c. 1998 Religion News Service

Sen. Glenn says view from space strengthens his faith

(RNS) Sen. John Glenn told reporters in a space-to-Earth news conference Sunday (Nov. 1) that his second opportunity to view Earth from space strengthens his belief in God.”I pray every day,”the 77-year-old astronaut said in response to a question about whether his flight had fortified his faith.”Looking at the Earth from this vantage point, looking at this kind of creation and to not believe in God, to me, is impossible,”said Glenn, USA Today reported.”To see (Earth) laid out like that only strengthens my beliefs,”he said.

Glenn, a Presbyterian, went on to say that it is”a real thrill and emotional”to view Earth out the window of the shuttle Discovery, which departed Thursday (Oct. 29) and is scheduled to return Nov. 7.”I know `awesome’ is an overused word, but if anything is really awesome, it’s looking out and seeing that,”he said.

Glenn, who is an elder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is traveling with the prayers of his fellow Presbyterians.

Prior to liftoff, Glenn was sent a letter from church officials addressed to”our brother in Christ.””We send our prayers and gratitude on behalf of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as you continue your public service through research in space,”they wrote.”May the peace of Jesus Christ be with you and your colleagues on this flight. Prayers from those of us in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will certainly be there.” The letter was signed by the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the denomination’s stated clerk; John J. Detterick, executive director of the General Assembly Council; and the Rev. Douglas W. Oldenburg, moderator of the General Assembly.

World Council: Pinochet should be tried for `crimes against humanity’

(RNS) A top official of the World Council of Churches says Gen. Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean military dictator, should be put on trial for”crimes against humanity.” Pinochet, who seized power in 1973 following a bloody coup that included the assassination of the democratically elected socialist president, Salvador Allende, was arrested by British police Oct. 17 while a patient at a London hospital. The arrest followed a request by Spanish judges investigating the deaths of Spanish citizens in Chile during Pinochet’s dictatorship.”For the first time a breach has opened in the wall of impunity against one of the most symbolic representatives of the dictatorships in Latin America,”said Genevieve Jacques, an executive secretary of the WCC’s Commission of the Churches on International Affairs.”For those in the churches in Chile who have been struggling against impunity and calling for justice for the victims and truth to be revealed, it is a historic action,”Jacques said, according to Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news service.

Last week, the London High Court overruled the arrest, saying that Pinochet had immunity from prosecution because the alleged crimes were committed while he was a head of state but it said he must stay in Great Britain pending an appeal.

The court ruling has set off a furor among human rights activists in Latin America, Europe and the United States.

Isabel Allende, daughter of the assassinated president, said in London on Monday (Nov. 2), that Pinochet should not be granted immunity because he”bombed his way into power and murdered to remain there.”Pinochet held power for 17 years.

The House of Lords, the upper house of the British parliament, is expected to rule later this week on the validity of the Spanish extradition warrant used to arrest the 82-year-old former dictator.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported, human rights activists will hold a mock trial in the House of Commons in an effort to link Pinochet to the more than 3,000 people _ many of them socialists or pro-democracy activists _ who died or”disappeared”during his regime.

Vietnam: U.N. religious envoy was unhampered during visit

(RNS) The government of Vietnam says it demonstrated the country’s commitment to religious tolerance during the just-ended visit of a special United Nations envoy to the country.

A report in the official Communist Party publication, Nhan Dan (People) and several other dailies, said the U.N. Special Rapporteur for Religious Intolerance _ who ended his visit Thursday (Oct. 29) _”witnessed activities under the freedom of religion of the Vietnamese people.” But the report made no mention of the U.N. envoy Adelfattah Amor’s charges that his 10-day trip had been plagued by restrictions.

In a statement released late Wednesday (Oct. 28), Amor, whose role is to examine worldwide intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief, said he had been restricted from meeting some people and denied private conversations with others in Vietnam.

Religious freedom in Vietnam has increased significantly in recent years, but the state and the Communist Party continue to keep religious groups and leaders on a tight leash.

And, while Hanoi denies the charges, international human rights groups and others say that Vietnam has imprisoned people for the peaceful expression of religious or political beliefs.

The Vietnamese media report said Amor”has had the chance to learn the consistent policy of the Party and the state of Vietnam on the issue of protecting the rights to religious freedom and the freedom of beliefs of all Vietnamese people,”Reuters reported.

In his Wednesday comments, Amor said security police prevented him from entering the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Ho Chi Minh City to meet with a top dissident Buddhist monk, Thich Quang Do, who is secretary general of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.

The following day, the Foreign Ministry denied the incident had taken place.

The Vietnamese media report summarizing Amor’s visit listed government officials and state-sanctioned religious leaders that met with the U.N. envoy but failed to mention the incident at the monastery and another meeting with an elderly monk which was aborted due to repeated intrusions.

Polish government wants quick resolution of Auschwitz cross crisis

(RNS) The Polish government said Monday (Nov. 2) it wants to see a rapid solution to the dispute over Christian crosses being erected near Auschwitz, the former Nazi German death camp in southern Poland.

Radical Roman Catholics have created a field of crosses just outside the wall of the former concentration camp in what they say is an effort to defend a 21-foot cross under which Pope John Paul II prayed in 1979.

The controversy was sparked when a foreign ministry official said the so-called”papal cross’ would be removed in line with an agreement between the government and Jewish groups.

Jewish groups object to any religious symbols near the camp, where 1.5 million people _ the vast majority of them Jewish _ were murdered by the Germans during World War II.”No one needs to be convinced that the perpetuation of that conflict (between Jews and Catholics) is simply damaging to the Republic,”Jaroslaw Sellin told a news conference, Reuters reported.

Local authorities have canceled the lease held on the site where the crosses are planted but the Osweicim Municipal Court has rejected the government’s move to take over the fenced-in field.

The conflict was again escalated over the weekend when Stations of the Cross _ tableaux depicting Christ’s road to crucifixion _ were added to site.

Quote of the day: The Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, Clinton supporter

(RNS)”President Clinton has confessed that what he did was wrong … He has met every requirement for forgiveness. He has done all the Torah requires of Jews, the Bible requires of Christians and all the Koran requires of Muslims.” The Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, former D.C. delegate to Congress, at a news conference Saturday (Oct. 31) in front of special prosecutor Ken Starr’s office held to denounce Starr and Congress’ treatment of Clinton due to the president’s inappropriate relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

DEA END RNS