Church denounces gay priests after magazine revelations

 

An Italian Catholic diocese has denounced homosexual priests for their "double life" and said they should not be in the priesthood.

 

The Diocese of Rome was responding to a magazine article on three homosexual priests that gave details of alleged sexual encounters and trips to clubs.

 

The diocese said "the honour of all the others" was sullied by their behaviour.

 

The Church holds that all sexual activity outside marriage is sinful and regards homosexual acts as unnatural.

'Saddened and troubled'

 

The article in the conservative magazine Panorama, entitled Gay Priests' Nights on the Town, carried pictures and interviews with the men.

 

The research was carried out over a month using hidden cameras.

 

It recorded sexual encounters, including one in a church building.

 

The diocese said of the priests: "We don't wish any ill-will against them, but we cannot accept that because of their behaviour the honour of all the others is sullied."

 

It said it was "saddened and troubled" by the article and vowed to pursue "with rigour any behaviour that is unworthy of the priestly life".

 

Pope Benedict XVI instructed in 2005 that actively gay priests should be barred from seminaries.

 

The Pope has said gay marriage is an "insidious and dangerous threat to the common good".

 

 

 

 

25 July 2010 

Major record deal for reclusive Benedictine nuns

 

The nuns hope the album will help people 'find peace'

 

An order of Benedictine nuns has signed a major record deal with the company behind Lady Gaga, it has been revealed.

 

The Nuns of the Abbaye de Notre-Dame de l'Annonciation, from France, won a global search of more than 70 convents across Europe, the US and Africa.

 

The reclusive order, based near Avignon, were deemed to have the finest Gregorian Chant singers.

 

They have signed a deal with Decca Records, part of Universal Music, which counts Lady Gaga and U2 among its acts.

 

The nuns' ancient order dates back to the 6th Century and they follow a tradition of leading a hidden life behind closed doors.

 

The Reverend Mother Abbess said: "We never sought this, it came looking for us.

 

"At first we were worried it would affect our cloistered life, so we asked St Joseph in prayer. Our prayers were answered, and we thought that this album would be a good thing if it touches people's lives and helps them find peace."

 

The nuns are self-sufficient and include a plumber, an engineer, an electrician, a silk-weaver and a dental assistant.

 

But their strict rules meant that even Decca Records managing director Dickon Stainer was unable to enter their home to congratulate them.

 

"I passed the contract through the grille, they signed it and passed it back," he said.

 

"Although the nuns do not leave the Convent, the whole world will now hear the true beauty of their singing."

 

The sisters' album, Voice: Chant From Avignon, will be released in November.

 

Decca is hoping to repeat the success of the Cistercian Monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz whose 2008 album Chant: Music For Paradise sold more than one million copies.

 

 

 

 

Archbishop Desmond Tutu to withdraw from public life

 

Archbishop Desmond Tutu: "The time has now come to slown down"

 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu has announced he is to withdraw from public life.

 

He played a prominent role in South Africa's struggle against the whites-only apartheid system.

 

After his 79th birthday in October, he said he would reduce his workload to one day a week before retiring.

 

That work would be devoted to The Elders, a group appointed by former President Nelson Mandela to tackle the world's most pressing problems.

 

During the 27 years that Mr Mandela was in prison, Archbishop Tutu spoke out against apartheid - and won the Nobel peace prize in 1984 for his efforts.

 

He was chosen by Mr Mandela to chair South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and investigate the crimes committed by all sides during the apartheid regime.

'Exhilarating and exasperating'

 

The former Archbishop of Cape Town, the first black cleric to hold that position, said his career highlight was introducing Mr Mandela as South African president in 1994.

 

In a nationally televised news conference from Cape Town, the Anglican cleric described how his schedule had grown more punishing in recent years.

 

"I have been very, very fortunate to have been given opportunities to contribute in a small way to develop our new, democratic, exhilarating and sometimes exasperating nation," he said. "The time has come to slow down."

 

He said he wanted to spend more time sipping tea with his wife, watching cricket, or visiting his grandchildren, although he added that he would honour his existing appointments.

 

Since his retirement as archbishop of Cape Town in 1996, as well as his work with the Elders, the cleric has launched his own peace foundation, advised world leaders and played an active role as a public speaker.

 

Archbishop Tutu spoke at several events during the recent football World Cup in South Africa, which he described as one of the most important events locally since the end of apartheid.

 

 

 

 

Spain Parliament Rejects Burqa Ban - For Now

Tuesday July 20, 2010

 

MADRID - Spain's Parliament on Tuesday rejected a proposal to ban women from wearing in public places Islamic veils that reveal only the eyes.

 

However, the Socialist government has said it favors including a ban on people wearing burqas in government buildings in an upcoming bill on religious issues to be debated after parliament's summer vacation break.

 

Following a lower chamber debate, 183 lawmakers opposed the ban, 162 voted for it and two abstained.

 

The nonbinding proposal had been put forward by the leading opposition Popular Party, which portrayed it as a measure in support of women's rights. The ruling Socialist Party opposed the ban.

 

"It is very difficult to understand how it is that our troops are defending liberty in Afghanistan and the government doesn't have the courage to do so here, in Spain," said opposition spokeswoman Soraya Saenz de Santamaria in Parliament.

 

The opposition's proposal followed discussions in several other European countries on possibly banning face veils that show only a woman's eyes, or their eyes through a knitted mesh.

 

Nations like France, Belgium and Switzerland have struggled to balance their national identities with growing Muslim populations with cultural practices that clash with their own.

 

In Spain, the PP had put forward the proposal "in defense of the dignity and equality of all women" and to prevent Muslim women from being forced into wearing unwanted garments such as veils by their husbands.

 

Some analysts had interpreted the proposal as an opposition ploy to build their party's strength amid the economic turmoil and dismal growth prospects that have dogged the government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

 

None of the opposition spokesmen consulted had been able to cite a place in Spain where women routinely wear face-covering veils.

 

However, a handful of Spanish towns and cities have banned the wearing of burqas and niqabs in municipal buildings, including in the country's second-largest city of Barcelona in June.

 

Of Spain's 47 million inhabitants, about 1 million are Muslims, most of whom have arrived in recent decades mainly looking for employment from northwest Africa, where the burqa is not common.

 

"This has been used politically in a search for electoral support," said Mansur Escudero, president of the Islamic Commission of Spain. He said he last saw a woman wearing a burqa in Spain 10 years ago in the southern city of Marbella, where Saudi Arabia's royal family and other wealthy Arab clans own large homes and estates.

 

Escudero said the woman could have been a tourist. The only woman he knew who regularly wore a burqa had lived in the southern city of Cordoba and died about a decade ago.

 

The issue nevertheless remains an emotional touchstone, and Justice Minister Francisco Caamano said that such garments were "hardly compatible with human dignity."

 

Caamano said in June the government would begin debating a ban on women wearing burqas in government buildings which would include courts, ministries and employment offices as part of the religious issues bill.

 

But the government opposes legislating a ban in public spaces, as that could force women who wear such clothing to make difficult choices: Go out in public and break the law, or stay home all the time.

 

"We want to avoid putting women who live in this kind of situation in a dual jail," said Eduardo Madina, secretary general for the ruling Socialist Party in the lower house of parliament.

 

 

 

 

South Africa: Church Takes On Rival Vuvuzela Makers

 

Hans Pienaar

1 July 2010

 

Johannesburg — South Africa's "Shembe church" says that a deal between it and a manufacturer is about to be finalised over the trademark rights to the vuvuzela, a horn whose trumpeting sound has grabbed headlines through its use during the soccer World Cup.

 

The Nazareth Baptist Church of KwaZulu-Natal - known locally as the Shembe church - said it is the confirmed originator of the plastic instrument originally made of animal horn.

 

It is threatening to take other manufacturers to court to stop them making the horn. The church claims its founder Isaiah Shembe was the inventor in 1910 of the trumpet that a plastics factory worker, Neil van Schalkwyk, saw in stands in the 1990s while playing soccer for the Cape Town's Santos club.

 

In 2001, Van Schalkwyk set up Masincedane Sport, which has since made about 800 000 vuvuzelas - and most recently an earplug kit for soccer fans irritated by the jackhammer-like drone created by the World Cup crowds at the matches in South Africa.

 

The company has had links with black empowerment initiatives, and has set up a "vuvuzela hotline" to battle workplace corruption, which in turn links up with a service offering "black dating", among other things. Van Schalkwyk told ENInews he was not familiar with the details of the deal, other than that the Shembe "trust fund" was involved.

 

Shembe and Masincedane appear to have joined forces as other manufacturers - 478 from China and Hong Kong and 27 others in South Africa - cash in on the ballooning demand, and debate rages over the origin of the instrument.

 

"We have the right to choose a partner [Masincedane], and to close other companies manufacturing the vuvuzela. They've taken that instrument from our members and converted it into plastic as a quick way of making money," Shembe spokesperson Enoch Mthembu told journalists. He said that church members who make the horn have lost income, and the church has threatened sponsors such as the Coca-Cola company with boycotts should they continue to use it in their marketing. The church is said to have 4 million members.

 

"They must stop placing orders with these Mickey Mouse companies who are opportunists. They are going to lose a huge market." He referred to "fong kongs", a local term for counterfeit goods imported cheaply from China.

 

Others are claiming that versions of the vuvuzela have been used all over the world, including in the 1950s at rugby matches in South Africa. One maker traces it to a Chinese basketball team decades ago, and the use of the instruments at carnivals in New York and Quebec, Canada has been noted.

 

Nevertheless, the vuvuzelas' use has spread globally and to other sports. Manufacturers are now waiting to see of world soccer governing body FIFA will allow them at the next World Cup in Brazil, in the face of complaints from players, fans and spectators.

 

 

 

 

A new direction for Clark Pinnock

Eminent evangelical theologian explored the edges of Christian faith

By Maxwell Ryan  |  Tuesday, July 20, 2010

 

BURLINGTON, ON—Canadian theologian Clark Pinnock, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario, has decided—because of illness—to conclude his illustrious, if at times controversial, teaching and writing career. It is not that he has run out of ideas or become disenchanted with theology. The reason for this decision is found is a brief e-mail that Pinnock sent to close friends recently.

 

"I want to inform you," he wrote, "that I am now middle stage Alzheimer's. I will not be able to do my writing etc. I am 73 years now, and I've enjoyed my biblical three score and ten. I am not bitter. I have had a good life. I'll meet you over Jordan if not before. You are free to make this news known. With love...". With this brief note a remarkable teaching and writing career takes a new direction.

 

Pinnock is that rare combination of an evangelical who has explored the edges of the Christian faith he holds. In his 1985 book, The Untapped Power of Sheer Christianity, he said, "I write as an evangelical theologian. This means that my insights come from the perspective of one who stands within the stream of historic Christianity, and confesses the great truths of incarnation and atonement, of salvation by grace through faith, and of our everlasting hope only in Jesus Christ. I am committed to the infallibility of the Bible as the norm and canon of our message."

 

His questing and honest explorations of Scripture and theology led him into controversial waters as he gradually moved from Calvinism to embrace Arminianism. Many of his erstwhile colleagues in the reformed theological camp dismissed him, with some referring to him as a heretic. Pinnock maintains that, "The direction of openness to which I have moved and am still moving is Wesleyan. Wesleyanism is winning the day, which is why the Calvinists are so defensive."

 

At the same time theological liberals attacked him as being out of touch with current trends. Responded Pinnock, "I have never been able to shake off the feeling of outrage at the arrogance of the liberal decision to revise the New Testament message to make it acceptable to modern men. My deepest concern as a theologian today is to expose and refute this deadly error." Whatever the differences Pinnock always maintained a gracious and irenic spirit.

 

As Pinncok explored the concept of open theism he discovered like-minded theologians such as John Sanders and Thomas Jay Oord. Sanders, a professor at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, writes: "In Clark's interaction with conservative evangelicalism, Pentecostalism, Wesleyanism, process thought, Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, one sees the vision of open and generous evangelical theology which still remains true to evangelical distinctives.

 

"Among the many items about Clark that I deeply appreciated I will mention two. First, he encouraged me to contribute a chapter to a book of his even though I had not yet completed my Master of Arts degree. His comment was, "I don't care what degree a person has, only whether they do good work." Second, even though he could see from only one eye and it often caused him physical pain to read, he read an enormous amount and he showed a younger generation of evangelical scholars the value of learning from a wide variety of Christian traditions. "

 

Oord, a professor at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho, writes: "Clark Pinnock is a giant in theology—a giant in terms of his influence and in terms of his character. He lived a theology of growth, in which he was unafraid to think new ideas and live in the Spirit. Few people are rightly regarded as true innovators. Clark is one.

 

"I have worked with Clark on many projects, including co-directing with him the first major meeting of Open theologians in 2007. Clark is eager to explore ways in which theology might best engage the contemporary world.

 

"Few Christians have been attacked for their views about God in the ways that Clark has been attacked. He argued that his views about God were biblically-based, but he interpreted the Bible differently from most evangelicals. And because his way of thinking about God proves to be intellectually and existentially more satisfying, many people–especially younger scholars—followed his lead.

 

"Clark and I share many views in common, which I talk about in my new book, The Nature of Love: A Theology. It is precisely the logic of love that led us down quite similar theological paths."

 

During his active years at McMaster, Clark was possibly the best-known theology professor/author at the college. Stanley E. Porter, president and dean, and Professor of New Testament at McMaster, has written: "I don't think that there is any theologian who has done as much for evangelicalism in Canada as Clark Pinnock. This is certainly true of the influence he has had here at McMaster Divinity College. He was a beacon of evangelicalism at the College from his arrival in 1977 until his retirement in 2002.

 

"In the early years he was a lone light in an otherwise somewhat gloomy theological atmosphere. The college has changed and I know that Clark has taken satisfaction in the evangelical transformation of McMaster Divinity College into one of the leading evangelical seminaries in Canada. Until recently, Clark has continued to write and provoke thought on a range of theological subjects. He has also continued to teach for us in our summer school, and to attract numerous students. Having one of Clark's classes meant the building would be filled with the singing of great hymns.

 

"I remember some of the theological controversies that Clark has been involved in and especially remember how gracious he was when many opponents were not as kind. Even though I edited a commemorative volume celebrating his theological work, and in my article questioned some of his ideas, my response was taken as part of a continuing theological discussion. Clark has always been a leading theological thinker and his theology has been relevant for the academy and the interested layperson.

 

"Many of us at McMaster Divinity College will miss Clark not being in his office or walking through the halls as he goes about his work."

 

 

 

 

Hindu and Sikh Groups Want Fireworks Laws Amended for Diwali

July 23rd, 2010

 

Source: www.thespec.com

HAMILTON, CANADA, July 21, 2010: Hamilton’s Hindu and Sikh communities are looking to change the city’s fireworks bylaw to accommodate for Diwali, the “festival of lights.” While thousands of Hamiltonians every year celebrate the Hindu holiday, the current bylaw restricts the use and sale of fireworks to Victoria Day, Canada Day and the two days before and after those holidays.

 

Local community members are looking to change what they are calling an outdated regulation. “The definition is called ‘festival of lights.’ Without that component of light, Diwali has no or very little meaning,” said Nithy Ananth, president of the Hindu Samaj Temple of Hamilton and Region. “I think people who (have cultural celebrations) … make the Canadian culture rich,” said Budh Dhillon, who is a member of the Baba Budha Ji Gursikh Temple. “It’s safe to have firecrackers on Victoria Day. It’s safe to have them on Canada Day. Why can’t we have them on another day?”

 

 

 

 

 

Buddhist Bhutan Proposes 'Anti-Conversion' Law

Vishal Arora

Compass Direct News

July 23, 2010

 

THIMPHU, Bhutan (CDN) — Christians in this Himalayan nation who still long to openly practice their faith were disheartened this month when the government proposed the kind of "anti-conversion" law that other nations have used as a pretext for falsely accusing Christians of "coercion."

 

The amendment bill would punish "proselytizing" that "uses coercion or other forms of inducement" - vaguely enough worded, Christians fear, that vigilantes could use it to jail them for following the commands of Christ to feed, clothe and otherwise care for the poor.

 

"Now, under section 463 [of the Penal Code of Bhutan], a defendant shall be guilty of the offense of proselytization if the defendant uses coercion or other forms of inducement to cause the conversion of a person from one religion or faith to another," reported the government-run Kuensel newspaper on July 9.

 

"There was always a virtual anti-conversion law in place, but now it is on paper too," said a senior pastor from Thimphu on condition of anonymity. "Seemingly it is aimed at controlling the growth of Christianity."

 

Kuenlay Tshering, a member of Bhutan's Parliament and the chairperson of its Legislative Council, told Compass that the new section is consonant with Article 7(4) of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan, which states, "A Bhutanese citizen shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. No person shall be compelled to belong to another faith by means of coercion or inducement."

 

He said that the National Council had proposed that offenses under the proposal be classified as misdemeanors, punishable by one to less than three years in prison.

 

Tshering said that the amendment bill "may be passed during the next session of Parliament, after the National Assembly deliberates on it in the winter session."

 

Asked if he was aware that similar "anti-conversion" laws in neighboring India had been misused to harass Christians through vague terms of "inducement," he said he was not.

 

Authorities usually act on complaints by local residents against Christian workers, so frivolous complaints can lead to their arrest, said another pastor who requested anonymity.

 

Of the 683,407 people in Bhutan, over 75 percent are Buddhist, mainly from the west and the east. Hindus, mostly ethnic Nepalese from southern Bhutan, are estimated to be around 22 percent of the population.

 

There are around 6,000 Christians, mostly ethnic Nepalese, but there is neither a church building nor a registered Christian institution. The Bible, however, has been translated into the national language, Dzongkha, as well as into Nepali.

 

The constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but the government has not officially recognized the presence of Christians, whose practice of faith remains confined to their homes.

 

The Drukpa Kagyue school of Mahayana Buddhism is the state religion, with Hinduism dominant in the south, according to Bhutan's official website, which adds, "Some residues of Bon, animism and shamanism still exist in some pockets of the country," but makes no mention of Christianity.

 

Still, since Bhutan became a democracy in 2008 after its first-ever elections - following more than 100 years of absolute monarchy - people have increasingly exercised their freedom, including religious choice.

 

‘Why More Religions?'

 

Home and Culture Minister Lyonpo Minjur Dorji told Compass that Bhutan's government had "no problems" with Christianity or any other faith.

 

"But Bhutan is a small country, with a little more than 600,000 people, and a majority of them are Buddhist," Dorji said. "We have Hindus, also mainly in southern parts. So why do we need more religions?"

 

Buddhism is closely linked with political and social life in Bhutan. Dorji's office sits in a gigantic monastery in Thimphu known as Tashichho Dzong. Buddhism unites and brings people together, Dorji said, explaining that the social life of a village revolves around its dzong (monastery).

 

Dorji said India's multi-religious society had led to tensions and bloodshed.

 

"India can survive riots and unrest," he said, "but Bhutan may not, because it is a small country between two giants [India and China]."

 

With leaders who have been proud that they have not allowed it to be colonized, Bhutan historically has been keenly concerned about its survival. Bhutan's people see their distinct culture, rather than the military, as having protected the country's sovereignty. And it is no coincidence that Dorji's portfolio includes both internal security and preservation of culture.

 

The constitution, adopted in July 2008, also requires the state to protect Bhutan's cultural heritage and declares that Buddhism is the spiritual heritage of Bhutan.

 

A government official who requested anonymity said that, as Tibet went to China and Sikkim became a state in India, "now which of the two countries will get Bhutan?"

 

This concern is prevalent among the Bhutanese, he added.

 

Sikkim, now a state in India's northeast, was a Buddhist kingdom with indigenous Bhotia and Lepcha people groups as its subjects. But Hindus from Nepal migrated to Sikkim for work and gradually outnumbered the local Buddhists. In 1975, a referendum was held to decide if Sikkim, then India's protectorate, should become an official state of the country. Since over 75 percent of the people in Sikkim were Nepalese - who knew that democracy would mean majority-rule - they voted for its incorporation into India.

Bhutan and India's other smaller neighbors saw it as brazen annexation. And it is believed that Sikkim's "annexation" made Bhutan wary of the influence of India.

 

In the 1980s, Bhutan's king began a one-nation-one-people campaign to protect its sovereignty and cultural integrity, which was discriminatory to the ethnic Nepalese, who protested. Their non-compliance, however, resulted in a harsh crackdown by authorities, leading to the expulsion or voluntary migration of over 100,000 ethnic Nepalese, many of whom were Christians, to the Nepal side of the border in Jhapa in the early 1990s.

 

"Bhutan did not want to become another Sikkim," said a local resident, explaining why the government did not tolerate the protests.

 

Bhutan is also rigorous in implementing its laws related to the use of the national language, the national dress code and the uniform architectural standards throughout the country to strengthen its cultural integrity. Bhutanese men are required to wear the gho, a knee-length robe tied at the waist by a cloth belt, when they go to work or attend a public function. Women have to wear the kira, an ankle-length dress clipped at one shoulder and tied at the waist. Non-compliance can lead to fine and imprisonment.

 

Brighter Future

 

One hopeful pastor said he expects the government to officially acknowledge the existence of Christianity in Bhutan in the near future.

 

"Religious freedom will be good for both Christians and the government," he said. "If Christians are not officially acknowledged, who will the government go to if it wants to implement an executive decision related to religious communities?"

 

Explaining the reason for his hope, he recalled an incident in the Punakha area in January, when a house under construction was demolished after rumors that it was used as a church.

 

"The house owner, a Christian, went to his majesty [King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck] and told him he was not constructing a church but would have worship with other believers on Sundays," the pastor said. "The king allowed him to build the house."

 

He also said that a delegation of Christians met with Prime Minister Lyonchen Jigmey Thinley in May 2009, who reassured them that there would be more freedom soon.

 

Christianity is gradually growing, but through word-of-mouth - testimonies of those who have received healing from sickness - and not public preaching, he said, adding that Christians needed to understand and be patient with the government, "which cannot and should not make changes or give freedom overnight."

 

Christians' Skulls, Bones Used for Buddhist Ritual

 

The ambiguity in Bhutan over the status of Christians has brought with it a new difficulty: A national daily recently reported that at least eight graves of Christians had been exhumed and the skulls and thigh bones extracted for a Buddhist ritual.

 

Although the report marked the first time the practice had made the news, Christian leaders said more than 100 graves have been dug up as the trade in human bones has been going on for more than five years.

 

A local resident of the Lamperi area, near Thimphu, identified as Namgay, told the Bhutan Observer that he found eight graves in a "secret forest graveyard" that had been exhumed by hunters of craniums and thigh bone.

 

"We saw skulls without craniums and a hand sticking out of a grave," he was quoted as saying in the daily on May 27.

 

A human skull garners between 5,000 ngultrum (US$105) and 10,000 ngultrum (US$211) in Bhutan, with men's skulls considered more valuable. The skull of a man affected by leprosy is not considered ideal for purification. Rather, such skulls are considered best for rituals to subdue evil spirits.

 

In a visit to the graveyard, the Bhutan Observer found at least eight graves freshly dug up. "Hand gloves, khaddar [a coarse homespun cotton cloth], a currency note, a wooden cross, and a wooden hammer lay scattered all over," it reported.

 

The daily said the graveyard apparently belonged to the Christian community in Thimphu and nearby areas.

 

"Christians in the country say that there should be an official recognition that there are Christians in the country, and other things like burial rights will naturally follow," the report noted.

 

A local pastor told Compass that since Christians did not have a burial ground, they buried their dead in forests.

 

"More than 100 bodies have been dug up, even though we have changed several locations for burial," he said. "I wonder how the traders in human bones discover these locations. Where do we go now?"

 

Some local residents reportedly believe that a Christian grave brings bad luck.

 

Damcho Wangchu, a resident of Thinleygang area, told the daily that the area surrounding the graveyard was holy. He attributed all misfortune in the area - including storms, the death of three students and of four others - to the Christian cemetery.

 

"We never experienced such misfortunes in our gewog [cluster of villages] before," he said.

 

The daily explained that the tradition of use of human skulls and thigh bones in Buddhist rituals was as old as Tantric Buddhism itself. "Thoepai Dagpa is a generic name for the text that illustrates the use and study of quality of skulls," it reported.

 

Tantric Buddhism, widespread in Bhutan, involves rituals as a substitute or alternative for the earlier abstract meditations.

 

An editorial in the same newspaper noted, "Our hunt for the criminal will probably lead us from the unplanned graveyard to the sacred altar."

 

 

 

 

 

Religious leaders and the EU take tentative first steps

Jul 23, 2010 09:41 EDT

 

Top European Union officials held talks this week with religious leaders, part of a policy of holding consultations with religious groups that was enshrined in the EU’s Lisbon reform treaty, which came into force last December. But not everyone supports the move.

 

More than two dozen Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders — joined by a representative each from the Hindu and Sikh communities — met  the presidents of the European Parliament, European Commission and European Council on Monday to discuss how to fight poverty and social exclusion.

 

It was the the sixth such consultation since 2005, but the first to take place in the context of the Lisbon treaty, the EU’s latest collective agreement.  Article 17 of the treaty commits the EU to maintaining “an open, transparent and regular dialogue with … churches and (non-confessional and philosophical) organisations”.

 

But opponents of the guidance say that because many Europeans are secular and an increasing number practise non-Christian religions, churches should not have special rights.

 

“Leaders need to respect the separation between church and state,” said Jean de Brueker, deputy secretary general of the European Humanist Federation, which advocates more secularism in Europe. De Brueker’s organisation says separate consultation agreements should be limited to elected officials and those with recognised special expertise.

  

Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, said the EU was a secular organisation but spoke about the moral significance of the 27-country bloc, hinting at the need for spiritual and religious input.

  

“The European Union has to be a union of values. That is our added value in the world. That is the soft power of Europe in the world,” he told reporters.

  

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Poland, who spent decades in the Vatican as private secretary to Pope John Paul II — who played a subtle but intimate role in late Soviet politics — has spoken in favour of Article 17.

  

“I believe there is a need for such consultations with churches so as not to make mistakes on moral or ethical issues,

for the benefit of societies,” Dziwisz told Reuters in December. “Let’s not forget that religion is also a great force that creates cultures and societies. It cannot be bypassed.”

  

The European Parliament will meet Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox leaders on Sept. 30 to discuss how to implement Article 17, European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek said.

 

One way or another, debate over what role the Church, and by extension churches, can play in engaging with the European Union is only likely to intensify. The EU’s hopes of ‘reaching out’ to religious communities may very well end up drawing it deeper into a complex, centuries-old debate.

 

 

 

 

Turkey offers citizenship to Orthodox archbishops to help patriarch succession

Jul 22, 2010 22:24 EDT

 

turkey has offered citizenship to Orthodox Christian archbishops from abroad to help the next election of the ecumenical patriarch, the spiritual leader of the world’s 250 million Orthodox faithful, officials said.  Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has quietly led the gesture to the Orthodox, who face a shortage of candidates to succeed Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, 70, and serve on the Holy Synod, which administers patriarchate affairs.

 

Turkish law requires the patriarch to be a Turkish citizen. But the Orthodox community in Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim country, has fallen to some 3,000 from 120,000 a half-century ago, drastically shrinking the pool of potential future patriarchs.  There are now only 14 Greek Orthodox archbishops, including Bartholomew, who are Turkish citizens. Bartholomew himself is in good health.

 

Seventeen metropolitans from countries including Austria, France, the United States and Greece have applied for passports, said Rev. Dositheos Anagnostopulous, the patriarchate spokesman.  Another six may still apply, and the See hopes the first archbishops will receive their papers by Christmas, he said.

 

 

 

 

Bangladesh Islamic party leaders face new charges

 

By JULHAS ALAM

Associated Press Writer

 

DHAKA, Bangladesh - A special tribunal in Bangladesh issued arrest warrants against four senior leaders of the country's largest Islamic party on Monday ahead of a planned trial over alleged crimes against humanity during the nation's 1971 independence war.

 

Suspects including Jamaat-e-Islami party chief Matiur Rahman Nizami and his senior party colleagues Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, Abdul Quader Mollah and Muhammad Kamaruzzaman were arrested earlier on various charges including attacking police and blaspheming Islam.

 

Monday's arrest warrants mean the tribunal is allowing authorities to keep them behind bars for interrogation on specific charges of crimes against humanity.

 

The party has accused the government of conspiracy and arresting its leaders on politically motivated charges.

 

The government set up the tribunal in March to prosecute people accused of collaborating with the Pakistani army in killings and other crimes during the 1971 war that culminated in Bangladesh ceding from Pakistan and winning independence.

 

On Monday, the three-member tribunal headed by Justice Nizamul Huq made the order after the prosecution petitioned it, seeking arrest warrants against them on charges of alleged genocide, murder, rape, torture, looting and arson related to 1971 war. In an amended law, the government recently described these heinous acts as crimes against humanity.

 

Chief Prosecutor Golam Arif Tipu told the court that if the accused were not detained in connection with the charges of committing crimes against humanity, they could be released from custody on bail in other cases and could leave the country or obstruct the investigation.

 

Later Monday, a magistrate in Dhaka separately allowed detectives to question Nizami and Mujahid for three days.

 

According to official Bangladesh figures, Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators, killed an estimated 3 million people, raped about 200,000 women and forced millions more to flee their homes during a bloody nine-month guerrilla war.

 

Police say most of the suspects are from Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposed the battle for independence and sided with Pakistan. India backed those seeking independence.

 

The tribunal was pledged by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League before it won general elections in 2008.

 

Jamaat-e-Islami was a major partner of a 2001-2006 coalition government headed by Hasina's longtime political rival, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. Two of the suspects, Nizami and Mujahid, were senior ministers of that government.

 

On March 26, 1971, Bangladesh - then called East Pakistan - declared its independence from West Pakistan, following years of perceived political and economic discrimination. Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation on Dec. 16, 1971, with the surrender of the Pakistani army in Dhaka.

 

After the war, an amnesty was declared by independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman - Hasina's father - for collaborators who were not directly involved in heinous crimes. It did not cover those who had specific charges or evidence of crimes against them. It remains unclear whether the four Islamic party leaders have outstanding criminal cases dating to that time.

 

 

 

 

Dalai Lama: My Reincarnation Will Appear In Free Country

By P. Vijian, Bernama, July 20, 2010

 

DHARAMSALA, India -- Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama believes his next reincarnation will be in a "free country", if the Tibetan crisis prolongs without a cordial solution.

 

"If I die as a refugee and the Tibetan situation remains like this, then logically, my reincarnation will appear in a free country, because the very purpose of reincarnation is to carry on the work which began in my previous life.

 

"And, there is some contribution, some fulfillment in work started in the previous life. Then, that is truly reincarnation," he told Bernama in a recent interview at his exile-base in Dharamsala in northern India.

 

He said, if obstacles were created against carrying out the tasks of the Dalai Lama's previous life, than the "reality is not reincarnation."

 

The 75-year-old senior monk, named Tenzin Gyatso, now the 14th Dalai Lama, is recognised as the reincarnation of Tibet's 13th spiritual leader Thubten Gyatso.

 

The Nobel Peace laureate said, despite insurmountable odds, largely the political pressure from the Chinese Government for a free Tibet, he would continue his campaign for the thousands of Tibetan people displaced from their native land for almost five decades.

 

"My daily prayer is, so long as space remains and so long as the sufferings of sentient beings are there, I will remain in order to serve, that is my most effective inspiration," he said.

 

Asked whether a female could possibly head the male-dominated Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy in the future, he said women were always held in high esteem in Buddhism, without prejudice.

 

"Female Dalai Lama (is) possible because in Tibet tradition, among the high women, reincarnation is there, I think there is the 700-800-year-old Dorjee Phagmo institution which is for female reincarnation...so, there is no religious connotation that religious leader must be male.

 

"If circumstances are such that female reincarnation is more effective to people, then, logically it should be female," he said.

 

Queried if he would one day take the form of a woman reincarnation, he replied: "I personally don't know."

 

The Tibetan movement in exile is seeking genuine autonomy from Beijing, with the Dalai Lama pushing the "middle way approach" -- a moderate agenda for a peaceful co-existence with China -- so, ancient Tibetan language, culture and Buddhism remain in tact.

 

 

 

 

Tzu Chi Foundation receives special status at U.N. ECOSOC

Taiwan News, July 21, 2010

 

Foundation's new role would allow it to provide information directly to the U.N. Secretary-General

 

Taipei, Taiwan -- The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has given the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation special consultative status, the Taiwanese humanitarian organization announced yesterday.

 

The Hualien County-based group has earned an international reputation for its worldwide relief work after major natural disasters, including earthquakes, floods and tsunamis.

 

Its new role would allow it to provide information directly to the U.N. Secretary-General, governments of member states and non-governmental organizations, the group said. Tzu Chi will also be allowed to participate in all ECOSOC activities, including meetings and budget discussions.

 

"The award recognizes the enormous contribution which the foundation has made in charity and medical work in more than 70 countries around the world," the organization said on its web site.

 

The participation in ECOSOC could also help passing on the Buddhist group's experience in relief and reconstruction to the U.N. and to non-governmental organizations, Tzu Chi added.

 

The group said it would now have the right to attend all ECOSOC meetings and to offer written or spoken reports and suggestions. Tzu Chi relief actions in the field would from now on also receive the necessary assistance and eventual protection from U.N.-related bodies, the group said.

 

In a message to the organization's followers around the world, Tzu Chi founder Master Cheng Yen said members should regard any suffering anywhere in the world as their own suffering and bear responsibility for providing aid.

 

She established the group in 1966 in Hualien County, reportedly after a conversation with Catholic missionaries convinced her that Buddhists had to provide more benefits to the local population in the form of hospitals and schools.

 

ECOSOC discusses international economic and social issues such as the raising of standards of living and unemployment. It holds an annual four-week meeting in July.