c. 2000 Religion News Service
Council Removes Some Limits on Oregon Church Feeding Poor
(RNS) The Portland, Ore., City Council voted unanimously Wednesday (March 1) to overturn an attendance limit put on a United Methodist church whose feeding program for the poor has sparked controversy.
The weekly meals program at Sunnyside Centenary United Methodist Church also has been preserved _ with conditions _ by the council.
The attendance limit had drawn attention from many concerned about constitutional issues involving government entanglement with religion.
“It was a dumb mistake,” City Commissioner Charlie Hales said about the January decision by city hearings officer Elizabeth Normand. “It’s not a legal issue. It’s a common-sense issue.”
Normand’s ruling had placed a limit of 70 persons on those who could attend worship services. It also placed conditions on the operation of the church’s nighttime shelter, day-care center and Indochinese Socialization Center.
“We are not saying this population should not be served,” said neighbor Lisa Long. “We are saying this population should not be served across from our public park and our elementary school.”
The church presented a plan to address concerns of the neighbors and the council used it as the basis for negotiations between church members and residents, the Associated Press reported.
The plan calls for the church to provide access to its key church contacts and decision-makers, enforce zero tolerance of disruptive behavior, increase volunteer foot patrols around the neighborhood during the meal program, and develop guidelines for providing services to poor and transient people.
The neighbors and the church are expected to report back to the council on the progress of the plan in 60 days.
Alabama School Board Settles Dispute Over Cross Necklace
(RNS) An Alabama school board has settled a lawsuit filed by a student who was prevented from displaying a cross necklace.
The American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative law firm founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, filed suit in October on behalf of Kandice Smith, a sixth-grader at Curry Middle School in Jasper, Ala.
On Tuesday (Feb. 29), a settlement agreement was reached that permits Kandice to wear her cross outside her clothing and requires the Walker County Public Schools to revise their dress code policy “to mandate religious accommodations in accordance with the Alabama Religious Freedom Amendment.” The ACLJ also will receive $30,000 as part of the settlement.
“We are very pleased that Kandice Smith’s constitutional rights have been restored,” said Stuart J. Roth, Southeast regional counsel for the ACLJ. “The law is very clear that religious expression such as wearing a cross is protected expression pursuant to both the United States Constitution and the Alabama Constitution.”
Russ Robertson, an attorney for the school board, said the board decided it could not afford to risk a negative verdict in court.
“This decision was not made on any kind of legal basis,” he told Religion News Service. “It was just a financial decision that the board had to make. … The American Center for Law and Justice was extremely confident in their position … but I had confidence in our position, too.”
He expects the board will create guidelines to deal with similar situations in the future. The policy, which prohibited the display of any necklace outside clothing, was designed to provide a uniform style of attire.
But more students have been wearing religious necklaces since the board temporarily allowed them to do so pending the outcome of the lawsuit.
“Every student that chooses to is wearing necklaces that promote or support or announce their religion including at least one student whose stated religion is witchcraft,” the lawyer said, adding that that student is wearing a pentagram necklace.
Vermont Committee Passes Bill Legalizing Gay Partnerships
(RNS) A Vermont House committee passed a bill Wednesday (March 1) that would legalize gay domestic partnerships.
The bill would establish “civil unions,” which would be a parallel to marriage for gay couples.
The sole opponent in the 10-1 vote was Rep. William Mackinnon, who said gays should be given full marriage rights equivalent to those enjoyed by heterosexuals.
But Rep. William Lippert, the only openly gay member of the Legislature, was pleased with the vote.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve done,” said Lippert, the Associated Press reported.
The Legislature is considering the matter after the state Supreme Court decided in December that Vermont’s denial of rights and benefits of marriage to homosexuals was unconstitutional. The court suggested that lawmakers either adopt a domestic partnership system or broaden statutes regarding marriage.
The Vermont bill must be reviewed by the Ways and Means Committee before it can be considered by the full House. The measure, which is supported by Gov. Howard Dean, is not expected to be the subject of floor debate until mid-March.
No state has legalized gay marriage. Hawaii’s Supreme Court raised the possibility of same-sex unions in 1993 but later barred gay marriage.
Since 1993, Congress and 30 states have passed pre-emptive laws stating they will not recognize such marriages if they are legalized in another state.
Senate Approves Gold Medal for O’Connor
(RNS) In a unanimous vote Wednesday (March 1), the Senate approved legislation to award Cardinal John O’Connor the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress’ highest civilian honor.
Similar legislation has already passed the House and now goes to the White House for President Clinton’s signature.
The ailing 80-year-old cardinal has recently suffered from a number of health problems, including two minor falls in October and surgery to remove a brain tumor last August. Weakness forced him to cancel a celebration of Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Feb. 27, and a day later he canceled plans to host a book party.
O’Connor’s work with AIDS patients, children and the needy drew praise from Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who also applauded the cardinal’s efforts to restore the Vatican’s diplomatic ties to Israel.
O’Connor has led New York’s 2.3 million Catholics since 1984. Before that, he worked as a bishop in Pennsylvania. He also served in the Navy for 27 years and was a military chaplain.
The Gold Medal has been given to 250 people, including Mother Teresa and George Washington.
Hopes Dim for `Trilateral’ Faith Meeting With Pope
(RNS) Israeli Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau said Thursday (March 2) he has accepted an invitation to hold a historic trilateral meeting in Jerusalem with Pope John Paul II and the Islamic mufti of the holy city, Ekrima Sabri, when the papal leader visits later in the month.
But the prospects for the meeting appear to be dimming since the mufti appears unwilling to answer the papal invitation, sources told RNS.
“It’s not clear if there will be a summit or not,” Lau told a news conference. “The chief rabbis of Israel have agreed to the meeting and accepted the invitation of the pope, but the mufti so far didn’t agree.”
The meeting has tentatively been scheduled for March 23 in Jerusalem’s Notre Dame Hotel, a Catholic hospice and conference center. If the meeting does happen, it would mark the first time the top Jewish and Muslim religious representatives in the Holy Land have met in any sort of dialogue.
Negotiations are still continuing over the possible meeting, apparently with an Islamic figure other than Sabri, according to sources.
In his remarks, Lau also responded to criticism from ultra-Orthodox Jews who are protesting the pending papal visit, saying that the pope had befriended Jews throughout his career, beginning as a parish priest in World War II Poland.
“We appreciate the pope for very many points in his record _ his fight against anti-Semitism is well known over the world,” said Lau, who is a Holocaust survivor. The chief rabbi also praised the pope for his vociferous denunciations of religious violence. And the pope has gone further than any Catholic predecessor in recognizing Judaism as the legitimate “elder brother” of Christianity, the rabbi said.
Although Lau said religious Jews should welcome the pope to Israel, he renewed concerns about the Catholic leader’s travel schedule on the Jewish Sabbath, which will require extensive security escorts.
The pope is planning to travel to Galilee on both Friday and Saturday, while returning to Jerusalem to sleep in the official residence of the Vatican delegate Pietro Sambi on the Mount of Olives.
Lau said he would prefer the pope spend Friday night in the Christian city of Nazareth, so as to minimize the number of Jewish security personnel who would be obliged to desecrate the Sabbath by working on their day of rest.
Nigeria Hopes to Calm Violence by Ending New Islamic Laws
(RNS) A week of bloodshed between Nigerian Muslims and Christians has led to a compromise between the central government and Muslim-dominated states in the north to withdraw a proposal to implement Islamic law in the northern state of Kaduna.
The traditional laws, collectively known as sharia, would _ among other things _ prohibit alcohol and force men and women to ride in separate public transportation. They also would have created criminal courts specifically for Muslims. Supporters said the courts would apply only to Muslims, but the country’s Christians were fearful of the proposed laws.
A meeting Tuesday (Feb. 29) between the nation’s predominantly Muslim northern provinces and largely Christian southern region came after 30 people were killed in the eastern city of Aba on Monday (Feb. 28), the Associated Press reported.
Since ending 15 years of military rule last year, the central-western African country has been wracked by internal ethnic disputes. The agreement reached this week calls for areas with sharia laws to stop enforcing them and for states seeking to implement them to suspend those plans.
“To restore normalcy and create confidence in the troubled polity, it was agreed that, as far as the sharia issue is concerned, everyone will revert” to the legal system before sharia was implemented, said Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The governor of the only state to have sharia laws, Ahmed Sani, said he would return to his northern province of Zamfara and abide by the agreement.
“As soon as I go back, I’m going to have a meeting of Muslim and Christian leaders … to make them understand we need peace,” Sani said.
Church of England Urges Help for Britain’s Farmers
(RNS) The Church of England’s general synod has urged the government to help Britain’s farming industry.
In a motion adopted unanimously Wednesday (March 1), the synod asked it to develop a clear, long-term strategy to ensure “that we have both land and farmers able to make a large contribution to the feeding of the nation and that the land is managed in environmentally acceptable ways.”
Introducing the debate, Bishop of Hereford John Oliver said farming was going through “its worst crisis in living memory,” a crisis widely seen as worse than the agricultural depression of the 1920s and 1930s.
He disputed the government’s claim, repeated recently by Prime Minister Tony Blair, that while farming was in crisis the countryside was thriving.
“That may possibly be true for some highly suburbanized areas, but the churches are in a very strong position to know that it is not generally true,” said the bishop.
Pope Will Accept Responsibility for Sins Committed by Catholics
(RNS) In a move unprecedented in two millenniums of Roman Catholic history, Pope John Paul II will open Lent by offering a sweeping apology for sins committed by Catholics over the centuries.
But, according to theologians, while the Roman Catholic pontiff will accept responsibility for the actions of the “sons and daughters” of the church, he will make no apology for the church itself, which is considered “holy and immaculate.”
The key distinction is contained in a 90-page document prepared by an international panel of seven theologians under the guidance of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and president of the International Theological Commission.
Through an apparent misunderstanding, church officials in France and Germany made the document public Wednesday (March 1) although the Vatican will not issue it until next Tuesday (March 7). Vatican publication originally was scheduled for March 2 but delayed for technical reasons, Vatican officials said.
John Paul has made repentance and reconciliation a theme of Holy Year observances. He told pilgrims at a general audience in September that he wanted to start the third millennium of Christianity by asking pardon for past mistakes.
“With a penitential spirit and on the threshold of a new millennium, the church is willing to acknowledge past mistakes, when they are confirmed by serious investigation, and to ask pardon for the historical offenses of its sons,” he said.
The Vatican has said the pontiff will make the apology on a “day of repentance,” scheduled for March 12, which is the first Sunday of Lent, the 40-day season of fasting, prayer and almsgiving in preparation for Easter.
“Memory and Reconciliation: The Church and the Mistakes of the Past,” the document explaining the theological framework for the papal statement, lists as sins divisions among Christians; the “use of violence in the service of the truth,” an apparent reference to the Inquisition; and relations with the Jews.
Past errors by Catholics also are at the root of such “evils of today” as the spread of atheism, indifference, ethical relativism, the failure to oppose abortion laws and neglect of the poor, the document says.
By issuing the theological document in advance of the pope’s statement, the Vatican sought to dispel what the document calls “reservations” by some Catholics, who fear the apology will provide ammunition to “those who are hostile” to the church.
John Paul already has apologized for the failure of many Catholics to oppose the Nazi extermination of the Jews during World War II. But Jewish leaders contended that the Vatican’s 1998 document on the Holocaust, “We Remember: Reflections on the Shoah,” did not go far enough.
Quote of the day: Sipho Massemola, chairman of the Association of Christian Lay Centers in Africa
(RNS) “If churches are to make a meaningful contribution in society, lay people, who are 98 percent of the church, are the people who should be in the front line making an impact on society.”
_ Sipho Massemola, chairman of the Association of Christian Lay Centers in Africa, in a Feb. 24 interview with Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency.
DEA END RNS
