c. 2004 Religion News Service
Bishops Advise Catholic Voters on Political Choices
WASHINGTON (RNS) The nation’s Catholic bishops have distributed 10 questions that voters should ask political candidates, but cautioned they “should not isolate a particular element of Catholic doctrine” and ignore other issues.
On Friday (Aug. 20), the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops distributed the two-page statement “The Challenge of Faithful Citizenship” as an optional insert for weekly bulletins distributed in America’s 19,000 Catholic parishes.
“The question should not be, `Are you better off than you were four years ago?’ It should be, `How can we _ all of us, especially the weak and vulnerable _ be better off in the years ahead?”’ the insert said.
The insert comes during an election year in which both parties are fighting hard for the votes of Catholics, while Catholic politicians who support abortion rights _ especially Democratic candidate John Kerry _ have come under immense scrutiny from church bishops.
Although abortion is mentioned several times, the document calls voters’ attention to other issues, including hunger, support for marriage, health care, immigration, war and peace, and religious freedom. It echoed a Vatican statement that prohibits voting for any policy that “contradicts fundamental principles of our faith.”
“It also reminds us that we should not isolate a particular element of Catholic doctrine. A political commitment to a single isolated aspect of the church’s social doctrine does not exhaust our responsibility towards the common good,” the insert said.
Sister Mary Ann Walsh, a spokeswoman for the bishops, said the flier was not referring to a singular emphasis on abortion by some Catholics. “I think you find that the issues go from A to Z, and they have for several years,” she said.
The insert is a digested version of the bishops’ “Faithful Citizenship” document on political participation, which is revised every four years. The insert was prepared by the bishops’ Office of Social Development and World Peace.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
School Superintendent Who Posted Ten Commandments Placed on Leave
(RNS) A Missouri superintendent who posted a Ten Commandments plaque in a school cafeteria has been placed on leave after saying he would not follow religious expression laws.
School board members approved the administrative leave without pay for Humansville, Mo., Superintendent Greg Thompson by a 6-1 vote on Aug. 11, the Associated Pres reported.
Officials declined to say whether he would remain as an employee of the school district.
Thompson hung an 11-inch-by-14-inch plaque shortly after he was hired six years ago. In March, resident Carrie Roat argued in a federal lawsuit that the plaque violated the constitutional separation of church and state.
In July, the school district in southwestern Missouri agreed to pay Roat $45,000 and to stop displaying religious symbols. The settlement, whose wording is not final, still needs to be approved by a court.
Historic Synagogue Honors Federal Religious Freedom Panel
(RNS) The nation’s oldest synagogue has given its annual Religious Tolerance and Freedom award to a federal religious freedom watchdog panel.
Touro Synagogue in Newport, R.I., presented its Judge George Alexander Teitz Award on Sunday (Aug. 22) to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom during its annual festival that honors a letter sent to the congregation by President George Washington in 1790.
The annual award honors an “individual or program that best exemplifies the ideals of religious, ethnic, and racial tolerance and freedom.” In 1790, Washington assured the small band of Newport Jews that the United States “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”
The commission, an independent agency that advises the State Department, Congress and the White House on religious freedom issues, was chartered in 1998 by an act of Congress.
The synagogue cited the commission for its work to assure religious freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan, and its attention to harsh conditions in Saudi Arabia and China.
The award was accepted by commission Chair Preeta Bansal and Vice Chair Felice Gaer.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Multiethnic Coalition to Restore Historic California Synagogue
(RNS) A dilapidated synagogue that was once the center of Jewish life in southern California is being restored by a coalition of Hispanics and Jews.
After years of neglect, Breed Street Shul of Los Angeles has been gutted and surrounded by a chain link fence off Cesar Chavez Avenue. Decades ago, that street was called Brooklyn Avenue and the brick synagogue was called Congregation Talmud Torah.
The synagogue fell into disrepair after Jews left the neighborhood for the suburbs and vandals savaged the 71-year-old building. The large stained glass windows were broken and pews were removed. The historic structure appeared to be at its end.
But an open house on Sunday (Aug. 22) revealed high hopes for new life.
About $1 million of $1.5 million in first-phase renovation funding has come from private donors, the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and California state grants. The synagogue’s main sanctuary and 14 destroyed stained glass windows will be re-created to maintain its listing on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.
A second phase is expected to cost about $5 million and will include seismic retrofitting in an area known for earthquakes.
The synagogue’s back building will serve as a community center for the local Hispanic population.
“Even though it is Jewish, it’s part of our historical memory,” said community activist Boyle Gurrola of the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council in East Los Angeles. “We (Hispanics and Jews) went to school together. We dated each other.”
Jewish leaders also pledged their support at the open house.
“Pigeons, asbestos, lead paint _ that was $100,000 out of our budget, a budget that really doesn’t exist,” said Steven Sass, president of the Jewish Historical Society of Southern California, referring to the initial phase. “What (this will) be is a place to honor the past, but connect the past to the present.”
Stacy Cooperman was already making the connection. She brought her five daughters to the temple from her home in the San Fernando Valley, where she attends Encino’s Valley Beth Shalom synagogue.
“They’re proud to be Jewish,” she said, “and this is where the Jewish people started in this area.”
_ David Finnigan
Quote of the Day: The Rev. Dennis E. Postell of Punta Gorda, Fla.
(RNS) “It’s only bricks. It’s only mortar. It’s only steel. You see, that’s not the church. This is the church. The people are the church. You are the church.”
_ The Rev. Dennis E. Postell, pastor of Abundant Life Assembly of God church, which was ruined by Hurricane Charley. Quoted by The New York Times, Postell spoke Sunday (Aug. 22) to about 200 congregants gathered under a tent outside the damaged sanctuary.
MO/PH END
