c. 2004 Religion News Service
Pope Says Truths of Science and Faith Will Converge Into One Truth
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope John Paul II said Monday (Nov. 8) he believes that the truths of science and the truths of faith will ultimately converge into one truth leading to God.
Addressing members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the 84-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff called on scientists to serve human beings, avoid being swayed by financial and ideological concerns and cooperate in their work.
Scientists, he said, “are meant to be co-creators with God, using their knowledge and skill to shape a cosmos in which the divine plan constantly moves toward fulfillment.”
“I trust that they will lead to an ever deeper investigation of the truths of science and the truths of faith, truths which ultimately converge in that one Truth which believers acknowledge in its fullness in the face of Jesus Christ,” the pope said.
Referring to his 1998 encyclical letter “Fides et Ratio (On Faith and Reason),” John Paul said that “every seeker after truth, whether aware of it or not, is following a path which ultimately leads to God, who is Truth itself.”
The pope said human creativity in science “must be responsibly exercised” with “respect for the natural order and, above all, for the nature of each human being, inasmuch as man is its subject and end.” For this reason, the Vatican opposes stem cell research using human embryos.
“Men and women of science are challenged to put this creativity more and more at the service of the human family by working to improve the quality of life on our planet and by promoting an integral development of the human person, both materially and spiritually,” he said.
In order to benefit human progress, the pope said, science “must remain detached from every form of financial or ideological conditioning so that it can be devoted solely to the dispassionate search for truth and the disinterested service of humanity.”
_ Peggy Polk
Episcopal Priest Resigns After Confessing Pagan Involvement
(RNS) One member of an Episcopal clergy couple who came under fire for embracing pagan worship has recanted and resigned his Pennsylvania pulpit, while his wife also apologized but expects to keep her job.
The Rev. William Melnyk, known in pagan circles as “OakWyse,” resigned as rector of St. James’ Church in Downingtown, Pa., after begging “for the mercy of the church and of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Jeffrey Brodeur, a spokesman for Bishop Charles Bennison of Philadelphia, said the resignation was a “mutual decision” between Melnyk and parish leaders and was accepted on Saturday (Nov. 6). In a letter to Bennison, Melnyk also resigned as a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids.
“I was wrong,” Melnyk wrote to Bennison on Nov. 4. “I repent and recant without qualification anything and everything I may have said or done which is found to be in conflict with the Baptismal Covenant, and the historical Creeds of the Church.”
Melnyk’s letter was publicized by the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a Washington-based conservative think tank that criticized the couple for their ties to paganism. Brodeur verified the letter’s accuracy.
His wife, the Rev. Glyn Ruppe-Melnyk, known in pagan circles as “Raven,” issued a similar apology and will continue serving as pastor of St. Francis-in-the-Fields Church in Malvern, Pa. Bennison issued a “pastoral direction” against her, which is similar to a “cease and desist” order.
“She’s not having the issues with her parish that he obviously ran into,” Brodeur said. “She continues to serve as rector.” He added the bishop currently has no plans to ban her from the diocese.
Melnyk said he was hoping to help lapsed Christian reconnect with the church, pointing to the shared roots between druid and Celtic religions and the “British heritage” found in the Anglican (Episcopal) tradition.
However, he said he now realized “my involvement, writings and activities go beyond the bounds expected of a Christian and a Christian priest.” He thanked critics for “helping me to see the truth.”
The couple first came under fire for a “women’s Eucharist” written by Ruppe-Melnyk that was posted online by the church’s Women’s Ministries division. After the uproar, the office removed the liturgy, citing copyright concerns.
Leaders of the Institute on Religion and Democracy said they were “grateful for his humble and direct letter. We hope that the leaders of the … Office of Women’s Ministries will likewise repent of that office’s promotion of neo-paganism.”
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Party Strategists Urge Democrats to Embrace Language of Values
WASHINGTON (RNS) President Bush’s victory shows Democrats that they need to better communicate with voters on moral and cultural issues, say two veteran Democratic strategists.
“I think Democrats, if they are wise, all of them are going to Bible school, and they are going to learn the language of values, relearn the language of values again,” said Robert L. Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future, a progressive policy organization. “That’s a grand Democratic tradition from Dr. King, to Jimmy Carter, to Bill Clinton.” At a National Press Club news conference on Friday (Nov. 5), Borosage and Kerry adviser Stan Greenberg assessed their party’s struggle with religion and moral values, which exit polls have indicated were key components to Bush’s victory.
“Moral values by far is the strongest driver in terms of dictating the votes for George Bush,” said Greenberg, a Democratic pollster, referring to an exit poll he conducted for Campaign for America’s Future.
But the Democrats stressed that Republicans are not the ultimate arbiter of morality and suggested that voters should include poverty, health care, and equality in education in their evaluation of candidates’ standing on moral issues.
“Religion is not a partisan attribute,” Borosage said. “Progressives will and should challenge the right wing’s claim to morality and to religion. It’s a moral disgrace that low-wage workers in this society work full time and are not paid enough to lift their families out of poverty. America has a moral imperative to provide health care and quality education for every child.”
Joseph Loconte, the William E. Simon Fellow in Religion and a Free Society at the conservative Heritage Foundation, challenged the notion that the Democrats’ problem is one of communication.
“The myth that’s floating around right now is that the Democratic Party needs to develop a language for morality and values and faith,” said Loconte, who was not at the news conference. “The problem for the Democratic Party goes much much further than that.”
Loconte said it was a problem of fundamental core ideals.
“Democrats were not able to persuade most Americans that they share their moral vision for America,” said Loconte.
_ Itir Yakar
Gibson Receives Catholic Award, Blasts Stem Cell Research
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (RNS) Director Mel Gibson accepted a Catholic film award and lashed out against stem cell research on Sunday (Nov. 7).
“I’m kind of concerned about where we’re going as a civilization, particularly here in California,” Gibson told an audience of several hundred during the annual awards luncheon of Catholics In Media Associates (CIMA).
Gibson waged a prominent but unsuccessful fight against California’s Proposition 71, which voters approved Nov. 2. It allowed a $3 billion bond measure to fund stem cell research.
“The sure sign of any civilization that crumbles is when they begin to commit human sacrifice beforehand,” said Gibson, who was honored for his controversial box-office hit, “The Passion of the Christ.”
Gibson did not directly address charges by some Jewish groups that the film was anti-Semitic in its portrayal of Christ’s death but he did allude to the backlash.
“Sometimes when you just want to tell the truth you’re going to get walloped around a lot,” he said. “In many respects the aftermath was more furious than making the film.”
Gibson was not expected to attend CIMA’s four-hour Catholic Mass, luncheon and awards program. But he apparently entered the event during the luncheon and after the Mass.
A traditionalist Catholic, Gibson prefers the old-fashioned Latin Mass to more modern services in English. During the CIMA Mass, actor Jim Cavieziel, a devout Catholic who played Christ in “The Passion,” knelt at his luncheon table while virtually everyone else stood.
Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony usually attends the CIMA awards, but this year the event’s Mass was presided over by Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala. Celebrities included actors Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise and game show host Wink Martindale.
Other CIMA honorees included TV producer Barbara Hall, a Methodist who created the CBS-TV series “Joan of Arcadia,” and 94-year-old Catholic actress Jane Wyatt, who received a CIMA lifetime achievement award for a career that included her portrayal of the mother Margaret Anderson in the 1950s touchstone series, “Father Knows Best.”
“My religion has always meant a great deal to me,” Wyatt told the CIMA crowd.
_ David Finnigan
Dutch Faithful Denounce Filmmaker’s Murder
(RNS) Worshippers in churches, mosques and synagogues in the Netherlands paused for thought and prayer over the weekend (Nov. 5-7) after the killing of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh.
But even as they prayed, a series of anti-Islamic incidents occurred across the Netherlands. On Monday, wire services reported a bomb exploded near the entrance of the Tarieq Ziyad Islamic school in Eindhoven.
Van Gogh, the great great grandnephew of painter Vincent van Gogh, was shot and stabbed in what police have described as a “ritual killing” on Nov. 2. Police have arrested a 26-year-old Dutch-born man of Moroccan origin and said he would be prosecuted under Dutch anti-terrorism laws.
Van Gogh was a controversial figure who had angered many in the Muslim community for a film critical of Islam, especially its treatment of women. He portrayed an abused woman with scrip from the Quran painted on her skin.
Since the killing, 30 people have been arrested for inciting hatred against Muslims, The Times of London reported Monday (Nov. 8).
The weekend prayers were urged by the interfaith group Amsterdam With Heart and Soul.
“They (religious leaders) will also address their congregations about the responsibility of each person in Amsterdam to contribute to a calm, humane, and constructive way of reacting to the events,” the groups said in its Nov. 5 statement calling for prayers.
“Imams, priests, rabbis, pastors and other spiritual leaders will express their abhorrence at what has happened,” the group said, according to Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news service.
Last week, the leaders of the country’s two largest denominations _ the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Church in the Netherlands _ both issued statements condemning the killing as an attack on free speech.
The churches said offense taken at statements by the filmmaker could never justify murder, ENI reported.
The Netherlands is home to nearly 1 million Muslims, some 5 percent of the population. Most of them are from families with roots in Turkey or Morocco.
_ David Anderson
Historic Basilica to Close for Two Years of Renovation
(RNS) The nation’s first Roman Catholic cathedral will close this month for almost two years of renovation.
The Basilica of the Assumption in Baltimore will close after Nov. 21 services and probably open in the late summer of 2006, the Associated Press reported.
Officials of the Archdiocese of Baltimore had considered keeping the building open during the $32 million restoration and modernization, but chose to close it temporarily for safety and cost reasons. The parishioners of the cathedral will meet for services at a church several blocks away.
“If we ask our contractors to break down and clean up each weekend it would lengthen the completion date of the project and add enormous cost,” wrote Monsignor James V. Hobbs, the cathedral’s rector, in a letter to 400 parishioners.
The building was designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, who also was the architect of the U.S. Capitol.
Restoration work to the building’s exterior and interior is expected to be completed in time to mark the 200th anniversary of the year original construction started, 1806.
“It’s the most efficient way to do it,” said Mark J. Potter, executive director of the Basilica of the Assumption Historic Trust, about the closing of the building.
“It’s a massive project. The quicker we can all get back into the restored basilica, the better.”
_ Adelle Banks
Quote of the Day: Retiring Los Angeles Pastor Cecil “Chip” Murray
(RNS) “What you do with what you have reflects who you are. If you can eat a full meal in front of a hungry person, you ain’t got no religion.”
_ The Rev. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, who used his farewell sermon Sunday (Nov. 7) to encourage members of his First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles to share their wealth with the needy. He was quoted by the Los Angeles Times.
MO/RB END RNS
