c. 2007 Religion News Service
German Judge Removed After Saying Abuse Allowed in Muslim Marriage
BERLIN (RNS) A Frankfurt judge has been removed from a divorce case after arguing that physical abuse in a Muslim marriage is acceptable under the Quran.
The divorce case was filed by an unnamed 26-year-old Moroccan woman last May after police forced her husband to move out of their apartment because of complaints of spousal abuse, according to the news magazine Spiegel.
German law requires a one-year waiting period between filing a divorce and the dissolution of the marriage. Because of the history of abuse, the woman and her lawyer sought an expedited decision.
But in January, the judge, a woman whose name has not been released, refused to allow the motion. Citing the couple’s Moroccan and Muslim background, she ruled that “the husband has a right to beat his wife” in that culture. Furthermore, she argued the couple had married in Morocco, meaning they are bound by the strictures of the Quran, which, the judge argued, allows the husband to discipline his wife however he sees fit.
The judge’s ruling was issued in January. The woman and her attorney tried in vain to have the judge removed from the case through legal channels. It was only on March 21, after their story was published on Spiegel’s Web site, that the court removed the judge from the case.
The woman’s case is now in limbo. By the time the courts assign a new judge to her case, the one-year waiting period will likely have expired.
Meanwhile, no decision has been made on the fate of the judge. Roland Koch, the governor of Hessen, the state in which Frankfurt lies, has called the judge’s decision “absurd” and “unbelievable.”
_ Niels Sorrells
Fessio Ousted as Ave Maria Provost
(RNS) Ave Maria University, the Catholic school founded by pizza magnate Tom Monaghan, has suddenly fired its well-connected provost.
The Rev. Joseph Fessio, a Jesuit and protege of Pope Benedict XVI, said he was asked to resign after meeting with Monaghan Wednesday (March 21).
“I asked for a reason but I was not given one,” Fessio, 66, told The News-Press of Southwest Florida.
“Obviously, I think it was a mistake, but I am not in charge,” said Fessio, who had been working at the school since 2002, according to an Ave Maria spokesman.
Officials at Ave Maria said Fessio was asked to step down “as a result of irreconcilable differences over administrative policies and practices.”
“We are grateful for the enormous contributions Father Fessio has made to the development of Ave Maria University, especially the liturgical and intellectual development of the institution,” the university said.
Monaghan, the founder of the Domino’s pizza chain, envisions the school as a bastion of orthodoxy. But the school has faced difficulties drawing students and donors since it opened an interim campus in Naples, Fla., in 2003. About 400 students are enrolled at the university, which plans to open its permanent campus in Naples later this year.
Fessio, a friend and former theology student of Benedict, is well-known in Catholic education circles. He is publisher of Catholic World Report and founded Ignatius Press, a Catholic publishing house, and San Francisco University’s St. Ignatius Institute. Fessio told the News-Press that “a great burden has been lifted off my shoulders.”
“Now I can pray and work in the Lord’s vineyards in other ways,” he said.
Monaghan, who is pouring at least $250 million into Ave Maria and a surrounding town of the same name, is engaged in a legal battle with faculty at Ave Maria College and Ave Maria Law School in Michigan, who are fighting his plans to move them to Florida.
_ Daniel Burke
Teacher Fired After Lesson Linking Evolution and Nazis
SISTERS, Ore. (RNS) It was Kris Helphinstine’s first week teaching at Sisters High School, and he was hoping to encourage some critical thinking in his biology class.
So while discussing evolution, he handed out an essay written by a prominent creationist and put together a PowerPoint presentation linking evolution to eugenics experiments practiced in Nazi Germany. That decision cost Helphinstine his job.
The Sisters School District Board voted to fire Helphinstine after only eight days, making the Central Oregon community the latest flashpoint in the debate over teaching alternatives to evolution in American schools.
“I thought he departed from the accepted curriculum,” board President Michael Gould said. “And he exercised poor judgment on some material in a sensitive arena.”
Helphinstine said he didn’t realize “how sensitive” the issue was in the community. “I thought, `Hey, this is a great chance to get kids thinking,”’ he said.
The 27-year-old teacher landed in hot water just a couple of days into the trimester when some parents began complaining to school officials about the materials their children were bringing home from his class.
Helphinstine said in retrospect slides of Nazi death camps weren’t appropriate for his freshman and sophomore students.
And given a second chance, he said he wouldn’t introduce arguments from Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis, a group building a Creation Museum in Cincinnati dedicated to teaching a Bible-centric view of natural history.
“Like I told the school board, I wouldn’t go over this again,” he said. “Look at the trouble it’s caused.”
_ Matthew Preusch
Michigan Diocese to Sell Episcopal Cathedral
PORTAGE, Mich. (RNS) The landmark cathedral for the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan will be sold after church officials determined they cannot afford upkeep on the Cathedral of Christ the King.
Faced with a dwindling operating fund and lack of public support for a capital campaign, the diocese’s executive council voted there was no way to retain the building and its 30-acre grounds.
“Practically, it was the only decision the diocese could make, because we’re out of money, and the building costs quite a bit just to maintain,” said Bishop Robert Gepert, leader of the diocese’s 14,000 members. “The shame is that we haven’t been good stewards in the past, and this is a resource that could have been used in the future.”
But the pastor of a small congregation that meets in the cathedral disputed Gepert’s rationale, saying she believes he wanted it sold.
“I believe if half the energy that has been used to tear down this building had been used to build it up, we would not find ourselves in the position we find ourselves in now,” said the Rev. Cynthia Black, rector of the Parish Church of Christ the King.
The Portage city assessor’s office estimates the value at $1.2 million. It is one of the last large parcels of land that could be developed in Portage, said city assessor Jim Bush.
Black said she was one of three on the 13-member council who voted against the sale. With its medieval castle-like architecture looming close to Interstate 94, the cathedral is a beacon to passing motorists, she said.
“It in many ways is the face of the Episcopal Church in this part of the world,” Black said. “What does it say to those 100,000 cars that in the blink of an eye the bishop and authorities are willing to get rid of it?”
The cathedral was built in 1969 for $2 million. Before it opened, the seat of the diocese was at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Grand Rapids.
Gepert said an adjoining burial garden containing the ashes of former priests and members will remain property of the diocese, he said.
_ Charles Honey
Quote of the Day: Balaji, a Hindu Priest in India
(RNS) “If you wish to make an offering, the god will accept it _ even if it’s on the Internet.”
_ Balaji, a Hindu priest interviewed at a temple in Tiruchirapalli, India, about how he is chanting the god Vishnu’s name 108 times to seek health, wealth and good fortune for a person in London who purchased the prayer with a credit card on a Hindu Web site. He was quoted by The Washington Post.
KRE/RB END RNSEditors: To obtain a photo of Fessio to accompany second item, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.
