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September 5, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 15Oakland,
CA
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Grieving
in Taize RNS PHOTO/REUTERS/Robert Pratta |
 |
Ending
the occupation RNS PHOTO/REUTERS/Dan Balilty |
Churches toll bells for military killed in Iraq
NEW YORK (RNS) – Churches across the country were asked to ring
their bells Aug. 28 to extend the “profoundly spiritual tone”
of anti-war protests outside President Bush’s Texas ranch and to
mourn U.S. soldiers who have died in Iraq.
The request from Faithful America, a progressive online advocacy group
started by the National Council of Churches, also asks churches to toll
a bell each Sunday for every soldier who died the previous week. But the
bells are also meant to show solidarity with Cindy Sheehan, Celeste Zappala
and the mothers who founded Gold Star Families for Peace. Sheehan is camped
outside Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, waiting for a meeting with
the president.
Israel’s top court O.K.’s
synagogue destruction
JERUSALEM (RNS) – Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled that all
synagogues in 21 now-vacated Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and
four in the northern West Bank should be destroyed, but that everything
portable must be relocated to Israel.
The court was responding to a petition by Jewish settlers who objected
to the government’s plan to destroy all Jewish religious institutions
– 30 synagogues as well as eight yeshivas and seminaries –
in Gaza.
Israel’s military is in the process of leveling all homes, schools
and other buildings in the once-thriving settlements as part of its Disengagement
Plan. The territory is expected to be handed over to the Palestinian Authority
within weeks. The Palestinians plan to build several high-rise apartment
buildings to ease some of the overcrowding in Gaza, which is home to 1.3
million Arabs. About 8,000 Jews lived nearby prior to the evacuation.
Religious leaders protest U.S.
immigration policies
PHOENIX (RNS) – Religious leaders gathered at the border between
Mexico and Arizona on Aug. 29 to call for U.S. immigration reform due
to the hazardous conditions facing migrants.
This has been one of the deadliest years for migrants, with some 358 deaths,
said the Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of
Churches. “The deaths are continuing as a result of a broken legal
immigration system,” he said.
“Criminal immigrant-smuggling gangs, vigilante violence and the
exploitation of undocumented migrants have made our borders dangerously
unsafe,” said David Elcott, director of interrreligious affairs
for the American Jewish Committee. “This country’s historic
role as a safe haven for those coming to its shores is being seriously
compromised.”
Colombian rebels accept blame
for killing priests
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) – The smaller of Colombia’s two leftist
rebel groups acknowledged that its fighters killed two Catholic priests
last month but said it was a mistake and vowed to punish the perpetrators.
“We are aware of the irreparable damage that this act has caused,”
the National Liberation Army said. “We regret it deeply and ask
for forgiveness.”
Fathers Vicente Rosso Bayona and Jesus Emilio Mora were killed Aug. 15
along with two construction workers when gunmen ambushed their car on
a remote country road in northeast Colombia. A third priest was killed
in a separate incident on Aug. 18. In the statement, the ELN’s Central
Command blamed the killings on an “operational error” and
said those responsible would be “tried with full rigor.”
But Msgr. Hector Fabio Henao said the rebel apology was insufficient.
“I think the ELN should pay for their mistake not just by asking
for forgiveness, but by opening a peace dialogue,” he said.
Adventists apologize for Nazi
links during WW II
BERLIN (RNS) – German and Austrian leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church have issued a statement of apology for any support of or role in
Nazi activities during World War II.
In their declaration, the church bodies “honestly confess”
to a failure “in following our Lord” by not protecting Jews
and others during the Holocaust. They added their regret “that in
some of our publications ... there were found articles glorifying Adolf
Hitler and agreeing with the ideology of anti-Semitism in a way that is
unbelievable from today’s (perspective).”
Tensions rise as Catholics move
church to Kiev
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine’s Eastern Rite Catholics moved
their church headquarters to Kiev last month, despite protests from nationalists
and objections from Orthodox believers whose leaders warn the move will
further stoke inter-church tension.
A white-and-gold clad Cardinal Lubomur Husar conducted a ceremony for
more than 1,000 believers and priests of the Eastern Rite Catholics after
he was declared Metropolitan of Kiev and a priest announced the church’s
move from the western city of Lviv.
The country’s dominant Orthodox Church has accused Catholics and
others of trying to proselytize Orthodox believers. About 10 percent of
Ukraine’s 48 million people are Eastern Rite Catholics.
Pope’s birthplace draws
400 potential buyers
MUNICH, Germany (AP) – A woman selling the house where Pope Benedict
XVI was born has received more than 400 offers, including at least one
bid of 9 million euros (US$10.9 million).
However, only between 20 and 30 of the offers appeared “serious,”
spokeswoman Viktoria Rauh said. Claudia Dandl announced in June that she
would sell the house in the Bavarian village of Marktl an Inn because
crowds of sightseers were making life unbearable for her family. She has
said the house will not be sold automatically to the highest bidder, but
to someone with a good plan to make it accessible to the public.
Ave Maria Law School gets quick
accreditation
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (RNS) – Just five years after its founding, Ave
Maria School of Law, a Catholic enterprise, has received full accreditation
by the American Bar Association. Because the ABA requires law schools
to be in operation for at least five years before they are eligible for
full approval, Ave Maria’s accreditation, achieved Aug. 8, was attained
in the shortest amount of time possible.
In many states, a person may not sit for the bar examination unless he
or she holds a degree from an ABA-approved law school. The school has
been criticized for inculcating a conservative dogma. Students are required
to complete a course in “Moral Foundations of the Law,” in
addition to the usual fare of torts and criminal procedure. But school
officials maintain that “faith and reason enhance the study of law
and lead to the full attainment of truth.”
S.F. Archbishop servedm with
second subpoena
SAN FRANCISCO (RNS) – For the second time in two weeks, the Vatican’s
top-ranking American was served a subpoena commanding him to testify in
sexual-abuse cases involving the Archdiocese of Portland.
On Aug. 20, a process server attending a tribute dinner for Archbishop
William J. Levada in San Francisco handed the archbishop legal papers
calling for his deposition in January in a case alleging, among other
things, intentional infliction of emotional distress by a Portland parish
priest and a parish school principal.
Archbishop Levada, who was archbishop of Portland from 1986 to 1995, will
leave soon for Rome where he will take over as prefect of the Vatican’s
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a job that Pope Benedict XVI
himself held before his election in April.
Tucson Diocese receives bankruptcy
approval
TUCSON (RNS) – Dogged by sexual-abuse lawsuits since 1997, the Diocese
of Tucson, Ariz., last year became the second U.S. diocese to plunge into
bankruptcy, following Portland, Ore., but preceding Spokane, Wash. It
soon will become the first to emerge.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Marlar on July 11 approved the diocese’s
plan to make $22.2 million available for settlements. Seventy-seven claims
asserting sex abuse by priests have been approved or are pending. Individual
settlements will range from $100,000 to $600,000, depending on the circumstances
of the case.
