c. 2007 Religion News Service

Commission Denies Press Reports of Moving Anglicans Under the Pope

ROME (RNS) An Anglican-Catholic commission has warned that doctrinal disputes within the Anglican Communion are an obstacle to unity between the two churches.

An upcoming report by the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission lays out areas of doctrinal agreement and disagreement between the two churches and outlines ways to continue ecumenical dialogue.

But, contrary to reports in the British press, officials said the report does not lay out a plan for Anglicans to unite under the pope. The commission said “talk of plans to reunite the two communions is, sadly, much exaggerated.”

The commission chairmen _ a Catholic archbishop from Australia and an Anglican bishop from South Africa, rejected press speculation that Catholic leaders might view disputes within the Anglican Church as an opportunity to draw conservative Anglicans closer to Rome.

The document, “Growing Together in Unity and Mission,” was leaked to the Times of London on Monday (Feb. 19). Final copies of the report are expected in April, and early versions were distributed to Anglican leaders meeting in Tanzania to discuss ongoing divisions over human sexuality.

The report acknowledges disagreement among Anglicans over those issues and the ordination of women priests. It says the “present context” of dispute would make it premature to issue a formal Anglican-Catholic statement of shared beliefs, which was the goal set by Anglican and Catholic bishops who launched the commission in 2000.

In their rebuttal to the Times report, the commission’s co-chairmen said the Vatican’s ecumenical office “has consistently spoken of the value of the Anglican Communion remaining a Communion.”

_ Francis X. Rocca

N.J. Pastor Among First to Obtain New Civil Union

BELVIDERE, N.J. (RNS) The Rev. Emory Byrum and organist Tim Harrell have performed at hundreds of weddings. This week, they will take part in the alternative offered to them as a gay couple. As of Monday (Feb. 19), civil unions are legal in New Jersey.

Byrum and Harrell were the first couple in Belvidere to obtain a domestic partnership when it became legal in 2004, and want to be the town’s first couple to get a civil union in a ceremony this week.

Byrum, 73, is pastor at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Belvidere. Harrell is organist and choir director at Trinity Episcopal Church in Solebury, Pa.

“There have been many times we have thought, `We should be able to do this,”’ Harrell, 51, said. “We’re more serious than a lot of the brides and grooms doing it.”

While the Episcopal Church allows same-sex uniting ceremonies, neither Byrum nor Harrell feels the need for a church ceremony. They said their commitment is just as serious without one.

Byrum added he would be more interested if there was an official church liturgy for same-sex uniting ceremonies. Episcopal clergy generally improvise on marriage liturgy when performing same-sex uniting ceremonies, he said.

Harrell and Byrum said getting a civil union is important to them for the legal protections it provides. They also want to take advantage of the right so it continues to be available to other same-sex couples in the future. Too few civil unions may give opponents ammunition in questioning the ceremony’s necessity, they said.

“We should be out in front and support it for the benefit of other gays and lesbians,” Byrum said. “We feel we can be role models.”

_ Lynn Olanoff

Bishop Cancels Contracts With Cell Phone Company Over Porn Access

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (RNS) The Catholic archdiocese for Greater Vancouver has ordered its 140 parishes and schools to cancel their mobile phone contracts over their phone company’s decision to directly sell adult content on its cell phones.

“I am directing Catholic churches and schools to not renew their mobile phone contracts with Telus and seek an alternate phone provider that does not facilitate the downloading of pornography through its own network,” Archbishop Raymond Roussin announced Friday (Feb. 16).

“It seems that the telecommunications industry in North America is now ready to cross a line that brings the problem of accessibility to pornographic material further into the public realm,” said Roussin, who oversees almost 400,000 Catholics in Greater Vancouver.

Telus Mobility last month became the first major wireless carrier in Canada or the U.S. to offer pay-per-download adult content to its domestic clients. The practice is already widespread in Asia and Europe.

“So pervasive is the problem of pornography in our society today,” Roussin said, “and so lucrative are the profits from this segment of the industry, that mobile phone providers are willing to take substantial risks in terms of their image.”

A Telus spokesman said it is “disappointing” that the archbishop doesn’t acknowledge Telus’ record of community service. Telus has repeatedly defended itself by saying adult content is already available for free on cell phones through the Internet.

Telus charges between $3 and $4 for still images and short videos. Telus subscribers must go through a number of steps to access adult content, including supplying a credit card number and going through an age-verification process. Telus also says it ensures that the downloadable material is legal.

_ Douglas Todd

Overseers Report Haggard’s `Improper Relationships,’ Planned Move Away

(RNS) The overseers of Ted Haggard’s former Colorado megachurch say Haggard had “improper relationships” and will move out of the church’s vicinity to continue counseling.

“We have done extensive fact-finding into his lifelong battle with a `dark side’ which he said … has been a struggle for years,” the board of overseers wrote in a letter to New Life Church in Colorado Springs that was released Sunday (Feb. 18).

“We have verified the reality of that struggle through numerous individuals who reported to us firsthand knowledge of everything from sordid conversation to overt suggestions to improper activities to improper relationships.”

Haggard was removed as pastor in November after allegations surfaced of his involvement with a male escort. Haggard, who also resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals, acknowledged sexual immorality but denied charges that he had used methamphetamine.

The overseers _ all pastors of other churches _ said despite Haggard’s “enormous personality,” they determined it was best for Haggard to leave Colorado Springs so he could seek “the recovering of his personal family life and his personal Christian life.”

“Ted’s presence is so large, and his wrongful conduct so tangled, that his church and its leadership would become distracted by his continuing presence,” they wrote.

They said Haggard and his wife, Gayle, are “cooperating fully” with the board’s recommendations. The church’s trustees have paid for 21 days of counseling for the couple and have decided to financially support Haggard’s family throughout this year.

The five-member board of overseers said Haggard “will need years of accountability to demonstrate his victory over both actions and tendencies.”

_ Adelle M. Banks

Quote of the Day: Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams

(RNS) “There was a great saint who said God was evident when bishops are silent.”

_ Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, speaking during a Tanzania meeting of Anglican leaders. He was quoted by The New York Times.

KRE/PH END RNS