirement that adopting families prove they adhere to a strict Orthodox Jewish lifestyle. That proposal is expected to anger ultra-religious government members, who are key to the survival of the Netanyahu government.
The committee also urged the establishment of special rabbinical courts to handle adoption issues. The courts would be run by Israel’s official chief rabbis, who are ultra-Orthodox.
The adoption issue is part of the larger battle in Israel over the Orthodox establishment’s continued control over Jewish religious life. Non-Orthodox Jews, led by the U.S.-based Reform and Conservative movements, are seeking to end that hegemony.
Quote of the day: film director Martin Scorsese
(RNS)”I don’t really see a conflict between the church and the movies, the sacred and the profane. … Both are places for people to come together and share a common experience. I believe there is a spirituality in films, even if it’s not one which can supplant faith.” Martin Scorsese, director of”Kundun,”a movie about the early life of the Dalai Lama, quoted in his new book”A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies.”
MJP END RNS
