c. 2007 Religion News Service

Archbishop of Canterbury Says He Will Meet With U.S. Bishops

TORONTO (RNS) Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said Monday (April 16) that he will visit the United States this September after U.S. Episcopal bishops declared an “urgent need” for a meeting with the spiritual leader of world Anglicanism.

Speaking at a press conference here, Williams said there has “never been any suggestion” that he would decline an invitation to meet with disaffected American bishops, despite suggestions he was too busy.

The U.S. Episcopal Church is at odds with more conservative sectors of the worldwide Anglican Communion over the issues of homosexuality and the authority of Scripture.

Meeting in Tanzania in February, Anglican leaders demanded that the U.S. church pledge not to appoint any more openly gay bishops or offer church blessings for same-sex couples. They gave the U.S. church until Sept. 30 to respond or face unspecified “consequences.”

Williams said sanctions could not be “imposed.” Some observers, however, fear a reduced role for the U.S. church within the worldwide Communion if it stays the course on homosexuality.

Meeting in Texas last month, U.S. bishops rejected the ultimatum and asked for a meeting with Williams.

Williams said the “minimum” he hopes for in meeting with U.S. bishops “is simply a better understanding of (their) issues and a better understanding of what the evident problems are about the American church’s constitution, which are holding us up a bit.”

Williams, who is in Canada for a two-day visit, said he’s “still waiting to see” how the U.S. church responds. “My sense was that the reaction from (U.S. bishops) was a very strongly worded protest against what was seen as interference,” he said.

Asked whether the global church is headed toward a schism over questions of sexuality, Williams said: “I can’t say. Naturally I hope we will find a way of working together on this because I believe very passionately that we need each other in the Anglican Communion.

“I believe that an Anglican Communion divided into a liberal and a conservative segment would be very, very much impoverished on both sides.”

Speaking personally, Williams said he’s “strongly and consistently opposed to anything which suggests that gay and lesbian Christians are less than human, less than fully baptized, good-faith members of the church.”

“It’s not just about nice people who want to include gay and lesbian Christians and nasty people who want not to include them,” Williams said. “It’s about what are the forms of behavior that the church has the freedom to bless if it wants to be faithful to Scripture and tradition. That’s the question that is tearing us apart at the moment because there are real differences of conviction.”

_ Ron Csillag

German Muslim Groups Unite as Their Plans Stir Opposition

BERLIN (RNS) A week after German Muslim organizations won nationwide praise for forming an umbrella organization, they’re drawing ire for demanding to be treated like other national religious institutions.

The Coordinating Council of Muslims (KRM) was formed April 11 with enthusiastic national support. The new group combines the members of Germany’s four largest Muslim organizations, for a membership of about 286,000 of Germany’s estimated 3.3 million Muslims.

By joining together, the groups gain lobbying clout and give German officials one negotiating partner. However, the new group’s first request _ equal footing with more established religious organizations _ is not going over well.

Officially recognized religions in Germany receive special tax status and government assistance in collecting church taxes from registered church members. Additionally, official recognition would make it easier for Muslim organizations to advance comprehensive Islamic education in public schools, as is already offered in most German schools for Christian education.

The education provision is drawing a fair amount of heat all by itself. A spokesman for Germany’s Interior Ministry said the Muslim organizations must first discuss how they will better integrate Muslim pupils into school curriculums _ many parents bar their daughters from taking biology class or mandatory swimming lessons _ before talk of extending Islamic religious education begins.

Other politicians agree many steps have to be taken before Islam can be treated the same way as more traditional European religions. Some have even noted that it would be hard to make a deal with the KRM when it represents only a fraction of Germany’s Muslim population.

KRM officials are nonplused and insist they will use an upcoming Islamic Convention in May with federal officials to discuss “a binding roadmap” toward equal treatment of the Islamic faith.

_ Niels Sorrells

Most Doctors See Positive Role for Faith in Treating Illness

(RNS) Most physicians say religion and spirituality have a significant impact on health, according to a new study, while just 6 percent of doctors believe religion or spirituality changed “hard” medical outcomes.

The survey, part of a University of Chicago study published by The Archives of Internal Medicine, showed that more than half (54 percent) of doctors said “God or another supernatural being” can intervene in a patient’s health.

The questionnaire asked medical professionals to estimate how often their patients mention religion and spirituality issues, how much those factors influence health, and how that influence is manifested.

“Consensus seems to begin and end with the idea that many, if not most, patients draw on prayer and other religious resources to navigate and overcome the spiritual challenges that arise in their experiences with illness,” Dr. Farr A. Curlin, Dr. John D. Lantos, Dr. Marshall H. Chin and Sarah Sellergren wrote in the Archives publication.

Compared to those with low religiosity, physicians with high religiosity are substantially more likely to report that patients often mention religion and spirituality issues, 36 percent to 11 percent, the study showed.

According to Curlin, that response shows that “with respect to what physicians bring to the data, that has as much influence on their interpretation as the data itself.”

Most respondents, however, interpreted those factors positively rather than negatively.

“Although the great majority, 85 percent, believe that the influence of religion and spirituality is generally positive, few, 6 percent, believe that religion and spirituality often changes hard medical outcomes,” Curlin and colleagues wrote in the Archives.

The results showed that three out of four physicians believe religion and spirituality help patients cope, and the same number credit those factors for giving patients a positive state of mind.

Of the 2,000 physicians who received the survey, 1,144 responded. The overall study has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

_ Melissa Stee

Bush Says He Still Supports School Vouchers

WASHINGTON (RNS) Despite opposition from congressional Democrats, President Bush said Friday (April 13) he isn’t giving up on his proposal to give private school vouchers to low-income parents dissatisfied with their children’s public school education.

Bush made the case at a White House ceremony for Catholic school officials, including the outgoing superintendent of New Orleans’ Catholic schools, the Rev. William Maestri.

During the meeting, Bush praised Maestri for reopening Catholic schools quickly after Hurricane Katrina and helping find room for 1,500 former public school students, many of whom are having their tuition payments waived.

Bush said Congress should continue a pilot school-choice experiment in Washington, D.C., and use reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act to create a national program in which low-income parents can get vouchers for tuition at private schools, including those run by religious organizations.

Despite the president’s support for an expansion of the program nationally, Democratic leaders of the House and Senate education committees have said such an expansion would take badly needed resources from public schools that already aren’t getting what they need to meet accountability standards imposed by the No Child Left Behind Act. They said the president’s proposal has no chance of passing.

Maestri said he is encouraged that Bush will fight for his proposal that will enable “parents, no matter their economic status, to choose the school that meets the needs of their children.”

_ Bruce Alpert

Quote of the Day: Evangelical Leader Rev. Richard Cizik

(RNS) “Instead of looking at global warming as Jerry Falwell has called it, `Satan’s diversion,’ we should see it as a note from God that says, `I said to be a steward, my children. Sin has consequence, and if you pollute this Earth there will be a price to pay. But it’s not too late, and with my help you can restore Eden.”’

_ The Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, quoted among a dozen people giving “12 Ideas for the Planet” in Newsweek magazine.

KRE/PH END RNS