c. 2007 Religion News Service
Methodist Bishops Table Policy Change on Homosexuality
(RNS) United Methodist bishops have tabled a proposal that would have loosened restrictions in the church’s mostly conservative policies on homosexuality.
The bishops, meeting outside Myrtle Beach, S.C., April 29-May 4, decided to keep the church’s current policy _ adopted in 1972 _ intact. It calls homosexual activity “incompatible with Christian teaching.”
A bishops’ subcommittee had proposed language saying the church does not condone sexual activity “outside the bonds of a faithful, loving and committed relationship between two persons; marriage, where legally possible.”
The bishops’ administrative committee tabled the measure because it “would not have been for the betterment of the church at this time,” said Oklahoma Bishop Robert Hayes, the committee’s chairman, according to United Methodist News Service.
Because the issue was tabled, it never received a full vote by the assembled bishops, and it will not be presented to the church’s General Conference meeting, set for summer 2008 in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Methodists, like most other mainline denominations, have been divided by the issue of homosexuality, but have turned down several efforts in recent years to overturn the current policy.
The proposed resolution said current policy “is based on highly questionable theology and biblical understanding and causes profound hurt to thousands of loyal United Methodist members and potential members.”
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Georgetown Agrees to Allow Protestant Groups Back on Campus
WASHINGTON (RNS) Georgetown University will officially allow outside evangelical Protestant ministries back on campus in the next school year, according to an announcement Monday (May 7).
The move comes almost a year after Georgetown, a Catholic university, created a stir with campus Protestants by cutting ties with six outside evangelical ministries, including InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Chi Alpha, Asian Baptist Student Koinonia and Crossroad Campus Christian Fellowship.
Georgetown had cited a lack of communication with the groups, and told the groups they could not host staff members on campus or advertise events as being sponsored by the university.
Georgetown officials now say they will launch a self-governing Council of Affiliated Protestant Ministries with the goal of maintaining effective communication. The ministries will again be allowed to use campus facilities for worship and meetings, but must work closely with the school’s Protestant chaplaincy and each other to make sure students’ faith needs are being met.
In a letter to the university community, the Rev. Philip Boroughs, vice president for mission and ministry at Georgetown, said: “With a new framework in place, I am confident that Georgetown’s Protestant chaplaincy is entering into a season of effective communication, collaboration and services to our community.”
In his letter, Boroughs said last summer’s policy had nothing to do with theological differences but rather a lack of information that made it difficult to know if Protestant students were being offered proper spiritual services.
Georgetown will also create a Protestant Student Forum to provide for broad-based cooperation in planning service- and worship-related activities, according to recommendations from the committee.
Meanwhile, in the Midwest, InterVarsity has been told it can reopen its chapters at campuses in the University of Wisconsin System. InterVarsity had sued after officials threatened to kick the group off campuses because it requires student officers to affirm a statement of faith. UW officials said portions of that statement violated non-discrimination policies.
_ Philip Turner
Wartime Pope Moves Closer to Sainthood
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Pius XII, the controversial pontiff during World War II, was given the green light for beatification by a Vatican committee on Tuesday (May 8), taking him a step closer to sainthood.
Dogged by criticism that he did not do enough to combat the Holocaust, Pius has been the subject of debate since his candidacy for sainthood was launched in 1967.
But on Tuesday, a committee of 15 cardinals and 15 bishops voted to recognize his “heroic virtues,” a crucial requirement for beatification, which is a prerequisite for sainthood. The decree now awaits the signature of Pope Benedict XVI and the approval of a miracle attributed to Pius before he is formerly beatified.
The pope rarely turns down an opinion forwarded by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and Italian media reported Wednesday that more than one miracle attributed to Pius’ intercession had already been recorded.
Defenders of Pius, who served as pope from 1939 to 1958, have claimed he kept quiet to avoid provoking the Nazis to greater crimes against Jews.
Pius has not been fast-tracked to sainthood like John Paul II, although Monsignor Rino Fisichella, a member of the committee, spoke Wednesday of “the life of faith, charity, hope, prudence and great courage that Pius XII had and demonstrated.”
Earlier this year, the Vatican’s ambassador to Israel initially declined _ and later accepted _ and invitation to that nation’s Holocaust memorial because a photo caption in an exhibit referred to Pius’ “silence” during the Holocaust.
Benedict, meanwhile, threw his support behind another candidate for sainthood on Wednesday while flying to Brazil. Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was gunned down in 1980 in El Salvador, “deserved” beatification, the pope said.
“I do not have the latest information on the work of the competent congregation,” he said, adding that he knew “it was moving ahead.” Benedict said work undertaken on behalf of Romero’s possible sainthood is “very important.”
_ Tom Kington
Mass. Governor Outlines a $1 Billion Biotech Vision
BOSTON (RNS) Massachusetts Gov. Deval L. Patrick on Tuesday (May 8) proposed that the state spend $1 billion on embryonic stem-cell research and biotechnology development.
During a speech and press conference at the BIO International Convention in South Boston, Patrick said the proposal would help fend off competition from other states and countries and keep Massachusetts a global leader in biotechnology. Patrick pledged during his campaign last year to propose public money for stem-cell research.
“This whole hall is full of people who would be glad to take away from what we have,” Patrick told a group of biotechnology, hospital and other business executives from Massachusetts who attended the event. “We’re not going to allow that.”
Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, both Democrats, attended the press conference and said they would work with Patrick to craft legislation to reflect details of the governor’s proposal.
The $1 billion, which would need legislative approval, would be spent over 10 years, with half the money coming from bonds and the other half from the state’s annual operating budget.
Patrick said the plan would help Massachusetts compete with other states, which have increased money for research after President George W. Bush decided in 2001 to limit federal money for stem-cell initiatives.
California voters have approved a plan to borrow $3 billion over 10 years for stem-cell research; the state just began awarding grants after legal challenges. Among other states, Connecticut also has a 10-year, $100 million initiative for stem-cell research.
Embryonic stem cells, which usually come from fertility clinics, can generate cells for tissues and organs in the body. The cells can be used to create new tissues and could treat diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s and cancer.
Conservative religious leaders, including the state’s Roman Catholic bishops, oppose the research because they say the embryos _ a nascent form of human life _ must be destroyed in the process.
_ Dan Ring
Quote of the Day: Ned Graham, Son of Evangelist Billy Graham
(RNS) “He’d say `Just a moment, Lyndon,’ put the phone on his chest, and then motion for me to come in. To me, that said I was more important than the president of the United States! I’d crawl up on his bed, content just to lie there with my head on his chest.”
_ Ned Graham, recalling times during his childhood when his father, evangelist Billy Graham, was on the phone with then-President Lyndon B. Johnson. Graham’s youngest son, who founded East Gates International to do missions work in China, was quoted by Charisma magazine.
KRE/LF END RNS
