c. 1998 Religion News Service

Disgruntled Methodists seek suspension of Nebraska bishop

(RNS) A group of disgruntled United Methodists in Nebraska are seeking the suspension or removal of Bishop Joel Martinez, charging he has failed to perform his duties, broke church law and undermined the ministry of three Nebraska pastors.

The three pastors, a layman and two pastor-parish relations committees have in separate but related actions filed formal complaints against Martinez, who has served as Nebraska bishop for five years.

The complaints also charge two current and one former district superintendent _ administrators who oversee a local group of churches _ with improper supervisory actions.

The complaint is the latest incident to make Martinez and Nebraska United Methodists a center of controversy. In November, in an incident unrelated to the current controversy, Martinez suspended the Rev. Jimmy Creech for 60 days because the Omaha pastor presided at a same-sex covenant ceremony at his church.”I am a servant of the church of Jesus Christ,”Martinez said in a statement responding to the filing of the charges.”The United Methodist Church is a faithful expression of Christ’s universal mission. … I have no doubt that everyone, including myself, will be accorded a fair hearing as matters proceed.” The complaint, which has been forwarded to Bishop A. Frederick Mutti of Topeka, president of the eight-state South Central Jurisdiction’s Council of Bishops, which includes Nebraska, center on allegations Martinez delayed or revoked the ordinations of the complainants and improperly interfered with the working of local congregations.

Roman Catholics in Scotland want separate, church-run nursery schools

(RNS) The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland is pressing that separate Catholic, government-financed nursery schooling be made available when the government introduces universal pre-school education later this year.

The government has committed itself to providing pre-school education for all 4-year-olds by next winter.

Under legislation dating from 1918, the government in Scotland builds and maintains separate Catholic schools in areas where the Catholic population is sufficient to warrant it _ a more generous provision than that available in England and Wales, where the church must build its own schools and pay 15 percent of the cost of maintaining the buildings although the government underwrites operating costs.

Cardinal Thomas Winning, archbishop of Glasgow, has met with Scottish education minister, Brian Wilson, to discuss the issue.

But the government currently is arguing nursery schooling should not be treated in the same way as primary and secondary education because it is treated differently by the law.”I do not think it appropriate to organize pre-school education along denominational lines,”Wilson said.

But church officials said they supported the government establishing the pre-schools in already existing Catholic schools.”Our preferred option at the moment is that, where possible, these (proposed) pre-five units (nursery schools) should be attached to the (parochial) schools where the children will ultimately go and that the church should be consulted on the curriculum,”said John Oates, national field officer of the Scottish Catholic Education Commission.

Terry, NOW reach accord on abortion clinic protest lawsuit

(RNS) Randall Terry, the anti-abortion activist who founded the militant Operation Rescue, has agreed not to block the entrances of women’s health clinics or participate in violence against them.

Terry’s agreement is part of a preliminary settlement of a suit, first filed in 1986 against the Rev. Joseph Scheidler of Chicago and his Pro-Life Action League, which had pioneered use of direct-action techniques designed to disrupt the clinics. Terry and Operation Rescue were added to the suit in 1988.

In the suit, the National Organization for Women accused Terry and his group of organizing bomb attacks and other violent protests, the Associated Press reported Friday (Jan. 9).

According to the AP, the settlement includes only Terry and not Operation Rescue, Scheidler nor other defendants. Trial is scheduled to begin March 2 for the other defendants. In the settlement, Terry did not admit to any past wrongdoing.”The only reason it was agreed to is because Mr. Terry did not have to admit any wrongdoing, which he still adamantly denies,”said his lawyer, Larry Crain said.

NOW Vice President Kim Gandy called the settlement”a total victory for us.” Under the terms of the settlement, Terry, now a radio talk-show host in Binghamton, N.Y., and a candidate for Congress, is barred from participating in any criminal acts against abortion clinics, their staff and patients, or of belonging to any organization committing such acts.

FBI: Nearly 9,000 hate crimes were reported in 1996

(RNS) Local law enforcement agencies reported 8,759 hate crimes during 1996, with race-motivated crimes accounting for more than 60 percent, the FBI reported Wednesday (Jan. 7).”Violent crime has dropped five years in a row, but we’re just beginning to grasp the problem of hate crimes and how best to fight back, and we are not going to let up,”Attorney General Janet Reno said in a statement releasing the statistics.

According to the FBI figures, local law enforcement agencies covering 84 percent of the population reported 5,396 incidents motivated by racial bias, 1,401 by religious bias, 1,016 by sexual-orientation, 940 by ethnicity/national origin bias and six by multiple biases.

The FBI first began reporting hate crimes in 1993 but it was not able to compare the 1996 statistics with earlier figures because the number of local agencies reporting hate crimes has gone up significantly.”These statistics,”Reno said,”show what we long believed is true: Hate crimes have long gone under-reported.”

Quote of the day: Roman Catholic theologian Johannes Reiter

(RNS)”He who styles human corpses as a so-called work of art no longer respects the importance of death.” _ Johannes Reiter, a Roman Catholic theologian at the University of Mainz, commenting on an art exhibit,”Human Body World,”that uses real human corpses for what is called”anatomical artwork.”

MJP END RNS