c. 2005 Religion News Service

Archaeologists Discover `Earliest Church’ in Holy Land

JERUSALEM (RNS) Israeli archaeologists excavating on the grounds of a prison have discovered what they believe are the remnants of the earliest church ever discovered in the Holy Land.

Yotam Tepper, the dig’s chief archaeologist, said during a briefing for journalists Sunday (Nov. 6) that the find “is certainly the earliest church in Israel that we know of.”

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Thursday that excavations at the Megiddo Prison had unearthed “a rare Christian religious structure” from the third to fourth centuries. An inscription on the floor stated that the structure had been dedicated to “The God Jesus Christ as a memorial.”

The excavations were launched seven months ago after construction workers preparing to expand the prison discovered artifacts that, according to the IAA, warranted further investigation. Construction work is routinely halted in Israel, where ancient ruins abound, when artifacts or bones are discovered, so that archaeologists can perform what they call “rescue digs.”

The excavation, one of several being undertaken at Megiddo, the site of numerous battles and the place Christians believe Armageddon will occur, was performed by dozens of prison inmates under the guidance of IAA archaeologists.

The IAA said that three Greek inscriptions were discovered on the structure’s elaborate mosaic floor, which also contains motifs of fish _ a symbol often used by early Christians _ and geometric patterns.

Professor Leah Di-Segni of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, who translated the inscriptions, said that the northernmost one had been dedicated by a military officer named Gaianus, who contributed to the construction of the mosaic floor from his own funds. The easternmost inscription memorializes four women: Primilia, Kiraka, Dorothea and Crista. The westernmost inscription recalls “a certain god-loving Akeftos,” who donated the altar to “the God Jesus Christ as a memorial.”

Tepper said that pottery shards dating back to the third century had been found atop the mosaic. This, coupled with the inscriptions’ wording and style of their letters, strongly suggests that the mosaic is from this time period as well, he said.

“This is a unique and important structure vis-a-vis our understanding of the early period of Christianity as a recognized and official religion,” Tepper said.

While there appears to be no doubt that the structure is indeed ancient, some scholars wondered whether it had been built for another purpose and only later transformed into a church.

“We do know that Judeo-Christian communities lived all over the region, and definitely in the Galilee,” Yisca Harani, a Tel Aviv-based historian of Christian pilgrimage, said Monday in an interview. “But how is it possible that a church with such a public, grand structure that was so ornate survived under the eyes of the Roman rulers? There is no doubt that it was a church, but whether it predates the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem or the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, which both date from the time of Constantine the Great, is another matter.”

_ Michele Chabin

Pope Calls for `Patient Dialogue’ With Lutherans

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI praised dialogue between Lutherans and Roman Catholics on Monday (Nov. 7), but called on both groups to not ignore their differences on questions of doctrine.

“We should intensify our efforts to understand more deeply what we have in common and what divides us,” Benedict said during a meeting with Bishop Mark Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation.

Benedict underlined the 1999 Catholic-Lutheran “Joint Declaration on Justification,” calling the document “a significant milestone on our common path to full visible unity.”

In that document, Catholics and Lutherans aimed to settle their disagreements over justification _ the issue of whether salvation is God-given or earned through good works. Divisions over the issue played a key role in prompting the Protestant Reformation.

The joint declaration stated that salvation was a gift from God that reflected good works.

While praising that formula, Benedict stressed that new moral challenges faced their dialogue, expressing concern over “a general climate of uncertainty regarding Christian truths and ethical principles which formerly went unquestioned.”

“Our ecumenical path together will continue to encounter difficulties and will demand patient dialogue,” Benedict said.

The International Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity is expected to release a document on the “apostolicity of the church” in early 2006, addressing differences between the churches over issues such as apostolic succession.

Although Hanson noted “differences” between the churches in governing style, he stressed a commitment to addressing moral challenges to the Lutheran understanding of salvation.

“There should be no doubt that Lutherans and Roman Catholics, together with others, also see issues of ethics and social justice in the light of the doctrine of justification,” Hanson said.

_ Stacy Meichtry

`Mamma Rosa,’ Mother of 11, Could Become Patron Saint of Big Families

VATICAN CITY (RNS) As the Vatican pushes for greater public appreciation of large families, it is promoting the possible sainthood of an Italian woman who raised 11 children.

Eurosia Fabris, known as “Mamma Rosa,” was beatified Sunday (Nov. 6) in Vicenza, near her native village in rural northern Italy, completing the last formal step before sainthood.

If she is canonized, many expect Fabris to become a patron saint for large families _ a dwindling demographic to which Pope Benedict XVI has recently called attention.

Fabris, who lived between 1866 and 1932, is noted for taking care of two children following the death of their mother and subsequently marrying their father _ a step defined as an “act of charity” by local churchmen.

The couple subsequently reared nine children, three of whom became Roman Catholic priests and one of whom became a nun.

Fabris joined a religious order in 1930 after the death of her husband, but she is primarily remembered for her life as a lay person.

Cardinal Jose Maria Saraiva, prefect of the Vatican office on sainthood, presided over the beatification, describing Fabris as “comforting proof” that sanctity can be found in everyday life. He also underscored the “sweetness of her motherhood.”

Benedict called last week for countries to provide incentives to large families, following the release of European Union statistics that reported a fertility rate of 1.5 children per woman throughout the 25-nation bloc.

Catholic countries including Italy, Spain and Poland hovered near the bottom of the ranks with a rate of 1.3.

Vatican Radio on Saturday described Fabris, whose candidacy has been in the works since 1975, as a “dazzling model of holiness lived out in daily family life.”

“She knew how to transform her very large family into a school of holiness,” the broadcast said.

_ Stacy Meichtry

Gay Dallas Megachurch Votes to Join United Church of Christ

(RNS) One of the nation’s largest gay churches has voted to become a member of the United Church of Christ (UCC), in part because of the UCC’s vote last July to support civil marriage rights for gay couples.

The 4,300-member Cathedral of Hope in Dallas has considered joining the UCC since at least 1997. It was formerly the flagship congregation of the Metropolitan Community Churches until it left that denomination in 2002.

The vote was held Oct. 30, with 94 percent choosing to join the UCC.

“Their values are our values,” said the Rev. Jo Hudson, the church’s pastor and an ordained UCC minister. “We look forward to joining in partnership and continuing the work for which God has called us together.”

The church’s membership bid will now need to be accepted by the UCC’s South Central Conference, which covers Texas and Louisiana. If accepted as expected, the Cathedral of Hope would be the largest church in the conference and the third-largest in the denomination.

Because each UCC congregation is autonomous, there will probably be few practical changes for the Dallas megachurch. But church leaders said they wanted to affiliate with a denomination that shares their commitment to gay rights.

The 1.3 million-member UCC voted in July to support gay marriage, and already allows the blessing of gay relationships. UCC officials said an estimated 20 churches are expected to leave the denomination over that policy, but new additions like the Cathedral of Hope will more than make up for the losses.

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Ruling in Intelligent Design Trial Expected in December or January

(RNS) A six-week federal trial in Pennsylvania over a school district’s policy on intelligent design has ended with both sides claiming victory on the issue of how science should be taught in public schools.

U.S. Middle District Court Judge John E. Jones III plans to issue a ruling in December or January on whether the Dover Area School District’s policy is constitutional, as the district has argued, or a violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, as is alleged by 11 parents who filed the lawsuit to have the policy revoked.

Since the start of the trial Sept. 26, the district’s lawyers have argued that the school board’s policy on intelligent design and the concept of intelligent design are not religious. The trial ended Friday (Nov. 4).

The policy, adopted last fall, requires that a statement on intelligent design be read to ninth-graders at the start of a science unit on evolution. The statement says evolution is “not a fact” and refers to intelligent design as an alternative explanation of the origin of life.

After both sides made closing statements, district lawyer Patrick Gillen evoked a biblical theme, noting that Thursday marked the 40th day and 40th night since the trial began.

“That is an interesting coincidence,” Jones responded. “But it was not by design.”

Many of the more than 100 people in the ninth-floor courtroom erupted in laughter, then applause.

At issue is not just whether the board’s policy was adopted with religious intent, but whether intelligent design _ which holds that some aspects of life are so complex they must be the work of an intelligent designer _ is religious.

“Regardless of what happens, this is the watershed event for the intelligent design movement,” Richard Thompson, president of the Thomas More Law Center, the Christian firm retained by the district to defend its policy, said outside the courtroom.

“It’s almost like the John Scopes trial of 1925,” he said. “That became the event for introducing evolution into all the classrooms. This is a watershed movement where you’re going to see intelligent design being introduced to classrooms all across the country.”

_ Bill Sulon

Quote of the Day: Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.

(RNS) “Moral Disaster of Monumental Proportion Reconciliation Act.”

_ Proposed title of the 2006 budget bill, offered by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. Lautenberg borrowed the “moral disaster of monumental proportion” language from a letter by religious leaders that criticized cuts in the proposed budget.

MO/PH END RNS