c. 2000 Religion News Service

Methodists Ask End to U.N. Sanctions Against Iraq

(RNS) The United Methodist General Conference has passed a resolution appealing to the United Nations to end economic sanctions against Iraq, denouncing the 10-year-old restrictions as the “most severe penalty ever imposed on any nation.”

The “burden of these economic sanctions falls squarely on the shoulders of the poor, the elderly and the children of Iraq,” declared the resolution, citing UNICEF estimates that the sanctions “are directly responsible for the deaths of five to six thousand children every monthâÂ?¦”

The resolution appealed to Washington to help end sanctions and restore “Iraq to its previous status as a respected and prosperous members of the international community.”

The United Nations imposed economic sanctions against Iraq following the country’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The sanctions will remain in effect until the United Nations determines Iraq no longer has any weapons of mass destruction.

Critics of the sanctions contend they have done little to harm Baghdad, but instead victimized Iraqi civilians, particularly children. Though sanctions do permit an oil-for-food program allowing Iraq to sell oil in exchange for food and medicine for civilians, that policy, too, has been criticized.

Two senior United Nations officials resigned earlier this year to protest the sanctions against Iraq. In February, Jutta Burghardt left her post as head of the United Nations’ World Food Program in Iraq _ an organization responsible for distributing food from the oil-for-food program.

A week before Burghardt’s resignation, the United Nations’ chief official in Iraq, Hans von Sponeck, announced his resignation as well. His resignation, which took effect March 31, followed that of his predecessor, Denis Halliday, who left the post in the fall of 1998 and has become an outspoken critic of sanctions against Iraq.

Church Leaders in Puerto Rico Pledge to Fight for Vieques

(RNS) Less than a week after hundreds of armed federal agents detained more than 200 people protesting the U.S. Navy’s use of Vieques island as a military training ground, church leaders in Puerto Rico have vowed to continue fighting for the military’s withdrawal from the island.

“If the Navy resumes bombing, hundreds of people will return to the restricted zone,” said Bishop Juan Vera of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico, one of several church representatives detained during a predawn raid on May 4 at a U.S. military bombing range on Vieques.

Since last spring when an errant bomb released during a U.S. Navy training mission killed a civilian security guard and injured four others, efforts to end the 60-year practice of military training on the island have increased.

Church leaders plan to appeal to President Clinton for help in removing the U.S. Navy from Vieques, said Vera, and a protest in the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan has been scheduled for May 28.

“The U.S. government has opened a Pandora’s box with these arrests,” said Wilfredo Velez, a Disciples of Christ pastor arrested in 1979 while protesting against the Navy. “The people of Puerto Rico will continue to go to Vieques, and the U.S. government will have to arrest more of us, many more of us, until it learns it has to let Vieques live in peace.”

Update: Defense Seeks Open Trial for Iranian Jews Accused of Spying

(RNS) Defense lawyers for several of the 13 Iranian Jews charged with spying for Israel petitioned the court on Monday (May 8) to open the trial to observers.

Defense lawyers said their spokesman, Esmail Naseri, asked Judge Sadeq Nourani to permit observers to attend the trial because of concerns that the court _ which has no jury _ could be biased.

But that request is not likely to be honored, one judiciary official told the Associated Press. He said the court would not “surrender to any political pressures.”

“The lawyers demanded the trial be opened to all reporters, and the judge said he will consider it,” said Provincial Judiciary Chief Hossein Ali Amiri. “But I don’t think he’ll accept and open the trial sessions.”

More than a year ago Iran arrested and imprisoned 13 Jews on charges of releasing classified information to Israel. The men face lengthy prison sentences _ possibly the death penalty _ if convicted.

But concern about whether judicial proceedings against the 13 men will be fair prompted U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to warn Iran that the trial’s outcome could have global consequences. Iranian officials have said harsh punishment for the accused men could damage efforts to strengthen ties with Israel, according to Reuters, while one embassy has already announced it may recall its ambassador should the accused men receive death sentences.

Amiri dismissed concerns about bias.

“Jews, Zorastrians and Christians are all fellow Iranians, and there is no discrimination against anyone based on their religion,” he told Reuters, noting that nine Muslims are also under suspicion of involvement in the alleged spy ring.

Court officials have reported that three of the men have already confessed to giving confidential information to Israel, but defense attorney Naseri maintains none of his clients had access to such information.

Connecticut Bishop May Be Successor to O’Connor

(RNS) Bishop Edward M. Egan, of the Bridgeport diocese in Connecticut, has informed his family that he will succeed the late Cardinal John O’Connor as archbishop of New York, according to his brother-in-law.

“He asked us not to say anything because O’Connor was so very, very sick,” Raymond Egan of Hagerstown, Md., told the Daily News, according to the Washington Post.

Raymond Egan said his brother-in-law informed the family last week that he was the Vatican’s choice to head the New York archdiocese, the nation’s third largest with 2.3 million Roman Catholics. O’Connor died Wednesday (May 3) after a long battle with brain cancer. O’Connor served 16 years at the helm of the New York archdiocese.

Pope John Paul II is expected to announce O’Connor’s successor on Tuesday (May 9) at the earliest, but the Post reported that retired New York auxiliary bishop Patrick Ahern confirmed reports of Egan’s appointment.

Still, one of Egan’s assistants, Monsignor Stanley Rousseau, remained cautious.

“It’s not definite,” Rousseau said. “It’s not a sure thing because we’ve got to wait for the pope’s announcement.”

The bishop did not address the reports, the Post reported, since he was in New York attending services for O’Connor. Egan, 68, has led the Bridgeport diocese and its 360,000 Catholics, since 1988, previously serving 20 years at the Vatican as a canon lawyer working with popes Paul VI to John Paul II. He also oversaw Catholic schools in New York for two years while serving as an auxiliary bishop.

Methodists Ask for Opinion on Strength of Church Law

(RNS) Delegates to the 2000 General Conference meeting of the United Methodist Church took the first step toward addressing the touchy subject of homosexuality Thursday (May 4) with a razor-thin vote to ask the church to go on record with its disciplinary procedures.

The church is meeting in Cleveland for its quadrennial policymaking conference. Issues of gay ordination and same-sex union ceremonies are expected to dominate the second week of the meeting.

The subtext of Thursday night’s vote was a decision in February by a church committee not to prosecute 68 pastors who participated in a same-sex union ceremony last year. The church has an official prohibition against same-sex ceremonies, and bars it clergy from participating.

In that case, Bishop Melvin Talbert of the California-Nevada Annual Conference said the relationships between clergy within a church jurisdiction has precedence over the laws outlined in the church’s Book of Discipline. A formal complaint has been filed against Talbert by a California church member.

Although the vote made no direct reference to the California case, delegates voted 559-549 to ask the church’s Judicial Council “for a declaratory decision on the effect of how the covenant relationship between the annual conference and its clergy relates to the Book of Discipline.”

The resolution also wants to know “whether there are any circumstances where the annual conference has the right to negate or ignore the Book of Discipline.”

Joe Whittemore, who offered the resolution on behalf of the church’s North Georgia delegation, said the church needs to clarify how its clergy relate to is governing rules. “We need to know how to interpret what defines our agreement with others to be in ministry together,” he said.

Church members are meeting in legislative committee sessions before the full conference votes on resolutions later in the week.

Zimbabwe Prelate Calls for Tolerance

(RNS) – A top Roman Catholic official in Zimbabwe has issued a plea for tolerance by members of both the nation’s black majority and white minority while sharply criticizing the government of President Robert Mugabe for its alleged corruption and other misdeeds.

The plea came in a pastoral letter by Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo issued April 30 and read throughout the diocese.

The letter, a response to the current political crisis initiated by veterans of Zimbabwe’s war for independence who have invaded white-owned farms demanding the land be given to poor blacks, expressed concern about the “disturbing events” in Zimbabwe. It called on the nation’s leaders to engage in “constructive policies” and all citizens to avoid violence.

The farm invasions have the tacit support of Mugabe. At least 14 people have died in incidents connected to the squatting movement.

“As church we stand for justice and the well-being of everybody,” said the letter. “We do not take sides with any political party. We strongly deplore the lawless invasion of the farms, sometimes by villagers who are being forced against their will to settle on the farms.

“We see anarchy growing in the country,” it added.

The decline of Zimbabwe’s economy, the letter said, was “largely due to corruption and nepotism in the government.”

The letter acknowledged that “people need land,” but said any land redistribution must be done “in a legal and orderly way.” It contended that 270 farms taken over by the government for resettlement and redistribution “were sold at bargain prices to government officials.”

Quote of the Day: United Methodist Bishop William Oden

(RNS) “I am not a voting delegate and I can’t predict what will happen to every piece of legislation. But I believe we will be closer together after this conference as a result of our discussions (on homosexuality).”

_ United Methodist Bishop William Oden, new president of the church’s Council of Bishops, commenting May 5 during the denomination’s General Conference on the contentious issue of homosexuality which some observers say will create a schism.

DEA END RNS