c. 2000 Religion News Service
Elian’s Grandmothers Return to Cuba, Retain Church Support
(RNS) The grandmothers of Elian Gonzalez returned to Cuba on Sunday (Jan. 30) and officials of the National Council of Churches, which supported their U.S. visit, said they would continue to help the women in their efforts to return the 6-year-old to his native land.
Raquel Rodriguez and Mariela Quintana, the boy’s maternal and paternal grandmothers, respectively, received a heroines’ welcome, traveling in a motorcade that passed hundreds of thousands of Cubans cheering on their efforts to bring the boy back to Cuba.
The grandmothers spent more than a week traveling to New York, Miami and Washington in hopes of convincing Americans their grandson belonged with his immediate family in Cuba.
Elian arrived in the United States last November clinging to an inner tube off the coast of Florida after his mother and others died in an apparent attempt to illegally immigrate to the United States. Miami relatives, who believe he is better off as a U.S. resident, are fighting an order by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service that he be returned to his father in Cuba.
A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments Feb. 22 about whether the Miami relatives’ lawsuit should be dismissed, the Associated Press reported.
Throughout much of their time in the United States, the grandmothers were escorted by a delegation of National Council of Churches officials. Some members of that delegation had visited with them in Cuba before the women made the U.S. trip.
The Rev. Robert W. Edgar, the council’s general secretary, said he was pleased the council had helped the grandmothers press their cause and achieve a visit with their grandson. He said the council remains “on call” to assist them further.
“The National Council of Churches has not pulled back from its commitment to Elian Gonzalez’s grandmothers and their mission,” he said in a statement released Friday (Jan. 28).
The council, which was asked by the Cuban Council of Churches to assist in the matter, hosted the first part of the grandmothers’ U.S. visit. Its latter days were handled by the Cuban Interests Section, the Cuban government’s official U.S. presence, the NCC said.
In a news release, the council said all but one flight during the NCC’s hosting period was paid for by private donations.
A roundtrip flight between New York and Washington on Jan. 22 was paid for by the NCC. It cost $3,100 for seven passengers.
Dalai Lama Urges India to Grant Shelter to Tibetan Buddhist Leader
(RNS) The Dalai Lama has urged India to grant refugee status to a prominent teen-age Buddhist leader who fled China in early January, saying it would be a “terrible mistake” not to let the boy stay in the country.
In a letter released to reporters Friday (Jan. 28), the exiled spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism said India’s image will suffer if the government does not allow the boy, the 17th Karmapa _ the third highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism _ to stay in the country.”It would be a terrible mistake for India if (the government) does not let the Karmapa stay on,”the Dalai Lama said in the letter to Rabi Ray, a former speaker of India’s lower house of parliament. Ray released the letter to reporters, the Associated Press reported.
The Karmapa Lama is the only senior Tibetan Buddhist leader recognized by both China and the movement headed by the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama’s plea echoed that of other Buddhist organizations that have urged India to allow the Karmapa to be given asylum in the Rumtek monastery in India’s northeastern state of Sikkim, where his deceased predecessor _ who fled Tibet in 1959 _ established the seat of his Karma Kagyu sect.
India has allowed more than 100,000 Tibetan refugees to settle within its borders since a failed 1959 revolt against Chinese rule by Tibetans seeking independence. The Dalai Lama, in addition to being the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism, also heads the exile government in Dharmsala.
China has said it would welcome the Karmapa back but will continue to strictly control who is ordained within the Tibetan Buddhist movement.
Newspaper: Catholic Priests Dying From AIDS at Higher Rate Than Others
(RNS) Roman Catholic priests in the United States are dying of AIDS-related illnesses at a rate four times higher than the general population, though their true cause of death is often hidden on death certificates, The Kansas City Star reported Sunday (Jan. 30).
“The church and religious orders need to acknowledge that there is a problem _ that priests have sex and are susceptible to all sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS,” said Farley Cleghorn, an epidemiologist with the Institute of Human Virology in Baltimore, who added that all of the approximately 20 priests and other religious men living with AIDS whom he has treated have kept their infection a secret. “I think the most important message is that, just like every other part of the population, priests need sex education and sexual disease prevention.”
In the first of a three-part series, the newspaper reported that its review of death certificates and interviews with experts indicated several hundred priests nationwide have died of AIDS-related illnesses since the mid-1980s, while hundreds more are infected with HIV, the virus that causes the disease.
Church officials in the United States and at the Vatican declined to discuss the report, according to the newspaper, while the Vatican directed inquiries to local bishops.
The Star based its report on a confidential questionnaire mailed last fall to 3,000 of the nation’s 46,000 priests. Of the 801 priests who responded, six out of 10 knew of at least one priest whose death was due to an AIDS-related illness and one in three respondents said they knew a priest living with AIDS.
Three-fourths of the respondents identified themselves as heterosexual, while 15 percent said they were homosexual. Five percent of respondents said they were bisexual.
An exact count of priests who have become HIV-infected or died of AIDS is unknown, in part because many handle their affliction alone. And when a priest does inform a superior, such cases generally are handled quietly, The Star reported.
“In the early days, they wouldn’t even recognize AIDS on death certificates,” said Sue Ledbetter, who helped establish a support group in Wichita for people living with AIDS. “They would put things like `died of pneumonia, hepatitis.’ And the priests probably did have those things. But they got those things because of complications from HIV and AIDS.”
Though about 75 percent of respondents said the Catholic Church needed to educate clergy more about matters relating to sex and sexuality, more than half praised its compassion toward priests with AIDS, as churches frequently take care of housing and medical bills for the priests.
The report also included responses from church leaders who pointed out that any criticism of the Catholic Church’s handling of the issue must take into account the personal wishes of the priests themselves, a number of whom prefer their medical condition remain private.
The Star’s report drew criticism from William Donohue, president of the Catholic League, who wondered whether the paper would write such a report about members of other faiths.
“The Torah forbids an Orthodox Jewish man from having sex with his wife while she is menstruating, and for a time afterward,” said Donohue. “During Ramadan, which lasts for a month, Muslims are forbidden from having sex during the daylight hours of their fasting period. Question: Will the Kansas City Star now do a survey of Jews and Muslims to see how many are cheating? And while they’re at it, they may want to explore why a reported 37 percent of Protestant pastors have confessed to having been involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with someone in the church.”
Results Mixed in Latest Catholic Healthcare West Union Elections
(RNS) In the latest face-off over unionization at Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), technical employees at five Mercy Healthcare hospitals in Sacramento, Calif., rejected union representation in elections on Thursday (Jan. 27). Results for the service employees’ vote remain in dispute.
The campaign to organize the large Roman Catholic hospital system has been one of the most visible and bitterly contested union representation campaigns involving a church-related institution.
At CHW’s Bruceville Terrace skilled nursing facility in Sacramento, workers voted yes to Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 250, which was trying to organize the other CHW institutions. The Bruceville Terrace vote was 75-24.
Meanwhile, workers at three San Francisco CHW hospitals also voted for union representation.
After the votes, union officials charged “illegal interference” by management was behind the no vote in Sacramento. “The campaign by management has been horrendous,” said SEIU spokesperson Lisa Hubbard.
SEIU said employees were unduly pressured by supervisors who control such crucial aspects of their jobs as pay and schedules.
“We believe our actions were appropriate,” responded Jill Dryer, hospital spokesperson.
Dryer said management had encouraged employees to vote their conscience and disavowed the charge of unfair tactics to coerce a no vote.
Sacramento employees are filing objections with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), according to SEIU, which said charges will be documented by the Fair Elections Oversight Committee appointed by California State Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa to monitor the elections.
In the three San Francisco CHW facilities voting for representation, SEIU said management signed an agreement to let employees vote without interference.
The San Francisco workers voted 238-82 for Local 250 on Thursday, joining more than 200 who chose SEIU representation last October.
In the disputed Sacramento service employees’ election, 701 voted against and 598 for the union, with 116 votes challenged by the hospitals or SEIU.
The outcome depends on the NLRB, which is investigating the challenged votes.
Quote of the Day: Republican Presidential Hopeful George W. Bush
(RNS) “One of the reasons I have the faith that I have is I recognize I am a lowly sinner and that’s what my faith has helped me reconcile _ that’s what redemption is all about.”
_ Texas Gov. George W. Bush, responding to a question about his religious beliefs during a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Jan. 28. He was quoted by the Associated Press.
DEA END RNS
