c. 2005 Religion News Service

British Hindus Say Language Requirement Is Limiting Number of Priests

LONDON (RNS) Britain’s 140 Hindu temples say they are having trouble recruiting pujaris _ Indian priests trained in temple rituals _ because of a national law that mandates clergy be able to speak English.

In Birmingham, the Shri Venkateswara Balaji temple, now nearing completion, says it needs eight pujaris but has only five.

Since 2004, the British government has required foreign-born ministers of religion to have at least a basic grasp of English and, if they are to stay for more than two years, to be fluent in the language.

That often creates problems for pujaris in obtaining visas, since many cannot speak English. Pujaris are trained from an early age, often from 8 years old, in the intricate rituals of Hindu temple worship and in memorizing the chants, mantras and prayers needed. That leaves little time for learning a foreign language, even one widely used in India.

Britain’s Hindu community, however, argues that pujaris are not preachers, and so should not be subject to the same requirements as ministers of other faiths for whom preaching is an key part of their ministry.

The secretary of the National Council of Hindu Temples, Bimal Krishna Das, told RNS that, since he returned to this country from India five months ago, he knows of six cases of pujaris being refused visas.

“It is not just something that affects just the Birmingham temple,” he said. “The whole issue is of great concern to the Hindu community.”

The Hindu Council UK told BBC News that pujaris focus on “the essential acts of deity worship, which involves offering pure foodstuffs to the deity, bathing him, clothing him, and looking after him in the most pure and spiritual way.”

Government officials say they have been looking at the problem in consultation with faith communities but have not reached any conclusions.

_ Robert Nowell

Muslim Scholars Issue “Fatwa” Denouncing Terrorism

(RNS) A group of U.S. Muslim legal scholars issued a fatwa, or religious edict, Thursday (July 28) condemning violence and terrorism on the basis of Islamic law.

In the wake of the July terrorist bombing attacks on London, the Fiqh Council of North America, an 18-member group of Muslim legal scholars, issued the edict as an interpretation of Islamic law for the nation’s Muslim community, which some estimate to number as many as 6 million.

“All acts of terrorism targeting civilians are haram (forbidden) in Islam,” the fatwa said.

Further, it said, “It is haram for a Muslim to cooperate with any individual or group that is involved in any act of terrorism or violence.”

The edict went on to say that “it is the civic and religious duty of Muslims to cooperate with law enforcement authorities to protect the lives of all civilians.”

The fatwa was read at a Washington press conference, and has been endorsed by 120 Muslim organizations across America, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

“United, we can confront the terrorists and frustrate their goal of sparking an apocalyptic war between faiths and civilizations,” said CAIR’s executive director, Nihad Awad.

Since the attacks on London, two groups of British scholars have issued fatwas condemning the attacks and terrorist tactics. While one fatwa categorically disallowed all suicide bombings, the other allowed for suicide attacks in some instances, such as when a country is occupied by a foreign force.

The American fatwa did not specifically mention suicide bombings in the context of war, but it did say that those who attack innocent civilians “are criminals, not `martyrs.”’

_ Holly Lebowitz Rossi

Disciples Anger Jewish Groups by Urging Israel to Tear Down Barrier

(RNS) The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) on Wednesday (July 27) called on Israel to stop construction of a security barrier intended to stop suicide bombers, a policy that one Jewish group called “an abomination.”

A statement adopted by the Disciples’ General Assembly in Portland, Ore., called on the Israeli government to “cease the project to construct the barrier, tear down the segments that have already been constructed, and make reparations to those who have lost property.”

The Rev. William Chris Hobgood, outgoing general minister of the 750,000-member denomination, said his church is obligated to oppose all violence.

“We must on this new Jubilee of our church be serious about seeking peace,” Hobgood said. “The time is here for Disciples to speak against violence … whether it is state-sanctioned or committed by suicide bombers. There must be no more violence.”

Rula Shubeita of the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center said the barrier disrupts the lives of all Palestinians in the area. Some Jewish groups have accused Sabeel of anti-Semitic theology.

“As a Christian Palestinian, I can speak to the concerns of the wall,” Shubeita said. “Because of the wall, I cannot see my brother, who lives three miles away. … The wall has prevented me from going to my church, and has affected the employment opportunities of so many people.”

The World Jewish Congress quickly issued a statement decrying the Disciples’ resolution.

“The resolution is an abomination,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization. “It demands that Israel take action that would put millions of its citizens in immediate harm’s way.”

Cooper called the Disciples’ resolution “functionally anti-Semitic” and noted that a young survivor of a suicide bombing was not permitted to speak to the Disciples’ General Assembly.

“I have no doubt that had the delegates seen the human face of the victims of Palestinian terrorism, the outcome could have been much different,” he said.

_ Hugh S. Moore

Massachusetts Governor Vetoes Morning-After Pill Legislation

BOSTON (RNS) Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has vetoed legislation that would have allowed certain pharmacists to provide the morning-after pill without a prescription, saying that in some cases the pill causes an abortion.

Critics said Monday’s (July 25) veto was aimed at sharpening the governor’s conservative credentials for a possible run at the Republican nomination for president in 2008.

Romney interrupted his vacation in New Hampshire to travel back to the Statehouse to veto the bill, just three hours after it passed the state Senate. However, because the bill was passed overwhelmingly by both houses, supporters say they have the votes to override Romney’s veto.

The medication, which is different from the abortion pill RU-486, is a hormone in pill form which, when taken after unprotected sex, prevents ovulation, stops the egg from being fertilized by sperm, or stops a fertilized egg from attaching itself to the uterus wall.

In his veto message, Romney said that if he signed the bill, it would violate his campaign promise not to change the state’s abortion laws. His objection to the pill is that it can prevent the fertilized egg from remaining in the womb.

“It does prevent conception, but it also does something else,” the governor said at a press conference. “In some cases, it not only prevents conception, it also terminates life after conception. … It prevents the continued life of an existing embryo.”

The pill now can be obtained with a prescription from a doctor, but supporters said it should be more widely available. Backers said the pill can prevent unwanted pregnancies and therefore lower the number of abortions in the state.

State Rep. Douglas W. Petersen, a Democrat, suggested that Romney’s veto was meant to play to Republican voters around the country. “He is listening to a different drummer and the person who is drumming is not in Massachusetts,” Petersen said.

The Food and Drug Administration approved use of the emergency contraception pill in 1998, but only with a prescription.

Under the legislation, only pharmacists who reach an agreement with a doctor and have some special training would be able to dispense the pill without a prescription.

The legislation also requires hospitals to offer the pill to rape victims who are old enough to have children. The legislation contains no exemption for Catholic hospitals that are opposed to the medication.

_ Dan Ring

Archbishop May Skip Bankruptcy Hearing but Can’t Claim Vatican Immunity

PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) A federal bankruptcy judge has agreed to let a high-ranking Vatican official and former archbishop of Portland, Ore., skip an August court date to answer questions under oath about the church’s handling of sexual abuse allegations.

In return, Archbishop William Levada, the newly named No. 3 official at the Vatican, must personally guarantee that he’ll appear in January to undergo questioning by lawyers for priest sex-abuse plaintiffs in Oregon.

In May, Levada _ who served as Portland archbishop from 1986 to 1995 _ was named prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the post that was held by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he was elected Pope Benedict XVI in April.

As part of the agreement, Levada must agree not to claim diplomatic immunity as a high-ranking official of the Vatican.

If Levada does not respond by Aug. 2, his deposition in Hayward, Calif., is expected to proceed as scheduled on Aug. 12, five days before he leaves his current job as archbishop of San Francisco and moves to Rome.

One plaintiff’s attorney, William Barton, opposed giving Levada an extension. “If anyone thinks he’s going to be coming back later,” he said, “they’re very Pollyanna-ish.”

Barton was one of the attorneys who deposed Levada last year on behalf of three plaintiffs who allege molestation by the late Rev. Maurice Grammond. The archdiocese is a co-defendant in Barton’s $135 million lawsuit, which was set to go to jury trial July 6 last year, the day the archdiocese declared bankruptcy, thus freezing that and dozens of other lawsuits.

Earlier this year, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Elizabeth Perris authorized the attorneys for sex-abuse plaintiffs to question up to four people about the archdiocese’s “patterns, practices and policies” regarding its handling of child sex-abuse allegations. Levada is one of those four.

The Portland archdiocese has not objected to Levada’s deposition. But it has argued against the deposition date, saying that it interferes with the mediations of nearly 70 sex-abuse claims. The mediations start Aug. 8.

The archdiocese argued against questioning Levada as one of the Catholic Church’s leading authorities on child sex-abuse policies. Instead, church lawyers suggested that the questioning be limited to the Portland archdiocese’s policies and only during his tenure there.

During last year’s deposition, church lawyers repeatedly advised Levada not to answer questions that weren’t strictly related to his years in Portland, as well as questions of “internal church governance,” such as the working relationship between a bishop and a priest.

_ Steve Woodward

Quote of the Day: An Editorial from the Jerusalem Post

(RNS) “Even if near-daily shelling of civilians in southern Israel with rocket and mortar fire doesn’t count for him (Pope Benedict XVI), then surely the suicide bombing which took five lives in Netanya earlier this month was no less reprehensible than what happened in the countries the pope did see fit to mention.”

_ The Jerusalem Post, lambasting Pope Benedict XVI in an editorial for not mentioning Israel in a list of countries that had been victims of terrorism.

KRE/PH END RNS