c. 2005 Religion News Service
Pope Weighs in Against Italian Referendum on Assisted Fertility
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI has endorsed Italian bishops’ call for Catholics to abstain in a referendum on assisted fertility, underlining the pontiff’s determination that Italy combat secularism.
On Monday (May 30), the pope argued against a June 12-13 plebiscite on scrapping parts of a law that restricts fertility treatments. Benedict said it poses threats to life and to the family.
The pope entered the debate on the plebiscite while addressing the Italian bishops’ conference, which has called on Italians to boycott the referendum so that it will not pass a 50 percent turnout barrier to be valid.
In his first foray into a major Italian political issue, Benedict noted that the bishops “were committed to illuminating the choices of Catholics and all citizens” in the upcoming referendum. Italy’s prelates were committed to “defending the sacredness of human life and the promotion of the role of the family in society,” said the 78-year-old pope.
He praised what he called the “clarity and concreteness” of the bishops’ commitment “towards every human being who can never be reduced to a means, but is an end in itself, as Christ taught us and human reason acknowledges. In such an engagement, I am close to you in word and in prayer,” he said.
The pope’s entrance into the political debate prompted plenty of Tuesday (May 31) analysis from Italian newspapers and pundits.
Marco Politi, la Repubblica’s respected Vatican reporter, said the pope’s speech Monday showed his concern to use the Italian debate on procreation and a similar controversy on same-sex marriage in Spain as battlegrounds against de-Christianization.
“From the three pages of his pithy and as usual rationally well argued speech, the 250 bishops understood immediately that the newly elected (pope) will fight so that Italy remains a vanguard trench against the secularization that has invaded the West,” Politi said.
Promoters of a “yes” vote want to repeal restrictions that limit fertility treatment to “stable heterosexual couples” who live together and are of childbearing age, and who are shown to be clinically infertile. They also want to lift the prohibition on research using human embryos, embryo freezing, surrogacy and the provision of fertility treatment to single women or same-sex couples.
_ John Phillips
Interim Greek Orthodox Patriarch Appointed in Holy Land
JERUSALEM (RNS) The religious leadership of the Greek Orthodox church in the Holy Land decided Monday (May 30) to appoint an interim patriarch to replace the embattled Irineos I, whom the leaders no longer recognize as the head of the local church.
Meeting in the Old City of Jerusalem, the members of the Holy Synod in Jerusalem appointed Archbishop Cornelios, who currently heads the church’s ecclesiastical court, to temporarily assume the role of patriarch.
Cornelios served in this capacity once before, prior to Irineos’ appointment in 2001.
Irineos has been under increasing pressure to resign due to allegations that he recently leased some of the church’s vast property holdings to Jewish investors, a move that incensed the mostly Arab local church.
On May 24, the world’s Orthodox leaders unanimously withdrew their recognition of Irineos during a rare “pan-Orthodox synod” involving the 12 main Orthodox churches. They did not, however, have the formal authority to force him to resign.
The patriarch has so far refused to step down, asserting that one of his aides carried out the transactions without his knowledge.
Although the scandal and ensuing censure by Greek Orthodox officials is severely hampering Irineos’ ability to lead the church, according to a long-standing agreement only the governments that rule over the Holy Land have the final authority to dismiss a patriarch.
Jordan has officially withdrawn its recognition of Irineos. While Palestinian officials have threatened to do so, asserting that land deals with Jews undermine Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem _ which they claim as their future capital _ media reports have indicated that the Palestinian leadership is ready to mend fences with Irineos if the deals are canceled.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry, which has so far sat on the fence, announced Tuesday (May 31) that the Israeli government will immediately set up a team “to consider the overall circumstances and recommend what steps should be taken.”
_ Michele Chabin
Reformed Church Author Makes `A Christian Case for Gay Marriage’
HOLLAND, Mich. (RNS) In a controversial book released Tuesday (May 31), a professor with long ties to the Reformed Church in America makes what he considers a Christian argument for gay marriage.
In his book, “What God Has Joined Together? A Christian Case for Gay Marriage,” psychologist David Myers of Hope College says research has shown strong marriages _ heterosexual and homosexual _ benefit society.
He said it is everyone’s right to marry and fully take part in the church and its ministry.
“This is really a pro-marriage book,” he said. “Marriage contributes to flourishing lives … and therefore we do need to work at it.”
Myers is a well-liked professor with high status on campus. He is an author of a psychology textbook used in college classrooms nationwide. The book has been issued in multiple editions over more than 20 years, and Myers set up a foundation to distribute its profits to charities.
He also is known as an advocate for hearing-impaired people, and he has been a church elder.
Myers’ book could either inflame passions or lead to productive discussion on an issue at the forefront of the Reformed Church.
“It’s going to in some ways pour fuel on the fire,” said the Rev. Curry Pikkaart, pastor of Orchard Hill Reformed Church in Walker, Mich. “On the other hand, if we can have civil discussions on whatever points he makes, and debate in a good Christian way, then the church can be stronger for it.”
Myers’ full-time teaching position is endowed. He has written 15 books, including textbooks and books for general audiences.
Myers said he was not concerned about reaction from Hope College, where gay issues periodically surface among students. The book’s release comes a few weeks after Hope students protested the departure of another Hope professor, Miguel de la Torre, who was criticized by Hope President James Bultman for a satirical newspaper column that addressed gay issues.
Bultman sent a letter to de la Torre saying that his writings “irreparably damaged the reputation of Hope” and that enrollment and donations could be compromised. De la Torre, who had tenure, left for another job.
_ John Agar and Kym Reinstadler
Jews, Mainline Churches to Make Joint Trip to Israel
(RNS) Jewish groups and mainline Protestant churches who have experienced tense relations over church policy toward Israel said they will travel to the Middle East in September to see the region “through each other’s eyes.”
The Sept. 18-23 trip is a breakthrough of sorts for the five mainline groups and seven Jewish groups whose longtime alliance has been strained over some churches’ decisions to consider divesting from companies that operate in Israel to protest the plight of Palestinians.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) has led the divestment issue, and the United Church of Christ will consider it this summer. The Episcopal Church has sent a delegation to the region to make recommendations on investments.
Jewish groups accuse the churches of unfairly targeting Israel without applying equal pressure on Palestinians, and blasted Presbyterians for meeting with Hezbollah, a reputed terrorist group, during a recent trip to Lebanon.
The agreement, brokered by the American Jewish Committee and the National Council of Churches, will put each faith “in the other’s hands” for two days each.
“We Jews and Christians who have been in dialogue since May 2004 agree that it is time to travel together to the region in order to see the situation as much as possible through each other’s eyes,” said the Rev. Jay Rock, the Presbyterians’ interfaith director.
In an April 22 letter to Jewish groups that helped spark the trip, Rock told Jewish groups that relations on both sides have suffered from “inexact and emotionally loaded language” over the church’s actions and the Jewish response to them.
Other mainline members of the trip include the United Methodist Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Jewish members also include the American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Orthodox Union, the Union for Reform Judaism and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Quote of the Day: Southern Baptist Missions Executive Jerry Rankin
(RNS) “Why would we invest such efforts in Catholic countries? The answer is quite simple: It is because they are lost.”
_ Southern Baptist International Mission Board President Jerry Rankin, speaking at a trustee meeting of his missions agency in mid-May in Midland, Texas. Quoted by Baptist Press, Rankin was explaining why almost 1,200 Southern Baptist missionaries continue to serve in 65 predominantly Roman Catholic countries.
MO/PH END RNS