c. 2007 Religion News Service

Homosexuality `Inconsistent’ With God’s Plan, New Mormon Booklet Says

(RNS) Mormon officials have issued a new booklet on homosexuality that states that same-sex relationships are “inconsistent” with God’s plan, but some people may not be able to “overcome” such attractions.

The document, “God Loveth His Children,” was posted on the Web site of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in late July with little fanfare.

“While many Latter-day Saints, through individual effort, the exercise of faith, and reliance upon the enabling power of the Atonement, overcome same-gender attraction in mortality, others may not be free of this challenge in this life,” the new church document reads.

Faith in the Atonement, Jesus’ sacrifice for human sins, can empower those with “same-gender inclinations” to resist improper conduct, it states.

The document says if God’s plan is followed, “our bodies, feelings, and desires will be perfected in the next life so that every one of God’s children may find joy in a family consisting of a husband, a wife, and children.”

It differentiates between those who have same-gender attractions and those who act on them. “Attractions alone do not make you unworthy,” the document states, adding that God has declared any sexual relations outside marriage unacceptable.

In a similar move earlier this year, Brigham Young University, the nation’s largest Mormon university, changed its honor code so it no longer listed homosexual “feelings” as a violation. Acting on such feelings remains grounds for expulsion.

The immediate former co-chair of Family Fellowship, a Provo, Utah-based support group for Mormon families with gay children, said the new church document was an improvement over three previous pamphlets on homosexuality but “still woefully inadequate.”

Dr. Gary Watts said the first pamphlet, which called homosexuality “evil,” was published in 1994.

“Until the church can figure out a way to place some value on committed same-sex relationships, the problem will never go away and the church will continue to lose a very high percentage of their gay and lesbian members,” he said.

Watts said the latest document is an improvement because it does not imply that homosexuality is chosen and it says that same-sex feelings exist and are not sinful unless acted upon.

The document encourages those with same-sex attractions to fill their lives with spiritual activities, such as public and private worship, church and temple attendance, “association with good friends” and prayer.

“Notwithstanding your present same-gender attractions, you can be happy during this life, lead a morally clean life, perform meaningful service in the church, enjoy full fellowship with your fellow saints and ultimately receive all the blessings of eternal life,” it states.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Indian Catholic Church Welcomes U.S. Resolution on `Untouchables’

CHENNAI, India (RNS) The Roman Catholic Church in India is lauding a resolution passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week (July 23) urging the U.S. to work with India to address the inhumane treatment of the nearly 250 million “untouchables,” who suffer caste discrimination.

The resolution was sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., and passed by a voice vote.

It urges the U.S. to raise the issue of caste discrimination “through diplomatic channels” with both India and other international bodies, mandates that anyone in India receiving U.S. funding be aware that under U.S. policy “caste discrimination is unacceptable,” and encourages international aid to target lower-caste communities. It also asks U.S. citizens who do business in India to “avoid discrimination … in all business transactions.”

The resolution will now be considered by the Senate.

“The resolution sends a strong message by Congress that untouchability is an unacceptable practice,” Franks said.

The Rev. Cosmon Arokiaraj, of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, said that Christianity does not recognize the caste system, but lower-caste Christian Indians “still bear the brunt of it as they are part of the same society where caste exists and is practiced as well _ a reality which is indeed difficult to ignore.”

Though the Indian constitution bans caste discrimination, the practice has deep religious and social roots there and remains widely practiced.

_ Achal Narayanan

Chinese Police Reportedly Arrest 4 Underground Roman Catholic Priests

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Chinese police have arrested four underground Roman Catholic priests, a U.S.-based monitoring group reported Sunday (July 29).

According to the Cardinal Kung Foundation, the priests were arrested for refusing to join the state-run Chinese Catholic church and for remaining loyal to Pope Benedict XVI.

Three of the priests, hailing from the northeastern province of Hebei, were reportedly arrested July 24 by plainclothes policemen in the northern part of Inner Mongolia, where they were hiding. The priests were Liang Aijun, 35, Wang Zhong, 41, and Gao Jinbao, 34.

Another priest, Lui Tai, 50, also of Hebei province, was arrested in early July, the foundation said.

The Vatican was unavailable for comment Monday (July 30).

For half a century, Chinese Catholics have been divided between a state-run church independent of the Vatican and an “underground” church of Catholics loyal to the pope.

The “official” church, supervised by the Catholic Patriotic Association, now claims 5 million members, while the total number of Chinese Catholics in China is estimated at 12 million to 15 million.

In an open letter to Chinese Catholics on June 30, Pope Benedict XVI called for unity among the faithful and offered conciliatory words to China’s communist government, reaffirming the Vatican’s desire to re-establish diplomatic relations with Beijing, which were broken in 1951.

But Benedict reiterated the Vatican’s long-standing demand that the Chinese church be free of state control, and emphatically described government-approved bishops as “illegitimate” unless their appointments are confirmed by Rome.

Last week, the vice president of the Catholic Patriotic Association, Liu Bainian, told an Italian newspaper that he hoped Benedict would someday say Mass in Beijing, and said that he had sent the pope a message telling him so.

Liu promptly denied that he had sent Benedict a formal invitation, and affirmed that a papal visit would be impossible until the Vatican officially retracts its diplomatic recognition of Taiwan.

_ Francis X. Rocca

Quote of the Day: Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke

(RNS) “A church that doesn’t reach out will pass out and eventually die out.”

_ Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke, founder of the Christ for All Nations in Orlando, Fla., speaking at the triennial conference of the Pentecostal World Fellowship in Surabaya, Indonesia, in mid-July. He was quoted by Assemblies of God News Service.

DSB/PH END RNS