c. 1999 Religion News Service
Falwell pledges to examine rhetoric for anti-gay hostility
(RNS) On the eve of a meeting between the Rev. Jerry Falwell and other conservative Christian ministers and the Rev. Mel White and religious supporters of gay rights, Falwell has pledged to examine his writing and preaching to ensure it does not contain anti-gay sentiments that could lead to violence.”I do think, in our case … we have looked very carefully at and will more carefully in the future at any kind of rhetoric in our writing or preachments or whatever, that might lead someone to have hostility towards anybody, and that includes gays and lesbians,”Falwell said in an interview with the PBS television show”Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.” The show, which also includes comments from White, is scheduled to air over the weekend. White, co-founder of the religious gay rights group Soulforce, once worked with Falwell and other evangelical leaders including Pat Robertson and Billy Graham.
On Saturday (Oct. 23) White and Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University, will lead some 400 people in what is being billed as an”anti-violence summit.”The meeting is an effort to get both sides to tone down their often-vitriolic rhetoric aimed at each other.
But Falwell, while calling for a more civil debate, also insisted he continues to preach that”homosexuality, the lifestyle, is wrong.””I’m trying, in my own ministry and in the ministry of others who follow me, to help them be sure that the world believes that they love the sinner more than they hate the sin.” Groups supporting gay rights have expressed support for the unusual meeting.”Millions of people of faith support the religious integrity and rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people,”said the Rev. Patricia Ackerman, spokeswoman for the National Religious Leadership Roundtable, a group organized by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Equal Partners in Faith.”By meeting with gay supportive religious leaders from various faith traditions, Falwell signals some willingness to learn,”she added.”We hope the next step will be reconciliation.” In the”Newsweekly”interview, White praised Falwell for his willingness to meet with the gay rights supporters.”I think the real thing that’s happening is that we’re sitting down together and that at our summit, 200 of their folks meet 200 of our folk, and we’re really learning to know each other and to know each other’s differences,”White said.”We can’t go into this new millennium hating each other.”And I think Jerry is sending a very important signal to us all: Let’s talk to each other, let’s find each other’s differences, take stands where we need to, but at the same time love each other in the process,”White said.
Consultation on Church Union names new general secretary
(RNS) The Rev. Michael Kinnamon, a well-known ecumenist and theology professor in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), has been named the new general secretary of the Consultation on Church Union.
Kinnamon, who teaches at Lexington Theological Seminary in Lexington, Ky., will be the new leader of the effort to increase unity among nine U.S. mainline Protestant denominations, the Presbyterian (USA) News Service reported.
Kinnamon has been a key COCU advocate for many years. He chaired a committee that drafted the proposal at COCU’s plenary last January calling for churches of the nine denominations to mutually recognize one another’s congregations, members and ministries. The new relationship would begin in 2002 if approved by all of the member bodies.
He has also served on commissions of the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches.
COCU also announced that the Rev. Gordon White, rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lowell, Mass., will be the organization’s new associate general secretary.
White will handle administrative work of the organization while Kinnamon, who will remain at Lexington Seminary, will focus on programmatic aspects of COCU.
The COCU member churches are the African Methodist Episcopal Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Episcopal Church, International Council of Community Churches, Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church.
European bishops offer the continent a `gospel of hope’
(RNS) Europe’s Roman Catholic bishops concluded a meeting at the Vatican on Friday (Oct. 22) by offering the continent a”gospel of hope”for the third millennium of Christianity.”Man cannot live without hope,”the bishops said in a message to Europe.”Hope is possible even today, and it is possible for all.” The bishops based their hope on the Christian belief in the significance of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, whom they called”the one and true hope for the human family and for history.” The optimistic tone of the message stood in sharp contrast to the alarm the bishops sounded in the working document prepared for the Second Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops, which opened Oct. 1. The document warned of a”crisis of faith”in a continent gripped by consumerism, paganism and nihilism.
Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Genoa, who oversaw the drafting of the message, told a Vatican news conference the bishops had taken a”very realistic”attitude toward the problems of the church, culture and society of Europe.”Christian realism by its very nature is optimistic,”he said.
The bishops held their last working session Friday with a final vote on the”propositions”they will present to Pope John Paul II as their plan of action for the year 2000 and beyond. The propositions, which were not made public, will serve as the basis for an”apostolic exhortation”that the pope will deliver to the bishops, probably late next year.
Synod sources said the propositions will attack such issues as the serious shortage of priests in Europe, priestly celibacy, the role of women in the church and society and relations with Islam, challenging Muslim countries to grant Christians the same religious freedom that Muslims enjoy in Europe.
The message, titled”We Joyfully Witness to the `Gospel of Hope’ in Europe,”acknowledged the continent has faced”dramatic and disquieting situations,”making a clear reference to the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.”How can we forget all the ways in which fundamental human rights have been violated between persons, minorities and peoples _ especially `ethnic cleansing’ and the prevention of refugees returning to their homes _ with the enormous weight of injustice, violence and death, which threatens our century in its closing years?”the bishops asked.
But they also cited grounds for optimism in the thrust for European unity and called on Catholics to become”committed Europeans, ready to make our contribution to the Europe of today and tomorrow.” They also reiterated the pope’s appeal for the international community”to wipe out or at least reduce”the debt of developing nations.
The bishops also strongly endorsed ecumenism and interfaith dialogue. They hailed the”Common Declaration on Justification,”which Catholic and Lutheran leaders will sign Oct. 31 in Augsburg, Germany.
British betting on Vatican choice to succeed Cardinal Hume
(RNS) One of Britain’s largest bookmakers, William Hill, has already taken several thousand pounds in bets on who will succeed the late Cardinal Basil Hume as Archbishop of Westminster.”There has been more interest than we would have expected,”a spokeswoman for the firm said. Betting on Hume’s successor, she said, is proving at least as popular as betting on the annual Booker Prize for fiction.
Heading William Hill’s list of favorites is Archbishop Patrick Kelly of Liverpool at 5 to 4, followed by the Abbot of Ampleforth, Dom Timothy Wright, at 2 to 1 and Bishop Michael Fitzgerald, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, at 4 to 1.
Others include Bishop Vincent Nichols, auxiliary of Westminster, at 6 to 1,the Master General of the Dominicans, Father Timothy Radcliffe, at 7 to 1, and Bishop John Crowley of Middlesbrough, a former auxiliary of Westminster who preached the homily at the cardinal’s funeral, at 16 to 1.
Some observers, however, say Kelly is unlikely to be appointed since he has been in Liverpool only since May 1996, and Wright’s appointment is unlikely on the grounds lightning never strikes in the same place twice. Hume came from Ampleforth.
The betting firm thus stands to do very well out of betting on an appointment for which there are no clear favorites.
Attorney who defended Cardinal Bernardin honored
(RNS) James A. Serritella, an internationally recognized lawyer and the lead attorney in the defense of the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin when the prelate was accused of sexual abuse, is being honored with the Rerum Novarum award from St. Joseph Seminary.
Serritella, who has served as the Archdiocese of Chicago’s outside counsel for nearly 30 years, was one of the key architects of the archdiocese’s benchmark policies on sexual misconduct by clergy.
The Rerum Novarum award, named after Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical on labor and capital, is given annually to honor outstanding Roman Catholic labor, government and business leaders. Serritella is being recognized for his role in business.”Jim is an outstanding Catholic and a great attorney,”said the Rev. James Presta, rector-president of St. Joseph Seminary.”He is an example of a layman who brings the gospel values to the workplace. Jim is compassionate. He seeks truth. And he uses Jesus as the model for his own life.” In addition to his role with the archdiocese, Serritella founded the Center for Migration Studies in New York in 1960 and served as editor of the International Migration Digest. In 1983 he founded the DePaul University College of Law Center for Church/State Studies; he still serves as chairman of its advisory committee.
The award was presented to Serritella by Cardinal Francis George of Chicago at an Oct. 19 dinner.
Quote of the day: Derek Davis, director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies
(RNS)”Government has no business promoting the merits of a sacred text like the Ten Commandments. When a judge has the Ten Commandments in his courtroom, it is a religious act advanced by the state and not merely a personal expression of faith.” _ Derek Davis, director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University in a debate with Alabama Attorney General William Pryor sponsored by the Dallas Lawyers Division of the Federalist Society.
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