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May 23, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 11Oakland,
CA
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Berlin’s
Holocaust memorial RNS PHOTO/REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch |
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New
Swiss Guards RNS PHOTO/REUTERS/Max Rossi |
Magazine praises Pope’s
support of charismatics
NEW YORK (RNS) – A U.S. Pentecostal magazine has credited the late
Pope John Paul II with encouraging charismatic renewal across the globe.
The pontiff will be featured on the cover of the June issue of Charisma
magazine. The magazine details how the pontiff was supportive of Pentecostals
during his time as priest, cardinal and pope.
Pentecostals and charismatics have emphasized what they call “gifts”
or signs of the Holy Spirit, including speaking in unknown tongues, prophecy
and healing. The magazine includes an article whose author says of his
visits with the pontiff: “On some occasions he audibly ‘groaned’
in the Spirit while in deep intercession.” The author, Ralph Martin,
said he didn’t know if the late pope had prayed in tongues.
Uzbekistan added to list of persecutors
of religion
WASHINGTON (RNS) – An independent federal watchdog group announced
May 11 that Uzbekistan has been added to and India dropped from its annual
list of countries that have “engaged in or tolerated systematic
and egregious violations” of religious freedom.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also reaffirmed
its 2004 recommendations that the State Department designate Burma, the
People’s Republic of China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan,
Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam as countries of particular
concern.
Muslim discrimination up 49 percent
in one year
WASHINGTON (RNS) – The largest U.S. Islamic civil rights organization
reported May 11 that acts of anti-Muslim discrimination increased by 49
percent last year.
A study by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) found 1,522
incidents of harassment, violence and discriminatory treatment in 2004,
compared with 1,019 cases in 2003. CAIR attributed the boost in complaints
to a lingering atmosphere of fear among American Muslims, opinion leaders
using anti-Muslim rhetoric and legislation that infringes on civil rights.
Methodists give OK to shared
Communion
ARLINGTON, VA (RNS) – United Methodist bishops have approved an
agreement to share the sacrament of Communion with Episcopalians and Lutherans,
the first step in moving the three churches toward “full communion.”
Church officials expect similar agreements to be approved by the Episcopal
Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America within a year.
The Episcopal Church and the Lutherans already have a two-way full communion
agreement that was formally launched in 2001. The Methodists hope to enter
full communion with the Lutherans by 2008 and the Episcopalians by 2012.
Vatican Radio officials found
guilty of pollution
ROME (RNS) – A Rome judge on May 9 found two Vatican Radio officials
guilty of allowing transmitters to emit dangerously high levels of electromagnetic
pollution and gave them suspended prison sentences.
Judge Luisa Martoni gave Cardinal Roberto Tucci, president of Vatican
Radio, and Father Pasquale Borgomeo, general director, suspended 10-day
sentences. The Jesuit-run Vatican Radio said in a statement that it considered
the conviction “unjustified” and would appeal.
Residents in the suburban towns of Cesano and Santa Maria di Galeria north
of Rome contend that the “electrosmog” emitted by the transmitters
was seven times the level permitted by Italian law. The regional health
authority said it found that children in the area were six times more
likely than others to develop leukemia. Vatican Radio has agreed to cut
back the emissions to levels permitted by Italian law, which is the toughest
in the world.
Priest opts to stay in prison,
‘it’s safer’
ST. LOUIS (AP) – A priest has opted to stay imprisoned while authorities
challenge a court’s tossing out of his convictions of sexual misconduct
involving boys, convinced that living behind bars is safer than being
a “sitting duck” open to possible vigilantism.
Father James Beine, 63, on May 6 was ordered freed on appeal bond by the
Missouri Supreme Court, 10 days after it threw out convictions on charges
that he exposed himself to boys in a restroom in a St. Louis grade school,
where he worked as a counselor.
He could have walked from prison, but has no home and worries that being
cooped up under home confinement ordered by the Supreme Court could make
him a target.
Parishes battle to keep assets
held for them
PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) – Catholic parishes and schools are competing
with alleged victims of clerical sex abuse to claim assets held by the
Archdiocese of Portland, the first in the country to file for bankruptcy
because of abuse settlements.
Court records show that about 340 claims, totaling $198 million, were
made on the archdiocese by the April 29 deadline set by U.S. Bankruptcy
Court Judge Elizabeth Perris. The attorneys listed in the documents and
the large sums sought suggest about 150 of those claims may be related
to sex abuse. Because many of the claims are sealed and don’t have
a specific amount listed, church officials believe they could surpass
$530 million.
The archdiocese is responsible for 124 Catholic parishes and more than
50 schools in western Oregon. Investment funds and other money the archdiocese
has held for them were frozen by the bankruptcy filing.
Canadian diocese to sell churches
to pay for abuse
ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland (AP) – The Catholic Diocese of St.
George in eastern Canada plans to sell all its churches and missions to
raise $10.5 million to pay the victims of sexual assault by a priest who
was convicted more than a decade ago..
Forty properties, apparently cemeteries, weren’t part of the deal.
The diocese is appealing to its 32,000 parishioners for donations to buy
back core properties when they go on sale in the coming months.
Earlier this year, St. George’s became the first Catholic diocese
in Canada to seek bankruptcy protection as a result of $40 million in
sexual abuse claims. It has since negotiated a $10.5 million settlement
proposal.
Pope’s sports trading card
creates collectors’ buzz
STOCKTON (AP) – The sports trading card generating the most buzz
among collectors right now doesn’t feature a baseball, basketball
or football player. This captivating athlete was a soccer goalie who also
liked skiing, swimming, hiking and kayaking. His name: Pope John Paul
II.
A one-of-a-kind card featuring the pontiff’s autograph was released
this year by Topps, the best known maker of baseball cards. When the pope
died last month, collectors wondered whether anyone had found the card
and what it might fetch in a marketplace suddenly sizzling for all things
John Paul.
The card turned up in Stockton where a collector beat 1-in-135,475 odds
and plucked it out of a $1.50 pack about two weeks before the pontiff
died. The day before the pope’s funeral, he sold the card to Jeff
Hoekstra, the manager of a collectibles store in nearby Modesto, who is
offering to sell it on eBay.
Millions expected to be paid
for late pope’s car
AUBURN, Ind. (AP) – The only car Pope John Paul II was believed
to have owned is up for auction again, and this time Kruse International
expects it will cost $1.5 million to $5 million. The light blue 1975 Ford
Escort GL was bought at auction in Auburn in 1996 for $102,000 by Illinois
businessman Jim Rich, who also has a 1990 Corvette once owned by basketball
legend Michael Jordan and a 1987 bullet-proof Rolls Royce once used by
Britain’s royal family. He said if it does not get a high enough
bid, he will keep the vehicle. Some of the proceeds of a sale will go
to an orphanage in Chicago, he said.
