c. 2007 Religion News Service

Clinton, Obama, Edwards to Debate Faith and Poverty

WASHINGTON (RNS) The three top Democratic presidential candidates will discuss faith, values and poverty and take questions from religious leaders Monday (June 4) at a forum sponsored by Sojourners/Call to Renewal, the progressive social-justice group.

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. and Barack Obama, D-Ill. as well as former North Carolina senator John Edwards will all take part in the forum, to take place at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

The Rev. Jim Wallis, best-selling author and evangelical activist who heads Sojourners/Call to Renewal, said having only three candidates participate allows for “a more thoughtful, more in-depth conversation.”

“This gives us a good long time to really engage with them,” Wallis said. The event will be televised by CNN and is part of Sojourner’s 2007 Pentecost conference, which draws social justice activists from across the country to gather for workshops and to lobby Congress.

Sojourners said each candidate will appear separately for about 20 minutes and be asked questions by religious leaders, including Wallis, Sharon E. Watkins, the general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); the Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook, senior pastor of Believers Christian Fellowship and past advisor to former President Bill Clinton; Joel C. Hunter, a Florida megachurch pastor who briefly lead the Christian Coalition; and Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, executive director of the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York.

“This is the first conference where faith and values are the focus, the first one where poverty is a focus,” Wallis said. The candidates will be asked about the role of faith in politics and what values politicians should uphold, according to the evangelical leader.

Sojourners has asked the top three Republican presidential candidates to participate in a similar forum in September, Wallis said.

Also in June, the Iowa Christian Alliance, a conservative advocacy group, will co-sponsor a presidential forum in Des Moines.

Alliance president Steve Scheffler said six candidates have confirmed they will attend the June 30 forum: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney; Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; Rep. Tom Trancredo, R-Colo., former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson.

_ Daniel Burke

Vatican Signals Its Blessing for Turkey’s EU Bid

VATICAN CITY (RNS) In another sign that the Roman Catholic Church is reaching out to the Muslim world, the Vatican’s No. 2 official said the church might welcome Turkey as a member of the European Union.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, made the statement while attending a conference at the European University in Rome. In response to a question about Turkey from the Rome newspaper Il Messaggero, Bertone said that “we can have dialogue and construct together a common good on a European scale … even including admission into Europe.” (Bertone made a similar statement to the Turin newspaper La Stampa.)

Turkey has been a candidate for EU membership since 1999.

In 2004, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger alienated many Muslims by arguing against Turkish membership in the EU because the strictly secular country is nontheless 99 percent Muslim.

“Turkey always represented another continent throughout history, in permanent contrast with Europe,” Ratzinger told the French newspaper Le Figaro. “The roots which formed (Europe) … are those of Christianity.”

Benedict has appeared to reverse his position since becoming pope. On a visit to Turkey last October, he told Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that “Turkey should take its place in Europe.”

Bertone’s statement was his second in four days signaling a desire for warmer relations between the Catholic church and the Islamic world. On Saturday (May 26) he announced that the Vatican would upgrade its office in charge of dialogue with Muslims, a little more than a year after merging it with another body.

Catholic-Muslim relations have been notably strained since last September, when Benedict provoked an uproar with a speech in Germany in which he quoted a medieval Christian emperor describing the teachings of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman” and “spread by the sword.”

_ Francis X. Rocca

Nightclub Owners Say Church Patrons Don’t Drink Enough

LONDON (RNS) A Welsh church that meets regularly in one of Cardiff’s nightclubs is facing difficulties _ because those attending don’t drink enough.

The church, called Solace, was devised by Baptist minister James Karran as “a church for non-church-goers.” It meets on Sunday evenings from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., in various venues near the city center.

One of these is a nightclub, Clwb Ifor Bach. Karran told the South Wales Echo, “it costs them about 600 pounds ($1200) to open the place up for us, and we’re only paying them 50 pounds ($100) to hire it.”

“The bar is open,” he explained in an interview, “and people do buy drinks _ but not nearly enough to make up the shortfall.”

The nightclub operates on three floors, and it normally opens from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m. Solace rents just one floor, and the cost issue is really only a problem if the other two floors aren’t being used.

The club is the preferred venue for Solace’s once-a-month live performance called “Centre stage.” May’s theme was “The Environment _ What’s All the Fuss?” June’s theme will be “The Supernatural _ Real or Imaginary?”

One Sunday a month features a session called “Drink While You Think,” which typically attracts about 20 or 30 people. “Centre Stage” usually attracts about 60 people, Karran said.

_ Robert Nowell

Quote of the Day: Jim Ketchum of the Times Herald in Port Huron, Mich.

(RNS) “Starting with a membership of about 5.34 million, the (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s) roll 20 years later stands closer to 4.88 million. Membership has gone the way of GM’s sales figures. The difference is that those who have left have not joined Japanese churches.”

_ Columnist Jim Ketchum of the Times Herald in Port Huron, Mich., comparing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s declining numbers since its founding 20 years ago to General Motors’ falling sales.

KRE DS END RNSEds: Clwb Ifor Bach in third item is CQ