c. 2000 Religion News Service
Religious Groups Praise Signing of Religious Freedom Bill
(RNS) Religious and civil liberties groups, in a rare display of agreement, praised a bill signed by President Clinton on Friday (Sept. 22) that gives religious groups and prisoners more protection when practicing their beliefs.
The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which received wide bipartisan support, will give religious groups greater flexibility in dealing with local government zoning laws.
“This act recognizes the importance the free exercise of religion plays in our democratic society,” Clinton said in a statement.
Under the law, governments must apply the least restrictive measures against religious groups, or show that zoning laws or other regulations serve a compelling government interest. The American Civil Liberties Union lobbied for the bill and praised its passage and signing.
“Religion has been unfairly targeted by government regulation across the country” said the ACLU’s Terri Schroeder in a statement. “The balance between the needs of religion and the larger community’s concerns has been off kilter for far too long. This bill will restore the equilibrium.”
The bill was supported by a vast coalition of religious groups, from evangelical Christians to Jews and Muslims. The Baptist Joint Committee said the bill would provide “plenty of room for the robust practice of faith and sensible zoning.”
Also covered under the bill are prisoners or people placed in state institutions. The bill will allow inmates and others to, for example, pray the rosary or wear religious symbols such as a cross even though some prison officials have said such expression could pose a safety risk.
“This legislation protects access to the one thing _ faith in God _ that can truly transform the lives of prisoners, and in turn reduce crime in our communities,” said Justice Fellowship President Pat Nolan in a statement.
Update: Family Research Council Clarifies Congressional Prayer Stance
(RNS) The Family Research Council has sought to clarify its position on prayers uttered before Congress after an article in its online publication criticized a recent prayer by a Hindu priest.
“It is the position of the Family Research Council that governments must respect freedom of conscience for all people in religious matters,” said Chuck Donovan, FRC executive vice president, in a statement issued Friday (Sept. 22).
“We affirm the truth of Christianity, but it is not our position that America’s Constitution forbids representatives of religions other than Christianity from praying before Congress. We recognize that decisions on this matter are the prerogative of each house of Congress.”
The Sept. 21 edition of “Culture Facts,” the online publication of the conservative Christian public policy group, included a condemnation of the inclusion of a Hindu priest among guests giving the invocation in the House of Representatives.
“Alas, in our day, when `tolerance’ and `diversity’ have replaced the 10 Commandments as the only remaining absolute dictums, it has become necessary to `celebrate’ non-Christian religions _ even in the halls of Congress,” the article said. “And while it is true that the United States of America was founded on the sacred principle of religious freedom for all, this liberty was never intended to exalt other religions to the level that Christianity holds in our country’s heritage.”
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a religious liberty watchdog group, made public the original comments by FRC, saying the article represented “religious bigotry” and “an outrageous act of prejudice.”
On Sept. 14, Venkatachalapathi Samuldrala, a Hindu priest from Ohio, became the first Hindu to offer an opening prayer in the House.
Malta’s Bishops Criticize Siamese Decision
(RNS) It would be “disastrous” if the dignity of the human person were to be evaluated according to criteria of utility, even if these favor another person, the Roman Catholic bishops of Malta said in a joint statement on the ruling by a British appeals court in a highly publicized case involving Siamese twins.
The parents of the twins are from Malta.
On Friday, the court ruled the medical team caring for the twins could _ against the wishes of the parents _ operate to separate the twins, even though separation would mean the death of one of them.
The case is now expected to go to the House of Lords, Britain’s supreme court.
Noting that Siamese twins are “two different persons,” the three bishops _ Archbishop Joseph Mercieca of Malta, Bishop Nicholas J Cauchi of Gozo and Auxiliary Bishop Annetto Depasquale of Malta _ said: “An adult person may, in an act of heroism, of his/her own free will, sacrifice his/her own life for the good of others. However, no authority may eliminate or sacrifice the life of a human person, not even to save another life.”
Adopting criteria of utility would undermine the dignity of the human person and introduce “a very harmful principle” into society, the bishops said.
“Man is the only creature whom God has created for himself,” they said. “No man, whoever he may be, has dominion over the life of another man.”
They expressed their “full solidarity” with the parents in their decision. “We are indeed sad that the legitimate will of the parents was overridden by the court,” they concluded.
Russian Orthodox Delegation Makes `Historic’ Visit to Holy Shroud
(RNS) An official Russian Orthodox delegation has made what it called a “historic” visit to the cathedral of Turin, Italy, to view the Holy Shroud, the linen sheet that many Christians believe bears the image of the crucified Christ.
But Metropolitan Kyrill Gundiaev, who led the delegation, said that while the visit was important, relations between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches remain too cold for a meeting between Pope John Paul II and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexii II.
“I have been asked if relations between Catholics and Orthodox are in autumn or in winter,” Kyrill said. “I answer that we are in winter, which is colder but still closer to spring.”
Kyrill and Archbishop Severino Poletto of Turin said Sunday (Sept. 24) before the delegation left that they considered the visit historic because it was made “with the blessing of the pope and the patriarch of Moscow.”
Poletto and Turin city officials traveled to Moscow in May to invite an Orthodox delegation to view the shroud, on display in the Cathedral of St. John from Aug. 13 to Oct. 22 as part of the Roman Catholic Church’s celebrations of the Jubilee Holy Year 2000.
Kyrill, who ranks second in the Russian Orthodox hierarchy and serves as the patriarch’s foreign minister, said it is still “premature” to speak of a meeting between John Paul II and Alexii II.
“Today there are still problems to resolve before the so much awaited embrace between the pope and the patriarch,” he said. The prelate reiterated his church’s position that the meeting would be such a “great symbolic gesture” that it must come only after almost a millennium of differences have been resolved.
“Patriarch Alexii II has always repeated to me, `I want to meet with the pope,”’ Kyrill said.
But he said that in addition to doctrinal differences, the two churches are at odds over the restoration of property of the Ukrainian Catholic Church seized by Communist authorities and turned over to the Orthodox Church.
Many Christians believe the linen sheet bearing what appears to be the outline of the body and face of a bearded man was Jesus’ shroud. Carbon dating tests carried out in England in 1988 indicated that fragments cut from the border of the cloth dated only to the 13th century, but other experts contend the testing procedures were flawed and blood and grass stains on the cloth testify to its authenticity.
“The great majority of Russians believe it is authentic,” Kyrill said.
Update: Iraqi Christians Can Remain in United States
(RNS) About 45 of more than 100 Iraqi Christians detained last week by Mexican immigration officials on suspicion of violating immigration laws have been allowed to cross the border into the United States and file political asylum applications.
U.S. immigration officials have also decided to allow 16 of the Chaldeans, members of a Christian sect dating to ancient times, to stay in the United States while authorities process their asylum applications, a U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service spokeswoman told Agence France Presse.
The asylum requests filed by the Iraqi Christians are among as many as 188 such requests U.S. immigration officials have received from Iraqi Christians who have entered the United States via Tijuana, Mexico, the Associated Press reported.
During the past few months, Tijuana has become the gathering ground for some 150 Iraqi Chaldeans who fear religious persecution in their native country. The refugees had planned to seek asylum in Mexico if their applications for asylum were denied by the United States, one relative told the AP.
Tijuana is just 30 minutes away from San Diego County, which is home to an estimated 15,000 Chaldeans. The surrounding region comprises the United States’ second-largest Chaldean community. The majority of the nation’s 120,000 Chaldeans live in the Detroit region. Iraq is home to about half of the 800,000 Chaldeans worldwide.
The Chaldeans, sometimes called Nestorians or Assyrians, broke away from other Christians during the fifth century because of a dispute concerning use of the term “Theotokos,” or God-bearer, to describe Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Chaldeans, however, are in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
Jack Weir, Presbyterian Leader in Ireland, Dead at 81
(RNS) Jack Weir, a leader of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland who was known for his attempts to end violence in his country, died Sept. 18 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Weir, 81, had Parkinson’s disease.
Weir served as clerk of the church’s General Assembly at the time he joined a delegation of Protestant leaders for a meeting with Irish Republican Army representatives in 1974.
The son of Presbyterian missionaries, Weir also headed a delegation that met Pope John Paul II during the pontiff’s 1979 visit to Ireland.
Quote of the day: Marvin Munyon, leader of the Family Research Forum, Madison, Wis.
(RNS) “You spank them right here on the gluteus maximus, which God made for that purpose.”
_ Marvin Munyon of the Family Research Forum, demonstrating his spanking method during a session on corporal punishment at Eau Claire (Wis.) Gospel Center. He was quoted Sept. 24 by the Associated Press.
DEA END RNS
