2011年6月26日星期日

Wis. pastor accepts price for conducting gay union (AP)

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MILWAUKEE – A gay Methodist pastor who was suspended for officiating at a same-sex union said Friday that her church trial this week was a positive experience, and that her jurors were deft in balancing the need for justice with the church's longstanding message of inclusion.

The Rev. Amy DeLong, 44, was suspended for 20 days starting July 1. She was also ordered to draft a document outlining ways to avert similar church trials, and if she declines she will be suspended for a year.

DeLong told The Associated Press she was satisfied with the suspension and was happy to comply with the writing.

"I'm excited. I feel like I've been sentenced to write and to teach, and that's what I dedicated my ministry to anyhow," she said. "I'm always open to the opportunity to get people together and help us resolve our differences."

The document must address ways that clergy can resolve issues that threaten to divide the church or otherwise produce an adversarial atmosphere. DeLong said she hadn't had time to think about what she might propose.

She said she hoped the exercise would send the message that the United Methodist Church wasn't willing to turn its back on its gay clergy and members.

DeLong sat through a two-day church trial this week after she admitted conducting the lesbian union in 2009. A jury of clergy peers convicted her by a 13-0 vote. DeLong was acquitted of a second charge of being a "self-avowed practicing homosexual," a Methodist term that means gays can serve as clergy as long as they remain celibate.

The acquittal was based in part on DeLong's refusal to answer in court about whether her relationship involved sexual contact.

"It's an indecent question. Nobody should have to answer that when somebody's trying to do them harm," she said. "We don't measure the validity of a heterosexual couple's relationship based upon how they conduct themselves in their private moments."

She said she was surprised when the minister representing the church, the Rev. Tom Lambrecht, recommended a penalty that didn't include defrocking. Lambrecht told the AP he would have done so had DeLong been convicted on the charge of being an active homosexual.

"We're pleased that the penalty recognizes that a violation took place and that there is a consequence for that violation," he said.

There has been a general precedent within the Methodist church of dealing harshly with people convicted of the charges DeLong faced. In 2005, a Methodist minister from Germantown, Pa., was defrocked for being in a lesbian partnership. A senior pastor in Omaha, Neb., was defrocked in 1999 for performing a same-sex union.

However, there's also a growing movement among Methodist clergy to overturn the ban prohibiting ministers from officiating at same-sex unions. Hundreds of pastors in several states have signed statements saying they would be willing to defy the ban, even at risk of discipline.

DeLong said even though her jury was caught in the middle, it devised a creative and meaningful penalty.

The Rev. Bruce Robbins, a DeLong supporter from Minnesota, said the ruling gave the jury the opportunity to express its support and compassion for the ministry while also acknowledging the rift and taking steps to heal it.

While both sides seemed pleased with the outcome, this might not be the last time DeLong faces such a trial. She says she's still willing to officiate at same-sex unions. Lambrecht, the church prosecutor, said if that happens he'd seek a more severe penalty next time.

But DeLong hoped circumstances would be different in the future because the penalty handed down this week showed that the church wants to deal with matters of conscience cooperatively, not punitively.

"Nobody wins in these trials — they're costly, they're bad for the image of the church. There's got to be a better way for people of faith to work together," she said. "I think this is a way to do just that."

___

Dinesh Ramde can be reached at dramde(at)ap.org.


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Israeli envoy voices rare praise of wartime Pope (Reuters)

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ROME (Reuters) – A leading Israeli official has praised Pope Pius XII for saving Jews during the Nazi occupation of Rome, a surprise twist in a long-standing controversy over the pontiff's wartime role.

The comments by Mordechay Lewy, the Israeli ambassador to the Vatican, were some of the warmest ever made by a Jewish official about Pius. Most have been very critical of his record.

In an indication of just how sensitive the subject of Pius is among Jews, Lewy was quickly assailed by a group of Holocaust survivors.

Lewy, speaking at a ceremony Thursday night to honor an Italian priest who helped Jews, said that Catholic convents and monasteries had opened their doors to save Jews in the days following a Nazi sweep of Rome's Ghetto on October 16, 1943.

"There is reason to believe that this happened under the supervision of the highest Vatican officials, who were informed about what was going on," he said in a speech.

"So it would be a mistake to say that the Catholic Church, the Vatican and the pope himself opposed actions to save the Jews. To the contrary, the opposite is true," he said.

The question of what Pius did or did not do to help Jews has tormented Catholic-Jewish relations for decades and it is very rare for a leading Jewish or Israeli leader to praise Pius.

Many Jews accuse Pius, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust. The Vatican says he worked quietly behind the scenes because speaking out would have led to Nazi reprisals against Catholics and Jews in Europe.

JEWISH HURT

Lewy told Reuters Friday that he expected his comments to cause a stir but that he was standing by them.

"I am aware this is going to raise some eyebrows in the Rome Jewish community but this refers to saving Jews, which Pius did, and does not refer to talking about Jews, which he did not do and which Jews were expecting from him," Lewy said.

Elan Steinberg, vice-president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants, called Lewy's comments unsustainable.

"For any ambassador to make such specious comments is morally wrong. For the Israeli envoy to do so is particularly hurtful to Holocaust survivors who suffered grievously because of Pius's silence," Steinberg said in a statement.

He said Lewy had "disgracefully conflated the praiseworthy actions of elements in the Catholic Church to rescue Jews with the glaring failure of Pope Pius to do so."

When Pope Benedict visited Rome's synagogue last year, the president of the capital's Jewish community told him that Pius' "silence before the Holocaust" still hurt Jews because more should have been done.

Many Jews responded angrily last year when the pope said in a book that Pius was "one of the great righteous men and that he saved more Jews than anyone else."

Jews have asked that a process that could lead to Pius becoming a saint be frozen until all the Vatican archives from the period have been opened and studied.

Lewy said that most probably even opening the archives would not settle the controversy over Pius's role during the war.

(Editing by Alistair Lyon)


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China wants to ordain bishops 'without delay' (AFP)

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BEIJING (AFP) – China's state-controlled Catholic church wants to ordain at least 40 bishops "without delay", state media reported, in a move likely to further irritate already tense ties with the Vatican.

The official Xinhua news agency quoted Yang Yu, spokesman for the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, as saying more than 40 of the country's 97 dioceses were without a bishop.

The report added leaders of China's Catholic church had agreed at a recent meeting that they would "strive to select and ordain bishops at these dioceses without delay".

The meeting concluded that the absence of bishops at some dioceses had "seriously affected normal operations and church affairs" there, it said late Thursday.

The Vatican and China have not had formal diplomatic ties since 1951. Beijing insists it has the right to ordain its own bishops, defying the Holy See, which says ordinations can only go ahead with the pope's blessing.

Last November, China angered the Vatican when it ordained a bishop for the northern city of Chengde without the Holy See's approval. Another ordination in the central province of Hubei was postponed earlier this month.

In May, the pope himself called on Catholics across the world to pray that Chinese bishops refuse to separate from Rome, despite what he called "pressure" from communist authorities.

The Vatican and China cut ties when the Holy See angered Mao Zedong's Communist government by recognising the Nationalist Chinese regime in Taiwan as the legitimate government of China.

The atmosphere worsened when in 1957 China set up its own Catholic Church administered by the atheist Communist government.

The 5.7 million-odd Catholics in China are caught between staying loyal to the ruling Communist Party in Beijing and showing allegiance to the pope as part of an "underground" Church not recognised by the authorities.


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Religion News in Brief (AP)

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Kansas prison ministry conference aims to reduce recidivism

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials want more nonprofit and faith-based groups to work with criminal offenders, hoping they can reduce the number of former inmates who return to prison later for committing new crimes.

Kansas Corrections Secretary Ray Roberts opened a statewide conference Monday on prison ministry by encouraging religious volunteers to increase their efforts to help offenders stay out of prison. The "Out for Life" conference in Wichita was organized by Prison Fellowship, which promotes ministry in prisons and church support for offenders after their release.

"I really think if we, as a community, as a state, engage people coming out of prison we will see that number go down," Gov. Sam Brownback said.

The Kansas Department of Corrections says 43 percent of the offenders released from prisons will return for new crimes within three years.

Roberts said efforts like those of Prison Fellowship have had an impact in Kansas and he would like to see them expand under Brownback, a Roman Catholic who has a strong interest in partnering with faith-based groups in several areas of government service.

"Even though we're in a hard patch financially, we're not going to let budget restraints create an opportunity for us to stop moving in the direction we need to move," Roberts said.

Roberts called on the groups attending to form a strong coalition of volunteers across the state to provide mentoring and support services to smooth inmates' re-entry process and reduce recidivism.

____

Bangladesh moves to retain Islam as state religion through amending constitution

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh will retain Islam as the state religion in amendments the government is proposing to its constitution, a government minister said Tuesday.

A former military ruler declared Islam the state religion in 1988 by amending the charter, but it barely affected Bangladesh's secular legal system mainly based on British common law.

The government says the proposed changes won't affect the legal system. Inheritance and other family laws already are based on religion.

The decision was made late Monday at a Cabinet meeting, the minister said. Led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Cabinet also endorsed equal status and equal rights for other religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity, the minister said.

A special government committee prepared proposals for the amendment, and the government will send those proposals to the parliament for approval.

Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan in 1971 with help from India through a bloody nine-month war.

The original constitution did not recognize any faith as a state religion, promised elimination of communalism and disfavored discrimination or persecution because of a person's faith. The new proposals want to restore those provisions of secularism but keep Islam as state religion.

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Colorado civil liberties groups sue over vouchers, claim religious freedom violated

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (AP) — Three civil liberties organizations have filed a lawsuit challenging a school voucher plan adopted by Douglas County.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

ACLU Colorado director Mark Silverstein says the voucher plan violates the Colorado Constitution's religious liberty provisions, which bar the use of public funds for religious schools.

The district plans to designate up to 500 children as public school students in order to obtain per-pupil educational funds from the state to help them pay private school tuition.

Douglas County officials say the program includes "rigorous accountability measures" and that district believes that every student should be empowered to find their best educational fit.

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Mormon church leader released from hospital, returning to Utah after collapse in Massachusetts

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A senior Mormon leader who is next in line to lead the church was briefly hospitalized after fainting at an event in Boston, church officials said.

Boyd K. Packer, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, collapsed last Sunday after delivering a speech at a church meetinghouse.

Packer is the second-highest ranking Mormon church leader and the next in line for the presidency of the 14.1 million-member faith. By Monday, the 86-year-old Packer had improved and headed back to Utah, said Michael Purdy, a church spokesman.

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Evangelist pleads guilty to wire fraud in Ky. oil-and-gas scheme to defraud church-goers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A traveling evangelist has pleaded guilty to 17 counts of wire fraud for an oil-and-gas investment scheme that cost churchgoers more than $700,000 over 15 years/

Ernest Cadick, 60, entered the plea as trial was set to begin in federal court, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Cadick was accused of soliciting investments for oil-and-gas businesses, then spending the money on himself. Cadick would quote Scripture and pray with potential victims over investments, prosecutors said. The Rev. Bob Rodgers, pastor at Louisville's Evangel World Prayer Center, said some of his church members invested with Cadick and lost their life savings.

Cadick's attorneys did not comment. Sentencing will be Sept. 12 before U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II.

____

Liechtenstein voters overwhelmingly back gay partnership law challenged by religious groups

VADUZ, Liechtenstein (AP) — Voters in Liechtenstein have overwhelmingly backed a new law giving gay and lesbian couples the right to formally register their partnership.

The government says 68.8 percent of voters approved the law in a binding referendum Sunday. About 31.2 percent voted against it.

Roman Catholic groups had challenged the law saying it would weaken traditional family ties.

Gay and lesbian couples will now be put on a par with heterosexual couples when it comes to inheritance, social security, immigration and taxation. They will still be barred from adopting children or accessing reproductive medical services.

Last week, the U.N. Human Rights Council condemned for the first time discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgender people.

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Despite objections, SW Missouri county will display `In God We Trust' in county chambers

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — The Greene County Commission will display the "In God We Trust" logo in its chambers at the county's courthouse.

The vote Monday came after critics argued displaying the logo would be disrespectful in light of religious diversity.

The issue was initially brought to the commission by Springfield attorney Dee Wampler, who said the motto makes a statement about U.S. history and love of God.

Jim Viebrock, the presiding commissioner, emphasized that anyone, regardless of religious belief, will be welcomed in the county chambers in Springfield.


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Dutch populist Geert Wilders acquitted of hate speech (Reuters)

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By Gilbert Kreijger and Aaron Gray-Block Gilbert Kreijger And Aaron Gray-block – Thu?Jun?23, 12:38?pm?ET

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders was acquitted of inciting hatred of Muslims in a court ruling on Thursday that may strengthen his political influence and exacerbate tensions over immigration policy.

The case was seen by some as a test of free speech in a country which has a long tradition of tolerance and blunt talk, but where opposition to immigration, particularly from Muslim or predominantly Muslim countries, is on the rise.

Instantly recognizable by his mane of dyed blond hair, Wilders, 47, is one of the most outspoken critics of Islam and immigration in the Netherlands.

His Freedom Party is now the third-largest in parliament, a measure of support for its anti-immigrant stance, and is the minority government's chief ally. But many of Wilders' comments -- such as likening Islam to Nazism -- are socially divisive.

The presiding judge said Wilders's remarks were sometimes "hurtful," "shocking" or "offensive," but that they were made in the context of a public debate about Muslim integration and multi-culturalism, and therefore not a criminal act.

"I am extremely pleased and happy," Wilders told reporters after the ruling. "This is not so much a win for myself, but a victory for freedom of speech. Fortunately you can criticize Islam and not be gagged in public debate."

The ruling could embolden Wilders further. He has already won concessions from the government on cutting immigration and introducing a ban on Muslim face veils and burqas.

"This means that his political views are condoned by law, his political rhetoric has been legalized," said Andre Krouwel, a political scientist at Amsterdam's Free University.

"This has made him stronger politically. He is needed for a political majority, he is basically vice prime minister without even being in the government."

Some Dutch citizens have started to question their country's traditionally generous immigration and aid policies, worried by the deteriorating economic climate, higher unemployment, incidence of ethnic crime and signs that Muslim immigrants have not fully integrated into Dutch society.

Similar concerns have helped far-right parties to gain traction elsewhere in Europe, from France to Scandinavia.

Farid Azarkan of the SMN association of Moroccans in the Netherlands said he feared the acquittal could further split Dutch society and encourage others to repeat Wilders's comments.

"You see that people feel more and more supported in saying that minorities are good for nothing," Azarkan said.

"Wilders has said very extreme things about Muslims and Moroccans, so when will it ever stop? Some will feel this as a sort of support for what they feel and as justification."

Minorities groups said they would now take the case to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, arguing the ruling meant the Netherlands had failed to protect ethnic minorities from discrimination.

"The acquittal means that the right of minorities to remain free of hate speech has been breached. We are going to claim our rights at the U.N.," said Mohamed Rabbae of the National Council for Moroccans.

Wilders, who has received numerous death threats and has to live under 24-hour guard, argued that he was exercising his right to freedom of speech when criticizing Islam.

The Amsterdam court had used a Supreme Court ruling -- that an offensive statement about someone's religion was not a criminal offence -- as the basis of its decision, leading to acquittal, the judge said.

Unusually, the prosecution team had also asked for an acquittal, arguing that politicians have the right to comment on problem issues and that Wilders was not trying to foment violence or division.

"I think it is good that he has been acquitted," said Elsbeth Kalff, an 83-year-old retired sociologist in Amsterdam.

"He has been told that he has been rude and offensive but it is on the border of what the criminal law allows. It is good, the Netherlands is, after all, a tolerant country and we should keep it that way."

(Editing by Sara Webb and Mark Trevelyan)


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Huntsman: Issues not religion will decide GOP race (AP)

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RENO, Nev. – Former Utah Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman said Friday that he doesn't believe his Mormon faith will be an issue in his bid for the White House, adding that he's running for president — not to be the nation's spiritual "guru."

Huntsman spoke to reporters in Nevada during an hour-long campaign stop at the Reno Livestock Events Center, where the Reno Rodeo was about to begin.

Three days after formally announcing his candidacy, the former ambassador to China said his list of priority states includes the early caucus swing state of Nevada, where Republicans sided with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in 2008.

Romney also is Mormon. So is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who said earlier this week he'd pick Huntsman over Romney if he had to. Polls show many voters have reservations about electing a Mormon president.

But Huntsman said Friday that he didn't believe religion would be a concern for voters choosing the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.

"Nor should it be," he said. "I'm not running for guru here."

A candidate's track record, as well as "who has a world view that will get us where this country needs to be" will be much more important, he said.

Huntsman met earlier Friday with Washoe County GOP leaders and had lunch with Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, Reno Mayor Bob Cashell — a Republican who voted for Reid last election — and a number of local business officials.

Huntsman said contrary to conventional wisdom, he doesn't believe Romney is the heavy favorite to win the Nevada caucus.

"Yes, some might have a head start in terms of fundraising and name recognition," he said. "But given the nature of the media market and our ability to network with social media tools, you can overcome any gap like that over time."

Nevada's presidential caucuses are set for Feb. 18, after Iowa and New Hampshire get their turns and before South Carolina picks its favorite candidate.

In announcing his candidacy Tuesday in Salt Lake City, Huntsman stressed his record as governor of Utah, where he won praise from conservative groups for cutting taxes and recruiting new business to the state. He served as governor from 2005 to early 2009, when Obama offered him the China post. He resigned that position in April.

During a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, Democratic leaders in Utah and Nevada criticized what they said was Huntsman's apparent move to the right on issues such as taxes, health care and the environment to court conservatives GOPs in the primary after developing a reputation as more of a moderate.

"We were looking forward to a campaign of ideas and having a moderate Republican in the race," Utah Democratic Party chairman Wayne Holland said. "Instead we've seen pandering that is disappointing."


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US students help restore Kosovo's Jewish cemetery (AP)

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PRISTINA, Kosovo – A row of tombstones etched in Hebrew script neatly lines a meadow overlooking Kosovo's capital Pristina where barely a week ago children played soccer.

For a week, U.S. students from Dartmouth College joined their Kosovo peers from the American University in Kosovo in clearing debris and cutting overgrown grass at this neglected Jewish cemetery, a lone remaining sign of a dwindling community in this majority Muslim country.

Ever since the end Kosovo's 1998-1999 war, these graves — some of them dating back to the late 19th century — lay mostly forgotten.

"You could hardly even see where any of the graves were," said Susan Matthews, 21, from Chatham, New York. "We had to essentially find and uncover the graves, take down all the brush that had grown up the hill, wash all the stones so that we could read the etchings on them again," she said.

Matthews is among students visiting Europe as part of their inquiry into genocide. They arrived in Kosovo on June 17 from Poland where they visited the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp.

Rabbi Edward S. Boraz of The Roth Center for Jewish Life at Dartmouth College said the aim of the tour was to look at genocide "as a human problem not specific to any one group of people."

Another goal is to restore neglected Jewish cemeteries, Boraz said.

In Kosovo, that meant clearing weeds and cutting overgrown grass, then holding a dedication ceremony that included reading the names of Jewish families from the region who died during World War II.

After the conflict, Kosovo's small Jewish community dwindled. Some 300 died at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, Boraz said.

Those that remained left for Israel and Serbia during and in the aftermath of the 1998-99 Kosovo war. Some 10,000 people died during the Kosovo war as Serbia launched a brutal crackdown on independence minded ethnic Albanians and deported some 800,000 into neighboring Albania and Macedonia.

After years of being administered by the United Nations following the war, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia has vowed never to accept Kosovo's statehood.

"We will never forget the crimes against humanity that were committed here during the 1990s and the suffering that occurred when innocent life was taken," Boraz said after the group lit candles and placed them on top of a newly built memorial. "We begin to understand that genocide isn't something unique to a people but is a problem for all humanity to address."


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