c. 2005 Religion News Service
U.S. House Passes Housing Bill Opposed by Church Groups
WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. House has approved a controversial measure that would deny new federal housing funds to any nonprofit group _ including churches _ that have engaged in voter registration or get-out-the-vote activities.
The Republican-backed provision, attached to the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act, passed the House Wednesday (Oct. 26) in a 331-90 vote. A host of Democrats and church-based groups said the measure was unconstitutional.
A move to strip the voting-related provisions from the larger housing bill was also defeated, largely along party lines, 220-200.
“It is unacceptable to force a poisoned choice on these entities: to help fill critical housing needs or to exercise their basic civic responsibilities,” said Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.
The bill denies money from the new Affordable Housing Fund to any group that had engaged in nonpartisan voter activities in the previous 12 months. It also prohibits any voter activity after a grant has been awarded.
Opponents said the bill unfairly targets black churches because they are most likely to work on low-income housing and are also involved in voter registration campaigns, and have members who tend to vote Democratic.
The bill also denies funding to organizations who don’t list housing as their “primary purpose.” Catholic Charities USA, for example, said that it would make most churches ineligible because housing is only a portion of their ministries.
The provision was drafted by the conservative Republican Study Committee, which was concerned that federal housing funds would be directed to housing activists with close ties to the Democratic party. Rep. Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican and chairman of the RSC, was unavailable for comment.
“The only conclusion to draw from this action is some members of the majority party are afraid of more low-income people participating in elections,” said Sheila Crowley, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
The measure now goes to the Senate, where Crowley said her organization will work to defeat the voting provisions.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Religious, Nonprofit Leaders Gather to Consider New Poverty Coalitions
WASHINGTON _ Leaders of religious groups and secular nonprofits met in Washington this week to encourage the building of new coalitions to address poverty and other issues of social justice.
The two-day gathering ending Tuesday (Oct. 25) was sponsored by the Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation, which is aiming to return to an era similar to the 1970s when racial and ethnic groups worked together to solve neighborhood problems.
The Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, suggested that the international Millennium Development Goals attempting to reduce world poverty should be applied to the United States.
“How many children can we get off of the poverty rolls by the year 2015?” asked Edgar, who is based in New York.
John Carr, secretary of the Department of Social Development and World Peace for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the late Rev. Geno Baroni, a Housing and Urban Development expert on neighborhoods in the 1970s, would be thrilled to see the success of grass-roots efforts on international problems.
But “he would be appalled that there is no similar energy or urgency on neighborhood, community or poverty issues at home,” Carr said.
The meeting was organized as a tribute to Baroni’s work.
Panel speakers said they agreed with Baroni’s philosophy that coalitions should not be defined by a single issue. The Rev. Timothy McDonald, chairman of the Washington-based African American Ministers in Action, criticized conservative black Christian leaders who he said have focused on gay marriage rather than broader issues such as housing, education and employment.
“They’ve sold their social agenda for this one, single issue of gay marriage, and we’re calling them back home,” McDonald said. “The gospel mandates that we look at the whole person … not just who’s sleeping with who.”
Alan Curtis, president of the Eisenhower Foundation, said the dialogue is expected to lead to the training of grass-roots nonprofit groups so they can better reach the media with their message.
“The real work is just beginning and we intend to create coalitions,” he said.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Vatican Calls for Full Diplomatic Ties With Russia
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican’s foreign minister has called for Russia to establish full diplomatic ties with the Holy See, a step that could further strain relations between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church.
Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo made his appeal in two interviews with Russian media outlets that appeared on the Web site of Vatican Radio on Wednesday (Oct. 26), following his arrival in Moscow.
“I think both the parties should work to progress onto full diplomatic relations,” Lajolo told the Catholic newspaper Svet Evangelja.
The Vatican and Moscow established “relations of a special nature” in 1990, allowing the Holy See to send a Vatican diplomat, called a “nuncio, to Moscow. Russia maintains an embassy in Rome, Italy, that has informal relations with the Vatican.
In a subsequent interview, Lajolo told the Blagovest-Info news agency that he does not consider current tensions between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox “irresolvable.”
Tension between the two churches soared during the pontificate of John Paul II as Russian Orthodox leaders repeatedly accused their Catholic counterparts of poaching their faithful. Many Russian Orthodox leaders regard Russia and other countries once part of the former Soviet Union as Orthodox territory that is off-limits to Catholics.
Lajolo said this “mutual difficulty” stemmed from different perceptions between the churches over “the right of an individual to choose his own confession.”
_ Stacy Meichtry
Judge Says Vatican Lacks Standing to Limit Questions for Archbishop
PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) A federal bankruptcy judge has ruled that the Holy See has no standing to seek to limit questioning of the highest ranking American in the Vatican.
However, Judge Elizabeth Perris said in Portland Wednesday that she would consider the request as having been made by Archbishop William Levada.
Perris is presiding over the Portland Archdiocese bankruptcy proceedings. The Roman Catholic church for Western Oregon sought bankruptcy protection in 2004 in the face of hundreds of millions of dollars in sex abuse lawsuits.
Levada, most recently the archbishop of San Francisco, is the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, heading the Vatican office that polices church doctrine. He was scheduled to give sworn testimony in August, but won a five-month extension when he agreed to return to the United States in January. Levada was archbishop of Portland from 1986 to 1995.
Portland archdiocesan attorneys have objected to any questions that go beyond actions he took during his tenure in Oregon.
Bud Bunce, a spokesman for the Portland archdiocese, said he was not surprised by Perris’ ruling.
“Since Judge Perris sticks very close to the rule book and proper procedures, I think that is the point she is making. The Holy See has not formally asked to intervene or become a party to these proceedings,” Bunce wrote in an e-mail.
Jeffrey S. Lena, a Berkeley, Calif.-based lawyer representing the Holy See, did not return a call seeking comment on the significance of Perris’ determination that the Vatican has no standing in the case.
Kelly Clark, the attorney who plans to conduct the deposition of Levada, said he was not surprised by either the motion to limit the scope of questions or Perris’ response to it.
“I think it can be read to say either get involved or keep your distance; decide which it’s going to be,” Clark said. “I don’t see that she’s going out of her way to bop them on the nose, nor do I think she’s granting them any special favors.”
_ Ashbel S. Green
Iowa Generosity Just One Example of Churches Helping Hurricane Victims
COVINGTON, La. (RNS) Thanks to the generosity of a church in Des Moines, Iowa, hurricane victims have been able to load up on clothes, food and toiletries.
“This is so wonderful!” said Kim Denley, who is living in Covington after her home in Slidell was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. “There are 14 of us” living in the house, she said, including her children, a grandchild, her father and her sister-in-law.
Denley was among a crowd of people who were able to pick up necessities Saturday (Oct. 22) and Sunday at St. Mary’s Hall behind St. Peter Catholic Church. The goods were delivered to St. Peter’s from Christ the King Catholic Church in Des Moines, providing just one example of how individual churches across the country have acted on their own to help hurricane victims.
“Isn’t this magnificent?” said Ruth Prats, pastoral associate at St. Peter, who received a call after Hurricane Katrina from Monsignor Frank Bognanno, the pastor of Christ the King. They serve on a national committee together.
“He decided his community should do something” for storm victims, Prats said. Parishioners loaded up a truck, which was driven to Covington by Michael Hiatt and Bill Wilcox.
_ Karen Baker
Quote of the Day: Rabbi Irving Elson
(RNS) “I always kid Joe that I am going to make him an honorary Jew because I’m amazed at how well he got it. I almost don’t have to preach sermons, because the building speaks for itelf.”
_ Rabbi Irving Nelson, a commander at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., praising architect Joseph Boggs, who designed a new Jewish chapel at the academy. Boggs is not Jewish. Nelson was quoted by The Washington Post.
MO/JL END RNS
