c. 2007 Religion News Service

Vatican Starts Low-Cost Flight Service for Pilgrims

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican has its own bank, its own postal system, its own pharmacy and its own soccer tournament _ but until now, no official state-sponsored airline.

That will change when the Holy See teams up with a small Italian charter company, Mistral Air, to launch a low-cost charter service to ferry pilgrims to many of the most important Catholic shrines, including Lourdes in France, Fatima in Portugal, Czestochowa in Poland and Santiago di Compostela in Spain.

“The spirit of this new initiative is to meet the growing demand by pilgrims to visit the most important sites for the faith,” Father Cesare Atuire of the Vatican pilgrimage office, Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, told the Rome newspaper La Repubblica.

Founded in 1981 by the Italian cinema actor Bud Spencer, Mistral Air functions mainly as a cargo transport service. The Italian state postal service and the Vatican pilgrimage office are both shareholders in the company which intends to use the same aircraft to fly pilgrims by day and cargo by night.

The new service will be able to count on not only parishes and churches throughout Italy for clients, but also the Rome-based religious travel agency Quo Vadis. According to some estimates, as many as 150 million pilgrims travel annually to religious sites worldwide, with 8 million going to Lourdes and 10 million to Mexico for the Virgin of Guadalupe.

The vicar of Rome, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, is expected to be on the company’s first flight, to Lourdes on Aug. 27. The plane’s headrests will bear the inscription, “I search for your face, Oh Lord.”

_ Paddy Agnew

National Council of Churches Appoints Acting General Secretary

(RNS) The National Council of Churches has appointed its deputy general secretary to serve as the organization’s acting general secretary.

Clare Chapman, who has handled finance and administration for the New York-based ecumenical organization, will serve until a successor for the Rev. Bob Edgar is chosen. Edgar, who led the NCC for almost eight years, leaves the council Aug. 31 to become the new president of Common Cause, a Washington-based nonpartisan advocacy group.

“We are blessed to have the administrative gifts and talents in Clare Chapman to manage the day-to-day leadership of the NCC,” said the Rev. Michael Livingston, NCC president. “Clare will carry us through to the end of the year when we expect to have our next general secretary in place.”

Several weeks ago, a search committee began considering candidates for the position.

“While we all acknowledge the improvement in financial stability that has occurred in Bob’s tenure, his strong leadership in advocating for peace, working for environmental justice and helping those living with poverty is his real legacy.”

_ Adelle M. Banks

Episcopal Priest Suspended After Admitting Abuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (RNS) A former Episcopal priest who ran for the New York Assembly last year has admitted to sexually abusing four adolescent boys while serving as rector of a church in Skaneateles, N.Y., from 1986 to 1993.

J. Edward Putnam, 66, was suspended from acting as a priest for 20 years after a diocesan investigation, said the Rev. Karen C. Lewis, assistant to Episcopal Bishop Gladstone “Skip” Adams.

Putnam signed a document in July that outlines the accusations and the church discipline, Lewis said. In a written statement to the bishop, Putnam said he engaged in “inappropriate conduct with minors” while at St. James Church, she said.

The diocese received a complaint about Putnam from one man on May 13 and immediately began an investigation, Lewis said. Two days later, Adams prohibited Putnam from acting as a priest while the diocese investigated the allegations.

The investigation revealed three other victims. All were males and minors at the time. She would not describe the incidents but said some occurred inside the church.

“We just don’t tolerate this,” Lewis said.

Putnam cannot celebrate Mass, preach, teach or perform any other functions of a priest, Lewis said. He cannot wear a clerical collar and cannot use the title “Rev.” or “Father.”

The 20-year suspension can be extended at the discretion of the bishop or his successor, Lewis said.

Putnam could not be reached for comment. The telephone at his home has been disconnected, and he did not respond to an e-mail message.

Putnam also served as interim dean of St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Syracuse and in parishes in Albany, N.Y., Rhode Island and Michigan. He retired from active ministry in 2004. Lewis said diocesan officials informed New York State Police of the accusations, along with the other dioceses where Putnam ministered.

“The Episcopal Church and this Diocese maintain a zero-tolerance policy for any type of clergy misconduct, particularly in the area of sexual misconduct,” Adams wrote in a letter to clergy and lay leaders. “We know this behavior to be an abuse of power, a betrayal of trust, and a sinful act against God’s beloved creation.”

Putnam served as chaplain to the New York State Assembly from 1994 to 1996. In November 2006, he ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat against William Barclay, a Republican incumbent.

_ Renee K. Gadoua

Quote of the Day: Islamic Society of North America Leader Ingrid Mattson

(RNS) “I want to be sure I’m not the first and last young woman leader. Why be a flash in the pan?”

_ Islamic Society of North America President Ingrid Mattson, who begins the second half of her two-year term when the society meets for its national conference outside Chicago on Labor Day weekend. She was quoted by USA Today.

KRE/RB END RNS