c. 2005 Religion News Service

Methodists Name Panel to Probe Abuse Allegations at Congo Hostel

(RNS) A three-member panel has been appointed by the United Methodist Church to probe decades-old allegations of child abuse at a hostel for missionary children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, church officials said.

Retired Mississippi Bishop Marshall Meadors will chair the panel that will review and assess allegations of abuse at the Methodist-Presbyterian Hostel in Kinshasa.

Also serving will be Edith Fresh, an expert in child abuse issues at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, and the Rev. Jim Evinger, a Presbyterian who teaches at the University of Rochester in New York.

The panel is a followup to a 2002 report by the Presbyterian Church (USA) that documented serial abuse at a separate Presbyterian school in Congo between 1945 and 1968.

Presbyterian officials told the Methodists that abuse was also alleged at the Kinshasa hostel, which was administered by both churches, and said Methodist children or personnel may have been involved. Evinger assisted the Presbyterians in investigating those cases.

Methodist leaders previously said the panel will not “reach conclusions” about any civil legal liability in the abuse cases. The panel is expected to report its findings annually to church leaders.

Both facilities are now closed, and all the abuse allegations are decades old. Church officials are urging anyone who was abused to contact the panel.

The church’s Board of Global Ministries recently adopted a policy that says “child abuse is contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ” that is expected to be fully implemented by March 2006, according to United Methodist News Service.

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Former Chaplain’s Claim Against Navy Dismissed; Appeal Planned

(RNS) The lawyer for a former Navy chaplain who sued the military service with claims of religious discrimination said he will appeal a U.S. district court’s dismissal of the case.

Judge Judith M. Barzilay of the U.S. Court of International Trade found that D. Philip Veitch voluntarily resigned from the Navy so the court lacked jurisdiction in the matter. She granted the Navy’s motion for summary judgment in the case _ meaning the case never went to a full trial _ on April 4.

“I had expected that the government’s motion for summary judgment would be denied,” Art Schulcz, Veitch’s attorney, said in an interview. “I also hoped that the court would find that the basis for the action that led to his resignation was illegal and improper.”

In the case, filed in 2000, Veitch claimed that he was persecuted for his sermon topics at a Navy chapel in Naples, Italy, and was told by his supervisors that he should “preach religious pluralism.” Veitch, who said he felt forced to resign, is an evangelical Christian and his supervisors were Roman Catholic and Episcopal. The judge determined that charges that Veitch had treated a supervisor disrespectfully were a significant factor in the case.

“(Veitch’s) claim that he was not allowed to preach in a certain manner, which arguably violated the Navy’s policy of pluralism … does not exonerate (him) from his failure to respect a fellow chaplain who was senior in rank,” Barzilay ruled.

She sided with the Navy, which argued that because Veitch voluntarily resigned from the Navy in September 2000, he lacked standing in the case.

Asked for a response to the decision, the military service issued a statement saying “the Navy is grateful to have this legal case successfully resolved.”

The case is one of several filed in recent years in which evangelical Christians accused the Navy of religious discrimination. Schulcz said other cases continue to work their way through the courts.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Air Force Academy to Combat Religious Discrimination

(RNS) The U.S. Air Force Academy has begun a mandatory class in religious tolerance for cadets and staff.

Over the past four years, the 4,300-student school near Colorado Springs, Colo., has received 55 complaints of religious discrimination.

The grievances included use of religious slurs against non-Christian cadets, proselytizing by evangelical Christian students and special treatment given to Christian students and staff.

On March 29, the school began requiring one-time attendance of the 50-minute class, “Respecting the Spiritual Values of All People,” for all cadets _ more than 90 percent of whom identify themselves as Christians _ and staff at the academy.

“It outlines how we need to respect each other’s values and ideas, but also discusses what some of the Air Force standards are for how you can discuss these issues,” said Capt. Kim Melchor, a spokeswoman for the academy, in an interview.

Melchor said the class teaches how constitutional rules and Department of Defense regulations can be balanced with respecting each individual’s faith or choice not to be religious.

To help students of diverse faiths connect with their religious groups, the academy has offered optional weekly classes in spiritual growth since the 1980s, Melchor said.

Some associated with the academy have said the efforts are inadequate.

Mikey Weinstein of Albuquerque, N.M., a 1977 graduate and parent of two former cadets _ who he said were targeted with anti-Semitic insults _ said religious discrimination is “inextricably intertwined in every aspect of the academy,” The Associated Press reported.

_ Celeste Kennel-Shank

Quote of the Day: National Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III

(RNS) “I believe this cathedral is called to be a major voice of a faith that is firm at the center and soft at the edges … a faith that embraces ambiguity, that honors other faiths … a faith that insists that Christ’s values be embodied in the social order.”

_ The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd, the new dean of Washington National Cathedral, speaking during his homily at his installation service on Saturday (April 23). He was quoted by The Washington Post.

KRE/PH END RNS