c. 2008 Religion News Service

Vatican reaffirms ban on gay seminarians

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Acting with the explicit approval of Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s ban on gay seminarians and the ordination of gay priests, and stipulated that the rule applies to members of religious orders as well as diocesan clergy.

The statement by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who as Vatican Secretary of State is the church’s No. 2 official, appeared in the Saturday (May 17) edition of the official Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.

Bertone’s statement, which he described as a response to “numerous requests for clarification,” referred to a November 2005 Vatican document that prohibited admission “to the seminary or to holy orders (of) those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called `gay culture.”’

The ban on gay seminarians applies to “all houses of formation for the priesthood,” Bertone wrote, including those run by religious orders and the “Oriental Churches” in communion with Rome, as well as seminaries that prepare men to serve as priests in missionary countries.

_ Francis X. Rocca

Princeton magazine to illuminate Islamic culture

PRINCETON, N.J. (RNS) Muslim culture features many prominent achievements in architecture, literature and science. Yet awareness of these accomplishments is low, according to a group of Princeton University students.

To highlight them, 12 students have created a magazine called Misbah _ “lamp” in Arabic _ to illuminate the study of the Muslim world and Islam.

“The reason why we even started (Misbah) is that we kind of wanted a venue for people to debate issues affecting everyone, basically, since a fifth of the world is Muslim,” said Joy Karugu, Misbah’s executive editor. “We really want (Misbah) to be a regular place where people can enter into this dialogue, Muslim or non-Muslim.”

As editor-in-chief Babur Khwaja said, “We’re just trying to educate people about Muslim civilizations, and that’s not just political issues. With this magazine, I wanted to present political issues, but also bring in other aspects to show that it’s a very rich culture, and it’s not monolithic.”

In the post-9/11 world, Karugu said, the Muslim community is confronted with stereotypes. “If you face something negative, you counter that with something positive, and that’s the only way to assuage the situation,” Karugu said. She added that Misbah will try to avoid over-emphasizing the political issues.

Said Khwaja, “To an extent, we’re sort of counteracting mischaracterizations, but the idea is more to sort of portray things positively,” by emphasizing Muslim cultural achievements.

According to Karugu, less than 5 percent of the Princeton student population is Muslim, so the magazine, which is free, is intended to have a broad appeal. “The demographic is definitely leaning toward non-Muslim,” Karugu said. “Our audience is not only the Princeton campus, but we hope also beyond.”

Karugu said Misbah has already attracted the attention of Muslim publications at other universities, including Harvard, MIT and Dartmouth.

_ J.F. Hannan

IRS clears pastor on Huckabee endorsement

WASHINGTON (RNS) The Internal Revenue Service has concluded that a Southern Baptist pastor’s endorsement of former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was a personal one that does not jeopardize his church’s tax-exempt status.

Pastor Wiley Drake of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Calif., received a May 12 letter from the IRS about its investigation of his ministry.

“… The IRS has concluded that Buena Park First Southern Baptist Church did not engage in prohibited political campaign intervention,” the IRS concluded in its letter to Drake.

Last August, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington-based watchdog group, urged the IRS to investigate Drake.

Drake, a former second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said Monday (May 19) that he only used information about his church and talk show to identify himself and not as part of an endorsement.

“The church didn’t endorse anybody nor did the radio program,” he said in an interview. “I personally did.”

Drake was assisted by lawyers affiliated with the Alliance Defense Fund and has signed onto the Arizona-based legal group’s new initiative that encourages pastors to challenge IRS rules about discussing political candidates from the pulpit.

“Christians should not be penalized for expressing their beliefs, and that includes pastors,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. “We are pleased the IRS recognized that the attempt to have this church’s tax-exempt status revoked was without merit.”

_ Adelle M. Banks

Quote of the Day: Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of South Africa

(RNS) “Sadly, foreign people are labeled, abused and killed, but those from other countries who live among us are just as much are neighbors, whom we are commanded by Jesus to love as ourselves. Foreign nationals are God’s people, too.”

_ Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town, South Africa, pleading for peace in riots that have targetted foreigners living in South Africa.

KRE/LF END RNS