c. 1997 Religion News Service

Americans United calls on Clinton not to name Boggs to Vatican post

(RNS) Citing comments she made in an interview with a New Orleans Roman Catholic newspaper, Americans United for Separation of Church and State said Thursday (May 15) that President Clinton should not name former Rep. Lindy Boggs, D-La., to the post of U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.

In the interview, which appears in the May 1 Clarion Herald, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Boggs, a Roman Catholic, said the appointment as U.S. envoy to the Holy See would be an”opportunity to serve your country and your church at the same time.” Boggs has not been named to the post, currently held by former Boston mayor Raymond Flynn. Flynn is expected to step down in July and it has been widely reported the 81-year-old Boggs is the White House’s choice to replace him.

The Rev. Barry Lynn, Americans United executive director, said in a letter to Clinton that Boggs’ comments”clearly indicated that she does not understand the nature of the post for which she is being considered.”Surely, Mrs. Boggs, who seems to see the ambassadorial post as a combination of religious and civil duties, will be unable to conduct the affairs of the office in a secular fashion. I strongly urge you to drop consideration of her as a nominee.” Americans United has long opposed formal diplomatic relations between the United States and the Vatican. It maintains the Holy See is a church, not a nation, and diplomatic relations with a church are certain to produce church-state entanglements, especially when the envoy is a Roman Catholic.”Such an ambassador is likely to feel strong personal conflicts when U.S. governmental policies and devotion to church dogma collide,”Lynn said.

Lynn reminded Clinton that last year Flynn”faced just such a conflict when the issue of late-term abortions was being debated in the U.S. Congress (and Flynn) stated publicly that he supported the proposed ban on some forms of abortion even though your administration _ which he theoretically represented _ considered that legislation unwise and a threat to women’s lives and health.” President Reagan first established diplomatic ties with the Vatican in 1983.

Irish primate urges changed attitude on militant Protestants

(RNS) Archbishop Robin Eames of Armagh, Anglican Primate of All Ireland, has called for an end to sectarian violence in Northern Ireland and urged the militant Orange Order to change its anti-Catholic attitudes and”provide Christian leadership”in the six counties.

Eames, in his presidential address Tuesday (May 13) at the Church of Ireland’s general synod, recalled the violence of last July when the Orange Order _ a Protestant-based group _ insisted on marching through a Roman Catholic neighborhood, sparking a three-day confrontation with police. The annual march commemorates a 1690 Protestant victory over a Roman Catholic king.”In my years of public life in the province,”Eames said,”I cannot remember a more anxious and tense period. A community was tearing itself apart and we came very close to the cliff edge.”Never again should Northern Ireland be asked to face a summer like last year,”he added.”All the parties involved must realize before God how dangerous it will be if they contribute in any way to similar events next July.” But Eames said a general condemnation of the Orange Order would not be helpful or justified.”The Order is currently engaged in a profound debate about its ethos and future,”Eames said.”What is needed is encouragement for those who are honestly seeking to influence its life in a realistic and Christian manner.” While warning against a repeat of last year’s violence, Eames also took note of recent arson attacks on both Protestant and Roman Catholic churches in Northern Ireland. He said the attacks show”the naked face of Ulster sectarianism.””That sectarianism has long existed in northern life and represents the greatest single threat to a stable and just future for the province,”he said.”It is the ultimate anti-Christian element in any society.”

U.N. body calls human cloning unethical

(RNS) The World Health Assembly, governing body of the U.N.’s World Health Organization, has approved a resolution calling human cloning unethical.

The resolution, approved Wednesday (May 14) during the assembly’s annual meeting in Geneva, also said non-human cloning should be pursued because of its potential health benefits, the Associated Press reported.

The resolution said:”The use of cloning for the replication of human individuals is ethically unacceptable and contrary to human integrity and morality.” At the same time, the resolution recognized”the need to respect the freedom of ethically acceptable scientific activity and to ensure access to the benefits of its applications.” Neither the assembly or the World Health Organization have enforcement powers. However, their actions set widely followed global standards.

Lutheran ethicist named winner of $150,000 Grawemeyer Award

(RNS) Larry Rasmussen, Reinhold Niehbuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York, has been named winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, given jointly by the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and the University of Louisville.

Rasmussen, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, was cited for his book”Earth Community, Earth Ethics”(Orbis). In it he relates the current environmental predicament to a variety of other crises afflicting modern industrial society _ economics, politics, gender and reproductive relationships _ and in more general debates about the meaning of life.

The book explores the history of religious concern for the Earth _ from the ancient Hebrews to American-Indian traditions _ while criticizing Christianity for helping create the destructive path he says is bringing the world to the edge of ecological suicide. Rasmussen also argues that a re-reading of religious traditions will aid humans in finding alternatives to what he says is the unstainable mode of industrialized society.

Other Grawemeyer Awards are given in music, education, and for ideas on improving world order.

Global March for Jesus to feature parades of Christians

(RNS) Millions of Christians are expected to march, pray and sing in city streets around the world on Saturday (May 17) for the Global March for Jesus.”Christians representing all ethnic groups and denominations come together simply to express their common faith in Jesus Christ,”said Tom Pelton, director of March for Jesus USA.”The march is not a protest and there is no political agenda.” An estimated 10 million people marched in 2,000 cities in 170 countries last year. More than 1 million paraded in 625 cities in the United States, March for Jesus officials said.

Most of the marches in the United States are expected to occur around 9 a.m. local time. Each will feature people parading with banners and singing, and will end with a prayer rally, where participants will pray for their city, country and the world.

With this year’s theme,”The Generations Together,”March for Jesus leaders hope to unite individuals from across generations.

The first March for Jesus was held in London in 1987 and the event has had nationwide U.S. participation since 1992.

Quote of the day: David Cairns, co-ordinator of the Christian Socialist Movement in Britain

(RNS) The election of Tony Blair as prime minister of Great Britain has been greeted positively by church welfare and aid agencies. David Cairns, co-ordinator of the Christian Socialist Movement told Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency, what he thought the election of Blair, an active Anglican Christian, meant:”The new culture of public service _ expressed for example, when Tony Blair told his MPs (members of parliament) that they were the servants of the public, not the masters _ will resonate with Christians. Words like”community”and”compassion”are back.”

MJP END RNS