c. 2003 Religion News Service

Canada’s Supreme Court Refuses Appeal on Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage

(RNS) Canada’s Supreme Court refused Thursday (Oct. 9) to permit conservative religious and family groups to appeal a court ruling that made same-sex marriage legal in Ontario.

A five-judge panel said the groups cannot appeal a decision by an Ontario court that the traditional definition of marriage as between a man and a woman was unconstitutional, the Associated Press reported. The decision was unanimous.

The Interfaith Coalition on Marriage and Family and the Association for Marriage and the Family in Ontario filed for the appeal after Canada’s federal government refused to appeal.

The government has instead drafted a law that alters the definition of marriage to between two people. It has sent the proposal to the Supreme Court for judicial review before passing it along to Parliament.

Hundreds of same-sex couples have been married in British Columbia and Ontario since courts in those provinces ruled this year that the marriage law discriminated against gays and lesbians.

Pope’s Admirers Regret He Did Not Win Nobel Peace Prize

(RNS) Admirers of Pope John Paul II regretted Friday (Oct. 10) he did not win the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize as he marks the 25th anniversary of his pontificate, but many praised the surprise choice of Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi _ and she had praise for the pope.

“I have always admired the pope, still more because he condemned the American intervention in Iraq,” Ebadi told a news conference in Paris.

The Nobel Peace Prize Committee said it was honoring the Muslim activist for her courage and commitment to democracy. It noted that those she has defended from persecution by Iran’s Islamic leaders included Baha’is, whose religion was founded in Tehran in 1852 and is dedicated to the spiritual unity of mankind.

The announcement of the winner was a surprise because bookmakers from Oslo in Norway to Sydney in Australia had made the 83-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff an odds-on favorite for his efforts to end conflict in the world, fight poverty and encourage dialogue between religions.

Although the pope rarely accepts awards, Vatican sources said he probably would have made an exception for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Others reported to be in the running included former Czech President Vaclav Havel, Irish U2 rock star Bono and President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva of Brazil.

One of the most vehement reactions came from the pope’s fellow Pole, Lech Walesa, the former Solidarity union leader and president of Poland who won the peace prize in 1983. He called overlooking the pope “a great error, a grave error, a bad error.”

“It is incredible, unlikely,” Walesa told Polish television TVN-24. “I have nothing against this women, but if there is anyone in the world who merits this prize it is certainly the pope.”

In the Italian hill town of Assisi, where John Paul has led three interfaith peace pilgrimages in recent years, the Rev. Enzo Fortunato, speaking for the Franciscan friars of the Sacred Convent, called it a “lost opportunity” to which no one would have objected.

But he expressed appreciation for Ebadi’s work “in an area of the world marked by conflicts.” The Franciscans are custodians of religious sites in the Holy Land.

Mario Marazziti, a founder of the Rome-based Community of Sant’Egidio, also believed in the running for the prize, said John Paul did not need more honors, and it was “important and significant” the Nobel Peace Prize Committee had honored a moderate Muslim.

“It is a Nobel of great significance because it indicates that the road of the struggle against terrorism and war must pass through the recognition of that Islam that knows how to join democracy and human rights with an intelligent relationship with modernity,” he said.

_ Peggy Polk

Ancient Synagogue Uncovered in Albania

JERUSALEM (RNS) A team of Israeli and Albanian archaeologists has uncovered remnants from an ancient synagogue in the Albanian city of Saranda, opposite the Greek island of Corfu, the Hebrew University has announced.

Dating back to the 5th or 6th century A.D., the synagogue was utilized over several periods, and converted into a church during its final stage.

Although Albanian archaeologists discovered the site 20 years ago, at the time they did not realize it contained a synagogue. When further excavations hinted at the compound’s Jewish roots, they called in Israeli experts from the Hebrew University Institute of Archeology.

The recent joint excavation uncovered two pieces of mosaic, one featuring a seven-branched candelabrum (menorah) flanked by a citron (etrog) and ram’s horn (shofar), all symbols linked to Jewish holidays, Hebrew University said in an Oct. 8 announcement.

The other contains a number of representations, including a variety of animals, trees, symbols alluding to biblical lore, and the facade of a structure resembling a temple, possibly an ark to hold the Torah. Other mosaic pieces at the site preceded the synagogue’s construction.

“This is the first time we have discovered Jewish remains in this region from this period,” Gideon Foerster, one of the Israeli archeologists who participated on the dig, told RNS. “From that perspective it is very significant. We must go on excavating.”

Foerster noted that the synagogue is just one part of a complex that is largely unexcavated. “There are a number of small buildings and a street built atop the ruins,” he said.

_ Michele Chabin

Update: Authorities Relent on Deporting Cloistered Nuns

CLEVELAND (RNS) Federal immigration officials said two South Korean nuns who came to Cleveland to spend their lives in silent prayer and were facing deportation will be permitted to stay in the United States.

Chris Bentley, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services in Washington, D.C., said Oct. 8 the agency will approve a change of status for Sisters Mary Cecilia Yu and Mary Catharina Laboure Yu as soon as the new visa applications are received.

The women are biological sisters as well as nuns and have no close relatives in South Korea since their mother died in March.

“This is one of those cases where our service insured that people get the benefits they are entitled to,” said Bentley. “We are changing their visa from visitor to temporary religious workers, which means they get a one-year visa that is renewable.”

Last month the nuns were told their requests for visa extensions were denied and they would be deported. The nuns had been in the cloistered Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration for about 1 years.

Cloistered nuns spend their lives inside the monastery except for doctor’s appointments. They pray for causes and for people who leave phone messages or send letters requesting prayer.

While they do not take a vow of silence, the Cleveland monastery is a silent place, to facilitate prayer.

“We must have silence in order to pray,” said Mother Mary James, who oversees the monastery and the 17 nuns who live there. She said they have received countless encouraging letters and e-mails since the news of the deportation was released.

She was thrilled at the news that the ordeal was over.

“It’s wonderful, the sisters will be so happy to know they can stay,” she said. “We love them, the sisters are so sweet.”

_ Michael Sangiacomo

Update: Judge Rules Home Prayer Meetings in Conn. Home Are Legal

(RNS) A federal judge has ruled that a New Milford, Conn., family can legally hold prayer meetings in its home.

The Sept. 30 decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge Holly Fitzsimmons came three years after the American Center for Law and Justice filed suit in U.S. District Court in Hartford, Conn., on behalf of Robert and Mary Murphy.

The couple had held weekly prayer meetings and Bible studies in their home since the mid-1990s. After neighbors complained about traffic from the gatherings, the zoning enforcement officer for the town ordered the family to halt the sessions.

Fitzsimmons had issued a preliminary injunction against town officials in 2001, which permitted the meetings to continue.

“By issuing a permanent injunction, the court clearly ruled that the cease and desist order issued by the town is not only wrong, but unconstitutional,” said Vince McCarthy, senior counsel of the law firm founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, in a statement.

“We’re grateful that our clients will now be able to use their private residence for prayer without the fear of governmental interference.”

Zoning Commission Vice Chairman Brooks Temple said Oct. 3 that the commission had been reluctant to block the family’s prayer sessions but commission members felt obligated to protect their neighbors’ rights, the Associated Press reported.

“Even if we had won, we would have lost,” he said.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Archbishop of Canterbury Leads Iraq Remembrance Service

LONDON (RNS) A reminder that the United States and the United Kingdom had made themselves accountable for peace and justice in Iraq came from Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in his homily at a service of remembrance held in St. Paul’s Cathedral on Friday (Oct. 10).

Present among the 2,000 congregants were Queen Elizabeth, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, as well as relatives of British servicemen who had died in the conflict.

At least one mother of a Royal Marine killed stayed away in protest at what she said was the government’s hypocrisy in leading the country into war.

“Nobody really bothered from the government to get in touch with their condolences,” said Mrs. Julie Maddison of Scarborough. “They are hypocrites for going to church and honoring the men.”

The father of another serviceman killed in the conflict said he felt Blair should not be at the memorial service “because without him one wouldn’t be necessary.”

“If he offers me his hand I will turn my back on him,” said Gordon Evans.

Williams told the congregation they were bound to have contradictory feelings. “Those who defended the action in Iraq rightly reminded us that while we talk people are suffering appallingly,” he said. “While we try to keep our hands clean, atrocity and oppression reign unchecked.

Whatever the different judgments about the decision to go to war, we have to recognize the moral seriousness of this, and the dedication of those who carry out the decision.”

Looking out at “a still uncertain and dangerous landscape,” he said people must acknowledge that moral vision is harder to convert into reality than people would like.

“We never know in advance quite what price will have to be paid in human lives, civilian and military, local and foreign, young and old,” the archbishop said.

_ Robert Nowell

Quote of the Day: Lakhwinder Singh Sodhi, brother of Sikh shooting victim

(RNS) “This jury came with a verdict of the truth. We showed a whole world this is the country of justice.”

_ Lakhwinder Singh Sodhi, brother of gas station owner Balbir Singh Sodhi, who was killed during a shooting rampage in Mesa, Ariz., four days after the Sept. 11 attack. Quoted by the Associated Press, he was reacting to the death sentence of Frank Silva Roque, who prosecutors said targeted his brother, a Sikh, because he thought he was an Arab.

DEA END RNS