c. 2007 Religion News Service
Church Allows Bird Flu Tests on Body of Dead Politician
LONDON (RNS) The Church of England will allow scientists to exhume the body of a British politician and diplomat who died in the Spanish flu pandemic nearly 90 years ago in hopes that it could aid research into bird flu.
British scientists believe that Sir Mark Sykes’ sealed lead coffin may contain remnants of the Spanish virus of 1918-19 that could help in their fight against today’s threat of a similar global outbreak of the new avian flu virus, H5N1.
Sykes, credited with helping to dismantle the old Ottoman Empire, was in Paris attending the Versailles peace conference after World War I when, in 1919, he became one of the 30 million to 50 million victims Spanish flu victims who died.
His body is buried in the cemetery at St. Mary’s church in Sledmere, Yorkshire, in northeast England.
Canon Peter Collier, chancellor of the Diocese of York, gave the Church of England’s approval for Sykes’ body to be exhumed, saying there were “strong grounds” for believing the diplomat’s remains might provide enough usable human tissue for researchers headed by virology professor John Oxford of Queen Mary’s College, London.
“There is a real prospect for the research they wish to carry out … (to) advance the capability of others to combat the H5N1 virus,” and that “clearly the potential value of professor Oxford’s team’s research is very significant,” Collier said in handing down his ruling.
The chancellor said the St. Mary’s church vicar, Rev. Marie Teare, had also approved the exhumation. Under the agreement, which included Sykes’ six grandchildren, the tests must be carried out within one year, with no advance publicity and out of public view.
Oxford himself rated the chances of a similar avian flu global outbreak in the early years of the 21st century as “high,” which Collier conceded had helped him to decide to allow the exhumation.
“Answers to questions about how the 1918 virus operated could have a profound impact on the approaches to the clinical treatment of avian influenza and the use of immune-suppressive drugs,” Collier said in his judgment.
_ Al Webb
Gay Lutheran Pastor Appeals Ruling
(RNS) An openly gay Lutheran pastor has appealed a recent church court ruling that removed him from his Atlanta pulpit for being in an open, committed homosexual relationship.
The Rev. Bradley Schmeling, the pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church, told Southern Voice, an Atlanta-based gay and lesbian newspaper, that he mailed the appeal Tuesday (March 6).
Schmeling is appealing on grounds suggested by members of the panel that convicted him. They said they were forced to remove him because current policy requires gay and lesbian clergy to be celibate.
Seven of 12 committee members voted to remove Schmeling, but they noted that if they had used only the church’s constitution as a guideline they “would find with near unanimity that no discipline of any sort should be imposed.”
The constitution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America does not expressly prohibit clergy from committed gay relationships. The committee said “there is nothing about Pastor Schmeling’s acknowledged and stipulated homosexual relationship” that would impede his ministry.
Additionally, the disciplinary panel delayed Schmeling’s removal until August so the church could override what the panel described as “bad policy” at its Churchwide Assembly in Chicago in early August.
Frank Imhoff, a spokesman for the ELCA, said the church had no statement on the case because of the pending appeal.
The ELCA has 4.9 million members nationwide. Schmeling was strongly supported by his congregation during his hearing.
_ Katherine Boyle
Obama’s Pastor Says He Doesn’t Want to Taint Campaign
WASHINGTON (RNS) Sen. Barack Obama says he has been deeply influenced by his church, Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago’s South Side, and its senior pastor, Jeremiah Wright. But that connection is now generating political controversy for Obama’s presidential campaign.
Conservative bloggers and pundits have raised concerns about Wright’s Afrocentric theology and his liberal _ some say radical _ politics. Wright has been an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq and a strong supporter of the Palestinians. One blog called him a racist and an anti-Semite.
“You think it’s ugly now, it’s going to get worse, it’s going to get much worse,” Wright told the PBS program “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.”
Some campaign advisers are reportedly urging Obama to distance himself from Wright. Obama asked Wright not to offer a public prayer at the Feb. 10 rally when he announced his run for the presidency in Springfield, Ill. Wright attended and prayed privately with the candidate and his family.
Wright said he has long understood that Obama may be forced to put distance between them. “He can’t afford the Jewish support to wane or start questioning his allegiance to the state of Israel because I’m saying I think the position we’ve taken in terms of Palestinians is wrong,” Wright said.
The pastor says he warned Obama at the beginning of his career that their relationship could have negative ramifications. “`They’re going to associate your name with mine, (and) that could be detrimental,’ I told him back then. It holds just as true, even more so, now,” Wright said.
With nearly 9,000 members, Trinity is the largest and one of the most prominent congregations in the United Church of Christ. Obama credits the congregation _ and Wright _ with bringing him to a personal faith.
“Kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt that I heard God’s spirit beckoning me,” Obama said last year, recalling the altar call at Wright’s church. “I submitted myself to his will and dedicated myself to discovering his truth.”
A campaign spokesman says Obama remains proud of his pastor and of Trinity, and he doesn’t want to see the church receive negative attention because of his candidacy.
For his part, Wright said he doesn’t want to do anything to harm Obama. “His position across the years has been, `I know who I am, I know what I believe, but I don’t disrespect you or diminish you because you have a different belief. And we don’t have to believe the same thing to get along and to build a better world,”’ Wright said.
_ Kim Lawton/Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly
Priest Says Poverty Vow Prevents Child Support Payments
PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) A retired Jesuit priest and former Oregon prison chaplain contends that his vow of poverty prevents two men recently identified as his children from collecting back child support.
The Rev. James E. Jacobson, 83, also is asking an Alaska judge to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses him of sexually assaulting a teenage girl because the victim came forward decades later.
Jacobson worked in remote Yup’ik Eskimo villages from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s. In a deposition filed in an Alaska court, Jacobson acknowledged having sex with more than half a dozen women, but denied using force.
He also acknowledged using church money to hire prostitutes and said he was aware of fathering two other children besides the men who are suing him for child support.
After leaving Alaska, Jacobson worked as an Oregon prison chaplain for 25 years before retiring in 2005. An attorney for the plaintiffs said Jacobson’s sons are entitled to a share of the more than $1 million in salary Jacobson earned while he worked for the Oregon Department of Corrections.
Christopher R. Cooke, an Anchorage-based attorney, said Jacobson also has cashed out more than $500,000 in state retirement benefits and transferred the money to the Jesuits since his clients filed their suit two years ago.
Cooke said the law was unsettled on whether Catholic priests or their religious orders had to pay child support, but the fact that Jacobson was a state employee for a quarter-century made this case different.
Jacobson now lives in a priest retirement community in Spokane, Wash.
“We are saddened that one of our members has failed to live the life he promised, and we hope that we might find a way to reconcile with those whose lives have been affected by this tragic failure,” the Rev. John D. Whitney, the Portland-based Jesuit superior, said in a statement.
_ Ashbel Green
California’s Stark Named First `Nontheistic’ Member of Congress
WASHINGTON (RNS) Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark, D-Calif., is the first openly “nontheistic” member of Congress, the Secular Coalition for America announced Monday (March 12).
The coalition said Stark, who has represented San Francisco’s East Bay since 1973, acknowledged his atheism in response to a questionnaire sent to public officials in January.
In a statement, Stark said he is a “Unitarian who does not believe in a supreme being.”
“I look forward to working with the Secular Coalition to stop the promotion of narrow religious beliefs in science, marriage contracts, the military and the provision of social service,” he said.
Herb Silverman, president of the Secular Coalition for America, said “the only way to counter prejudice against nontheists is for more people to publicly identify as nontheists. Rep. Stark shows remarkable courage in being the first member of Congress to do so.”
Only 45 percent of Americans said they would vote for a “generally well-qualified” atheist, according to a February Gallup Poll, ranking them lowest on a list that included Mormons (72 percent), candidates on their third marriage (67 percent) and homosexuals (55 percent).
The Washington-based coalition, which lobbies on behalf of atheists, humanists and other nontheists, said that “few if any elected officials, even at the lowest level, would self-identify as a nontheist” in response to its survey. The coalition eventually offered $1,000 to the person who could identify the highest-level atheist, agnostic, humanist “or any other kind of nontheist” in public office.
Only three other elected officials agreed to be identified: a school board president in Berkeley, Calif.; a member of a school committee in Maine; and a town meeting member from Massachusetts.
Lori Lipman Brown, a spokesperson for the secular coalition, said her group tallies 30 million nontheists in the U.S. “We seem to be extremely under-represented in elected office,” she said.
_ Daniel Burke
Vatican Acts Fast on Possible Sainthood for Pope John Paul II
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Acting with extraordinary speed, the Roman Catholic Church next month will move one step closer to making the late Pope John Paul II a saint, only two years after the pontiff’s death.
On April 2, the second anniversary of John Paul’s death, a ceremony at Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran will mark the end of an investigation into the late pope’s “life, virtues and reputation for sanctity,” the Rome diocese announced Saturday (March 10). The diocesan investigating tribunal reportedly heard from more than 100 witnesses.
The Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints will then consider the cause of John Paul’s beatification, the rank just below sainthood.
To qualify for beatification, a candidate must have been a martyr or have a miracle attributed to his or her intervention. Miracles that have been proposed for attribution to John Paul reportedly include a French nun cured of Parkinson’s disease, and a married couple who conceived a child following a long period of infertility.
After he is beatified, a second miracle would be required for canonization.
The Vatican has acted in this case with a speed believed to be unprecedented in modern times. A cause for sainthood normally may not begin until five years after a candidate’s death.
Pope Benedict XVI waived the five-year waiting period in the case of John Paul less than two months after his predecessor’s death. John Paul took similar action in the cause of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, but not until 18 months after her death in 1997. He proclaimed her “blessed” in October 2003.
_ Francis X. Rocca
Lutheran Membership Grows in Third World, Slips in West
(RNS) Lutheran church membership soared in Africa and Asia between 2005 and 2006 but continued its steady decline in the modern West, according to the Lutheran World Federation, an international communion of Lutheran churches.
Global membership rose by 467,511, an increase of .71 percent, to just under 66.7 million, according to Lutheran World Federation figures released March 6. The Geneva-based LWF counts 140 member churches, 10 congregations and one council in 78 countries.
Countries in Asia saw the largest growth, adding 900,000 Lutherans, bringing the total there to 8.2 million. European nations experienced the deepest drop in membership, where the number of Lutherans fell by more than 566,000 to 37.4 million.
Membership in North American churches fell by 115,293, a drop of about 1.4 percent to just over 5 million. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the LWF’s second-largest church with 4.85 million members, lost about 80,000 members.
The Church of Sweden, the world’s largest Lutheran church with about 6.9 million members, saw its membership decrease by 99,000.
On the other hand, Africa’s Lutheran churches grew by 221,000 members and now total 15.2 million. The Lutheran Church of Rwanda, which has 35,480 members, experienced the greatest growth.
_ Daniel Burke
Canadian Anglicans Mull Gay Unions As Minister Loses License
TORONTO (RNS) An Anglican priest in Saskatchewan who faces the loss of his minister’s license for performing same-sex marriages may have received an unexpected boost _ from his own church.
Meeting over the weekend, the Canadian Anglicans’ Council of General Synod, which sets ecclesiastical policy, agreed to present a resolution stating that “the blessing of same-sex unions is consistent with the core doctrine of the Anglican Church of Canada.”
The resolution, which is at odds with the global Anglican Communion’s fight against same-sex marriage and gay clergy, will be submitted to this June’s triennial General Synod, the Canadian church’s highest decision-making body.
Even if passed, the measure would be too late for the Rev. Shawn Sanford Beck of Saskatoon, who has refused to obey a 2005 church moratorium on sanctifying gay unions.
“I felt unable to say no to those requests,” he told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “That goes against everything else I’m about in my ministry and everything else that the church stands for.”
Saskatoon Bishop Rodney Andrews revoked Beck’s license to minister in January and issued a temporary license that expires at the end of March.
“Shawn has declared his intention to step outside the guidelines and requirements of our church at this time,” Andrews said in a statement. “I have offered to extend his license beyond March 31 if he is willing to refrain from performing same-sex marriages.”
If Beck’s license is not renewed, he will remain a priest but may not preside over baptisms and Communion services unless he receives special permission. His civil license to perform weddings, which is issued by the province, will not be affected.
_ Ron Csillag
Time to Make the (Non-kosher) Donuts
(RNS) Two suburban Washington Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants have dropped a rare kosher certification so they can sell non-kosher breakfast sandwiches that include bacon and sausage, prompting complaints from some Jewish customers.
Out of about 5,300 Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants between Chicago and the East Coast, only about 30 are certified kosher and don’t serve menu items that contain sausage or bacon. Kosher laws prohibit Jews from eating pork.
The Potomac and Rockville, Md., restaurants that converted last month are among five owned by Jim Willard; his other three stores have remained kosher. The decision was made during the franchises’ 10-year review, said Andrew Mastrangelo, Dunkin’ Donuts spokesman.
The review determined the demographics of the Washington suburbs had changed, with fewer kosher customers and demand increasing for the company’s non-kosher products.
“When the stores opened 10 or 12 years ago, they were in a predominantly Jewish area, and the area is less so now,” Mastrangelo said, adding that “there still are five other kosher stores within shouting distance.”
Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants are independently owned and operated by franchisees. To receive an exception from serving standard menu items, the owner must provide evidence of customer preference for a kosher menu and obtain proper kosher certification.
Mastrangelo said he was not aware of any kosher franchises scheduled to open, but said the company would approve one if the operator could justify that it’s “a good business decision for everybody.”
_ Nicole Neroulias
Observant Jews Shift Prayer Schedule for Early Daylight-Saving Time
NEW YORK (RNS) The early arrival of daylight-saving time has forced observant Jews to change their prayer routines, inconveniencing those with inflexible morning commutes.
Congress approved the energy-saving legislation last summer, pushing clocks forward three weeks early in the spring and back one week later in the fall. The legislation was opposed by Orthodox and Conservative Jewish groups, who said later sunrises would make it impossible for some to pray in the morning and still reach work by 9 a.m.
In preparation for last Sunday’s (March 11) shift, Jewish congregations and leaders made sure North American worshippers were repeatedly reminded of the new times for sunrise and sunset, said Rabbi Barry Kornblau, a spokesperson for the (Orthodox) Rabbinical Council of America.
The Jewish-calendar day runs from sunset to sunset, with daily and weekly prayers and holidays timed accordingly. Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, begins with the lighting of candles 18 minutes before sunset Fridays, and ends about an hour after sunset Saturdays.
Observant Jews recite morning prayers at sunrise, which jumped from about 6:15 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. over the weekend, Kornblau said.
“Now some observant Jews find themselves in a difficult situation because daybreak has not started when they need to be out and about,” he said. “People have to commute.”
_ Nicole Neroulias
Quote of the Week: Lutheran Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson
(RNS) “I suppose one of my greatest frustrations in six years as presiding bishop is, it just feels like we haven’t been able to turn around what I think is a deep ambivalence and resistance in this church to being what we claim in our name, and that’s evangelical.”
_ Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, announcing a campaign to distribute $10,000 to each of the denomination’s 65 synods to use for evangelization. He was quoted by the ELCA News Service.
KRE END RNS
