News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. May 16, 2001 [2001-114]
Presiding bishop writes to President Bush on Sudan situation
(ENS) Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold wrote a letter to President George W. Bush May 15, expressing appreciation for his "strong denunciation of the egregious human rights violations of Sudanese Christians and other minorities by the Sudanese government." Griswold said that the president's May 3 statement describing the crisis in Sudan as a "disaster for all human rights" expresses "the outrage that many feel who have long advocated for a vigorous United States policy condemning a regime which has perpetrated acts of war against its own people."
It will take "the full diplomatic energy of many nations, with strong leadership from the United States," Griswold argued, to "create sufficient urgency around the peace process in the Sudan to achieve results." He urged the president "to elevate peace in the Sudan as a priority of international diplomacy," pointing out that "the time is right for decisive action by your administration." He added that, in the wake of violence at All Saints Anglican Cathedral in Khartoum at Easter and the subsequent bombing of civilian targets, "points to greater willingness of the Khartoum government to commit crimes against its Christian citizens. The accumulation of weapons and war materials made possible by substantial earnings from oil exploration heightens concern that the Sudanese leaders will become even more confident in their ruthless pursuit of absolute control of all of Sudan and the imposition of even more repressive rule. This must not happen," Griswold said.
Vatican opposes inclusive language in English liturgy
(ENS) In a document released in early May, the Vatican has ruled that all attempts at "inclusive language" be removed from the English-language liturgy, charging that they represent attempts to be "politically correct."
"The abandonment of these terms under pressure of criticism on ideological or other grounds is not always wise or necessary," said the guidelines. "Nor is it an inevitable mark of linguistic development." The Vatican said that translations of the Latin texts should not be creative or overly dependent on modern expressions that could dilute the original intent.
It is only the fifth time that the Vatican has issued guidelines on the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, responsible for inaugurating major changes in putting the mass into local languages.
Conservative Roman Catholics, who have balked at the trends and argued for a stricter translation of the liturgical texts, welcomed the guidelines. Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb of Mobile, Alabama, who chairs the liturgy committee of the Bishops' Conference, said that the rules were long overdue since the last guidelines were done in 1969.
More liberal Roman Catholics, however, may balk at the new regulations as too restrictive and diminishing the authority of bishops. "All this shows is tremendous ignorance on the part of the Vatican in terms of language," said Linda Pczynski of Call to Action, a Chicago-based church reform movement.
Anglicans to meet in South Africa to discuss AIDS pandemic
(ACNS) Anglican leaders have recently decided to hold an unprecedented meeting in South Africa this summer to discuss the AIDS pandemic and the churches' response. Archbishop of Canterbury George L. Carey has described the crisis in Africa as a "staggering problem, driven by dire poverty." He has witnessed the situation first-hand during his travels to many African countries in recent years.
"The meeting will shape and direct our efforts to meet the challenges posed by the AIDS pandemic," he said in a May 14 statement. "The African nations and the churches of the Anglican Communion within them alike are relatively poor, but by working together we can learn from each other. We can make the most of the experience and expertise we have developed at the grass roots level."
Carey pointed out that, in many African countries, churches and faith-based organizations provide nearly half of the health services and that role will become even more important if AIDS "continues to erode the capacity of communities to care for those affected."
The archbishop made his comments at the beginning of Christian Aid Week, which drew attention to the tragic and extensive suffering of those with AIDS in Africa.
Ecumenical delegation calls for mutual renunciation of violence in the Middle East
(ENS) An ecumenical delegation of Washington, DC, area church leaders presented a statement calling for renunciation of violence to Israeli and Palestinian offices recently. The statement calls for an end to oppressive conditions imposed on Palestinians but also cites the military occupation and expansion of Israeli settlements as root causes of the violence. Only a mutual renunciation of violence will avoid a slide towards open warfare, the church leaders argued.
"We deplore the violence that maims and kills persons on both sides of the conflict," the statement said. "We maintain that a fundamental cause of the violence is the illegal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the expansion of settlements in that area." The occupation "regrettably provokes the Palestinians to use violence to regain their lands, and the Israelis to retaliate with excessive force. We deplore violence on either side.
We think that it is counterproductive. Violence unites and hardens the opposition; non-violence divides and softens it," the statement added.
The statement concluded that "each party to the conflict has a gift to give the other: security and interdependence, and a future of increasingly friendly cooperation. We commend those on both sides who continue to work for peace." The church leaders also called for "an extraordinary effort toward reconciliation of differences" and affirmed that "a just peace requires adherence to international law and continued effort in peacemaking by all parties."
Theologians propose a radical reform-women in the College of Cardinals
(ENI) A retired Italian bishop and several Roman Catholic theologians have suggested that the Vatican take a radical step by appointing women to the College of Cardinals that is responsible for electing the pope.
"The present system, which restricts to male cardinals the right to choose the pope, is a product of history," said Bishop Giuseppe Casale. He said that the system "could evolve, changing in a progressive and cautious way to include categories of the people of God who have been excluded until now." While cautioning against any hasty action, he argued that "neither should we stick rigidly to the present system, putting limits on the work of the Holy Spirit." There is no problem with lay cardinals, he pointed out, since they do not require ordination "so there is no problem of dogma." The position itself is "simply a product of history, and the method of electing the Bishop of Rome has undergone major changes throughout history."
The position of cardinals has been created by the church and therefore can be modified, added Prof. Severino Dianich of Florence, president of the Italian Theological Association. The conclave that elects the pope could include both clergy and lay people, both men and women, he said, adding that "from an ecclesial and theological viewpoint, such a reform is possible, even if the time is not yet ripe."