c. 2006 Religion News Service

Pope Says Women Will `Make Their Own Space’ in Church

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI said women should not have to face obstacles as they seek a greater role in the church even as he reiterated church teaching against female priests.

In an interview aired Sunday (Aug. 13) with German broadcasters and Vatican Radio, the pope responded to a question on the feasibility of women assuming roles of greater visibility and responsibility in the church.

“I believe that women themselves, with their energy and strength, with their superiority, with what I’d call their `spiritual power,’ will know how to make their own space,” Benedict said. “And we will have to try and listen to God so as not to stand in their way.”

The pope supports church law that prohibits women from being ordained as priests or making legally binding decisions for the church. But he said that women today are “very present in the offices of the Holy See,” and praised women throughout church history, such as St. Catherine of Siena, who mediated Pope Gregory XI’s return to Rome from Avignon in the 14th century.

In the rare and lengthy interview given at his summer palace in Castel Gandolfo outside Rome last week, the pope also emphasized that the church should not be seen as an institution that only says no to things like abortion and gay marriage.

“Christianity, Catholicism, isn’t a collection of prohibitions _ it’s a positive option,” Benedict said, explaining that marriage fits into the development of love that includes sexuality and procreation.

In the interview, Benedict appealed to Christians around the world to “mobilize all the forces that recognize war is the worst solution for all sides.”

The pope has called for dialogue between conflicting parties and humanitarian aid to Lebanon and Israel. He appointed Cardinal Roger Etchegary, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, as special Vatican envoy to Lebanon. Etchegary is due to celebrate the feast of the Assumption on Tuesday in Lebanon.

_ Kristine Crane

Churches Urge U.S. Not to Send Rockets to Israel

(RNS) The Washington-based advocacy group Churches for Middle East Peace has urged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to halt the delivery of M-26 artillery rockets to Israel that could be used in its war with Hezbollah.

In letter sent Friday (Aug. 11), CMEP, a national network of 21 Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches and organizations, argued that sending such munitions “will only serve to inflame the violence.”

Executive Director Corinne Whitlatch and Board Chair Maureen Shea also wrote that sending the rockets “undermines U.S. statements expressing concern about the loss of civilian lives, whether in Israel or Lebanon.”

The rockets are fired in clusters and carry smaller grenade-like bomblets, often causing severe civilian casualties, according to a New York Times article. Israel has requested that the Bush administration speed up delivery of the rockets so the country can defend itself against Hezbollah’s Katyusha rocket attacks, the article said.

Some State Department officials oppose speeding the sale of the rockets because of concern about civilian casualties and damaged diplomatic relations, according to The Times article.

Nancy Beck, a spokesperson for the State Department, said Rice would respond to the group personally and that the State Department did not have a comment about the letter.

The letter also argued that sending the missiles would damage efforts to find a diplomatic solution with the U.N. Security Council _ a task “which is so urgently needed.” A U.N.-brokered cease-fire took effect Monday.

Whitlatch and Shea criticized the government for not pursuing peace in the war-torn region.

“It appears that when we and many others around the world have urged the president to actively engage in efforts to diminish the violence, the United States is doing just the opposite,” they wrote.

The most recent letter comes three weeks after the group sent an appeal to President Bush asking that he seek an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East.

(OPTIONAL TRIM FOLLOWS)

“We are deeply concerned for the innocent victims of the attacks and reprisals between non-state parties in Lebanon and the government of Israel,” the earlier letter said. “This violent conflict has created a grave humanitarian crisis, and no hoped-for benefit should outweigh the cause of saving innocent lives.”

_ Kat Glass

Pet-Friendly Church Becomes an Unwelcome Animal Sanctuary

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. _ It’s a mystery most fowl. Someone has been abandoning roosters and chickens at the Episcopal Church of St. Andrew.

“We have this reputation as being pet-friendly,” said the Rev. Michael Delaney, the church’s pastor. “But we really need people to stop doing this.”

The first drop-off was on the weekend of the church’s annual antiques fair in July. Two roosters and five hens, all Rhode Island reds, were dropped off outside the parish offices.

Then recently, according to facilities manager Rich Ragsdale, came “more chickens.” On his way into work he found a box containing another rooster and hen.

“There was a bag next to the box,” said Ragsdale. “I thought maybe it was food for them, but out popped the head of another black thing. I don’t know what it was.” Whatever it was, it got away.

The Rhode Island roosters acted so aggressively toward the new arrivals that Delaney feared for the newcomers’ safety. So he brought them to the rectory where they are now living under a bush.

When Karen Kelly, the parish’s administrative assistant, approached with a bag of bread crumbs, the chickens came running. The chickens swarm her and Ragsdale as they arrive for work in the morning, apparently knowing breakfast has arrived.

The chickens also have been known to line up outside the church door when there’s a party going on. Clients of Project Hospitality who stay overnight at the church sometimes wake up to a cock fight outside.

The church is home to the only pet cemetery in New York City, but these robust birds certainly aren’t ready for interment.

Delaney said whoever abandoned the birds may have chosen his church because it is known for its Franciscan hospitality to animals.

“You feel sorry for any abandoned animals,” Delaney said. “We’ve been taking care of them. But we want them gone by September.”

_ Leslie Palma-Simoncek

British Archbishop Camps Out Inside Cathedral for Peace

LONDON (RNS) The Church of England’s second-ranking prelate has begun a weeklong “camp-out” inside York Minster cathedral to fast and pray and urge others to “light a candle for peace” in the conflict-torn Middle East.

Archbishop of York John Sentamu began his vigil Sunday (Aug. 13) by having his head shaved and being anointed with oil, then set up inside the cathedral’s St. John’s Chapel. For the rest of the week, his diet is limited to liquids.

Sentamu, second only to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in the Church of England hierarchy, had planned a seven-day family vacation to Austria but called it off in favor of his camping vigil after fierce fighting continued to rage between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.

As a fragile cease-fire settled uneasily over the war-raved region Monday, the archbishop said he intended to spend every waking hour of his camp-out praying for peace between the combatants.

In a statement, he described his act as “a rallying call to people of all faiths and none, to encourage them to feel that there is something that can be done.” He said he was “inviting people from all over the country to pause for a prayer and light a candle for peace.”

Sentamu said the United Nations “has a role, diplomacy has a role and our (British) government has a role to play in bringing this conflict to an end. But we as people also have a role to play, in showing our common humanity with all those who are suffering.”

He said he chose a tent setting in the cathedral for his vigil because “in the Middle East, there are thousands of people sleeping in churches, bunkers, underground car parks and shelters in an attempt to escape from the bombs and rockets that are falling on both side of the (Israel-Lebanon) border.”

“We have an opportunity to stand up and be counted with those in Israel, Lebanon and Palestine,” Sentamu said.

The archbishop said his vigil will end next Sunday morning (Aug. 20).

_ Al Webb

Quote of the Day: Protester Timothy Truett of Montgomery Village, Md.

(RNS) “It was basically an experiment. I had heard that Muslims were generally intolerant of views other than their own, and so I thought I would put it to the test. I wanted to see what would happen.”

_ Timothy Truett, a protester who sat outside the Gaithersburg, Md., home of a Muslim candidate for the Maryland House of Delegates holding a sign that read “Islam sucks” and wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “This mind is an Allah-free zone.” Quoted by the Associated Press, Truett of Montgomery Village, Md., explained his protest of Saqib Ali, who would be the first Muslim member of the House of Delegates if elected.

KRE/PH END RNS