c. 1997 Religion News Service

Study: Condoms don’t increase teen sex rate

(RNS) A new study shows that condom distribution through AIDS education programs in public high schools has not increased the rate of sexual activity among teens. But the findings do not prove condom distribution increases condom use.

New York University researchers compared condom use and sexual activity rates in New York City and Chicago high schools. They concluded that providing condoms to students is a”low-cost, harmless addition”to AIDS prevention. Condoms are provided in New York City schools, but not in Chicago schools, which offers HIV/AIDS education.

The study results were reported in the September issue of The American Journal of Public Health.

The researchers have been evaluating New York City’s AIDS Education Program for three years. Adolescent health experts said the study supports the idea that condom distribution does not increase the level of teen-age sexual activity, the New York Times reported.

Critics have argued that distribution of condoms raises sexual activity among high school students.”This is not a panacea, but it is cheap,”said Sally Guttmacher, lead author of the study and an associate professor at the department of health studies in the School of Education at NYU.”It doesn’t do any harm and it reaches those kids who most need to be reached.” Similar research has been done in Philadelphia by Frank Furstenberg, a sociology professor at the University of Pennsylvania.”These studies point in the same direction, but we certainly need more evidence,”said Furstenberg.”But if I were a superintendent in a public school considering the effects of the program, I would certainly be confident enough to try this approach.” More than 400 public schools in 50 districts nationwide provide condoms.

The study, from the 1994-95 academic year, involved 7,000 students in 12 randomly selected New York City high schools and 6,000 students from 10 Chicago schools.

Poll: U.S. Jews back `timeout’ on settlement building

(RNS) About 80 percent of American Jews agree with a U.S. call for Israel to at least temporarily stop building additional homes for Jews in the West Bank, according to a new poll.

The poll, released Monday (Sept. 29) by the New York-based Israel Policy Forum, found 57 percent of American Jews also have a favorable opinion of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite his vow to continue constructing new West Bank housing to accommodate the”natural growth”of existing Jewish settlements there.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, while visiting the Middle East recently, urged Israel to call a temporary”timeout”in the building of West Bank homes for Jews.

In keeping with other such polls, the survey found overwhelming general support for the peace process among American Jews. Eighty-nine percent said they either strongly or somewhat support the process.

However, a substantial percentage also believe the process is in deep trouble.

Fifty-six percent said they believe the Oslo accords, the basis for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, are”failing but salvageable,”while 18 percent said the accords are”completely dead.” The survey, conducted between Sept. 16-21, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent. The Israel Policy Forum is an independent institution founded in 1993 to support the peace process.

Methodist pastor’s long ordeal with the law finally over

(RNS) An appellate court in New York has overturned the conviction of the Rev. Nathaniel Grady, a United Methodist minister who spent 10 years in prison after being convicted of sexually abusing children at a day-care center.

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson said he would not seek to try Grady again in the face of the ruling by the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court.

Grady was one of five people convicted after a highly publicized investigation by then District Attorney Mario Merola into possible abuse of children at city-financed day-care centers. The convictions of the other four have all been dismissed in the past several years.

After serving 10 years in prison, Grady was released in July 1996 when a federal judge ruled he must be given a new appeal in the state courts because he had been inadequately represented in his early appeals.

Grady had been convicted in 1986 of 19 counts of rape, sodomy and sexual abuse involving five boys and a girl at the city-financed Westchester-Tremond Day Care Center. At the time of his conviction, Grady was pastor of Westchester United Methodist Church and had an office next to a pre-school classroom at the center.

The trial focused heavily on the testimony of the alleged victims.”More than anything else, I learned the art of patience,”Grady, 59, said Monday (Sept. 29), according to The New York Times.”I am grateful that God spared my mother to see me vindicated.” Throughout the trial and imprisonment, Grady maintained his innocence and was supported in that insistence by leaders of the denomination.

Evangelical leader in Brazil predicts shrinking Catholic population

(RNS) The president of Brazil’s Assemblies of God said this week’s visit of Pope John Paul II to Rio de Janeiro will not stop parishioners from leaving Brazil’s Catholic Church.

To Wellington Bezerra da Costa, Catholic dominance in Latin America is nearly over.”By 2010 half of Brazil will be evangelical,”da Costa told Reuters.

The statement was made a day after the 600,000-member Assembly of God Church hosted Brazil’s biggest rally in recent years.

About 80 percent of Brazil’s 160 million residents say they are Roman Catholic. The country has long been known as the world’s biggest Catholic nation.”For the time being, the majority of Brazilians remain Catholic,”da Costa said.”But by our calculations there are already 35 million evangelicals. That’s 23 percent of the population.” The mixture of religion and politics in the country has divided some citizens. Clergy exerted strong influence over national affairs during many periods of the country’s history. On Sunday, self-proclaimed atheist President Fernando Henrique Cardoso attended the Assemblies of God rally in Sao Paulo and greeted the crowd by shouting”hallelujah.”Church leaders then encouraged those attending the rally to vote for Cardoso next year when he is expected to run for re-election.

Cardoso recently told evangelical leaders they would be exempt from a bill on noise pollution currently being reviewed by national legislators.

Da Costa spoke in defense of his church’s support of the current president.”Clearly, religion and politics are separate like water and oil,”he said.”But we also reserve the right to choose and to voice our opinions about that choice.” The pope’s Oct. 2-4 visit is in connection with a major international Catholic gathering on the family. He will meet with Cardoso Thursday and may talk with him about an abortion bill currently stuck in the Brazilian Congress. The bill allows abortion for women who are victims of rape or who are at risk from their pregnancies.

Italian Catholics to consecrate church near Auschwitz

(RNS) The Italian Roman Catholic Church announced Tuesday (Sept. 30) that the 13-year wait for consecrating a church in the Polish town of Oswiecim, not far from the site of the former concentration camp Auschwitz, is over.

The foundation stone of the church of St. Joseph comes from the”Wall of Death,”where victims in the Nazi death camp faced the firing squad. The church will be consecrated during two days of commemoration starting Oct. 5 and honors those killed at Auschwitz.”It’s a dream we’ve had for 13 years and now it has become reality,”the Italian Bishops’ Conference of the Italian Roman Catholic Church said in a statement.

A chapel inside the church is composed of the same material used for the furnaces where the victims’ bodies were burned and is designed to recall martyrs of Auschwitz and nearby Birkenau.

Some Jews claim the church and wartime Pope Pius XII did little to help the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Vatican historians argue that Pius helped behind the scenes for fear of worsening the situation for Catholics, as well as for Jews, in Germany and German-occupied countries.

Pope John Paul II, who was born in Poland, asked Catholics in 1994 to repent for failing morally by not protesting the treatment of Jews. German and Polish bishops also have apologized for their church’s lack of assistance during the war.

The church’s facade, which is cut in two, is”in memory of the atrocious wound inflicted on humanity in the Nazi lagers (camps), and the wound in the side of Christ crucified on the cross,”the Italian church officials said.

Jews and Catholics will gather at the site in Oswiecim for joint prayers on Oct. 5. Cardinal Camillo Ruini, head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, will conduct the consecration service.

An Oct. 6 tour of the former concentration camps will conclude the consecration ceremonies.

Theologian and historian Marty honored with humanities medal

(RNS) Theologian and church historian Martin Marty was given a National Humanities Medal by President Clinton on Monday (Sept. 29).

Marty was among nearly two dozen Americans who received national medals of arts and humanities from the president.”By giving these awards we declare, to ourselves and to the world, we are, we always have been, and we always will be a nation of creators and innovators,”Clinton said at the White House ceremony, the Associated Press reported.

Marty, the author of 50 books, is a professor of the history of modern Christianity at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. He also directs the Public Religions Project Linking Religion and American Public Life.

Quote the day: singer Emmylou Harris

(RNS)”I’m not of superstar status … but I’m hoping I can be an instrument of information. It is important to bring people who have a public (to the effort) because people will listen to what you say, maybe not because of anything other than because your face was on an album cover. But if I can use that, it’s good.” Country-folk singer Emmylou Harris speaking in Cambodia to Reuters on what she hopes to accomplish by lending her name to a campaign aimed at bringing public attention to victims of land mines.

MJP END RNS