c. 1998 Religion News Service

Vatican orders inquiry of former Vienna archbishop

(RNS) In response to rising anger among Austrian Catholics, the Vatican on Thursday (Feb. 12) launched a formal investigation of former Vienna Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer amid fresh allegations of sexual misconduct.

Groer was forced to retire in 1995 after nine years as archbishop, when a majority of Austrian Catholics said they were convinced of his guilt in an alleged case of sexual molestation of a student some two decades earlier.

The new allegations, in which several other students have come forward with claims of misconduct, have forced Groer to resign from his new job as head of the Benedictine monastery of Maria Roggendorf.

The Vatican said it had asked Abbot-Primate Marcel Rooney of the Benedictines to conduct an internal inquiry of the abbey of Gottweig, where Groer lived and taught from 1960 to 1970. Some of the incidents of alleged misconduct occurred during that period.

A Vatican official said Rooney had not been given a deadline for the investigation. He is expected to interview people who had knowledge of Groer’s activities during the time, and report back to the Vatican Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life.

The Vatican’s move followed a request by the abbot of Gottweig for a inquiry that would put to rest the tawdry rumors.

None of the students making the allegations has ever pressed charges. But questions of wrongdoing have severely undermined the authority of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria, where church attendance is sharply down over the past two years.

Dobson says GOP has betrayed conservative Christians

(RNS) Religious broadcaster James Dobson _ hinting he might leave Focus on the Family to engage in political activity _ has warned Republicans that if they continue to”betray”conservative Christian voters he might bolt the Republican Party.

Dobson’s comments were made Saturday (Feb. 7) at a closed-door meeting in Arizona of the conservative Council for National Policy and were reported Thursday (Feb. 12) by The New York Times.

In his talk, Dobson, whose Focus on the Family radio program is heard by an estimated 5 million listeners weekly, said Republicans who have achieved a congressional majority with the aid of conservative Christian voters have not sufficiently fought against abortion and gay rights. Such issues are dear to religious conservatives.

Dobson said Republicans”when they moved into power, moved to immediately insult”conservative Christian supporters. He specifically named House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whom he criticized for inviting New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, who favors abortion rights, to give the Republican response to President Bill Clinton’s State of the Union Address last year.

Dobson said if he decided to bolt the GOP he would”do everything I can to take as many people with me as possible.” Dobson also said he was considering taking a leave of absence from Focus on the Family so as not to endanger the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based organization’s nonprofit tax status if he decides to become more politically active.

Gary Bauer, president of the Dobson-founded Family Research Council in Washington, told Religion News Service that Dobson’s comments”reflect the depth of his frustration with the lack of attention being paid to what I call America’s virtue deficit. There’s a sense that only the votes of our people matter, but not really their issues.” In his speech, Dobson also revealed that he did not vote for 1996 Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, who many religious conservatives criticized for running a campaign they viewed as not strongly anti-abortion. Instead, Dobson said he cast a”protest vote”for Howard Phillips, a Conservative Christian who ran as the United States Taxpayer’s Party candidate.

In addition, Dobson said he would speak at the June meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. He promised that his comments there would be political.

England’s Cardinal Hume: no reason for military strike at Iraq

(RNS) Roman Catholic Cardinal Basil Hume, archbishop of Westminster, has expressed”strong doubts”over the tough line on Iraq being taken by the British and U.S. governments.

In a Thursday (Feb. 12) letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair, the cardinal said he was aware of”considerable unease”in the Catholic community in respect of possible military action against Iraq.”Of course, I am not in a position to judge the military and political aspects of the present situation,”Hume said.”It is clearly important to weigh in the balance the long-term consequences if the regime in Iraq is effectively able to develop and then use weapons of mass destruction.”I must confess, however, to having strong doubts personally about whether it is possible to identify a specific military objective which stands a good chance of being secured by the use of force at this time without causing disproportionate harm.” Hume’s stance put him at odds with his Anglican counterpart, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, who on Wednesday seemed to give apparent approval to military action against Iraq.

Hume also said people would want assurance any action had the clear prior endorsement of the United Nations.”Otherwise, the authority of the U.N. risks being severely undermined, with grave long-term consequences,”he said.

Regional Baptist leaders from two denominations meet

(RNS) Regional leaders from the Southern Baptist Convention and the American Baptist Churches USA met together Thursday (Feb. 12) for what is believed to be the first time to discuss their similarities and differences.”Surely, we can learn each other’s names, and be able to … respect one another and find some ways we might be able to do things on the state and the regional level,”said Jere Allen, executive director/minister of the District of Columbia Baptist Convention, who organized the meeting of more than 60 leaders at a hotel in Arlington, Va.

The meeting was deemed historic because it is believed to be the first time the regional leaders of the two groups have ever met together.

Bill Brackney, professor of historical theology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, ticked off the similarities and differences of the denominations. He said they both share British origins, a commitment to religious liberty and a missionary heritage.”Southern Baptist claim to be the biggest, American Baptists claim to be the oldest, but together … we represent the mainstream of Baptist witness in the United States,”he said.

Key differences include the Southern Baptists’ predominant male clergy leadership compared to the American Baptists’ inclusion of women and lay people in their official ranks. The sizes of the denominations, relatively close when the groups split, are now strikingly different _ 15.6 million Southern Baptists compared to 1.6 million American Baptists in 1995.”Diversity is a reality for American Baptists,”said Brackney, while”the predominant color remains white”at annual meetings of the Southern Baptist Convention.

In comments causing knowing laughter in the room, Brackney cited some examples of”uncomplimentary perceptions”the groups have of one another.”All too often Southern Baptists may be caricatured as good ol’ boys wearing white hats, something between the `Dukes of Hazzard’ and `Gone with the Wind,'”he said. Southern Baptists, on the other hand, have been known to describe American Baptists as”friendly with the wrong kinds of people.” Although much of the discussion was centered on reviewing the groups’ distinct histories, two Baptist leaders spoke of concerted efforts in northern New England for joint ministry.

The Rev. Gary Johnson, executive minister of the American Baptist Churches of Maine and Ken Lyle, executive director/treasurer of the Baptist Convention of New England, said Baptist have come together for prayer and are considering possibly working together on starting new churches.

Debt relief, not sex, should be concern of Anglican bishops

(RNS) International debt, and not the divisive issue of homosexuality, should be the central question at this summer’s Lambeth Conference _ the meeting of all the bishops of the worldwide Anglican Communion held every 10 years _ Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey said Wednesday (Feb. 11).

Carey, as head of the Church of England, is the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church in the United States.

Observers expect homosexuality to be as dominating an issue at the July-August Lambeth meeting as the issues of women priests and women bishops were in 1978 and 1988.

Carey, speaking to the general synod of the Church of England, said he hoped prophetic witness by the church would be a”significant element”at the conference.”From my position as president, I am all too conscious that some will come wanting a show-down on the issue of homosexuality and seek categorical assurances from the assembled gathering for a final, definitive opinion,”he said.”I am sure this would be a serious error. Such a move would dominate the entire agenda and confirm the world’s suspicions that we are obsessed with issues of gender and sexuality.” Carey said he intended that homosexuality will be considered calmly, theologically, and in a Christian way,”but we must not allow it to sideline such crucial concerns as the mission of the church in the new millennium, relationships with Islam, our ministry to young people, and the urgent matter of international debt. Indeed, I very much hope that the issue of international debt will be central.” He said it is his”fervent hope”the conference will issue”a powerful call to the rich nations of the world that the burden of unpayable debt is an immorality at least as contemptible as the slave trade was 200 years ago.” Update: Key Chinese Catholic leader urges Vatican recognition of China

(RNS) A top official of China’s government-controlled Catholic church has told members of a U.S. religious leaders delegation to China the Vatican should establish ties with the communist-run government.

Liu Bonian, vice president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, said the lack of ties has hurt Catholicism in China, the Associated Press reported Thursday (Feb. 12), citing reports by China’s official news agency.

Liu made his comments at a meeting with the U.S. panel, which includes Roman Catholic Archbishop Theodore McCarrick of Newark, N.J. Other members of the panel are the Rev. Donald Argue, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, and Rabbi Arthur Schneier, head of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation.

China’s Catholics are divided among those who worship in official, state-sponsored churches, whose allegiance is to the government, and those who are members of an underground church retaining loyalty to the Vatican. Some of the estimated 4 million Catholics worship in both churches.

When the communists came to power in 1949, the government drove out foreign missionaries and priests and required both Catholics and Protestants to attend state-controlled churches. In the Catholic case, state control also means that the Chinese church, rather than the Vatican, appoints its own bishops _ a key sticking point in improving relations between Beijing and Rome.

Also on Thursday, the three-member panel met with Chinese President Jing Zemin, who issued his invitation for the American religious leaders to visit China while he was in the United States last October.

Diocese of Dallas to pay $5 million in sex abuse settlement

(RNS) The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas has agreed to pay $5 million to settle sexual abuse lawsuits involving two former priests.

The cases are separate from yet a third, widely publicized Dallas case in which the diocese was held liable for $154 million.

In the current settlement, the Associated Press reported, one former priest was accused of molesting four boys and another of molesting a girl.

The diocese did not make public the names of the victims nor how much each one was paid.

Quote of the day: Episcopal Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold

(RNS)”A bishop’s heart must be open, a bishop’s door must be open to everyone, absolutely everyone. Don’t try to pin me down either to the right or to the left. … All one can do is to open the door and say, `please come in, please sit down and let’s talk.'” _ Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold of the Episcopal Church at a news conference after his investiture Jan. 10 as head of the denomination.

DEA END RNS