News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. September 17, 2002 [2002-215-1]
Griswold attends meeting with National Security Advisor to discuss Middle East issues
(ENS) Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold joined Lutheran and Roman Catholic colleagues in a September 16 meeting with President Bush's National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, urging the Bush administration to take new steps to end the suffering of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and to restart peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, participated in the meeting.
The three bishops represent churches that have significant relief and development programs in the Holy Land. They urged Rice to press for immediate and concrete measures to alleviate a grave and deteriorating humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza. They reiterated their long-standing condemnation of suicide bombings and all forms of violence against civilians on both sides of the conflict. They also welcomed the administration's commitment to both a safe and secure Israel and a viable, independent Palestinian state, and urged the administration to take concrete steps to achieve these twin goals in the context of new peace negotiations.
While the original purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian situation, the church leaders also discussed Iraq, welcoming the president's engagement of the international community while reiterating the serious moral concerns each had expressed in earlier statements on the use of military force to overthrow the Iraqi government.
Peterson expresses gratitude, frustration at Hong Kong meeting of Anglican Consultative Council
(ENS) Secretary General John Peterson laid out sources of gratitude and frustration in his opening address at the 12th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) in Hong Kong September 17.
After thanking the "youngest of all provinces in the Anglican Communion" for its hospitality, Peterson sketched the influences on the life and work of its 38 members in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the United States last September 11 and the continuing conflict in the Middle East.
Among his frustrations, he cited a decision at the meeting of the Communion's primates at Kanuga last year to make the HIV/AIDS pandemic "a top priority." Peterson said that he was "bitterly disappointed at how slowly this whole process has unfolded. To be honest, we were promised funds to establish this programme in each one of the African provinces, but the promised funds never came through." He said that it took a grant from the Parthenon Trust to launch the program. "In Africa AIDS will not be defeated by the governments but by the church," he said.
With strong support from Archbishop of Canterbury George L. Carey, the Compass Rose Society has set a goal of $20 million to provide an endowment to support new initiatives and special projects. The support from the society and Trinity Church in New York has bolstered support from ACC members who are wrestling with financial crises that is making full support difficult. "Regardless of the reasons, these shortfalls have a devastating effect on the ministry of the Communion and our inter-relatedness to each other," Peterson said. He called on the member churches "to be more financially responsible to each other as a Communion."
Peterson highlighted an interim report, "Traveling Together in God's Mission," that asks provinces of the Communion to consider six broad areas of mission--Islam, Developing Anglicanism, a Communion in Mission; the journey towards wholeness and fulness of life; mission and justice-making and peace-building; money power and Christian mission; and evangelism.
New White House AIDS policy director will speak at National Episcopal AIDS Coalition conference
(ENS) Dr. Joseph O'Neill, who was appointed director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy in July, will speak at a conference sponsored by the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition October 11-12 in Austin, Texas.
O'Neill is responsible for guiding national health policy on care, treatment and financing for those living with HIV/AIDS, and access for medically underserved populations. A member of the faculty at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, he served in several government agencies dealing with related issues, as well as a community AIDS clinic in Baltimore.
Bishop Claude Payne of Texas will officiate at the healing service that traditionally closes NEAC conferences at St. David's Church in Austin. The conference will also offer a variety of workshops, including those that deal with the Lutheran AIDS Network, a co-sponsor of the conference, and a discussion on AIDS and the spirit, led by the Rev. Richard Younge of Seattle, former chair of NEAC. Another session will talk about a needle exchange program in Dallas led by Myrna and Jack Taylor; a discussion of the Latino AIDS Prevention Project in Los Angeles, led by Jack Plimpton; and a session on the need for greater HIV/AIDS education for older Americans, led by the Rev. C. William Frampton, co-chair of NEAC.
Another topic will be fundraising for AIDS service organizations in light of a drop-off in contributions in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, and a discussion of the impact of the pandemic in America's rural communities.
For registration information, call NEAC at 800-588-6628 or e-mail at neac@neac.org.
Epting joins ecumenical delegation in visit to Armenian Church
(ENS) Bishop Christopher Epting, the Episcopal Church's deputy for ecumenical and interfaith relations, joined an ecumenical delegation in an August 22-25 visit to the Armenian Church and a meeting with His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.
Members of the delegation expressed deep appreciation for the signs of renewal in the ancient church that has only recently emerged from a period of suppression by Soviet Russia. According to tradition, Christianity was first taken to Armenia by apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew and, after periods of persecution, in 301 Armenia became the world's first kingdom to adopt Christianity as its official state religion. The church is a member of the Oriental Orthodox family of churches that also includes Syrian, Ethiopian, Coptic and a few smaller churches.
"We have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the Armenians because we opened our doors to them during the immigration in the late 19th century," Epting noted. The first Armenian liturgy was celebrated September 22, 1889 at Grace Church on Broadway in New York, a hospitality that was offered to Armenians in other churches around the country. Many Armenian clergy have attended Episcopal seminaries.
Epting said that Karekin is "a vital young church-builder who has a vision for the recovery of his church. Members of our delegation shared his excitement as he described those efforts. The church's rich and colorful liturgy, for example, is being reclaimed, and we attended a wonderful youth rally during our visit." The delegation learned that the church's seminaries are full and many youth have returned to the church.
The delegation was particularly moved by its visit to Tzitzernagapert, the memorial to the Armenian Genocide of 1915 at the hands of the Turks, a reminder of the deep wound carried by the Armenians and their determination to avoid such horror in the future.
As they rebuild, the Armenians are also assuming a more visible role within the worldwide Christian family, making a distinct contribution based on their endurance--and the rich and distinct traditions of their ancient church. Members of the delegation said that the visit had strengthened their conviction that the Holy Spirit is alive and well in Armenia.
(Photos of the trip are available at the National Council of Churches web site at www.ncccusa.org.)
Nigerian bishops march on legislature to protest mass poverty
(ENI) Eight Nigerian bishops marched to the House of Assembly in the southeastern state of Anambra recently to protest government policies that they claim have created mass poverty, creating an "ugly situation in the country." According to reports, the legislators listened carefully to the bishops and their demands.
Anglican Archbishop Maxwell Anikwenwa, who led the protest, said that Nigeria's political leadership had failed the people of the country. He accused the leaders of "closing their eyes and ears to the suffering of the people, contrary to the commands of God." An estimated 70 percent of Nigerians live below the poverty level, up from just over 48 percent in 1998. A report warns that "there is a growing threat to the bare physical survival of the people," adding that "human deprivation, income poverty and social deprivation have become aggravated."
Anikwenwa told journalists, "We see thousands of our people turned into beggars as the harsh social and economic conditions bite harder. We are daily witnessing the collapse of public institutions in the country. Security is once more a serious issue as violent crimes are on the increase. Education has been grounded while hospitals and the judiciaries are not functioning," he said.
The bishops said that it is the responsibility of the elected representatives of the people to "do something to save these people who are dying." A government official contended that the situation in the country had improved since the return of the democratic government in 1999.
Lutheran leaders urge dialogue with other faiths to avoid religious conflict
(ENI) Leaders of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), gathered in Wittenberg, Germany, where Lutheranism had its beginnings in the 16th century, urged dialogue with other faiths to ensure that no "confrontation between religions is allowed to develop anywhere in the world."
"However unambiguously we may condemn and combat terrorism and however committed our solidarity with the victims, it is equally true that to propagate sweeping hostile images, primarily of Arabs and Islam, and threats of war is counterproductive for peace," said Bishop Christian Krause, president of the LWF, which represents 95 percent of the world's 65 million Lutherans.
Krause urged the LWF council to avoid a tendency to adopt hostile images associated with an "axis of evil" and instead strive for "an axis of hope," one that won't be "misinterpreted as some kind of power struggle between the religions."
The meeting was intended for Jerusalem but was moved because of the increased violence. Krause praised the role of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the region, citing its efforts to facilitate the encounter between the "children of Abraham," the Christians, Jews and Muslims. "Peace in the Holy Land can only be achieved, like everywhere else, through dialogue, understanding and trust between two peoples presently locked in conflict," said Dr. Ishmael Noko, a Zimbabwean who is general secretary of the LWF. "This will depend, however, to a large extent on Israel's decisive and genuine support for an independent Palestinian state and a better future, rather than fomenting desperation through measures that amount to collective punishment."