News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. April 16, 2003 [2003-083-1]
Anglicans and Lutherans cite significant ecumenical progress
(ENS/ELCA) During a 17-day "ecumenical journey" to Europe, a delegation from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met with Roman Catholic and Anglican leaders to assess the progress of their ecumenical relationships.
Anglicans have made more ecumenical progress with Lutherans than with any other Christian tradition, said Bishop John Baycroft, director of ecumenical relations and studies for the Anglican Communion, during the group's visit to England. Yet there is some confusion over an array of regional and international agreements, he added.
The Church of England, for example, has entered into ecumenical agreements with the Lutherans in Germany (Meissen Declaration of 1991), the Lutheran churches of Scandinavia and the Baltic region (Porvoo Declaration of 1992), and an agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of France (Reuilly Declaration of 1999).
In North America Anglicans and Lutherans in Canada established full communion with the Waterloo Declaration of 2001 and the Episcopal Church and the ELCA entered a similar relationship with "Called to Common Mission," effective in 2001.
"No one wants to stop the progress," Baycroft said during a discussion of the ELCA's adoption of a by-law that allows some ordinations of clergy by a pastor other than a bishop, regarded by many as a unilateral alteration of the CCM agreement. There have been four "exceptions" so far under the bylaw provision but more than 550 ordinations that comply with the terms of the agreement that ordinations are done by bishops. The Rev. Lowell Almen, secretary of the ELCA, said that such "anomalies" get a lot of attention and make people believe they are more common than they really are.
In a meeting with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, the group raised the issue of participation by Lutherans in the Eucharist in Roman Catholic congregations, currently forbidden. Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the ELCA suggested that Anglicans and Lutherans join together to discuss Holy Communion and ministry with the Roman Catholics in a "trilateral" discussion. He pointed to the possibility of "limited Eucharistic sharing" between the two churches.
"Event though there are still differences on the question of ministry, a convergence has been reached on basic principles which makes Eucharistic hospitality possible," said a recent statement from three prestigious European ecumenical research institutes--two Protestant and one Roman Catholic.
"We have come to appreciate more deeply the fellowship existing between Lutherans and Catholics which led to the Joint Declaration [on the Doctrine of Justification] in 1999," the pope told the delegation. "In that document we are challenged to build on what has already been achieved, fostering more extensively at the local level a spirituality of communion marked by prayer and shared witness to the gospel."
Anglican Indigenous Network calls for non-geographic province
(ENS) Among the resolutions passed by the Anglican Indigenous Network (AIN) at its meeting in Aotearoa (New Zealand) in early April was once calling for "the creation of a non-geographic province of the Anglican Communion for the Indigenous Peoples of the Pacific Rim."
Participants in the meeting said that membership in the network is based on a mission statement that underscores a commitment to the Anglican tradition "while affirming our traditional spirituality. We believe that God is leading the church to a turning point in its history and that the full partnership of indigenous peoples is essential," according to the statement. "Therefore we pledge to work together to exercise our leadership in contributing our vision and gifts to transform the life of the Christian community."
Following a traditional Maori welcome on the shores of Lake Rotorua, and a signal that the delegation was coming in peace, Bishop Whakauihui Vercoe said in a sermon that the guests should be "storytellers, value bearers, community builders and spiritual journeyers" whose voices contribute to the Anglican Communion. "This is our heritage and to act on this heritage is our ministry. It is a ministry of listening, of healing, and of caring."
Malcolm Naea Chun, secretary general of AIN, noted in his opening remarks that the network had shifted its emphasis to focus more directly on the issues and concerns of its constituents--especially youth, women, elders, clergy and theological education and training. Delegations from the Torres Strait Islands of Australia, Indigenous Peoples of Canada, Native Americans of the United States and Hawaii, and Maori delegates brought their regional concerns to the meeting.
Episcopal Media Center promotes new partnership in communications
(EMC)A new wave of partnerships to implement strategies in church-wide communications and improved services to congregations was announced at a recent benefit dinner for the Atlanta-based Episcopal Media Center, an independent non-profit organization that serves Episcopal clergy and parishes. The event drew representatives from the Dioceses of New York and Long Island, staff from the Episcopal Church Center, the General Theological Seminary and Morehouse Publishing.
"Many of us who worked together recently to produce the stewardship education resource, Living with Money, now realize that any vision of the future in church communications must be reflected in a new spirit of collaboration," said the Rev. Louis Schueddig, executive director of the Media Center. "Too many of us have worked alone, under-funded, often competing with our own brothers and sisters in Christ, and simply not getting much accomplished."
The first copy of the stewardship resource was presented to Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold at the event. The video-based curriculum is the result of substantial collaboration over the last few years among various Episcopal agencies and ministries. They worked together in a task force that included national church offices of stewardship, media services and communication, as well as several independent agencies such as Morehouse Publishing, the Episcopal Network for Stewardship, the Episcopal Church Foundation, the Seabury Institute, and Seabury-Western Theological Seminary.
UN Human Rights Commission hears about persecution in Pakistan
(ENI) The World Council of Churches, joined by major Roman Catholic organizations and a peace and justice group, has told a meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights about religious intolerance and discrimination in Pakistan. They focused particularly on laws that can bring a death sentence for those found guilty of blasphemy against the prophet Mohammed.
In an April 11 submission, the groups said that such laws promote "a culture of intolerance, division and extremism" that could result in "religious intolerance and violence against Christians, Hindus, and members of the Ahmadiye community," an Islamic movement rejected by orthodox Islam.
Even though the definition of blasphemy is vague, it carries a mandatory death sentence and minorities are often falsely accused, the group said, and used by "extremist elements to settle personal scores against religious minorities." As a result, "many of the accused are killed, in some cases even before they are brought to trial." The group also said that "it has become virtually impossible to get a fair hearing" for those charged under the laws.
In their submission to the commission, the groups said that sectarian violence in Pakistan has increased in recent years. "Since September 11, 2001, there have been eight serious incidents targeting Christian institutions and their members, killing 43 Christians and injuring many."
They called on the government of Pakistan to repeal "all discriminatory laws," including the blasphemy laws; ratify the human rights treaties not yet ratified; invite the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief to visit Pakistan; and "take even stronger measures to protect the lives, property, respect and honour of minorities."
In addition to the WCC, the groups included Dominicans for Justice and Peace,and Franciscans International, as well as the Pakistan Justice and Peace Commission of Religious Men and Women, and the Pakistan Commission of Catholic Bishops.
Easter messages from Jerusalem--end Palestinian suffering
(ENI) In their Easter messages, the Christian leaders of churches in Jerusalem reflect on the war in Iraq and repeat their pleas for an end to Palestinian suffering.
The Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarch of the Holy Land, Michel Sabbah, issued a warning about the consequences of the war in Iraq, urging the international community to find ways to "limit" the use of power and act "to save humanity from the threat of new world wars." He said that "the positive which will come from this war, we are waiting to see. What we have seen so far is war and more evil to the people of Iraq after this war. Instead of having freedom, they have anarchy and confusion." Sabbah pointed to the suffering of the people under 12 years of international sanctions.
Christians take heart from the Easter story and their belief in the Resurrection, said the patriarch, a Palestinian and the highest ranking Catholic in the Holy Land. "Therefore we keep hoping that one day the Holy Land will be for all its inhabitants, a land of Resurrection and no more a land of death and hatred." He expressed hopes that the so-called "road map" for peace created by the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations may yet provide a solution because it calls for a Palestinian state by 2005.
"If the road map gives back to the Palestinians their rights, their freedom, their dignity, it can work," he said. "The question is whether the Israelis will accept the road map. This is a positive proposition to bring and end to the conflict."
The Lutheran bishop in Jerusalem, Munib Younan, also focused on the war and the plight of Palestinians, describing the war as one of the "huge and heavy stones" that had been placed in the way of peace. He said that the war "is creating a big divide between cultures. What will happen with Christian-Muslim relations that we have built for a long time? No wonder we are filled with hopelessness. Just when we thought we had succeeded in bringing mutual understanding among cultures and civilizations, we see this huge stone in front of us," he said.
During his Palm Sunday trip to Jerusalem, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said that, as a result of the suffering and fear among Palestinians in recent months, "there is small hope of lasting reconciliation in the wider world. And now, with the repercussions of military action in Iraq still echoing around the region, new fears have been aroused in the hearts of many."
Williams said that at Easter Christians should pray "that those who hold power may know how to take the risk of giving it away for the sake of greater peace and those who have no power may take the risk of stepping out of helpless resentment into something new."
Liberian church leaders warn of military and humanitarian crisis
(CWS) Liberian church leaders are pleading for help from the international community as the nation faces a worsening military and humanitarian crisis provoked by renewed intensive fighting in its 13-year-old civil war that is displacing thousands of people every week.
"The world must not watch the death of the rest of us," said the Rev. Kortu Brown, director of Concerned Christian Community, a faith-based humanitarian service organization. "We need immediate food aid to avert any starvation that may result from thousands of people running from fighting."
"The situation is deplorable and pathetic," added Benjamin Dorme Lartey, general secretary of the Liberian Council of Churches, "and there is urgent need to respond to the people, particularly the women and children and the elderly."
Church World Service (CWS), the relief and development agency of the National Council of Churches, has called for a firm date for peace talks, scheduled for Mali in mid-April but postponed, and greater engagement of the U.S. government--especially a role of intervention and support for international participation in elections. CWS is airlifting blankets, health kits and food to help the Liberians meet some of the immediate needs in camps that provide temporary shelter.
CWS is raising funds to support two special outreach programs for women refugees and returnees who have been victims of rape and other abuse, as well as a YMCA leadership training program for 1,600 displaced children and youth.
The Liberian Council of Churches "is gravely concerned at the escalation of the fighting and the formation of new fighting groups which will only bring more hardship to the already suffering people of Liberia," the council said in an April 9 statement. The council is also worried about the delays in the peace talks.