c. 2003 Religion News Service
Conservative Christians Hail Court Rejection of Gay Marriage
(RNS) Conservative Christian organizations are cheering a Wednesday (Oct. 8) opinion by Arizona’s Court of Appeals that concluded that same-sex partners do not have the legal right to marry.
“We hold that the fundamental right to marry protected by our federal and state constitutions does not encompass the right to marry a same-sex partner,” concluded Judge Ann A. Scott Timmer in a 34-page opinion.
“Moreover, although many traditional views of homosexuality have been recast over time in our state and nation, the choice to marry a same-sex partner has not taken sufficient root to receive constitutional protection as a fundamental right.”
The Alliance Defense Fund, a Phoenix-based Christian legal group, called the case a defeat of an effort by a gay couple to apply the Supreme Court’s June decision upholding sodomy to same-sex marriage.
“The Arizona Court of Appeals rejected any notion that Lawrence v. Texas legitimized same-sex marriage,” said Benjamin W. Bull, chief counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, in a statement. “That notion has now gone into the Dumpster of history with other harebrained notions.”
Tony Perkins, president of the Washington-based Family Research Council, also welcomed the ruling.
“The court’s decision today is completely in line with both the historical and legal definitions of marriage,” he said in a statement.
The court said the couple, Harold Donald Standhardt and Tod Alan Keltner, failed in their attempts to argue that same-sex marriage is a fundamental right.
“Recognizing a right to marry someone of the same sex would not expand the established right to marry, but would redefine the legal meaning of `marriage,”’ Timmer wrote.
The court concluded that Arizona voters, working through their elected representatives or a state initiative, would be the ones to determine whether same-sex marriages should be permitted.
Michael S. Ryan, an attorney for the couple, told the Associated Press that he expects to appeal the case to the Arizona Supreme Court, but would have to consult with his clients before a final decision was made.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Methodists Cut 14 Positions at Social Policy Agency
WASHINGTON (RNS) The social policy agency of the United Methodist Church, facing shrinking income and rising health care costs, cut 14 staff positions from its work force.
The cuts by the Washington-based General Board of Church and Society followed similar action by the church’s communications arm to cut eight positions at its Nashville, Tenn., headquarters.
Agency head Jim Winkler terminated 11 positions during the agency’s board meeting last month. In addition, three positions from which employees resigned will not be filled. The cuts bring the total number of employees to 26, down from 40 at the beginning of the year, according to United Methodist News Service.
“I am very sorry our financial situation has necessitated these painful staff reductions,” Winkler said. The cuts are expected to save $1 million next year in salaries, benefits and related expenses.
Winkler said the agency is receiving less money from the denomination, and a projected budget from the 2005-2008 period will fall $1 million short annually, based on current staffing levels. Winkler also blamed rising health care costs and a drop in reserve funds.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Pope Says `Esteemed Gift of Celibacy’ Is Integral Part of Priest’s Life
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope John Paul II strongly defended priestly celibacy Thursday (Oct. 9), calling it an “esteemed gift” that is “an integral part of a priest’s life.”
The Roman Catholic pontiff appeared to brush aside suggestions that in the wake of recent scandals over pedophile priests and concern over homosexual seminarians the Catholic Church might reconsider its ban on married priests.
“Today’s clergy must be careful not to adopt the secular view of priesthood as a profession, a career and a means of earning a living. Rather, the clergy must see the priesthood as a vocation to selfless, loving service, embracing wholeheartedly the esteemed gift of celibacy and all that this involves,” John Paul told visiting Filippino bishops.
“Here I wish to emphasize that celibacy is to be regarded as an integral part of the priest’s exterior and interior life and not just as a long-standing ideal which is to be respected,” he said.
The pope deplored “the lifestyle of some clergy” who abandon “the priestly virtues of charity, prayer, chastity and faithful celebration of the liturgy, practices unappreciated or even rejected by modern culture and its media.”
The bishops’ conference of the Philippines set up a commission to handle sex abuse cases involving priests in July following accusations of sexual molestation against two bishops in the Philippines and charges that a Filipino priest in the United States had sexual relations with an altar boy.
“The scandalous behavior of a few has undermined the credibility of many,” the pope said. He advised the bishops to be “just and merciful” but said at times they must exercise “strict discipline in order to serve the common good.”
The bishops, led by Cardinal Ricardo Vidal of Cebu, were making the visit to the Vatican required of all prelates every five years.
_ Peggy Polk
Sex Charge Forces Out Loyola University President
NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Loyola University President Bernard Knoth, a dynamic priest credited with modernizing the school’s facilities and sharpening its competitive edge, resigned Tuesday (Oct. 7) after his superiors said they found reason to believe that in 1986 he sexually abused a student from a Jesuit high school he directed in Indianapolis.
Knoth denied the allegation, but under a new church procedure he was relieved of all priestly duties and privileges. He quietly left New Orleans on Tuesday before Loyola officials stunned the campus community with a mass e-mail announcement.
Summoned for an emergency meeting Tuesday, Loyola’s board accepted the resignation of Knoth, 54, and named the Rev. William J. Byron, 76, a research professor at Loyola College of Baltimore, acting president.
Loyola officials said they didn’t know details of the charge against Knoth, and under a provision of the university charter requiring the president to be a Jesuit priest in good standing, they had no choice but to accept his resignation.
The allegation involves a former student of Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School, according to an announcement from the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus, the Associated Press reported.
Knoth was principal of the coed school at the time. Officials did not disclose whether the former student is male or female.
“I would describe it (Knoth’s resignation) as another event in a series of tragic events” involving alleged or admitted sexual misdeeds by priests that have rocked the Catholic Church, Byron said at a news conference. “I have deep, deep sympathy for this good man who has been accused and I have deep sympathy for any victim of sexual abuse.”
Byron said no claims of sexual misconduct have been made against Knoth during his tenure in New Orleans.
The complaint involving Knoth “came to the province’s attention in the last several months,” said the Rev. James P. Gschwend, who led the internal investigation in Chicago.
He declined to be more specific and would not say whether the complaint cites a single incident or more.
Expressing thanks to the Loyola community and to city residents, Knoth said in a prepared statement: “Loyola is a strong institution, blessed with committed trustees, a distinguished faculty, a dedicated staff, superb students and alumni. It has been my honor to serve them.”
_ Coleman Warner and Bruce Nolan
Quote of the Day: The Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of Californians for Moral Government
(RNS) “I know I speak for many religious conservatives in California who hope and pray that Gov. Schwarzenegger will think and act differently than actor Schwarzenegger or candidate Schwarzenegger.”
_ The Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of Californians for Moral Government, a political action committee that is a spinoff of his Traditional Values Coalition. He was reacting to the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger in California’s recall voting on Tuesday (Oct. 7).
DEA END RNS
