News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. February 27, 2003 [2003-044-1]
Reformed leaders in Baghdad stand with ordinary Christians and Muslims
(ENI) While Iraqis and the world brace for a war many believe is inevitable, a World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) team made a pastoral visit to Baghdad "to affirm our fellowship with our Iraqi Christian brothers and sisters and their Muslim neighbors."
"For most people in Iraq the threat of war has further reduced the quality of life, already under severe pressure as the result of 12 years of punitive sanctions," said the Rev. Setri Nyomi, general secretary of WARC. "Our group had on purpose not sought to speak to political leaders but just to have contact with ordinary people who will probably suffer most in an unacceptable war," he said after visits with Christians, Muslims and members of the five Presbyterian congregations in Iraq.
He reported that there are about 650,000 Christians in Iraq, accounting for less than 3 percent of a population of 22.5 million. Almost 70 percent of the Christians belong to the Chaldean Church, in union with the Roman Catholic Church. Christians expressed fears that a new conflict could end the peaceful coexistence among religious communities in the country.
While Muslim fanaticism increased in the years after the 1991 Gulf War, Christians in Iraq said that they were not affected in any major way.
WARC is a fellowship of Congregational, Presbyterian, Reformed and United churches, linking 75 million members around the world. It has 218 member churches in 107 countries.
Greek Orthodox in Jerusalem urged to pray with other Christians
(ENI) Christian leaders in Jerusalem are calling on the Greek Orthodox Patriarch to lift the church's ban on prayers with other churches. The appeal follows a surprise move by the Greek Church in January to send a representative to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, observed worldwide by most major Christian denominations.
The decision by the Orthodox to participate raised hopes among other church leaders but also stirred disappointment when the church's representative spoke to the gathering but did not join the worship, declining to pray with the other representatives. "Christ is among us," said Archimandrite Alexandros at the ecumenical celebration. He made clear the claim of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem to be the "mother of all churches."
Yet the Rev. Frans Bouwen, a Roman Catholic participant who is an expert on the Greek Orthodox Church, said that the presence of the archimandrite was a positive step. At the same time he said it was far from clear that tit was a sign of greater changes to come. "It has been greeted as a step forward by the churches in Jerusalem. We are still hoping for full participation of the Greek Orthodox Church," he said, pointing out that the Orthodox leaders "interpret some of the ancient canons of their church [to mean] that holding prayers with non-Orthodox is heresy."
Bishop Raih Abu El Assal of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem called for greater acceptance among the Greek Orthodox leaders of the importance of joining in prayer with other churches. "What is this business of not wanting to pray for unity?" he asked, pointing out that Christians in the Holy Land were "a small community now in this land" and therefore needed to stand together against those who threatened their existence.
Nigeria's Christian and Muslim leaders call for peaceful elections
(ENI) Nigeria's Christian and Muslim leaders have united in calling for peaceful national elections, now scheduled for April, now seen my most observers as a critical test of the progress of democratization in Africa's most populous nation.
"There is the need for Muslims to rededicate themselves to making Nigeria and the world at large a safer place for human beings to live in," said Roman Catholic Archbishop Anthony Okogie of Lagos who has expressed dismay that terrorism was being promoted by radical Islamic elements. "God has created the world as a peaceful habitat for all living beings and no one should hide under any form of radicalism or religious over-zealousness to cause havoc."
Other church leaders joined the call for peace and a spirit of tolerance, urging the separation of religion from politics in a country where some states practice Sharia, or strict Islamic law. About half of the 130 million Nigerians are Muslim and 40 percent are Christians.
Sultan Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido of Sokoto in northern Nigeria, regarded by many as the leader of the Muslim community in Nigeria, sent a message to Muslims urging them to spurn acts capable of destroying peace and harmony in the country. He warned that unless they practiced tolerance, Nigeria would never find economic and political stability. "No nation can progress if its citizens live in bondage and an atmosphere devoid of peace," he said.
Former prime minister John Major of Great Britain warned recently that Nigeria's ability to successfully conduct the April elections would significantly determine the country's political status among democratic nations. "A successful ballot will entrench the transfer of power to a civilian administration," he said at a speech in Lagos where he worked as a banker in the mid-60s. "The extent of that result would signal right across the world that Nigeria, a modern democracy, is open for business. It will signal political maturity."
Anyim Pius Anyim, president of the national parliament, said in a message to the Muslim leadership that the only way out of the religious conflict that has plagued the country was for both Muslims and Christians to confront the "monster" that religious violence had become.
Orthodox priests tackling problem of alcohol abuse in Alaska
(ENI) "Substance abuse is a very serious problem in Alaska," said Bishop Nikolai in announcing a new initiative of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) to tackle the issue by training seminarians to become counsellors.
The program, launched by the Diocese of Alaska, was an example of the church reclaiming a traditional role, according to Nikolai, placing itself "in the center of needs and social concerns." In the coming months four counsellors, all graduates of St. Herman's Orthodox Seminary in Kodiak, Alaska, will be certified and begin to implement the program. The goal is to eventually certify all Orthodox clergy as counsellors.
The OCA is the Russian-oriented church in the US and the largest church in Alaska with about 20,000 members in 90 parishes and chapels. It has only 25 priests, however, to cover a diocese of 1.5 million square kilometres (586,000 square miles). Its history goes back to 1794 when the first Russian monks arrived in present-day Alaska, the remotest region of the Russian Empire until it was sold to the United States in 1867. More than a third of Native Alaskans are Orthodox Christians.
Alaska's state government reports more alcohol-related deaths per head than any other US state yet it has very few treatment centers. A recent study concluded that almost 10 percent of adult Alaskans were alcohol-dependent.
Nikolai stressed that "life here is much different than in the lower 48. It's centered on a community lifestyle" and alcohol is an integral part of the social life.
Atlanta Covenant emerges from December Anglican Congress meeting
(ENS) A document being called the "Atlanta Covenant" has emerged from a December meeting of conservative Episcopalians and members of churches in the Anglican tradition that are not in communion with the archbishop of Canterbury.
After initial gatherings in November 2000 and January 2002, nearly 300 people gathered at Atlanta's Cathedral of St. Philip December 4-7, 2002 for the U.S. Anglican Congress. They were joined by two primates of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Bernard Malango of Central Africa and the retired primate of the Province of the Southern Cone, Maurice Sinclair.
"We are determined that the fragmentation within that quadrant of Christendom known as the Anglican Way no longer hinder our obedience to the Gospel imperative," the covenant stated. "We are feeling our way toward a new style and depth of unity, thereby stimulating reform and renewal in western Christianity so that the Gospel might be released, more than ever before, to the world around us."
The document declares links "with the Anglican Essentials movement in Canada and the various expressions of dynamic orthodox Anglicanism in Britain." The Anglican Essentials movement is at the forefront of opposition to the proposed blessing of same-gender unions in the Canadian Diocese of New Westminster.
"The Congress does not seek to alter jurisdictional boundaries or commitments," the document states. "This new configuration is a network rather than a formal hierarchical structure, in which we seek to safeguard one another's convictions and honor each other's canonical limitations, while advancing the Gospel and developing an appropriate style of orthodox ecumenism."
A follow-up meeting to the U.S. Anglican Congress will be held in Atlanta April 28-29. Jurisdictions and bodies will be invited to send delegates to that gathering, convened by the Most Rev. Leonard W. Riches, presiding bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church.
Israeli wall around Rachel's Tomb to divide Bethlehem
(ENI) Israel is preparing to build a security wall that will divide the birthplace of Jesus on the West Bank, on the grounds that it will safeguard a sacred Jewish religious shrine in Bethlehem. The move will divide Bethlehem's Palestinian areas and is likely to further isolate the town that is so holy for Christendom. For more than two years, few tourists have been to Bethlehem because of violent clashes in the town.
At issue is the site known as Rachel's Tomb, at the edge of the town which has become a frequent flash point of violence between the Israeli military and Palestinians. Israel plans to construct a barrier around 3.5 acres of land surrounding the tomb and also in other parts of the West Bank--an area inhabited mainly by Palestinians that was administered by Jordan until Israel occupied it in 1967. Visitors to the tomb, located on the main road leading to Bethlehem from Jerusalem, already have to cross an Israeli military checkpoint.
The Israeli government has approved a plan to build a 225-mile wall separating Palestinians from Israel and Jewish settlements as a security measure prompted by, among other things, suicide bombings.
The original shrine of Rachel's Tomb was built in the style of Muslim tombs and renovated in the 19th century by Sir Moses Montefiore, a Jewish philanthropist. He had in mind a place of worship for Jews and also Muslims, who also consider the site holy. But his work is no longer recognizable from the exterior. Five years ago, the Israeli government spent $2 million enclosing the tomb in a fortress-like complex of stone-faced concrete, topped with guard towers. Now Israel believes the fortified building is not enough and has issued a formal order for the seizure of land around it.