c. 1996 Religion News Service
Rwandan refugees killed in monastery in Zaire
(RNS)-At least 10 Tutsis, taking refuge in a French-run monastery in Zaire, have been killed by rival Hutus in an action reminiscent of the 1994 ethnic genocide in Rwanda, news agencies reported Thursday (May 16).”About 10 bodies … were found by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the scene of the attack or on the road leading to Kitchanga, and more than 30 wounded are receiving treatment in a dispensary set up by the Dutch MSF (Doctors Without Borders),”the Red Cross said in a statement released in Kinshasa, Zaire, according to Reuters.
The ICRC said another 750 Tutsi refugees, who had taken shelter at the Roman Catholic facility in Mokotos, near the border with Rwanda, had fled to Kitchanga, a neighboring village.
An estimated 500,000 Tutsis lost their lives during the April-August 1994 spasm of killing in Rwanda.
More than 1 million Rwandans, mostly Hutus, took refugee in Zaire after losing a civil war in their homeland during which Hutus slaughtered their Tutsi countrymen. Reuters said the Tutsis at the monastery are believed to have fled the massacres in Rwanda.
The United Nations, however, said it believed the Tutsis slain in the attack were Zairean, the AP reported. The United Nations put the number of people killed at 12.
Paul Stromberg, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said a U.N. team has gone to Mokoto to assess the situation.
The AP said that fighting around the church, 60 miles north of the border, intensified last week and that the French priests had left the monastery on Sunday (May 12).
Religious groups take opposite sides at same-sex marriage hearing
(RNS)-A House Judiciary subcommittee considering legislation to amend federal law to define marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman heard sharply different perspectives on the proposal Wednesday from representatives of religious and social-activist organizations.
The proposed law would also allow states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.
Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Reform Jewish movement’s Religious Action Center, called the proposal”unconstitutional, unnecessary and immoral.” In his testimony Saperstein took issue with those who argue that same-sex marriages are a threat to family values.”Are our families and marriages and communities so fragile and shallow that they are threatened by love between two adults of the same sex?”he asked.”The stamp of the divine is found in the souls of all God’s children-gay, lesbian and straight,”he said.”The love that God calls us to, the love that binds two people together in a loving and devoted commitment, is accessible to all God’s children.” But Rabbi Avi Shafran, director of public affairs for Agudath Israel, an Orthodox Jewish organization, told the subcommittee it opposed same-sex marriage, calling it a”shocking trend toward redefining the sacred institution of marriage.” Shafran said his group opposed any formal legal recognition of gay marriage.”It is troubling enough that contemporary culture so often glorifies homosexual conduct as an innocuous or even positive lifestyle,”he said.”There is a clear and important distinction, though, between the simple existence or even toleration of immorality and its formal sanctioning through use of a label like `marriage.'” The proposed law has been sparked by the possibility that a Hawaiian court may legalize same-sex marriages. Under the U.S. Constitution, states are required to recognize the”public acts, records and judicial proceedings”of every other state.
Also testifying on behalf of the proposed legislation was Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, the public interest law firm founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson.”We have crossed a critical threshold in this country when we now need defensive legislation enacted to contain a concerted effort on the part of some to radically alter the definition of marriage,”he said.
Gary Bauer, president of the Family Research Council, a Washington-based conservative advocacy group, said in a statement that the proposed legislation is”urgent and essential.” But Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., a homosexual, said Congress should go slowly in considering the proposal.”Same-sex marriage is not legal anywhere in America today, and it’s not likely to become legal in the next several months,”Frank said.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury acknowledges performing gay ordinations
(RNS)-Lord Robert Runcie, the retired Archbishop of Canterbury, says he has ordained non-celibate homosexuals to the Anglican priesthood-but not if the candidate specifically told him of the relationship.”I have not ordained anybody-in fact I have halted an ordination-when I discovered that,”Runcie said in an interview on BBC radio on Thursday (May 16).”On the other hand, there have been times in my ministry when I have acted in a `don’t want to know and why should I inquire’ way, and I never liked the prospect of inquiring into what happened in a man’s bedroom unless he was prepared to tell me,”Runcie said.
Runcie served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991.
The Rev. David Holloway, a leading evangelical in the Church of England, said Runcie’s comments highlighted”the sickness in the church where the senior leadership is acting contrary to what is the clear mind of the majority of members.” But Runcie said the current policy of the church’s House of Bishops, which says the church accepts homosexuals as members but refuses to ordain them,”is ludicrous”and an”unsatisfactory compromise.” Runcie’s successor, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, has given assurances to evangelicals that non-celibate homosexuals would not knowingly be ordained in the denomination while he was its leader.
American tapped as board chairman of United Bible Societies
(RNS)-Eugene B. Habecker, president and chief executive officer of the American Bible Society, has been elected chairman of the board of United Bible Societies (UBS), the international organization of 120 national Bible societies.
Habecker will continue in his role as head of the New York-based ABS.
UBS, with members representing Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox faith groups, has a program budget of $50 million annually. In 1995, it distributed 17 million full Christian Bibles, 11 million New Testaments and 535 million portions of Scripture.
In recent years it has taken the lead in Bible distribution in China and central and eastern Europe. It has helped fund the printing of 12 million Bibles by Amity Printing Press in China. UBS has also aided in the distribution of more than 22.7 million Bibles and other Scripture selections in eastern Europe.
As chairman of the United Bible Societies’ board, Habecker will help set policies and plans for the organization as it seeks to increase Scripture distribution in non-traditional forms such as audiocassettes and CD-ROM.
Chile’s Senate passes resolution on U.S. abortion dispute
(RNS)-The Chilean Senate passed a resolution Wednesday (May 15) urging the U.S. Senate to override President Clinton’s veto of a bill outlawing a controversial late-term abortion procedure.
The unusual resolution, signed by 40 of Chile’s 46 senators, asked the U.S. lawmakers to override the veto”as a token of humanity and as a reaffirmation of the (U.S.) Congress’ permanent policy to defend human rights,”Reuters reported.
Abortion is a crime in Chile, where a large majority of the population is Roman Catholic.
It was the second time in recent weeks that Clinton’s veto of the bill, which outlaws an infrequently used abortion procedure called”partial-birth abortion”by opponents, has drawn international attention. Last month, the Vatican issued a strongly worded criticism of Clinton’s veto.
Quote of the day: Shoko Asahara, leader of the Japan-based Aum Shinri Kyo sect, on solitary confinement in jail
(RNS)-Shoko Asahara, leader of the Japan-based Aum Shinri Kyo (Supreme Truth) sect and accused mastermind of the March 1995 gassing of the Tokyo subway system that killed 11 people, appeared at an administrative hearing held Wednesday (May 15) to determine whether the government may disband his group. During the hearing, Asahara spoke about the solitary confinement in which he is being held:”The concrete is so thick, it is like a cave. I am getting a great chance to meditate. I want nobody to take this opportunity away from me.”
LJB END ANDERSON
