c. 2007 Religion News Service

Pope says abortion, gay marriage are `obstacles’ to world peace

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Nuclear arms proliferation, environmental pollution and economic inequality are threats to world peace _ but so are abortion, birth control and same-sex marriage, Pope Benedict XVI said in a statement released by the Vatican Tuesday (Dec. 11).

“The Human Family, a Community of Peace” is this year’s papal message for the World Day of Peace, which will be observed Jan. 1.

Presenting the nuclear family as the “first and indispensable teacher of peace” and the “primary agency of peace,” the 15-page document links sexual and medical ethics to international relations.

“Everything that serves to weaken the family based on the marriage of a man and woman, everything that directly or indirectly stands in the way of its openness to the responsible acceptance of new life … constitutes an objective obstacle on the road to peace,” Benedict writes.

Regarding actual military conflicts, the pope laments unspecified African civil wars and violence in the Middle East.

Condemning what he describes as a global “arms race,” Benedict calls for a “progressive and mutually agreed dismantling of existing nuclear weapons.”

At a press conference held to present the document, a top Vatican official criticized the U.S. for its handling of Iran’s suspected nuclear arms program, saying that Washington’s rhetoric had fomented international tensions.

“All these threats, all these worries, these threats of war and invasion … harm the international atmosphere because they can provoke worries and the reinforcement of security with the production of new arms,” said Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and a former Vatican envoy to the United Nations.

In his message, the pope also endorses greater cooperation on environmental protection, writing that “further international agencies may need to be established” for the purpose. He also calls for an “equitable distribution of wealth” in a globalized world.

_ Francis X. Rocca

Bishops pull positive review of `Golden Compass’

(RNS) U.S. Catholic bishops have dropped their own positive review of “The Golden Compass” following criticism from conservative Catholics and other groups for the article’s glowing take on the movie.

The review _ written by Harry Forbes and John Mulderig of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops _ called the film “lavish, well-acted and fast-paced” in a Nov. 29 review.

The bishops conference withdrew the review from the Catholic News Service Web site and archives on Monday (Dec. 10), but the bishops’ press office did not return calls requesting comment.

The removal came as good news to the New York-based Catholic League, which has spearheaded a boycott of the movie in recent months in an bid to pull down box office returns and discourage future film adaptations of the second and third books in Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy.

“That review by the Catholic News Service showed that Mr. Forbes is positively clueless,” Catholic League president Bill Donahue said in an interview with RNS. “Pullman hates the Catholic Church, and he (Forbes) doesn’t want to come to grips with that.”

Donohue and others say Pullman’s books are deeply anti-Catholic. The books are set in a world dominated by a governing authority Pullman calls the Magisterium _ the same name Catholics use to refer to their church’s teaching authority.

The review by Forbes and Mulderig called Pullman’s use of the term magisterium “a bit unfortunate.”

“I don’t know what his (Forbes’s) motive was. Maybe he’s just a simpleton who thought it was `unfortunate’ that Pullman used the word `magisterium,”’ Donahue said.

“There was nothing `unfortunate’ about it; it was deliberate,” Donahue said.

The review rated the film “A-II” (adults and adolescents), a step harsher than A-I (general patronage) on the USCCB’s five-point rating scale.

Forbes and Mulderig expressed some relief in the review that most of Pullman’s explicit religious references did not appear in the film adaptation.

“Most moviegoers with no foreknowledge of the books or Pullman’s personal belief system will scarcely be aware of religious connotations, and can approach the movie as a pure fantasy-adventure,” Forbes and Mulderig wrote. “This is not the blatant real-world anti-Catholicism of, say, the recent `Elizabeth: The Golden Age’ or `The Da Vinci Code.”’

_ Kat Glass

Alabama church rebuilds with new building, new art

CENTREVILLE, Ala. (RNS) The painting above the baptistery at Pleasant Sabine Baptist Church in Bibb County gleams in the light as artist Sally Legg studies it.

“We are really proud,” said Spurgeion Boddie, the senior deacon at Pleasant Sabine Baptist, admiring the painting.

The congregation struggled after arsonists burned the building to the ground last year, one of five rural churches torched the same night.

“People had started falling away, and now they’re coming back,” Boddie said. “If you don’t have something steady, people stray away.”

But since late summer, about 25 Pleasant Sabine members have worshipped proudly in their new sanctuary, looking straight toward Legg’s artwork during every service.

“I’ve never done anything like this,” said Legg, who has been painting professionally for 25 years. “They wanted John the Baptist baptizing Jesus with a dove descending.”

Legg created the painting as part of Cathedral Church of the Advent’s effort to help the church in its rebuilding effort. In addition to the artwork, Advent members contributed the metal roof, the windows, the water heater, a piano, an organ, paint, office supplies and $25,000 cash, said Advent outreach assistant Carol Williams.

“They’ve done a beautiful job decorating,” Williams said as she walked through Pleasant Sabine’s finished sanctuary. “This has been a long process.”

While a few details remain, the rebuilding effort is essentially complete, Boddie said. But the church is in the process of hiring a new pastor, so it has delayed any celebration ceremonies.

“As soon as we get our new pastor, we’ll have a dedication and some programs,” Boddie said.

“This church has been here ever since 1881,” said Boddie, who was born about two miles away. “This is one of the little country churches. There used to be a pretty good settlement here.”

On the night of Feb. 3, 2006, three college students from Birmingham set the church on fire. They are now serving prison sentences.

“I can forgive, but they still have to pay for their wrongdoing,” Boddie said. “If they had just burned one church, that would have been bad enough. It wasn’t no accident.”

In all, the three college students set fire to nine rural Alabama churches. Pleasant Sabine was the first congregation to build and move back in, with help from hundreds of volunteers and donors.

“These people here were hurting,” Legg said. “It’s made me more aware of the importance of these country churches. It’s satisfying I could do my part, as part of this team that has spent so much time trying to make sense of this tragic event and help them rebuild.”

_ Greg Garrison

Quote of the Day: Colorado church security guard Jeanne Assam

(RNS) “I knew I was given the assignment to end this. I give the credit to God.”

_ Jeanne Assam, an armed volunteer security guard at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, recounting her shots against a gunman, Matthew Murray, who killed two sisters and injured three others at the church on Sunday (Dec. 9). Assam was quoted by The New York Times.

KRE/LF END RNS