c. 1996 Religion News Service
Foundations offer aid to help rebuild burned black churches
(RNS)-More than $3 million in grants and pledges has been donated to a National Council of Churches fund designed to aid the more than 40 predominantly black churches that have been damaged or destroyed in the recent rash of suspicious fires.
At a New York news conference Thursday (June 20), the NCC’s Burned Churches Fund announced it had received $1.7 million in grants from seven foundations working together,
The seven foundations are the Annenberg, Ford, W.K. Kellogg, John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur, Charles Stewart Mott and Rockefeller foundations and the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Another $1 million was received from the Andreas Foundation, as well as $500,000 from NCC member denominations.
In addition, the Enterprise Foundation, acting separately, said it would provide $2 million in pre-construction loans, plus construction technical assistance and financial planning.”We’re sensing a real outpouring of support from peoples’ hearts all across the nation,”said NCC spokeswoman Carol J. Fouke.
The NCC-with the support of the American Jewish Committee and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops-announced Wednesday that it had established the Burned Churches Fund to help the predominantly black churches rebuild and otherwise recover from the fires. The NCC is an umbrella organization representing 33 Protestant and Orthodox Christian denominations.
Also Thursday, both the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York and the American Jewish Congress announced they would launch special collections to aid the burned churches.
Wisconsin Amish win court case over triangle emblem on buggies
(RNS)-The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that a state law requiring Amish horse-drawn buggies to display a red and orange triangle for safety reasons violated the sect’s religious rights.
The court ruled Wednesday (June 19) that enforcing the law violated state constitutional safeguards on religious freedom, which in this instance are even stricter than those contained in the federal Constitution, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
By basing its unanimous ruling on the state constitution, the court appeared to rule out any further appeal of the case, the newspaper said.
Wisconsin had required the Amish-an ultra-conservative Mennonite offshoot that moved from Europe to the United States in the early 18th century to escape persecution-to place the fluorescent triangles on the rear of their slow-moving black buggies to make them more visible at night to faster-moving motorists.
But eight Amish men in Wisconsin’s Clark County challenged the state requirement, calling it an unnecessary infringement of their religious freedom. They objected to the triangle because of its bright colors and because they said it was a”wordly symbol”that elevated human law above God’s law.
They offered instead to hang a red lantern on their buggies and outline the buggies with white reflective tape.
The court ruling noted that a traffic safety expert had testified that the white reflective tape would be more effective than the state-mandated triangles.
Emanuel Miller, one of the Amish men who challenged the Wisconsin law, was quoted in the Journal Sentinel saying he was glad he went to court”because either you have faith and stand for it, or you don’t have faith at all. If you have faith it will come out good in the end.” The Amish have won similar cases in Minnesota and Michigan. Ohio has also rewritten its law regulating slow-moving vehicles to accommodate the Amish, the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison noted.
Judge rules against Los Angeles archdiocese on cathedral demolition
(RNS)-A judge has ruled that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will have to submit to a lengthly environmental review before it can demolish 120-year-old St. Vibiana’s Cathedral on the edge of the city’s downtown skid row area.
In issuing a preliminary injunction against the cathedral’s immediate destruction, Superior Court Judge Robert H. O’Brien also criticized the archdiocese for starting to raze the cathedral’s Spanish Baroque bell tower without first obtaining a permit.
The ruling, issued Wednesday (June 19), was praised by historic preservationists and vilified by the archdiocese-which wants to demolish the crumbling cathedral and replace it with a new $45-million structure in time for the anniversary of Christianity’s third millennium in the year 2000.
The environmental review process could take six months to complete.”This is an indignity and a most unfortunate blow to religious liberty,”said the Rev. Gregory Coiro, the archdiocese spokesman.”The effect of the ruling is to usurp authority granted by the grace of God and the favor of the Apostolic See … and place it in the hands of others,”he said in a statement.
Kathryn Welch Howe, president of the Los Angeles Conservatory, the historic preservation organization that sought the injunction, was quoted in The Los Angeles Times calling O’Brien’s ruling”a full vindication of our position.” Also Wednesday, the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission voted to retain the cathedral’s historical landmark designation. However, the Los Angeles City Council is expected to override the commission.
The Associated Press said the council will lift the historical landmark designation-which would make it easier to demolish the heavily earthquake-damaged cathedral-because it fears the archdiocese will build a new cathedral away from downtown Los Angeles. Cardinal Roger Mahony, the Los Angeles archbishop, has said he would decide by July 15 whether to build a new cathedral elsewhere.
Any council action will not effect the judge’s ruling, however.
Senate votes to lift ban on overseas military hospital abortions
(RNS)-The Senate voted to repeal a ban on abortions at overseas U.S. military hospitals, setting up a confrontation with the House of Representatives, which previously voted to retain the ban.
In a 51-45 vote Wednesday (June 19), the Senate moved to roll back the Congressional ban on such abortions. The only exceptions to the ban, which was enacted just last year, are cases involving rape, incest or danger to the woman’s life.
The Senate vote comes during consideration of the $267 billion defense authorization bill.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) proposed lifting the ban, saying it only forces military women overseas to undergo dangerous illegal abortions, the Associated Press reported.
But Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), the chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, urged retaining the ban. Thurmond said lifting the ban would result in having”abortions wide open for any purpose, any time, any place …” The issue will go next to Congressional negotiators, who will seek a settlement.
Mosque to open at Israel’s Knesset
(RNS)-For the first time, Israel’s Knesset (parliament) building will have an on-site mosque.
The mosque will be opened at the request of a newly elected Muslim parliament member, Abdul Malik Dehamshe, the leader of Israel’s Islamic Movement.
The Reuter news agency noted that the Knesset building has long housed a synagogue that is used by Jewish lawmakers and their staff. Apparently, Muslim lawmakers-members of Israel’s Arab minority-had not previously requested their own area for prayers.”We shall have our guests in the Knesset and we want a place to pray with equal room, like the others,”Dehamshe told the Reuters.”I don’t know why others never asked for a mosque before.” Dehamshe said Knesset officials told him a room to house the mosque would be assigned by the end of June.
Israeli Arabs, who are about 12 percent of the population in the overwhelmingly Jewish nation, won nine Knesset seats in last month’s elections, up from five in the previous parliament. The vote marked the first time that the Islamic Movement has fielded parliamentary candidates.
French Socialists want same-sex marriages legalized
(RNS)-The French Socialist Party said Thursday (June 20) that it will submit legislation to legalize homosexual marriage.
The Socialists, an opposition party, said they would seek a legal framework”for all those wishing to unite their destinies in a shared life, notably gays and lesbians,”Reuter news agency reported.
The Socialists argue that homosexual couples should have all the same rights and benefits enjoyed by heterosexual couples.
A handful of French cities already issue”certificates of cohabitation”to same-sex couples, which have no legal weight but are honored for couple discounts on the French national railway service.
There was no immediate indication whether the French parliament was likely to legislation legalizing same-sex marriages. However, Reuters noted that the French government recently rejected a Swedish request to allow Swedish same-sex couples to marry at the Swedish consulate in Paris. Swedish heterosexual couples regularly marry at the Paris consulate.
Sweden has allowed same-sex couples to marry in a ceremony that is similar to a civil wedding since January 1995. Denmark and Norway also allow same-sex couples to have”registered partnerships,”which provide the same rights and social benefits given heterosexual married couples.
In the United States, a Hawaii court is considering a case that could legalize same-sex marriages. However, a bill is working its way through Congress that would allow states to reject same-sex unions sanctioned elsewhere. President Clinton has said he would sign such a bill.
Quote of the Day: J. Randy Forbes, chairman of the Virginia State Republican Party
(RNS)-J. Randy Forbes was recently elected chairman of the Virginia State Republican Party. In a recent article in The New York Times, he spoke about his party’s anti-abortion stand:”Being a pro-life party is the right thing to do. We can’t back off our values just because we think they may limit our membership. You end up running a poll to determine your values. We can be a party of values, or a valueless party.”
MJP END RNS
