c. 2003 Religion News Service
Phoenix Bishop Admits Coverup in Deal with Prosecutor
(RNS) The Roman Catholic bishop of Phoenix, Ariz., signed an agreement with prosecutors in which he admitted that he knowingly allowed abusive priests to continue working in his diocese.
Bishop Thomas O’Brien also agreed to give up some of his administrative powers in the five-page statement signed with Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley, according to the Arizona Republic.
O’Brien has tangled with Romley’s office over the release of information related to the abuse scandal. The newspaper said O’Brien signed the agreement in May after Romley threatened to subpoena the bishop before a grand jury.
Under the deal, O’Brien received immunity from any criminal prosecutions related to the abuse cases. He agreed to the appointment of a special advocate to handle abuse cases, as well as a new diocesan attorney. He also agreed to the appointment of a moderator of the Curia, a post similar to chief of staff, to run the day-to-day affairs of the diocese.
O’Brien, who vowed last year to “not tolerate any kind of sexual molestation or assault” in the church, revealed in December that at least 50 priests or church employees had been accused of abuse in the past three decades. Only two men have been indicted since Romley opened his investigation a year ago.
The agreement is one of the most startling admissions by a U.S. church official. Last year, Bishop John McCormack of Manchester, N.H., signed a similar deal but did not cede any of his official power.
The newspaper reported that O’Brien had wanted to resign, but Vatican officials refused. In March, Bishop Manuel Moreno of the neighboring Tucson diocese resigned, in part for his handling of abuse cases.
O’Brien declined to comment on the deal. “You have to talk to the county attorney,” he said Sunday night (June 1). “I can’t say anything. It is up to him.” Romley’s office scheduled a press conference for Monday.
At the same time, the Archdiocese of Boston, where the abuse scandal erupted last year, unveiled new policies to deal with sexual abuse. Many of the new rules were already in place, and some go further than those mandated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The policy directs a nine-member review board to automatically examine all accusations of abuse. The bishops’ rules do not require automatic review. The panel will include a pastor, a sexual abuse expert, a psychiatrist and a victim of abuse.
Mass. Catholic Bishops Rally Flocks Against Same-Sex Marriage
(RNS) The Roman Catholic bishops of Massachusetts reminded parishioners last weekend of church teaching against same-sex marriage in anticipation of a state supreme court ruling that could be the first in the nation to allow gays and lesbians to legally marry.
The state’s four bishops directed pastors to read a joint letter during services and encouraged parishioners to lobby in favor of a bill that would define marriage as between one man and one woman.
“Marriage as we know it will be irreparably harmed if we don’t respond quickly,” said the letter from Bishops Richard Lennon of Boston, Daniel Reilly of Worcester, Thomas Dupre of Springfield and George Coleman of Fall River.
The state’s highest court is expected to rule this summer on whether gays and lesbians can marry under the state constitution. Legal experts say the gay plaintiffs have a good chance of winning the case. The bishops said such a decision “will have devastating consequences here and nationally.”
A constitutional amendment that would codify the traditional definition of marriage failed to pass the legislature last year. In order to become law, both the state House and Senate would have to approve the bill twice before 2006.
The four bishops quoted from a 1996 church statement on same-sex marriages that said “No same-sex union can realize the unique and full potential which the marital relationship expresses.”
Reilly told the Boston Globe the letter was “not an anti-anything statement, but a reminder that marriage holds a unique role in the history of mankind and should be respected for what it is, a union of a man and a woman who seek to live a new life focused on the best interests of that new couple and their potential family, not just each other’s personal interests.”
When the letter was read on Sunday (June 1) at Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross, a half-dozen protestors turned their backs to the altar and walked out in protests, according to the Associated Press.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Assemblies of God School Starts Women’s Studies Program
(RNS) Vanguard University of Southern California, an Assemblies of God school in Costa Mesa, Calif., will inaugurate a women’s studies minor and open a Center for Women’s Studies this fall.
The new offerings make it the first Assemblies of God university and one of just a few evangelical Christian universities to offer such a program, the school announced.
Based on research regarding violence within Christian families, the center’s directors have decided to make family violence a special area of focus.
The center also will work to meet the needs of women in their places of ministry, the workplace, the academy and the home.
It also will provide mentoring opportunities for women who plan to go into vocational ministry and professional careers by providing ministry options, resource materials and counseling.
The new minor was approved by the school’s academic senate in late April.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Liberian Church Leaders Appeal for Aid
(UNDATED) Liberian church leaders are seeking emergency aid from American Christians as the proliferation of armed groups threatens the stability of a nation ravaged by 13 years of civil war.
Fighting between the Liberian government and rebel factions continues to prevent relief agencies from bringing supplies to 80 percent of the country, according to United Nations sources and Church World Service, the relief arm of the U.S. National Council of Churches.
Hundreds of thousands of refugees in camps around Liberia have been cut off from the World Food Program’s aid because armed raiders have repeatedly seized rations.
Liberia suffered a devastating civil war that raged from 1989 to 1994, claiming 200,000 lives. Since renewed violence erupted in 1999, more than a million of the West African nation’s residents have been displaced while another half-million have fled to neighboring countries.
“The humanitarian situation is extremely alarming,” said Benjamin D. Lartey, general secretary of the Liberian Council of Churches, in a May 23 situation report released by CWS. “Because there are no safe corridors, relief (supplies) are unable to reach the affected.”
Church World Service has sent food, blankets and hygiene supplies to Liberian refugees and is urging U.S. churches and government leaders to join their efforts.
Meanwhile, leaders of the U. S. Catholic church have applauded a decision by the United Nations to place travel restrictions on military leaders and enforce an embargo on arms sales and diamonds originating from Liberia.
In a May 30 statement calling for an unconditional cease-fire, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ international policy committee urged Liberia’s government to stop using violence to promote its own interests.
“Despite efforts by the Catholic Church and other religious institutions to promote peace and reconciliation, government and rebel forces continue to choose violence over dialogue, and the pursuit of selfish political and economic gains at the expense of the civilian population,” said Bishop John H. Ricard, of Pensacola-Tallahassee.
Government and rebel representatives are scheduled to hold talks June 4 aimed at ending the fighting.
_ Alexandra Alter
Quote of the Day: Presbyterian Pastor Eric Mount
(RNS) “There’s that saying about casting your burdens on the Lord. I’m going to cast most of my burden in a recycling bin before I leave here.”
_ The Rev. Eric Mount, a delegate to the General Assembly meeting of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Denver, bemoaning the stacks of paperwork given to each delegate at the legislative meeting.
DEA END RNS
