c. 2000 Religion News Service
Tentative Agreement Reached on Debt Relief Package
(RNS) Congressional Republicans have signaled their agreement to fund all of President Clinton’s $435 million request for debt relief for poor nations, marking a major victory for the politicians, religious leaders and rock stars who have lobbied for debt relief.
The United States agreed last year to contribute to a $90 billion fund to eliminate the foreign debts of about 40 poor countries in Africa and Latin America. The U.S. share is only about $900 million, with one-third of the money forgiving debts owed directly to the United States, and two-thirds helping to eliminate debts owed to the World Bank and other international institutions.
Congress has so far only partially funded Clinton’s $435 million request, and Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, had vowed to block the measure unless global banking reforms were part of the package. On Tuesday (Oct. 17), congressional leaders said they have largely agreed to the entire package.
“The debt relief issue is now a speeding train,” Rep. Sonny Callahan, R-Ala., the chairman of the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee, told The New York Times. “We’ve got the pope and every missionary in the world involved in this thing, and they persuaded just about everyone here that this is the noble thing to do.”
Gramm’s spokeswoman also told The Times that Gramm still has some concerns about the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, but that his list of reforms was “evolving.”
Religious leaders praised the tentative agreement, saying the money will go far in aiding poor children, raising health care standards and feeding the world’s hungry.
“We’re thrilled with how far this issue has come in a relatively short time,” said Jim McDonald, vice president of public policy at Bread for the World, a global hunger relief agency. “A couple of years ago people rolled their eyes when you brought up the issue of debt relief, and now a remarkable coalition across the religious and political spectrum has understood the importance that debt relief can make.”
Tom Hart, the Episcopal Church’s lobbyist in Washington, said the agreement is a major breakthrough for the debt relief initiative, but cautioned the measure still needs final approval in both the Senate and the House, as well as Clinton’s signature.
“All the indications are that we will win, but we haven’t completely won yet,” Hart said. “This issue is going to pull through in the end, and we’re very excited about it.”
World Vision Joins Fight Against Ebola Virus in Uganda
(RNS) As the deadly Ebola virus sweeps across Uganda, killing dozens of people and forcing officials to close schools, World Vision, the evangelical humanitarian aid agency, announced it has mobilized hundreds of volunteers and staff members to raise awareness about the epidemic.
“People are frightened _ they think the disease is caused by an evil spirit,” said Mark Avola, coordinator of World Vision’s work in the district of Gulu and a member of the district’s Ebola task force. “Our greatest problems are lack of public awareness and suitable protective gear for health care staff.”
Some 75 World Vision staff and 400 community volunteers have been recruited for the task of educating Ugandan communities. World Vision has already begun distributing supplies to local hospitals, such as protective gear for health workers.
The fatal virus is highly contagious. It’s easily spread through bodily contact such as shaking hands, which has been banned in Gulu district.
“We are adding about 10 cases every 24 hours,” World Health Organization epidemiologist Nestor Ndayimirije told the Associated Press. Ndayimirije is helping Ugandan authorities pinpoint the origins of the virus in Uganda, which had never suffered an Ebola outbreak.
The virus, which causes flulike symptoms and bleeding from the skin, nose and mouth, cannot be detected in blood tests. Equipment used to confirm infections is not available in Uganda.
About 90 percent of confirmed infections lead to death, sometimes in as little as two weeks. An estimated 40 people in Gulu district have died of Ebola.
The epidemic has prompted Catholic Relief Services, the overseas development and relief arm of the U.S. Catholic Conference, to evacuate its staff from the district to the capital city of Kampala.
“We have to take measures to protect our staff as the disease appears to be spreading,” Ken Hackett, executive director of the agency, said in a news release. “We are, however, continuing to support the health interventions of the Catholic hospitals in Gulu and have offered to provide any additional support they may require to deal with the Ebola outbreak.”
Archbishop Tutu Hospitalized
(RNS) Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu entered a private hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, on Wednesday (Oct. 18) for examination.
Tutu will remain in the private hospital for an overnight stay, said a spokeswoman for his Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was established to investigate abuses committed under apartheid. Odile Pearce declined to name the hospital to which the archbishop had been admitted, nor would she identify which tests he was scheduled to undergo.
“We should know the results by tomorrow,” Pearce told the Associated Press.
The 69-year-old archbishop underwent surgery in the United States for prostate cancer in November of last year and has commented that his recovery has been slow. Tutu, awarded the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in fighting apartheid in South Africa, returned to the country in August after completing a two-year teaching sabbatical at Emory University in Atlanta.
Gore Warned Not to Ask Churches for Help on Election Day
(RNS) Vice President Al Gore’s phone call to black ministers from Air Force Two was inappropriate and could get churches in trouble for improper politicking, said a leading church-state watchdog group.
According to The New York Times, Gore called a group of black ministers on Saturday (Oct. 14) during a flight from Detroit to Washington and urged them to ask their congregations to vote on Election Day.
“I’m asking you in your sermons to do the work of the Lord here on Earth,” Gore said. “I ask for your help in getting that message out urgently tomorrow.”
Several of the pastors said they would help. The Rev. Ronald Williams of Portland, Ore., prayed during the conference call that God would “strengthen (Gore) against those who would attempt to weaken him” and asked for “success in our voter registration and success in voter turnout and success and victory on Election Day.”
The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, asked Gore in a letter to clarify just what he wanted the pastors to do on his behalf.
“You appear to be asking religious leaders to endorse your candidacy from the pulpit,” Lynn wrote, emphasizing that churches, as tax-exempt organizations, are prohibited from partisan politics or endorsing candidates. “This is highly inappropriate, since it could put the tax-exempt status of those churches at risk.”
Three More Falun Gong Followers Die
(RNS) Three more members of the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual movement jailed for pro-Falun Gong protests have died after being arrested by Chinese authorities, a human rights group has said.
According to the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, authorities beat to death Xuan Chengxi, 62, after arresting him Oct. 12 for distributing Falun Gong literature. Officials then cremated the man’s remains without notifying his family, the center claimed.
Another Falun Gong member died while being escorted from Beijing, where he had been arrested Oct. 4, to his home in Yuhe township. Zhang Zaifa, 45, jumped from the train.
A third Falun Gong follower fell seven stories to his death from an office building in Qionghai city during a police interrogation Oct. 7. Police insist that Zhuang Guangxin, 21, committed suicide, the center reported.
None of the deaths could be confirmed independently, the Associated Press reported. Authorities declined to comment on the center’s claims, but in the past have denied mistreating Falun Gong followers.
Falun Gong _ a combination of traditional Chinese exercises and Buddhist and Taoist principles _ was banned in July of last year after Chinese leaders decided the group was a threat to the Communist Party.
Since then, Chinese authorities have arrested thousands of Falun Gong practitioners and sentenced movement leaders to prison terms as long as 18 years.
The deaths of the three Falun Gong followers boost to 57 the number of followers who have died while in police custody, the Information Center said.
Amnesty International Launches Anti-Torture Campaign
(RNS) Amnesty International said Wednesday (Oct. 18) it is launching a global anti-torture campaign.
“In more than 70 (countries), torture or ill-treatment by state officials was widespread and in over 80 countries people reportedly died as a result,” the group said in a report accompanying the announcement. “Amnesty International members will be lobbying officials at all levels of government to declare Torture Free Zones.”
Victims worldwide suffer “bruises, internal bleeding, broken bones, lost teeth, ruptured organs and some die,” the report concluded, Reuters reported. “Anyone, anywhere can be a victim of torture _ regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or political persuasion.”
Victims are often subject to rape and other sexual abuse, the report said, while other methods of torture “include submersion in water, stubbing of cigarettes on the body, being tied to the back of a car and being dragged behind it.”
The report pointed out links between racism and torture, declaring that “torture feeds off discrimination.”
“Many if not most of the victims of police brutality in Europe and the U.S.A. are black or from other ethnic minorities,” the report said, and noted that immigrants are frequently victimized too.
“In Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the U.K. (United Kingdom), foreign nationals have died during deportation, apparently as a result of excessive use of force by police or dangerous methods of restraint,” the report said. “Migrant workers accused of criminal offenses in Saudi Arabia are more likely to face amputations or flogging than Saudi nationals. And in Japan, foreign workers who have overstayed their visas have been beaten and humiliated.”
Pope Calls for More Equal Distribution of Global Food Resources
(RNS) Pope John Paul II has called for more equal distribution of global food resources and an end to armed conflicts that worsen the “devastating scourge” of hunger affecting hundreds of millions of people.
“The food (produced) in the world today would already be enough for everyone if only it were distributed in an equitable way,” the pope said in a statement, dated Oct. 4 but released on Tuesday (Oct. 17), addressed to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The FAO celebrated annual World Food Day Oct. 16. This year’s theme was “A Millennium Free of Hunger.”
“Freeing from hunger the hundreds of millions of human beings who are victims of this scourge is no easy endeavor,” the pope said. John Paul cited the FAO’s most recent annual report, which lists war as the No. 1 cause of hunger. The number of food crises caused by wars and armed conflicts rose from 10 percent of all such crises in 1984 to 50 percent in 1999, the report said.
“It is painful to note that `for rural populations, internal conflicts are more devastating than international wars,”’ the pope said, quoting the report.
“Freedom from hunger also means freedom from war,” John Paul said.
The pontiff called upon people in wealthy nations to give up food excesses and other extravagant habits to free up resources for those in need.
“It would be no small result of this World Food Day if those who abound in material goods committed themselves to a style of reasonable austerity in order to come to the aid of those who have nothing to eat,” John Paul said.
“The freeing of these people from excessively expensive habits would bring freedom to the others who thus could be saved from the devastating scourge of hunger and undernourishment.”
Quote of the day: French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin
(RNS) “We must not transfer to France, on our land, the passions and the violence that unfortunately are taking place between Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East.”
_ French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin at a meeting Oct. 16 with France’s Jewish, Muslim, Protestant and Roman Catholic communities in the wake of an arson attack on a synagogue. He was quoted by the Associated Press.
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