c. 1999 Religion News Service

Religious liberty bill passes House by 3-1 margin

(RNS) The Religious Liberty Protection Act passed by a 3-1 margin in the House of Representatives on Thursday (July 15), with the support of a large coalition of religious leaders.

After two hours of debate, the measure passed by a vote of 306 to 118.

The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Charles Canady, R-Fla., aims to reinstate religious protections that were included in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. That act was struck down in 1997 by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that the act caused Congress to overstep its authority regarding states’ rights.

Canady said the measure, which has not yet been acted on in the Senate, allows Americans to practice their faith”without interference from the heavy hand of government.” He said the measure does not change the protections the Supreme Court has ruled are required by the First Amendment, but rather gives additional ones.”The purpose of this legislation is to use the recognized powers of the Congress under the Constitution to fill a gap in the protections available to people of faith in America who in fact face substantial burdens imposed by government on their religious practices,”he said.

The measure requires state and local governments to show a compelling reason _ such as health or safety _ and act in the least restrictive manner to legally infringe upon religious practices or beliefs. For example, land use regulations would have to treat religious institutions and assemblies on”equal terms”with nonreligious institutions or assemblies.

House members cited numerous examples of potential protections under the law, from Jewish children wearing yarmulkes in public schools to elderly landladies choosing not to rent to unmarried couples in accordance with their Christian beliefs.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., proposed an amendment he said would prevent courts from being forced to choose between religious rights and other civil rights of disputing parties. But Canady argued the amendment would give religious protection”second-class status behind other civil rights”and urged its rejection. The amendment was defeated by a vote of 234-190.

Nadler’s concerns also were voiced by groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.”Protecting religious liberty is a worthy cause, but not at the expense of any person’s other civil rights,”said Kerry Lobel, executive director of the task force in a statement released after the bill’s passage.”We strongly believe both of these principles are important and neither should be sacrificed for the sake of the other.” More than 70 religious and civil rights groups _ including the U.S. Catholic Conference, the National Council of Churches, the Christian Legal Society and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism _ had urged passage of the bill. Groups often on opposite sides of political debates, such as the Christian Coalition and People for the American Way, agreed on the measure.

Mark J. Pelavin, associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, called the vote passing the bill”a cause for celebration by Americans of faith _ of any faith _ across this great nation.” Pelavin, who also chairs the legislative task force of the Coalition for the Free Exercise of Religion, which urged the measure’s passage, said it would be particularly helpful for religious minorities.

Officials of American Atheists were among those disappointed by the House action.”RLPA amounts to special rights for the churches,”said Ron Barrier, national spokesman for American Atheists.”It clearly discriminates in favor of religious groups, and against everyone else.”

Anti-Semitism, economy fuel jump in Russian Jewish emigration to Israel

(RNS) Jewish emigration from Russia to Israel, fed by rising anti-Semitism and a deteriorating Russian economy, jumped a whopping 129 percent during the first six months of 1999.

During the period, some 12,188 Russian Jews went to Israel, according to the quasi-governmental Jewish Agency, which assists in the resettling process.

Sallai Meridor, agency chairman, said as many as 30,000 Russian Jews could settle in Israel during 1999, compared to 14,000 last year. Should that occur, it would be the most since 1992.

Emigration to Israel from all the republics of the former Soviet Union, including Russia, could total 60,000 this year, Meridor added Wednesday (July 14).

While Meridor declined to directly link the jump in emigration to increased incidents of anti-Semitism in Russia, recent arrivals in Israel have repeatedly cited the incidents as a prime reason for moving.

Earlier this week, a prominent Moscow Jewish leader was repeatedly stabbed in his office in the city’s Choral Synagogue by a 20-year-old neo-Nazi. The victim, Leopold Kaimovsky, business manager of the Moscow Jewish Arts Center, sustained wounds to the face, stomach, chest and shoulder and was left in serious condition.

The attack was the latest in a series of incidents, including bomb attacks on synagogues and comments by hardline nationalist and communist members of the Russian parliament.

Meridor said”concern for the future”is the reason most often cited by Russian Jews for going to Israel.”There seems to be a general feeling of the loss of hope,”the Associated Press quoted the Jewish Agency official as saying.

In a statement, David A. Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee, urged Russian religious, civil and political leaders to issue”unambiguous”statements condemning anti-Semitism.”Unfortunately, even in the wake of this week’s attempted murder of the director of the Moscow Jewish Arts Center, little has been heard.”

Vatican urges priests to live in”simplicity and poverty”in 21st century

(RNS) Painting a picture of the very model of a priest for the 21st century, the Vatican said Thursday (July 15) he must live in”simplicity and poverty”and set an example of”sobriety and temperance.” In addition, the perfect priest wears clerical clothes, is”welcoming and amiable,”uses”correct and elegant language,”shuns politics, and reads good literature, which he downloads from the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy’s Web site on the Internet.

The advice, published in the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, was contained in a letter to priests from the Congregation for the Clergy, which oversees the life, discipline, rights and duties of priests.

It was addressed to the priest as the”master of the word, minister of the sacraments and guide to the community in view of the third millennium of Christianity.” The congregation said the overriding concern of the priest in the 21st century must be the”new evangelization”called for by Pope John Paul II.

The letter advised priests to preach”in a positive and stimulating way,”use”correct and elegant language comprehensible to all our contemporaries of all classes”and avoid”banality.” Referring to the pope’s ban on a political role for priests, the letter said that priests must exert authority in the area of their competence and not”meddle in temporal questions.” Noting that”at least in some places, priests enjoy prestige with civil authority,”the congregation said”it is all the more necessary that they remember that such prestige must be lived humbly.” A priest’s comportment is as important in his office and at home as it is at the altar, the letter said. The priest sets an example to his parishioners, it said,”when they are received in the parish office in a welcoming and amiable manner, when they see the priest eating or resting and they are edified by his example of sobriety and temperance.” He is carrying out his ministry, the letter said, when parishioners”visit him at his home and are cheered by the priestly simplicity and poverty in which he lives, when they see him clad with propriety, neatness and completeness in his proper dress, when they speak with him, even on the most common subjects, and feel comforted by the confirmation of his supernatural vision, his delicacy and human style which makes him treat even the most humble people with authenticity and priestly nobility.” Update: Priest will bow to Vatican barring his ministry to gays

(RNS) The Rev. Robert Nugent, whose ministry with gays and lesbians was banned by the Vatican earlier this week, says that because he is”a son of the church … with a vow of obedience,”he will accept the Vatican prohibition.

But in a statement issued after the Vatican announced on Tuesday (July 13) that Nugent and Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founders of New Ways Ministry, could no longer provide pastoral care for the gay community, he rejected the Vatican’s charge he had thwarted church teaching on homosexuality.

He noted that in 1998, he gave the Vatican a written declaration in which he asserted that he had”never deliberately denied or placed in doubt any Catholic teaching which requires the assent of theological faith”and never”publicly rejected or opposed any proposition that is to be held definitively.” But he said the Vatican responded that the statement did not clarify his”internal adherence”to church teaching that homosexuality is a”disorder”and homosexual activity a sin.

Cardinal James Hickey of the Archdiocese of Washington, who first raised questions about New Ways Ministry 18 years ago, welcomed the Vatican action and called it”very unfortunate that Sister Jeannine and Father Nugent did not base their ministry on the fullness of Catholic teaching.” But the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an umbrella organization of religious orders of nuns, said it was”deeply saddened”by the Vatican action. The ruling, it said,”adds to the anguish that many of our sisters experience who minister to those at the margins of our church and society.”We regret the suffering and sense of alienation experienced now by those who found a reflection of God’s love for them in the ministry of Sister Gramick and Father Nugent,”the group said.

Massachusetts’ high court strikes down Boston domestic partners law

(RNS) The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has struck down Boston’s domestic partnership law, saying it is prohibited by state law.

The decision overturns an executive order issued by Mayor Thomas M. Menino last August that granted health benefits to unmarried partners of city employees and their dependents.

The state’s highest court issued its decision July 8, The Boston Globe reported.

The court based its decision on a 1955 state law that permits cities and towns to grant health insurance to municipal employees and their dependents. That law defines”dependents”as spouses, children under 19 and children older than 19 who are not able to provide for themselves.

The court ruled that domestic partners and their dependents”fall outside the statutory definition”of those who can receive benefits.”The Legislature has defined precisely those who may be included in the category of `dependents,'”wrote Justice Margaret Marshall.”Cities and other governmental units are not free to expand the category.” Vincent P. McCarthy, senior Northeast regional counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, had challenged the Boston law.”The Supreme Judicial Court has confirmed what we believed all along _ the mayor of Boston lacked the authority to enact this kind of ordinance, which would give benefits to same-sex partners,”said McCarthy, whose public interest law firm was founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson.”This is a major victory for marriage and the family,”he said in a statement.

The Globe reported that the mayor’s office issued a brief statement calling the decision”very disappointing.”It added that the executive order was”a matter of basic fairness.” Gary Buseck, executive director of the Boston-based Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, said the ruling was”a clear invitation to the Legislature to solve this problem.”

Spring Arbor Distributors gets new president

(RNS) Spring Arbor Distributors, a major distributor to Christian retailers, has a new president.

Frances M. Salamon, former president of Ingram Periodicals, has replaced Larry Carpenter as head of Spring Arbor, a division of Ingram Book Group.

Carpenter resigned”to fulfill his desire to pursue other interests and opportunities which are involved in Christian ministries,”said Ingram Book Group in a statement. Carpenter had been president since July 1997.

Spring Arbor announced in May that it would consolidate its operations at one location in La Vergne, Tenn., and will close its facility in Belleville, Mich., by mid-September.

Quote of the day: United Nations official Sergio Vieira de Mello

(RNS)”Killings, kidnapping, forced expulsions, house burnings and looting are a daily occurrence. They cannot be excused by the suffering that has been inflicted in the past.” _ Sergio Vieira de Mello, the United Nations’ top administrator in Kosovo, expressing dismay Wednesday (July 14) at the acts of revenge being carried out by ethnic Albanians against Serbs in Kosovo.

DEA END RNS