c. 2006 Religion News Service

Vatican Rebukes Iran Holocaust Conference

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican on Tuesday (Dec. 12) condemned a conference in Iran of Holocaust deniers, calling the mass extermination of millions of Jews a “great tragedy.”

“The Holocaust was a great tragedy before which we cannot remain indifferent,” the Holy See said in a statement, adding: “The memory of those horrible events must remain as a warning for people’s consciences, to eliminate conflicts, respect the rights of all peoples, exhort for peace, truth and justice.”

The two-day conference, called by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, began in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Monday. In the wake of the Danish cartoon controversy, Iran organized a cartoon contest lampooning the Holocaust. Ahmadinejad has also called for Israel to be “wiped off” the map.

The meeting included academics, white supremacists and Neo-Nazis from around the world to “debate” whether Nazi Germany conducted a genocide of European Jewry during World War II.

Americans attending the conference included the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow on Monday called the Holocaust “one of the great horrors in human history.”

In its statement, the Vatican recalled John Paul II’s historic visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem and Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the Auschwitz death camp in May.

“The Church approaches the experience lived by the Jewish people during World War II with deep respect and great compassion,” the statement said.

_ Stacy Meichtry

Survey Says Just 1 Percent of U.K. Christmas Cards are Religious

LONDON (RNS) Traditional Christmas cards portraying the baby Jesus in a manger, shepherds harking to angels and the three wise men following the Star of Bethlehem appear to be dying out in Britain, a new survey indicates.

Researchers for London’s Daily Mail newspaper looked at some 5,500 cards at major shops and found that only about 1 percent contained any religious message or imagery.

Instead, according to the survey ahead of this year’s festive season, they are being pushed aside, or even off the racks, by humor cards carrying little or no reference to the Bible story of the Nativity _ and often with no mention of the word “Christmas” itself.

Most are no longer “Christmas” but “season’s greeting” cards, depicting everything from photos of a pan of Brussels sprouts and a shoe to scenes of a moonlit bridge in London and an odd row of seven meerkats standing on their hind legs, one of which was wobbling unsteadily _ the caption implying that he had robbed a liquor store.

One card that drew particular criticism suggested that the angels who appeared to shepherds on a hillside to trumpet the holy birth were actually a drug-induced hallucination.

Stephen Green, a spokesman for the religious group Christian Voice, told the newspaper that the card “is not just unfunny _ it is also deeply offensive.”

“It seems that those who design Christmas cards have forgotten its true meaning,” Green said. “It is very sad, and the fact that so many cards barely allude to Christmas is very disquieting.”

The Daily Mail attributed the fact that religious images were being “scrubbed” from cards to “political correctness and the fear of offending other faiths.”

The survey came on the heels of recent comments by the Anglican Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, blasting British government offices’ increasing penchant for sending out cards expressing simply “Season’s Greetings” to recipients, rather than wishing them a “Happy Christmas.”

The archbishop described such cards as part of the “systematic erosion” of Christianity in 21st century life.

_ Al Webb

German Cardinal Says Children Must Not Pray With Muslims

BERLIN (RNS) Catholic children should not be expected or forced to pray with children of other faiths at church-run celebrations, according to Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne.

A series of statements last week, which effectively bar Catholic schools in Meisner’s archdiocese from hosting any multi-faith celebrations, has caused an uproar from Germany’s Catholics and demands for an explanation from Germany’s Central Council of Muslims.

But Meisner stood by his statements, and on Monday (Dec. 11) received the support of the German Council of Bishops, according to the newspaper Koelnische Rundschau.

Meisner first caused the uproar last week when he issued the order against multi-denominational religious celebrations. He followed up on Dec. 8 by stating that Catholic and Muslim children could not pray together at celebrations.

Meisner insists his new policies are not anti-Muslim and that he respects everyone’s right to pray to their god. He noted that while Pope Benedict XVI appeared to pray recently with Muslims in Turkey, in reality each had stood silently while the other prayed to their respective god.

Meisner argued in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper that his new policies help build respect for other faiths. Children have a right “to get to know their faith without it being mixed up with others,” he said. Expecting children to pray in groups and not get confused about the tenets of their own faith would overwhelm them, he said.

But Meisner went on to say that his order did not apply to standard Catholic celebrations like singing Advent songs or setting up Nativity displays. That statement only brought more confusion to Catholic groups that had already canceled such events based on his initial direction.

Mounir Azzaoui, spokesman for the Muslim Council, demanded a clear statement from the German Bishop’s Council, noting that Meisner’s directive ran counter to the council’s own standards.

_ Niels Sorrells

Church of Sweden to Allow Gay Union Ceremonies

BORAS, Sweden (RNS) The (Lutheran) Church of Sweden will offer blessings for same-sex couples in Sweden starting in January, but church leaders said gay marriages will not be allowed.

Under the policy, blessings will be available for couples who have entered a legal civil union; at least one member of the couple must be a church member. Church spokesman Thomas Ekelund said the ceremonies will not contain vows because the church does not officiate at civil union ceremonies.

“This is a joyous and important decision. People who want to live in a committed loving relationship can now be blessed publicly in the church,” said Archbishop Anders Wejryd of Uppsala, head of the Swedish church, in a press release.

Soren Andersson, chairman for a local gay rights organization, hailed the decision.

“This is a freedom for those who are affected. The church has now said that homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals are welcomed. This is very important,” he said.

While some priests had already agreed to bless gay unions, the church had not given its official approval for gay and lesbian union ceremonies.

Swedish laws allow gays couples the same rights as heterosexual married couples, but gay unions are still called partnerships. A government-named committee is investigating whether Sweden’s marriage law must be made gender neutral.

The church claims 7.2 million members, out of a population of 9 million. Its status as the official state church was abolished six years ago.

_ Simon Reeves

Quote of the Day: Harlem Pastor Calvin Butts III

(RNS) “You’ve got to do everything. Churches, schools, health care, housing. You’ve got to take your people up to heaven so they can see what God has in store and then take them down to the ground so they can see what work is to be done.”

_ The Rev. Calvin Butts III, pastor of Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, speaking at the recent annual Pastoral and Evangelism Council, sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Ala. He was quoted by The Huntsville Times.

KRE/JL END RNS