c. 2004 Religion News Service
Israeli Prime Minister Allows Muslims to Begin Ramadan at Sacred Site
JERUSALEM (RNS) A reversal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon allowed tens of thousands of Muslims to begin Ramadan on Friday (Oct. 15) by praying at a spot where tradition says the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.
Sharon had previously informed the Wakf, the Islamic trust that maintains the site, that unless it took urgent measures, the number of worshippers would be restricted to just 60,000. Ordinarily, the site can accommodate more than 200,000 worshippers.
Sharon reversed that initial decision on Thursday, enabling Muslims to begin their most sacred time of the year at the site, called the Temple Mount by Jews and Haram as-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, by Muslims.
The prime minister issued his initial warning after Israeli engineers said that the construction work performed by the Wakf in recent years had weakened the mount to such a degree that it was in danger of collapsing under the weight of a massive crowd.
According to local press reports, Sharon’s about-face occurred on Thursday, after a high-ranking police official informed him that the Wakf, aided by Jordanian engineers, had sufficiently bolstered the ceiling of a large underground area known as Solomon’s Stables. Part of the weakened area was also reportedly sealed off from worshippers.
Initially, Muslim leaders had shrugged off the Israeli government’s warnings, claiming they were an attempt to reduce Muslim influence over the site, which is also holy to Jews.
“Limiting the number of worshippers is a declaration of war on Allah by the Jews,” Tayseer Tamimi, chief judge of the Islamic Court in Jerusalem, told the newspaper Ha’aretz.
Israeli officials countered that they were simply trying to ensure the safety of Muslim worshippers.
The vast majority of Muslims who prayed at the mount Friday were Arab citizens of Israel. Despite the start of Ramadan, Israel maintained a tight security closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip that prevented most residents of these areas from entering Jerusalem.
_ Michele Chabin
Vatican Gives Approval to Broadcasting Sacrament
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Offering Catholic bishops suggestions and proposals for observing the Year of the Eucharist, the Vatican has said that radio and television Masses are acceptable but going to church is better.
The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments gave conditional approval to media Masses in a 35-page document addressed to national and regional conferences of Catholic bishops throughout the world.
The document, titled “Year of the Eucharist: Suggestions and Proposals,” was intended to help bishops lead observances dedicated to the Eucharist for the 12 months between October 2004 and October 2005.
The Eucharist is the sacrament of the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, perpetuating his sacrifice on the cross. The church believes in the real presence of Christ in the bread, called the host, and the wine of which worshippers partake.
Pope John Paul II proclaimed the year with the apostolic letter “Stay With Us, Lord,” issued Oct. 8. The observances opened this week at an International Eucharist Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, and John Paul will preside over an inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Sunday evening (Oct. 17).
Emphasizing the importance of attendance at Mass on Sundays, the Vatican congregation said, “To revive the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist in all communities must be the first task of this special year.”
Broadcasts of the Mass are “useful especially for those for whom it is impossible to participate in the Mass,” the congregation said.
But it told bishops to carefully consider “the type and the quality of television and radio transmission of the Eucharistic celebration.” It said they must ensure the “correctness of the recordings, good quality of the comment and beauty and dignity of the celebration so as not to diffuse questionable procedures.”
It advised bishops to pay attention also to other forms of prayer transmitted by radio and television, especially the adoration of the Eucharist. The adoration of the Eucharist consists of prayer before the tabernacle holding the consecrated host.
The congregation urged bishops “to favor adorations in church.”
_ Peggy Polk
Pope Sees Biodiversity as Ethical Issue to Fight Hunger
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope John Paul II said Friday (Oct. 15) that efforts to preserve biodiversity are essential to the fight against hunger and malnutrition in the world and urged ethical as well as technical and scientific support.
The Roman Catholic pontiff made the statement in a message to Jacques Diouf, director-general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to mark World Food Day observances on Saturday. The theme of the observances is “Biodiversity for Food Security.”
FAO has estimated that about three-quarters of the genetic diversity of agricultural crops has been lost over the last century and warned that the world is now in the perilous situation of relying on just 12 crops and 14 animal species to provide most of its food.
John Paul, writing in Spanish, called biodiversity a “concrete means for the struggle against hunger and malnutrition of so many of our brothers and sisters.” He said an effort to ensure “a correct management” of biological resources is needed.
This effort, he said, “requires a consideration of an ethical character and not only technical and scientific, although the latter are indispensable, to be able to ensure the survival of such resources and their use in accordance with the concrete needs of the world population.”
The pope called for international cooperation based on the principle that “sovereignty over genetic resources present in various ecosystems cannot be exclusive or become a cause of conflicts.”
Citing the “vast patrimony of culture and knowledge linked to biodiversity” that indigenous people possess, John Paul warned that they “run the risk of disappearance because of the absence of adequate protection” for them and their intellectual property rights.
The pope urged individuals, governments, international agencies and all members of civil society to “work for a just growth of peoples and nations and to take as their objective the good of each and every one.”
In the past, John Paul has addressed FAO officials directly at a Vatican audience marking World Food Day, but failing health has forced him to limit his audiences in recent years.
_ Peggy Polk
New Members Named to Catholic Abuse Review Board
WASHINGTON (RNS) The nation’s top Roman Catholic bishop on Friday (Oct. 15) appointed five lay Catholics to fill vacant positions on a National Review Board to monitor the church’s response to the clergy sex abuse scandal.
Bishop Wilton Gregory of Belleville, Ill., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, also appointed an existing member, Nicholas Cafardi, a canon lawyer and dean of the Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh, to chair the panel.
The five Catholics appointed to the board include a former university president; a Philadelphia doctor; a lawyer from Portland, Maine; a federal judge; and a former U.S. attorney and defense lawyer from California.
The appointments came under immediate scrutiny from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), which had requested an abuse victim and prosecutor to be named to the board.
“It’s disappointing to see so many lawyers and not greater balance and more victims,” said David Clohessy, SNAP’s national director. “None of this is personal, but if the board is going to be effective, victims and Catholics have to believe it’s truly impartial and independent.”
Appointed to the board for three-year terms were:
_ Patricia O’Donnell Ewers, former president of Pace University in New York and currently an educational consultant.
_ Dr. Angelo Giardino, vice president of clinical affairs at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.
_ Ralph Lancaster, an attorney from Portland, Maine, who specializes in civil and criminal litigation in state and federal courts.
_ Judge Michael Merz, a U.S. magistrate judge from Cincinnati who has worked on product liability, securities fraud, employment and housing discrimination, trademark and patent litigation and other issues.
_ Joseph Russoniello, dean of the San Francisco Law School and a criminal defense attorney. From 1982 to 1990, he was a U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California.
“As a gifted member of the church, your concern for the protection of children and for strengthing our response to that protection is both gratifying and admirable,” Gregory wrote to the new members.
The five new members replace some of the board’s most visible members whose terms had expired, including Washington attorney Bill Bennett, Illinois Appellate Justice Anne Burke, former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta and Bill Burleigh, chairman of the board at the E.W. Scripps newspaper company. Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, the first chairman of the board, resigned under pressure last year after comparing stalling tactics by some bishops to members of the mafia.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Evangelicals Urged to Base Their Votes on the Bible
(RNS) Dozens of evangelical Christian leaders have signed an open letter to American citizens asking them to rely on biblical values as they choose candidates on Election Day.
“With thankfulness for the freedom of all Americans to believe whatever they think best regarding matters of religion and ethics, we offer this statement of our personal understanding of the teachings of the Bible for the thoughtful consideration of all who are interested in how the Bible might speak to ethical issues in the current election,” they wrote in the introduction to the two-page letter.
The statement, spearheaded by executives of Focus on the Family, including founder and president James Dobson, cited biblical reasons for choosing candidates. For example, it cited verses against harming pregnant women when declaring support for candidates who agree with their view on abortion.
“We believe the ethical choice is for candidates who believe government should give protection to the lives of unborn children, not ones who believe government should allow people to choose to murder their unborn children if they wish,” they wrote.
They called appointment of Supreme Court justices an ethical issue and criticized members of the current court for going beyond strictly interpreting laws.
“We believe the ethical choice is for a president and for U.S. senators committed to appointing judges who will follow the original intent of the Constitution and just interpret law and not make it, rather than for candidates who have often voted to block such judges in votes in the Senate,” they wrote.
They also offered biblical arguments for choosing candidates who oppose gay marriage and embryonic stem cell research.
The letter ended with a note, based on a tax lawyer’s advice, saying that a church leader who chooses to read the letter from the pulpit will not violate laws regarding tax-exempt organizations and political advocacy.
Signatories included Christian Film & Television Commission Chairman Ted Baehr of Camarillo, Calif.; American Values President Gary Bauer; World Magazine founder Joel Belz; American Family Association founder Donald Wildmon; and professors of Christian colleges and seminaries.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Quote of the Day: The Rev. Raymond J. Lawrence Jr. of New York
(RNS) “There’s no way to put God to the test, and that’s exactly what you’re doing when you design a study to see if God answers your prayers. This whole exercise cheapens religion, and promotes an infantile theology that God is out there ready to miraculously defy the laws of nature in answer to a prayer.”
_ The Rev. Raymond L. Lawrence Jr., director of pastoral care at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, quoted by The New York Times in a story about the debate over studies on the effects of prayer.
MO/PH END RNS
