c. 2006 Religion News Service

Pope John Paul II’s Gunman Released From Turkish Prison

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Mehmet Ali Agca, the gunman who shot John Paul II in St. Peter’s square in 1981, was freed from a Turkish prison Thursday (Jan. 12), completing decades of jail time for the assassination attempt and the 1979 murder of a Turkish journalist that continues to stir controversy.

Agca, a Turk, did not make a statement as he left the prison under heavy police escort. He was immediately taken to a military base to enlist for military service, which he dodged as a young man.

Agca’s release has stirred fresh controversy among Turkish officials and observers critical of the reduced prison sentence he received for committing the 1979 murder of Abdi Ipekci, the liberal editor-in-chief of Turkey’s Milliyet daily newspaper.

Turkey’s Justice Minister Cemil Cicek called for further judicial review of the court ruling that drastically reduced Agca’s prison sentence to under six years and led to his early release.

“As the justice minister, I will ask the appeals court to examine the release of Agca,” Cicek told a news conference in Istanbul.

Agca was extradited to Turkey in 2000 after serving nearly 20 years in jail for repeatedly shooting John Paul as he rode through St. Peter’s Square in an open-air jeep.

Upon his arrival in Turkey, Agca was initially sentenced to serve 10 years in prison for the Ipekci slaying.

In November 2004, a Turkish court re-sentenced Agca to life in prison, a 36-year term. But the ruling also applied changes in Turkey’s penal code, which qualified Agca to reduce his sentence by 19 years for the time he served in Italian custody. An additional 10 years were cut from his sentence as part of a national amnesty passed in 2000.

Agca has been linked to the Gray Wolves, an ultra-nationalist group that clashed with leftist groups during the 1970s violence that roiled Turkey. He allegedly killed Ipekci for writing editorials that criticized rightist groups.

Agca’s release has also renewed questions regarding his motives for attempting to assassinate John Paul.

Agca has given contradictory testimony, telling La Repubblica in March 2005 that “nobody in the world” knew of the assassination attempt while also claiming that the attack was part of a Vatican conspiracy.

The Vatican declined to comment on Thursday. On Sunday, it released a statement saying the Holy See “submits to the decisions of the tribunals involved in this matter.”

_ Stacy Meichtry

Baptist Board Seeks Ouster of Pastor Critical of Policy on Tongues

(RNS) A pastor critical of a new Southern Baptist policy banning missionaries who speak in tongues says the denomination’s mission board is trying to oust him over unfair accusations of “slander” and “gossip.”

Wade Burleson, senior pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Okla., made the announcement Wednesday (Jan. 11) on his blog, kerussocharis.blogspot.com. He said that in a meeting, the International Mission Board had decided to seek his removal, pending a vote by the Southern Baptist Convention.

“I am very uncomfortable with the knowledge that for the next few months of my life, my wife and children will probably have to endure an attempt by a few to discredit my character or to disparage my integrity,” Burleson said. “I place my concern in God’s hands, knowing my own heart in this matter.”

After Burleson’s blog posting, Baptist Press published a Wednesday statement from the board’s chairman, Tom Hatley.

“This difficult measure was not taken without due deliberation and exploration of other ways to handle an impasse between Wade Burleson and the board,” Hatley said in the statement. “In taking this action, trustees addressed issues involving broken trust and resistance to accountability, not Burleson’s opposition to policies recently enacted by the board.”

Hatley’s statement did not mention “slander” and “gossip” but Burleson wrote that Hatley used those words at Wednesday’s meeting.

Burleson has been posting open letters to the SBC on his blog since early December critical of two policy changes made last year by the mission board. The first change mandated that a candidate be baptized in a church that met certain board guidelines, most of which, according to Burleson, were not consistent with the Baptist Faith and Message (the SBC’s statement of faith) or Scripture.

The second change stated that any candidate practicing a private prayer language (tongues) “has eliminated himself or herself from being a representative of the IMB of the SBC.”

The policy change regarding tongues was not retroactive, so it will not apply to Jerry Rankin, mission board president, who told “Christianity Today” on Jan. 3, 2006: “I acknowledged even in the discussions that (tongues) has been a continuing practice (of mine) for 30 years.”

The practice of speaking in tongues, described in the book of Acts and elsewhere, has spread in recent years through many Christian denominations, even though some argue it was only intended to be used during an era immediately following Christ’s death.

Burleson will be required to remain on the board until the next annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, at which time the convention will vote on the request of the mission board. The vote to remove Burleson is expected to be June 13 or 14 in Greensboro, N.C.

_ Greg Horton

Anglican Church Warns of Fraudulent E-mails from Nigeria

(RNS) The Anglican Church of Nigeria is warning foreigners to beware of e-mails from “fraudulent personalities” hoping to exploit “Christian love and the good name of the church.”

The trend to lure unsuspecting Christians into donating money to phony African causes grew to an alarming rate in 2005, according to a public “disclaimer” posted on the Anglican church’s Web site and dispatched to news outlets throughout the world.

“The church advises the general public to verify identities of people before sending money to fraudsters who have not the slightest belief in God, but are only trying to use church sentiments to lure people,” said the Rev. Canon AkinTunde Popoola, director of communications, in a statement.

The “fraudsters,” posing as Anglican ministers, evangelicals or missionaries, take part in spurious activities such as selling pets that “never get delivered” and collecting money for the sick and orphans with “seemingly convincing pictures.”

“We have even seen a situation where a supposed knight collects money to organize homosexual meetings that only take place on sponsored news reports,” the advisory says.

The false endorsement of homosexual activities is particularly offensive due to Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria’s outspoken opposition to homosexuality and condemnation of the Episcopal Church of the United States for ordaining an openly gay bishop.

Anglican ministers and church members in Nigeria, the world’s second largest Anglican province, would not send unsolicited mail seeking or offering money to strangers, the statement said. Recipients of such mail should alert the authorities or check the validity of the sender through “organized structures” within the church.

_ Jason Kane

Report: 104,000 New York Jews Live in `Near Poverty’

(RNS) More than 100,000 New York City-area Jews live in “near poverty,” according to a recent survey by the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty.

The survey found that 104,000 Jewish individuals living in 53,400 households find it extremely difficult to make ends meet every month.

An additional 244,000 New York Jews live below the government-defined poverty level, according to a previous report.

In all, a third of all Jews living in the five boroughs of New York, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties find it difficult or impossible to pay their bills, said the Metropolitan Council, based in New York.

The Dec. 28 report noted that the households, which may include several family members, subsist on no more than $35,000 annually, barely enough to cover the cost of food, medicine and transportation. For many, synagogue membership, kosher food and Jewish school tuition are beyond their reach.

Those living near the poverty line were equally divided between Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and secular or unaffiliated Jews, the survey found. Nearly two-thirds completed high school, while 41 percent have a college degree. Fifty-six percent are women.

“The gap exists because so many Jewish `near poor’ have salaries that make them ineligible for most forms of means-tested governmental programs,” the report said.

“We have to face the fact that the near-poor need our assistance as much as or more than the poor,” William Rapfogel, the Met Council’s director, said at a press conference to mark the survey’s publication.

The survey urged the Jewish organizations to provide the near poor with greater assistance in the areas of job training, affordable housing and health care.

_ Michele Chabin

U.S. Muslims Call for Hajj Tragedy Investigation

(RNS) U.S. Muslim leaders are urging Saudi Arabia to allow an independent investigation into Thursday’s (Jan. 12) stampede near Mecca that killed at least 363 people performing an annual pilgrimage that is required of all Muslims.

“There’s some anger,” said Edina Lekovic, a spokeswoman for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles, adding that the Saudi government was responsible for pilgrims’ safety. “This is their obligation to the Muslim world, and that obligation is not being fulfilled.”

At least 363 pilgrims participating in the hajj died during the stampede. Since 1990, more than 2,200 pilgrims have been killed in six stampedes, almost all of them at a pedestrian bridge where pilgrims throw pebbles at three pillars representing the devil.

“We just want some answers,” said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman with the Council on American Islamic Relations in Washington, D.C.

It was not immediately clear if any American Muslims were killed in the stampede, which occurred one week after 76 people were killed when a hotel near Mecca’s Great Mosque collapsed.

Lekovic said Saudi authorities have tried to improve crowd control and safety in recent years but have not “kept up with the challenges.”

Member governments from the 52-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference would be ideally suited to carry out such an investigation, Lekovic said. However, she complained that the Saudis are not open about how they handle crowd control, security and other logistics during the hajj.

Sayyid M. Syeed, secretary-general of the Islamic Society of North America, said Islamic scholars have been “very creative” in accommodating the crowds. For example, tradition holds that pilgrims should stone the pillars after noon prayers, but scholars have said pilgrims may perform the stoning rite in the morning or even late into the night to spread crowds throughout the day.

Syeed also suggested that given the large crowds, Saudi Arabia should consider capping the number of pilgrimages a Muslim can make.

No officials were available for comment from the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington, which was closed during the week of the hajj.

_ Omar Sacirbey

Defiant Anglicans Demand Apology From Episcopal Church

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) Conservative Anglicans want an apology from the Episcopal Church for approving a gay bishop, along with a clear turn back to the Bible, an Asian archbishop who helps lead an Anglican splinter group said Thursday (Jan. 12).

“If the Episcopal Church refuses to apologize and continues to walk apart, we will not follow,” Archbishop Datuk Yong Ping Chung of Southeast Asia said in an interview at a meeting of the Anglican Mission in America.

The Anglican Mission in America began in 2000, with Chung and other Anglican bishops ordaining ex-Episcopal priests to serve as missionary bishops to the United States.

The Episcopal Church _ the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion _ has refused to recognize the Anglican Mission, but has complained about its bishops crossing traditional boundaries and working in the United States.

Episcopal leaders say the U.S. church has already apologized for disrupting the life of the communion, as called for in a high-level report issued by Anglican leaders in London.

“The House of Bishops has expressed our regret for any damage to the bonds between us, and our desire for a sense of healing and reconciliation,” said Alabama Bishop Henry Parsley.

Chung said he felt confident that reaching out to disaffected Episcopalians was biblical and warranted, despite objections of Episcopal Church leaders. “We need the approval of God,” he said. “We don’t need the approval of men.”

“We were concerned about the continuing erosion of the authority of Scripture and the uniqueness of Christ and the compromise of salvation issues,” Chung said. “Those were already danger signs. Once you compromise that, there’s no more Gospel to preach.”

Chung retires as an archbishop on Feb. 20, when he turns 65, relinquishing his role as a sponsor of the Anglican Mission. Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda will continue to provide the main supervision.

If the U.S church continues to embrace gay rights and stray from what Third World Anglican leaders see as clear teachings of the Bible and traditions of the church, Asian and African archbishops will continue to support sending missionaries to the United States, Chung said.

“This movement will grow. God will bless those who preach the Gospel,” he said. “If a church doesn’t preach the Gospel, it doesn’t have a future.”

_ Greg Garrison

Religious Groups Applaud New Anti-Trafficking Law

WASHINGTON (RNS) Religious activists say a new law signed by President Bush could be the best weapon yet in reducing the commercial trading of humans for sex and labor.

“This bill has the potential to end sex trafficking,” said Janice Crouse, senior fellow of Concerned Women for America, a Washington-based conservative group that pushed for the bill’s passage.

The bill was signed Tuesday (Jan. 10), after it was unanimously approved by the House and Senate.

The bill says an estimated “600,000 to 800,000 individuals are trafficked across international borders each year and exploited through forced labor and commercial sex exploitation.” About 80 percent of them are women and girls, the bill says.

At the bill’s signing, Bush said the legislation will help provide new services to the victims of trafficking, “including appointing a guardian for young victims and providing access to residential treatment facilities to help victims get a chance at a better life.”

More than $360 million will be appropriated over two years for programs such as the rehabilitation of victims, enhancement of state and local efforts to combat trafficking, and studies examining ways to fight the problem.

Other religious groups also expressed support for the law.

Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Washington office of the New York-based Union for Reform Judaism, said he hoped the law would “help stop one of the great moral disasters of contemporary life.”

Sharon Cohn, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based International Justice Mission, a human rights group, praised Bush and Congress for speaking “with a single voice about their commitment to abolish modern-day slavery.”

_ Enette Ngoei

`Love’ Will Be Topic of Pope’s First Encyclical

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI is expected to delve into the nature of unconditional and erotic love with his first encyclical, the most authoritative form of papal writing.

It is expected to be released in the coming days.

The 50-page document entitled “Deus Caritas Est,” Latin for “God Is Love,” could set the tone of Benedict’s young papacy. Italian media reports say it will warn Catholics not to disassociate their feelings of erotic love from their understanding of unconditional love.

“I know that it’s going to be on love, on the different types of love,” Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington said, speaking on the sidelines of an academic conference held in Rome on Tuesday (Jan. 17).

According to the Italian news agency ANSA the encyclical draws upon the ancient Greek concept of love known as “agape,” or spiritual love, and `eros,” erotic love.

Benedict notes that marriages that base themselves solely on “eros” risk being “degraded to pure sex,” turning love into a form of “merchandise … that can be bought and sold.”

“A marriage based on an exclusive love becomes a representation of God with his people and vice versa,” Benedict reportedly writes.

“Deus Caritas Est,” which takes its name from the first letter of St. John the evangelist, is also expected to address the need for Catholic charity in the world.

ANSA reported that American Archbishop William Levada, Benedict’s successor at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, will present the encyclical at the end of the week.

McCarrick said he expects the encyclical to demonstrate that Benedict is both “a true successor of John Paul II and his own man.”

John Paul wrote 14 encyclicals on themes ranging from church doctrine to workers’ rights and geopolitics. Benedict has said he intends to focus his efforts on buttressing John Paul’s legacy.

_ Stacy Meichtry

Robertson Apologizes for Comments About Divine Judgment of Israeli Leader

JERUSALEM (RNS) Religious Broadcaster Pat Robertson apologized Thursday (Jan. 12) to the family of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for suggesting on television that Sharon’s recent stroke could be God’s judgment for ceding the Gaza Strip and Northern West Bank to the Palestinians.

“I ask your forgiveness and the forgiveness of the people of Israel for remarks I made at the time concerning the writing of the holy prophet Joel and his view of the inviolate nature of the land of Israel,” Robertson wrote in a letter to Omri Sharon, the prime minister’s son.

Robertson and some other “Christian Zionists” contend that the Bible warns God will punish those who oppose Israel or seek its ancient borders to be changed. That view and Robertson’s recent remarks have been roundly criticized by Christian leaders, including evangelicals.

“My zeal, my love of Israel, and my concern for the future safety of your nation led me to make remarks which I can now view in retrospect as inappropriate and insensitive in light of a national grief experienced because of your father’s illness,” the letter said.

Robertson’s apology came after the Israeli government decided to exclude Robertson from the team of evangelical Christian leaders working with the government to build a $50 million Christian Heritage Center in the Galilee.

Rami Levi, senior deputy director general of Israel’s Tourism Ministry, said in a Thursday interview that his government will not work with Robertson due to his Jan. 5 assertion on his television show, “The 700 Club.”

“Tourism Minister Avraham Hirschson thought the remarks were outrageous,” Levi said.

Sharon, whose government withdrew from these territories in August, remains in critical condition following a Jan. 4 stroke.

Robertson, whom Israeli officials had long considered a staunch supporter of Israel, told viewers of his show “The 700 Club” that Sharon had received divine retribution for “dividing God’s land.”

“I would say, `Woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the (European Union), the United Nations or the United States of America,”’ Robertson told viewers. “God says, ‘This land belongs to me, and you’d better leave it alone.”’

_ Michele Chabin

Quote of the Week: Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Gumbleton

(RNS) “I don’t have any animosity for him. I hope he’s praying for me in heaven.”

_ Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, saying he harbors no ill feelings toward the priest, now dead, who molested him 60 years ago at a school in Detroit. Gumbleton was the first U.S. bishop to disclose that he had been the victim of a predatory priest. He was quoted by The Washington Post.

MO END RNS