c. 2003 Religion News Service

Mosque Apologizes for Christmas E-mail

TORONTO (RNS) A Somali mosque here has apologized for a Christmas Day message that said wishing someone Merry Christmas is comparable to congratulating them for committing murder or engaging in adultery.

“The board (of Khalid Bin Al-Walid Mosque) sincerely apologizes for the distress that this e-mail has caused to subscribers of its e-mail list, other Muslims, and most importantly our Christian neighbors during this important season for them,” said a written statement quoted in the National Post.

Mosque officials said the original message, sent out by e-mail on Christmas Day, did not come from the mosque’s leadership, nor did it reflect the mosque’s official policy.

They said a junior employee copied the statement from a Web site and forwarded it to subscribers of the facility’s regular e-mail newsletter.

The message equated celebrating Christmas with activities that are prohibited under Islamic law, including murder, illicit sex and the consumption of alcohol.

Several prominent Muslim leaders across Canada denounced that stance and condemned the message for not only contradicting the teachings of Islam but for erecting walls between Muslims and Christians in Canada.

Canada Increasingly Anti-Semitic, Editorial Says

TORONTO (RNS) A Christmas Day editorial in the Jerusalem Post titled “Hatred in Canada,” describing the country as increasingly tolerant of anti-Semitism, was accurate, say Jewish communal leaders.

The editorial cited more than 300 anti-Semitic incidents in Canada in the past 12 months, including attacks on four synagogues, the murder of an Orthodox Jew, anti-Jewish violence at public events, and the praising of Adolf Hitler by a prominent Aboriginal leader.

Winnipeg-based David Matas, a lawyer for B’nai Brith Canada, said he agrees the figures reflect mounting levels of anti-Semitism.

Similarly, Bernie Farber of the Canadian Jewish Congress said that “anti-Jewish, anti-Semitic, and anti-Zionist rhetoric and incidents have significantly increased in Canada,” largely as a result of the Middle East conflict.

Anglican Diocese Ratifies Settlement

TORONTO (RNS) The Anglican Church of Canada’s diocese of Keewatin has become the first diocese to ratify the agreement with the federal government limiting the church’s liability regarding Indian residential schools.

Under the agreement, reached after two years of negotiations, the church will contribute $25 million over five years toward a litigation settlement fund, the national General Synod would contribute $3 million, and Canada’s 30 dioceses would contribute $22 million. The six wealthiest dioceses, which include Toronto and Ottawa, are expected to provide the majority of the contributions.

Keewatin, a largely indigenous diocese on the border of northwestern Ontario and much of eastern Manitoba, has pledged $185,000 over five years toward the litigation settlement fund. All 30 dioceses are expected to vote on ratification in the next three months.

Chinese Churches Concede Need to Change

BURNABY, British Columbia (RNS) Canada’s Chinese churches will have to take action if they wish to remain distinct in a changing multiethnic and multilingual society, said participants in a first-ever national meeting of Chinese church leaders.

The Toronto-based Chinese Coordination Center of World Evangelism organized the four-day consultation held here in November. About 230 pastors and lay leaders from a broad cross-section of denominations attended.

Anita Leung, the center’s director for western Canada, said the purpose of the gathering was more to identify problems facing Chinese worshippers.

“The longer we are in Canada, the more we’re being affected by the Canadian culture, especially our second generation,” she told Christian Week. “They all look Chinese, but they’re very Canadian in their way of thinking. So we need to come up with an effective way to reach them and pastor them.”

In some cases, she added, even the church leadership is no longer exclusively Chinese, thanks to interracial marriages and cross-cultural evangelizing.

According to the 2001 census, Chinese-speaking Canadians number 872,400, one of Canada’s largest visible minority groups. Yet of these, Leung estimates only about 6 percent profess to be Christian.

New Head of Canadian Bible Society

TORONTO (RNS) The newly appointed head of the Canadian Bible Society is hoping to breathe new life into the long-standing charitable organization.

Glen Pitts, an ordained pastor with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, became national director Dec. 2. He replaces Greg Bailey, who left a year ago.

“I’m coming in with a clear mandate of revitalization,” said Pitts, 58. “Unless we’re proactively seeking to get a whole new generation of donors and participants in the society, we just won’t be around. We need to capture the zeal of youth. Youth bring passion and energy.”

Founded in 1904 and chartered in 1906, the CBS is a member of the United Bible Societies, a fellowship of 137 national Bible societies that translate, publish and distribute Bibles worldwide. The CBS has 140 people on staff across Canada at the national and district levels.

Montreal United Church Cuts Ties

MONTREAL (RNS) A United Church congregation here comprised mainly of French-speaking African emigres has broken ties with the United Church of Canada, primarily over the congregation’s unwillingness to perform Christian civil unions of same-sex couples, an alternative to the traditional marriage ceremony.

The United Church Observer reports that the Communaute Chretienne de Bethel’s request for disaffiliation from the parent church was accepted at a November meeting of the Montreal Presbytery. It followed an incident nearly a year ago, when the church’s pastor, Zaire-born Lezoka Mwinda, referred to homosexuals in the same context as murderers, prostitutes and thieves.

Lezoka, who explained that he was merely quoting Scripture, insists his congregation’s break from the United Church was not solely over the question of performing same-sex unions.

A United Church spokesman said he regrets the regional officials “hadn’t found a way of making (the congregation) more comfortable.”

DEA END CSILLAG