c. 2005 Religion News Service
Levada Wants to Discuss Issue of Communion, Support for Abortion Rights
VATICAN CITY (RNS) American Archbishop William Levada, the Vatican’s top official on doctrine, has recommended that bishops attending a worldwide assembly in Rome consider whether Catholic politicians who defy church teaching on moral issues are fit to receive Communion.
According to the Rev. John Bartunek, a priest designated to brief the English-speaking media on the proceedings, Levada cited “divisions” in the U.S. church over the issue _ an apparent reference to St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke’s decision to deny Communion to presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry during the 2004 election due to his abortion rights stance.
“I’d like to discuss how to address civil servants and politicians who may not respect church teaching and receive Communion,” Levada was quoted as saying.
Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, addressed the issue Monday (Oct. 3) before 200 bishops gathered in Rome for a synod officially dedicated to the Eucharist. The synod is closed to reporters.
The synod working paper, “Instrumentum Laboris,” says that politicians who legislate against church teaching are living in “mortal sin,” adding that “some receive Communion while denying the teachings of the Church or publicly supporting immoral choices in life, such as abortion, without thinking that they are committing an act of grave personal dishonesty and causing scandal.”
Bartunek said that Levada, the former archbishop of San Francisco, did not express a personal position on the issue, but asked bishops from other parts of the world to share their experiences.
_ Stacy Meichtry
After Financial Issue Surfaces, Mennonite President Resigns
GOSHEN, Ind. (RNS) Less than a week before he was announced as the new president of Mennonite Mutual Aid, Terry “Skip” Nagelvoort filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, unbeknownst to those who selected him for the position.
As a result, Nagelvoort’s position at the helm of the church-affiliated financial services and stewardship agency lasted less than eight weeks.
Nagelvoort, who became MMA president Aug. 1, resigned Sept. 21, effective immediately, following a board inquiry. MMA officials declined to comment on his departure, citing employee confidentiality, reported Mennonite Weekly Review. Nagelvoort also declined to comment.
He filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on June 29, with $9.1 million in liabilities and less than $50,000 in assets. His largest single liability, according to his petition, is $6.1 million to First American Bank of Des Moines for a letter of credit extended to Ramsgate, an Iowa-based holding company Nagelvoort owned with his son, Mark. Nagelvoort was president.
Among other liabilities are $1.265 million to Siouxland Economic Development Corp. of Sioux City, Iowa, for guaranteeing a business loan from First American Bank and a $500,000 lawsuit against Heller’s Carbonic West, a dry ice firm run by Ramsgate.
The bankruptcy might have also affected Nagelvoort’s legal status as an investment trader, MMA officials indicated to Mennonite Weekly Review.
Six days after filing for bankruptcy, Nagelvoort was introduced on July 5 as MMA’s new president at the Mennonite Church USA biennial convention in Charlotte, N.C. MMA is an agency of Mennonite Church USA but also serves other Mennonite and Anabaptist-related groups.
Denominational leaders had proclaimed their confidence in Nagelvoort, an investment banker and financial analyst who had worked for several Wall Street firms. “I am pleased that God has made Skip available … and that he was ready for that call,” Mennonite Church USA executive director James Schrag had told the convention.
Nagelvoort was a member of Presbyterian and Reformed churches prior to joining MMA but had said he resonated with Mennonite beliefs.
Acting president Steve Garboden, MMA’s senior vice president of health services and administrative services, said in a statement: “We will not be distracted from fulfilling our mission and purpose in the days ahead. Fortunately, MMA has a strong staff and leadership team with an excellent plan for moving forward during times of presidential and CEO transition.”
MMA, headquartered in Goshen, manages more than $1.5 billion in assets. Howard Brenneman had been president the last 14 years.
_ Rich Preheim
Poll: Religious Freedom Trails Speech Freedom as Constitutional Right
(RNS) Religious freedom is the most important constitutional right for nearly one-third of Americans, according to a national poll, second only to freedom of speech. Yet half of those surveyed said the notion of separation of church and state has gone too far.
Despite the strong support for religious liberties in the abstract, 50 percent of those polled said separation between religion and the government should be less strictly interpreted or is not necessary at all, and two-thirds support some type of school prayer.
“There exists a striking paradox between how Americans regard two elements related to religious liberty,” said Tommy Baer, president of the Virginia-based Council for America’s First Freedom, which commissioned the July poll.
“Many citizens apparently make no connection between the right to practice their religion,” Baer said, and “keeping matters of faith out of the public domain.”
The phone survey of 500 men and 500 women revealed other inconsistencies regarding religious tolerance.
Eighty-one percent of respondents approved of public school teachers reading from sacred texts while examining the role of religion in America. But reactions about specific texts varied: 81 percent supported reading from the New Testament, while only 68 percent said it was OK to read from the Quran.
“The more complex the issue, the less certain people are about how they feel,” said Audrey Smith, acting director of Council for America’s First Freedom.
Americans were also confused about what religious rights are protected by the Constitution. A significant number of respondents thought door-to-door proselytizing and wearing religious symbols were not protected.
The findings were released Monday (Oct. 3).
_ Nicole LaRosa
New Group to Oppose Religious Conservatives, `Intelligent Design’
(RNS) Hundreds of clergy, scientists and academics have launched a grass-roots campaign to oppose religious conservatives, beginning with concerted opposition to “intelligent design” in public school science classes.
The Campaign to Defend the Constitution (DefCon) began publicly mobilizing Sept. 29 for a full-fledged battle against what it considers an imminent threat to American democracy, public education and scientific leadership.
The launch of the DefCon campaign strategically coincides with the onset of a legal battle raging in Dover, Pa., over the legality of teaching intelligent design in public schools alongside Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
The organization’s first action came in the form of a joint letter to all 50 governors asking them to “protect science and to oppose inclusion of intelligent design in science curricula.” The document was signed by approximately 100 clergy and 100 scientists, including the Rev. James Forbes of Riverside Church in New York City and the Rev. C. Welton Gaddy of the Washington-based Interfaith Alliance.
“The battle of intelligent design is not between those who believe in God and those who believe in science but over what is best for the education of our children,” Forbes said in a statement. “Our children should learn established science in science class and take other opportunities in the school day to discuss the meaning, origins and wonder of life.”
The group also compiled a list highlighting “The Top Ten Islands of Ignorance.”
Based on legislation or school board action that endangers science, DefCon labeled in decreasing order of “ignorance”: Dover, Pa.; Cobb County, Ga.; the state of Kansas; Blount County, Tenn.; the state of Ohio; the city of Grantsburg, Wis.; and the states of Alabama, Utah, South Carolina and Florida.
In response to the charges, Dottie Howe, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Education, said the state arrived at its current policy on the topic of evolutionary theory through a two-year process in which all voices were considered.
“What DefCon is referring to is a model lesson plan that suggests that teachers and students can critically analyze different aspects of evolutionary theory. In the state of Ohio we had a great debate where we reached what we consider to be a reasonable compromise,” Howe said.
_ Jason Kane
Rights Groups Urge U.S. to Act on Religious Repression in Turkmenistan
(RNS) A coalition of 10 human rights groups has called on the U.S. government to single out Turkmenistan for denying religious freedom to its citizens.
In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the groups said the State Department should designate Turkmenistan as a “country of particular concern” under U.S law for severe violations of religious freedom.
“There is no freedom of religion in Turkmenistan,” the letter, dated Friday (Sept. 30), said of the gas-rich Central Asian country which is a former Soviet republic.
It singled out the persecution of religious minorities such as Baptists and Jehovah’s Witnesses and noted the government had sentenced the country’s former Islamic religious leader, Nasrulla ibn Ibadulla, to 22 years in prison on unknown charges.
“We note … that there is no freedom of religion in Turkmenistan, that the situation is worsening, and there have been severe violations of religious freedom” as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act, which became U.S. law in 1998.
“Indeed, we would argue that state control of religious expression in Turkmenistan has reached a new height,” the letter to Rice said.
“The state no longer simply controls religion; it is actively trying to eliminate even state-controlled religions in order to establish a new religion based on the personality of the president,” it said.
Turkmenistan has been led by President-for-life Saparmurat Niazov since the country became independent in 1991.
The letter, whose signers included Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights and the International League for Human Rights, came as the United States is showing more interest in the strategically important country.
The 1998 International Religious Freedom Act requires the government to designate countries that are serious violators of religious freedom as “countries of particular concern.”
When a country is put on the list, the secretary of state must choose from a menu of options ranging from diplomatic pressure to imposition of sanctions.
Calling the “particular concern” designation “long overdue,” the letter said Rice’s failure to act would “jeopardize the credibility of IRFA’s unique, proven leverage with respect to Turkmenistan and other countries.”
_ David E. Anderson
Quote of the Day: Evangelist Franklin Graham
(RNS) “There’s been satanic worship. There’s been sexual perversion. God is going to use that storm to bring revival. God has a plan. God has a purpose.”
_ Evangelist Franklin Graham, speaking at Liberty University on Oct. 3, about how he thinks Hurricane Katrina may spark a Christian reawakening in New Orleans, which he considers a city of sin. He was quoted by the News & Advance in Lynchburg, Va.
MO/PH END RNS
