News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. November 7, 2001 [2001-323]
Committee on Status of Women addresses issue of violence
(ENS) The Executive Council's Committee on the Status of Women addressed a wide range of issues but its early November meeting at a retreat center in Nashville quickly focused on the issue of violence in the world.
A committee resolution was adopted by the Denver General Convention, asking Episcopalians "to become, with God's help, a non-violent and peaceful person." The committee renewed its recommendation that everyone strive "to affirm others and to avoid uncaring criticism, hateful words, physical attacks and self-destructive behavior, to look for safe ways to express anger and work at solving problems peacefully." The Pledge of Non-Violence assumed some urgency, members of the committee concluded, in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and at the Pentagon.
Because women in many parts of the world are victims of violence, the committee adopted a statement, beginning with a definition that said "Violence is any outside force that limits the God-given potential of one of God's children. Violence can be verbal, emotional, sexual or physical."
Since the terrorist attacks, the committee statement said that "we decry the violence of that day and of subsequent weeks. We also profess our unity with all peoples everywhere, all children of the same God, no matter how named."
The statement expressed particular support for "our Muslim and Christian sisters in Palestine in their struggle to survive in a violent time and country, and we pledge our prayers and economic assistance to them."
The committee decided to update a 1987 survey of attitudes among congregational members and diocesan leaders on the role and status of women by a random sampling in 18 dioceses. A summary of that report will be part of the committee's report to the 2003 General Convention in Minneapolis.
US traditionalist group vows to ordain its own bishops
(ENS) A US organization opposed to the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate in the Episcopal Church has announced its intention to elect its own bishop at its next meeting.
At a meeting held October 28-31 in Mundelein, Illinois, the annual assembly of the traditionalist organization Forward in Faith/North America (FIF/NA) approved two resolutions which call for the consecration of a FIF/NA bishop for the US and a process for the election of such a bishop.
"It is the intention of FIF/NA to nominate a priest under the auspices of a Province of the Anglican Communion that does not ordain women to priesthood or episcopate," declared the first resolution. "Contact has already been made with one such Province which is willing, in principle, to do so." The province was not identified.
The resolution cites "recommendations of the 1998 Lambeth Conference, 2001 Primates' Meeting in Kanuga, and the stated commitment of the Presiding Bishop" to provide "sustained and secure pastoral and episcopal care" to those opposing women's ordination, both inside and outside the Episcopal Church.
The second resolution provides for nominations to be sent to the organization's secretary in Fort Worth, Texas by the end of 2001. Nominees would be required to sign the FIF/NA "Declaration of Common Faith and Purpose."
Carey calls for freedom of worship in Muslim countries
(ENS) During a stop in Bahrain during a six-day pastoral visit to the Middle East, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey addressed his deep concern for oppression of Christians in some Muslim countries. He called on Muslims to assure freedom of worship for Christians and said that the two religions should work together to solve problems, such as poverty, that could fuel terrorism.
Christians in nations such as Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria and the Sudan, he pointed out, are not able to practice their faith with the same freedom that people of other faiths enjoyed in the West, according to a BBC account. "They need their Muslim brothers and sisters to speak up for them and, when extremists threaten, they need support and friendship."
Earlier Carey said that the use of military force in Afghanistan was necessary to counter "a fanatical enemy." In a BBC interview, he said that he saw no alternative to military action, although it should be proportionate to the task. The coalition of nations was up against what he described as an evil enemy, intent on a path of destruction. "We're against an enemy who has no moral limits on what he will do to achieve his goals," Carey said. "Now when you ally that 'no moral limits' to a fanatical belief in God, then you have a very dangerous concoction. I don't think they had any alternative but to attack."
Carey also said that it was wrong to equate Islam with some of the policies of the Taliban in Afghanistan, including the repression of women.
Tensions between Muslims and Christians increased in the wake of the massacre of 16 Christians in Pakistan, Carey noted, adding that the massacre was a scar on relations between the two religions.
Episcopal Relief and Development contributes to aid for Afghan refugees
(ENS) Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) has contributed $100,000 to Church World Service, the relief agency of the National Council of Churches and a member of Action of Churches Together, an international alliance of churches and relief agencies for Afghan refugees. The funds will provide emergency food and shelter for some of the most vulnerable 15,000 families fleeing the war in Afghanistan.
A consortium of ACT members are proposing further projects to assist the refugees, including additional emergency shelter and food, medical assistance, winter provisions, and clean water.
Following a decade of war with the Soviet Union and internal civil war, over a million Afghanis have been killed and three million have become refugees, the largest single group of refugees in the world.
Roman Catholic bishops condemn terrorism--and social injustice
(New York Times) At the end of a month-long conference of Roman Catholic bishops at the Vatican, a statement condemned terrorism but also called on the United States and the West to alleviate the social injustice that the bishops called a root cause of terrorism and "a threat to peace."
The report denounced "the enduring drama of hunger and extreme poverty, in an age where humanity, more than ever, has the capacity for a just sharing of resources." It demanded that the world's wealthier nations change their policies toward the poor and the powerless, pointing out that in many parts of the world people "are dying from famine and lack of medicine."
The conference discussed the role of bishops in the modern world. "There is a strong will to dismantle the image of bishops as men of power and to reinstitute the image of bishops as men of service," said Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Italy at a news conference.