c. 1998 Religion News Service

Missouri Synod passes measures on Christian persecution, abortion

(RNS) By overwhelming majorities, delegates of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod approved measures Monday (July 13) to respond with prayer to Christian persecution abroad, to address”sanctity of life”issues, and to assist congregations in researching the effects of welfare reform on their communities.

Nearly 99 percent of the 1,160 delegates voting at the church’s triennial convention, meeting in St. Louis through Friday (July 17), approved a measure to encourage congregations to observe a regular day of prayer on behalf of persecuted Christians. Also, a”letter of appreciation”from the denomination’s president will be sent to each member of the 105th Congress who voted in favor of legislation condemning religious persecution abroad.

However, delegates decided not to send President Clinton a letter urging him to take a harder stance against human rights violations in China.”If we single out one nation, what will that say to those in other nations who are (also being) persecuted,”said the Rev. David Adams, head of the Synod’s Office of Government Information, according to a report by the denomination’s news division.

In other action Monday, 96.7 percent of delegates reaffirmed the church’s historic”sanctity of life”positions by restating its opposition to abortion, denouncing a late-term procedure called”partial-birth abortion”by opponents, and rejecting the legalization of assisted suicide.

Also, 96.9 percent of delegates voted to assist districts and congregations research and recommend strategies for helping those in their communities adversely affected by welfare reform.

The 2.6 million-member Missouri Synod is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. Because of its conservative theological bent, the denomination did not participate in the 1988 merger that brought together most U.S. Lutheran churches to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Filipino Catholic bishops urge rejection of U.S. military deal

(RNS) Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines have roundly denounced as a deal”between a master and lackey”a military agreement that would allow joint exercises between the United States and the east Asian archipelago nation.

The bishops oppose the accord, which was signed in February by Washington and Manila but still awaits approval from the Filipino senate, because they say it contains no provision to prevent U.S. forces from bringing nuclear weapons to the Philippines.

Another provision of the agreement opposed by the bishops includes the U.S. military’s right to decide whether or not a local court can prosecute an American soldier who may commit a crime while on duty, Reuters reported.”Any final agreement must have the character of a treaty made between two sovereign nations, not between a master and lackey,”the 100-member Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines wrote in a pastoral letter.

The bishops also warned the agreement would”promote sexual adventurism and promiscuity,”referring to the prostitution surrounding U.S. military bases in the Philippines before they were closed in 1992 after the Philippine senate rejected a new base treaty.

Officials expect the senate to ratify the new agreement this year.

Cuban Catholic official sees little change until after Clinton

(RNS) A top official of the Cuban Roman Catholic Church says he expects to see a gradual easing of the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba rather than its sudden removal. And, he said, any real change in U.S. policy toward Cuba will come only after President Clinton leaves office.

The Rev. Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, vicar-general of the archdiocese of Havana, made his predictions during a Monday (July 13) news conference in London shortly before giving the Pope Paul VI memorial lecture, sponsored by CAFOD, the English and Welsh Roman Catholic bishops’ development agency.

Asked what the effect on U.S. policy might be if the 40 U.S. bishops who were in Cuba for Pope John Paul II’s visit in January joined in asking for changes in U.S. policy, de Cespedes said it would have some influence.

He recalled that Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, who had always been against the blockade, had been told by President George Bush that he was the only one in the United States to speak against the blockade.”I suppose that if the North American bishops spoke against the blockade in their different parts of the country they would have an influence,”said de Cespedes.

On church issues in Cuba, de Cespedes said the Office of Religious Sociology has found that while 86 percent of the people had some kind of religious faith, only 15 percent were committed to a church or other religious institution.”Cuban people are religious, but they don’t make costly sacrifices for the sake of religion,”he said.

An important task today for the Catholic Church in Cuba is helping to develop a greater sense of responsibility, he said.”The lack of a sense of responsibility is unfortunately very widespread in Cuba today. Paternalistic and collectivist systems of government, such as we have experienced in Cuba for many years, do not help the development of a sense of social and personal responsibility.”Present-day Cuban culture is, to a certain extent at least, the culture of the nestling, a young bird which gazes upwards open-mouthed, waiting in its nest for food to be brought by its parents.”

European Parliament rejects report on fundamentalism as too narrow

(RNS) The European Parliament Tuesday (July 14) rejected a controversial report on possible threats to the European Union posed by religious fundamentalism because of what critics said was its narrow focus on Islam.

The report, prepared by Arie Oostlander of the Netherlands, was rejected 305 votes against to 158 in favor. Twenty-seven parliament members abstained, arguing the EU lacks the power to interfere in religious affairs of member nations.

The European Parliament, whose members are directly elected, is the EU’s legislative body and deals with budgetary and other matters.

In arguing for rejection of the report, several parliament members said the recent suspected murder by Northern Ireland Protestants of a Catholic mother’s three children underscored the need to address non-Islamic fundamentalism as well. Critics of the report also cited Catholic abortion foes as worthy of inclusion in the report, Reuters reported.

Oostlander said he did not address the Northern Ireland situation because he considered it more a social than religious conflict.

Update: Most Christians detained by Saudi Arabia reportedly released

(RNS) A U.S. Christian activist groups says most of the Christians detained by Saudi Arabia in recent weeks have been released and deported.

Since June, there have been various reports of arrests of foreign Christians working in the staunchly conservative Muslim kingdom.

Steven Snyder, president of Washington-based International Christian Concern, said Tuesday (July 14) at least 31 Christians, most from the Philippines, had been arrested for illegally distributing Christian materials and other violations of Saudi Arabia’s ban on any public expression of non-Islamic faith.

Christians, for example, are not allowed to hold worship meetings or wear a cross in public.

Snyder said 27 of those arrested are believed to have been released and deported. The fate of the remaining four is unclear, he told RNS.

Also unclear is the whereabouts of a women from the Philippines who reportedly gave birth while in custody.

Despite securing their freedom, Snyder said deportation is still an”undue price to pay for being Christian. These people lost their jobs, jobs that in some cases they held for a decade or more. In countries like the Philippines, it is very tough to find work paying a comparable wage.” Saudi officials in Saudi Arabia and at the kingdom’s Washington embassy have steadfastly refused to comment on the arrest reports.

Reconstructionist Jewish leader quits to be full-time dad

(RNS) The executive director of Judaism’s small Reconstructionist movement is stepping aside to become a full-time father to his four children, aged 13 to 5.

Rabbi Mordechai Liebling’s wife, Rabbi Devora Bartnoff, died at age 44 in April 1997. Since then, he has sought to juggle fatherhood with running the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, which has 90 affiliated synagogues and some 50,000 members. The federation is based in Wyncote, Pa.

In recent months, the 49-year-old Liebling has trimmed his federation work schedule to two days a week. But Liebling said that was still too much at this time.”Their mom died,”he said of his children,”so they really need some extra attention from me as their only parent. They just need more loving-parent time,”he told the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.

Reconstructionist Judaism is a late 20th-century, liberal offshoot of Conservative Judaism. It considers Judaism to be an ever-evolving religious civilization and stresses democratic decision-making. It also rejects supernaturalism and most aspects of traditional Jewish law.

Reconstructionism has impacted American Judaism far beyond its small membership. The movement was the first to develop the”bat mitzvah”ceremony for Jewish girls that is now commonplace in Reform, Conservative and, to a lesser degree, modern Orthodox Judaism. It also birthed the now-widespread”havurah”movement, which features lay-led, more informal Jewish worship.

With an annual growth rate of about 15 percent, the Reconstructionist movement bills itself as American Judaism’s fastest growing branch.

Liebling, who will leave his post in the fall, admits he sometimes has qualms about his decision.”It’s not a decision that takes my career into account. It’s certainly poignant at moments. I have moments of feeling: `You must be a little nuts to do this,'”said Liebling, who is scheduled to remarry in December.”I’m conditioned to derive ego satisfaction and self-esteem from being successful and effective in the world. I’m not socialized to find satisfaction in parenting. In some ways, that’s a learned behavior and it’s something I’m in the process of learning,”he added.

Quote of the day: Egyptian feminist Fatima Lashin

(RNS)”I belong to a civilization where my greatest grandmothers used to be queens and priests 5,000 years ago. But I can’t be a judge now. What an irony.” _ Fatima Lashin, who has been denied a judgeship in Egypt because government interpretations of Islamic law _ on which Egypt’s constitution is based _ forbids women from being judges, in an interview with the Associated Press.

DEA END RNS