Friday, March 26, 2010

Colleagues List, March 27th, 2010

Vol V. No. 31


*****

Edited by Wayne A. Holst


*****

Blogsite:

http://colleagueslist.blogspot.com/


*****

In this issue:

Special Items -

"When Pentecostals Visited a United Church"
  Learning to Encounter Each Other Openly

___


My published review of:

"Jesus Wars" by Philip Jenkins
America Magazine, April 5th, 2010

___


Colleague Contributions:

Ola Mohajer
Ken Kuhl
Doug Koop
Kelly Johnson
Derek Evans
Ian Hunter
John Pentland

___


Net Notes:

Kairos Still Looking for Answers
Robert Frost Born March 26th, 1874
The Monk and the Cripple - Henri Nouwen
Calgary Bishop Cautions re "Body Worlds"
Pope Offers Apology for Sex Abuse Scandal
Against the Dying of the Light in Ireland
US House Approves Landmark Health Care Bill
Flock Grows Right at Home for Ukraine Priest
UK Grocer Gives $700 Million to Church Trust

_____


Global Faith Potpourri:

Fourteen Stories from Ecumenical News International

___

Quotes of the Week:

Patrick J. Kennedy
Henri J.M. Nouwen
Oscar Romero

___

On This Day (March 20th - March 26th)

March 20, 1995 - 12 Killed, Many Sick in Tokyo Poison Gas Attack
March 21, 1965 - M.L. King leads 3,000 marchers to Selma, Ala.
March 23, 1965 - Gemini 3 - Cape Kennedy - Grissom and Young
March 25, 1965 - M.L. King leads 25,000  to Montgomery, Ala.
March 26, 1979 - Camp David treaty signed by Isreal and Egypt

___


Closing Reflection: A Prayer for Shalom


***********

Dear Friends:

We welcomed three guests from Calgary's Pentecostal
community to our Monday evening study this past week.

Colleagues Kelly Johnson and Glen Ryland, as well as
student Carissa Webster brought our "Future of Faith"
series, based on the new book by Harvey Cox, to a
fitting conclusion.

Pentecostalism plays an important part in Cox's view
of future global Christianity, and that is why we
decided to talk with Pentecostal people we have come
to respect and trust. Thank you Kelly for responding
to my invition to this event. Thanks, Glen and Carissa,
for making our time special!

I share my thoughts on what transpired, below. Then,
in the "Colleague Contributions" section of this blog
Kelly provides the link to a review of the study:

"Canadian Pentecostalism: Transition and Transformation"
Michael Wilkinson, ed. McGill-Queen's University Press.
2009, paperback, $21.00. (purchased via Amazon.ca)

---

This week, America Magazine published my review of
colleague Philip Jenkins' new book "Jesus Wars"
which is being released this month by HarperOne.

Any reviewer worth his/her salt appreciates the
work of a good editor and I want to express my
thanks to Pat Kossmann who is as good as they
come.

___


Colleague Contributions:

Ola Mohajer - responded to my notes about her and
Tariq Ramadan in last week's Colleagues List. Ola
will be making a return visit to St. David's on
Monday, April 5th.

Ken Kuhl - continues tracing the abuse scandal that
is now snipping at the heels of Benedict XVI himself.

Doug Koop - editor of Christian Week, investigates the
role of religious organizations in Canadian society.
"Religious beliefs (should) have no privileged status in
a democratic society. Religions should have influence,
not power... In a free society, the religious voice should
persuade, not compel..."

Kelly Johnson - provides a link to the Pentecostal study
noted previously.

Derek Evans - has invested much of his life the past year
or so in a gathering of international religious and other
relief organizations. The purpose of the meeting was to
establish a coordinated effort to fight HIV/AIDS on a
global scale. Derek lives in Ottawa. The meeting was held
in Amsterdam. Thanks Derek for sending such good news.
(see another report in Global Faith Potpourri section)

Ian Hunter - jumped into the Ann Coulter debate that has
roiled Canada this past week. After she was barred from
speaking at the University of Ottawa, she spoke to a big
crowd at the University of Calgary.

John Pentland - minister of neighbour Hillhurst United
Church in Calgary was the subject of a recent newspaper
article on his sermons which feature modern film subjects.
Good work, John!


___


Net Notes:

"Kairos Still Looking for Answers" - continues our focus
on the government's planned defunding of an important
ecumenical agency supported by CIDA (Christian Week)

"Robert Frost Born, March 26th, 1874" - readers of CL
are aware of my love for the work of American poet
Robert Frost. I share his story (New York Times)

"The Monk and the Cripple" - Henri Nouwen is another
favourite author of mine. Here is an article he
published thirty years ago (America Magazine)

"Calgary Bishop Cautions re 'Body Worlds'" - Bp. Fred
Henry is not shy when it comes to giving his opinion.
Here he comments on an internationally acclaimed
exhibition on the human body and neuroscience,
coming to our city in late April (The Calgary Herald)

"Pope Offers Apology for Sex Abuse Scandal" - the
week began with a clear, strong, apology to the
people of Ireland from the pope. Not everyone was
satisfied with his efforts. Some, at least, want
heads to roll (New York Times)

"Against the Dying of the Light in Ireland" - using
the famous words from the poem by Dylan Thomas
- a reflection on the long-term impact of the scandal
in that country . I support this view (The Tablet)

"US House Approves Landmark Health Care Bill" - most
Canadians, among others, breathed a great sigh of
relief when the US congress approved President Obama's
health care bill this week. We still can't understand
why it took so long (New York Times, Sojourners)

"Flock Grows Right at Home for Ukraine Priest" - few
people seem to realize that there is a precedent for
married Roman Catholic priests - the Uniate church
of the Ukraine. There, many Catholic priests are
married, fruitful, and multiplying, with the blessing
of the Vatican (New York Times)

UK Grocer Gives $700 Million to Church Trust - founder
of the Kwik Save supermarket chain, Albert Gubay, has
placed most of his fortune in a trust. A war vet, he
promised God half his fortune if he would become a
millionaire (Cathnews)

_____


Global Faith Potpourri:

Fourteen Stories from Ecumenical News International

___


Quotes of the Week:

Patrick J. Kennedy, Henri J.M. Nouwen and Oscar Romero
share their wisdom with us this week.

___


On This Day (March 20th - March 26th)

12 Killed, Many Sick in Poison Gas Attack in Tokyo (1995)
M.L. King leads marchers to Selma, Montgomery, Ala (1965)
Gemini 3 leaves Cape Kennedy - Grissom and Young (1965)
Camp David treaty signed by Isreal and Egypt (1979)

___


The closing reflection this week is a prayer for shalom


Wayne


*****

SPECIAL ST. DAVID'S LINKS

Contact us at: asdm@sduc.ca (or) admin@sduc.ca
St. David's Web Address - http://sduc.ca/

Listen to audio recordings of Sunday services -
http://sduc.ca/services.htm

___


ST DAVID'S ACTS WEB PAGE

Created and maintained by Colleague Jock McTavish
http://stdavidscalgary.net/

__


ANNOUNCING:

ST. DAVID'S 50th ANNIVERSARY
TOUR TO CELTIC LANDS - 2011

We plan a 15-day tour of special Celtic sites
in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England -
April 26th - May 10th, 2011

A highlight of the tour will be a visit to
St. David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire.

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR EVENT DEVELOPMENTS!

*****


THE FUTURE OF FAITH by Harvey Cox

Monday Night Study, January 18th - March 29th, 2010
An insightful description of where Christian faith
is moving in the twenty-first century.

Follow our class videos, power point presentations,
other notes and study resources. Bookmark this link:

THIS PROGRAM IS NOW COMPLETED.
WATCH THIS SITE FOR CONCLUSIONS AND UPDATES.

http://www.1journey.net/stdavids/SD/BookStudy/24/24.htm

___


SPECIAL SPRING SERIES GUEST

Monday, April 5th, 2010 (7-9PM)

Ola Mohajer, Science Faculty Rep.
2010-2011 U. of C. Student Council
Biology and Religious Studies Major

"Q and A on the Meaning of Islam"


*****

STUDY ARCHIVES

A collection of twenty-five+ studies conducted since 2000 can
quickly be found at: http://bookstudies.stdavidscalgary.net/

This collection of study resources represents a decade of
Monday Night Studies at St. David's, plus extra courses too!

You are welcome to use our course outlines, class notes and
resource pages in your personal and group reflections.


***********************************************

SPECIAL ITEM

My Thoughts:

WHEN PENTECOSTALS VISITED A UNITED CHURCH
Learning to Encounter Each Other Openly

They didn't come punching big floppy Bibles.
They didn't come with big hair or mascara.
They didn't jump up or roll around on the floor.
They didn't speak in strange noises...

They just came to talk about what Jesus meant to them.
They spoke about how they were led into various ministries.
They recalled transformative events in their lives.
They listened to, and responded to, our questions...

Last Monday evening, Kelly Johnson, Carissa Webster and
Glen Ryland spent more than two hours with the people
of St. David's United Church in Calgary. They were
invited to share their spiritual journeys with us and
to respond to queries from people who had varying
degrees of awareness of Pentecostalism today.

Some of us knew precious little about them.
Some had rather limited, stereotypical perceptions.
A few had friends or relatives who were Pentecostals.
Some were just inquisitive about what they would learn.

All of us were quite impressed with the encounter.

Kelly Johnson has been a member of the Inter-faith
Chaplaincy at the University of Calgary for 13 years.
Glen Ryland is a more recent member of a similar
chaplaincy at Mount Royal University in Calgary.
Carissa is from a Pentecostal family. Her father pastors
a multi-cultural church (with many Somalian members) on
the east side of our city.

Kelly spoke of his early experiences on a mission ship
that docked in many African ports before he returned to
Canada to take up the challenge of establishing the first
Pentecostal chaplaincy at the U. of C.

During his time on campus, he has led many house-building
ventures to Mexico with a variety of university groups -
involving faculty, staff and students. He even had a
vice-president join him for one of these projects!

Kelly has been a leading campus figure in helping to
develop the Campus Wellness Centre concept - emphasising
the integration of body/mind/spirit concerns. Medical care,
counselling and chaplaincy are part of this centre.

He is heavily involved in interfaith dialogues and justice issues
on campus. All this he does, in addition to his ministry among
Pentecostal faculty, staff and students.

Glen has a Norwegian Lutheran background. His father
came from rural Norway to prairie Canada. His pietist
Lutheran leanings found him engaged with Pentecostals
in Canada and his dad spent much of his life attempting
to integrate the best of both traditions.

Glen is a reflective, scholarly person who is completing
his doctorate in church history at Notre Dame University
in Indiana. He is warm and not intellectually distant.
He spoke knowlegeably of North American and global
Pentecostalism as a Christian renewal movement that
tends to ashew creeds and denominational structures.

Carissa is at university to prepare for a teaching career.
She has gone through her own struggles as a "PK" (preacher's
kid) and remembers the teasing she experienced because
of her family and religious affiliation.

"I've come to terms with that" she said, "I feel quite
resolved in my faith at this point in my life." She
has a natural interest in young people and faith.

____


Our guests handled good questions about the differences
between Pentecostals and Fundamentalists; Pentecostals
and Evangelical Christians, etc. Their responses were
well thought-out, to the point, appealing and never negative.

One questioner wondered if Pentecostals were concerned
about nuclear disarmament. This prompted questions about
whether they were more interested in "getting to heaven"
than "making this world a better place."

The general consensus seemed to be that - no, Pentecostals
are not as involved in such issues as they might be, - but
yes, more and more of them are recognizing the importance
of green and anti-war movements today. As they
become more established as professionals and leaders in
our society they will naturally want take up these issues
in partnership with other Christians.

___


Conclusions:

We did not get into any contentious issues of doctrine.
This was an occasion to get to know each other better.

We hope to build on meetings like this - especially in
the area of inter-faith youth concerns linking the church
and the university. Glen Ryland is a student of Eboo Patel,
Director of the Inter-Faith Youth Core in Chicago. We
would like to bring Eboo to Calgary some time soon. It
would be a great way to link some of our common concerns.

While members of the United Church tend toward liberal
theological views and Pentecostals to more conservative ones,
we find common ground in our suspicion of liturgical-formalities,
rote-like creeds and distant ecclesiastical hierarchies.

We share a commitment to seeing God at work through local,
individual initiatives - in other words, we encourage
personal response to the promptings of the Spirit. We do
not wait for some human "authority" to tell us what needs
to be done.

At the same time, United Church people were struck by the
immediacy of God's calling as it was expressed by our
guests. For example, when one felt led to undertake a
ministry to work among the poor and the marginalized -
they did not wait for "official endorsement" or
"pre-requisite ministry funding."

They went, trusting in the Spirit's guidance and support.

____


I wondered, on reflection, about how much good we have left
undone because we did not trust the Spirit enough. We seem
so dependent on proper "forethought."

Some projects will inevitably crash, but that happens anyway!

We have been so worried about failure that we hesitate to begin.
We have been so concerned about how we will pay for it all,
that good ministries never got off the ground.

We miss the thrill of experiencing God on the cutting edge of things.

I suspect that both Pentecostals and United Church people,
together, could do a lot of good as we meet on the human level;
reflect on the needs out there; and pray for Spirit guidance
upon mutual, earnest endeavours.

Thanks for visiting us - Carissa, Glen and Kelly!

*****

My Published Review of:

JESUS WARS, by Philip Jenkins
America Magazine, April 5th, 2010

Read the review: http://tinyurl.com/yb5tlyn


*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

OLA MAHAJER
Calgary, AB

March 22nd, 2010

Hi Wayne,

Thank you for sending this. It's quite useful.

I have some corrections for you when it comes to
the information about me:

I am currently an Academic commissioner (2009-2010).
I was recently elected to serve in a new position,
Science Faculty Representative, for the 2010/2011
academic year. The position that you have, "Science
commissioner" doesn't exist.

Also, I do connect with the religious community of my
parents. Generally, if I'm not busy with school, I
attend community events.

Holistically though, it's a great blog. Thank you for
writing such kind things about me too!

P.S. I might get to invite you to my own mosque after
all. A few members of my community just came back from
a meeting in Edmonton which was about getting a building
for us. I'm not sure of the details yet, but I'll keep
you posted.

Peace,

Ola

*****

DOUG KOOP
Winnipeg, MB

Religious activity challenges liberal societies
Christian Week
March 23rd, 2010

Public spats involving religion are increasingly common in
Canada and other Western societies. In Great Britain, an
unholy foofaraw erupted over the rights of faith schools
to deliver sex education in accord with their religious
values and traditions. In the United States, World Vision
is facing litigation over its right to hire with like-minded
belief as a criterion. In Canada, secular organizations are
aggressively questioning the rights of Christian universities
and other faith-based schools to receive governmental support.

Money is typically the presenting issue. Should taxpayer
dollars be allocated to faith-based organizations to provide
specific social services? And if so, what strictures should
be put on those groups to ensure full value to the taxpayer
and to avoid providing special status to any particular
religion? Can faith-based agencies use public monies for
social good when they hew to moral positions that run
against the prevailing tide..?

Read the rest of the article:
http://www.christianweek.org/stories.php?id=883

*****

KELLY JOHNSON
Calgary, AB.

Wayne:

Here is a link to a review on my friend Michael's book on
Canadian Pentecostals:

CANADIAN PENTECOSTALISM:
TRANSITION AND TRANSFORMATION
Christianity.ca (EFC)
March 23rd, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/y8frsue

Buy the book: http://tinyurl.com/yljvq6j

*****

KEN KUHL
London, ON

Irish Times:
March 22nd, 2010

Pastoral letter strays far from facts but has merit
Opinion: Confronted with the greatest tragedy in Irish
Catholicism, the pope ignores the reality of decades of
abuse to blame secularism and moral relativism, writes
Patsy McGarry

... In his last homily as Dean of the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith at the pre-conclave Mass in
St. Peter's Basilica on April 18th, 2005, he [Ratzinger]
told the cardinals who were about to elect him pope, "we
are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism which does
not recognise anything as definitive..."

Move on five years and not much has changed. Confronted
with the greatest tragedy in the history of Irish Catholicism,
he has an explanation - secularism/moral relativism!...

Read the entire article: http://tinyurl.com/yh2ohrj


*****

DEREK EVANS
Ottawa, ON
March 24th, 2010

Dear Wayne::

As you may know, I was recently asked to lead a Global Summit
of High-Level Religious Leaders sponsored by the UN and to
negotiate their agreement to act together in support of the
campaign against HIV and AIDS.

The Summit, held in the Netherlands, has just ended. I am
utterly exhausted, but very gratified. The Summit has been
unique and breath-taking, and a huge success. The New York
Times today is referring to it as "an historic moment".

And they are right - the Summit has surpassed all hopes.
It agreed by consensus two agreements, including one that
each had to sign individually. The organizations of People
Living with HIV have declared it to be "a milestone", and
the UN "a sea change" - "unthinkable and even unimaginable
only five years ago." The agreement will now be extended
to some 10,000 religious leaders around the world to sign
on.

So, hopefully this will translate into something meaningful
for real people around the world. It also may set a new
standard for the role and expectations of religious
institutions to work practically, together, in the service
of humanity and the world.

Best
derek

___

Read the article:

RELIGIOUS GROUPS PLEDGE TO END AIDS STIGMA
New York Times
March 23rd, 2010

The Hague, Netherlands
Religious groups from around the globe pledged Tuesday
to prevent the stigmatization of people living with HIV
and AIDS... Representatives of some 40 religious and
faith groups including Christianity, Judaism, Islam,
Hinduism and Buddhist ended a two day retreat... by
signing a personal commitment to action...

Here is the article: http://tinyurl.com/y9kk225


*****

IAN HUNTER
St. Thomas, ON.

Universities are bastions of free speech? Not in Canada
Ann Coulter Comes to Canada

Read the article: http://tinyurl.com/yb4zsys


*****

JOHN PENTLAND
Calgary, AB

Calgary Herald
March 20th, 2010

Pentland Says Church Needs to Stop its War With Culture

A Calgary United Church minister believes his job is to
define for his church-goers a spiritual connection to
culture. "Faith is not about retreat from the world,"
he told the Calgary Herald, "but engagement in the real
-life issues of the day."

For that reason he bases his sermons on movies:

Read the article: http://tinyurl.com/yh763l4


*****


NET NOTES

KAIROS STILL LOOKING FOR ANSWERS

Christian Week
March 23rd, 2010

De-funding hints at government polict shift

http://www.christianweek.org/stories.php?id=880

*****


ROBERT FROST - MARCH 26th, 1874

His (1963) obituary from the New York Times
http://tinyurl.com/ycbrjto


*****

THE MONK AND THE CRIPPLE - HENRI NOUWEN

America Magazine
March 29th, 2010

America searches its archives for an article
first appearing on its pages March 15th, 1980
Read the article: http://tinyurl.com/yb3msxq


*****


POPE OFFERS APOLOGY FOR SEX ABUSE SCANDAL

The New York Times
March 20, 2010

Confronting a sex abuse scandal spreading across Europe,
Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday apologized directly and
personally to victims and their families in Ireland,
expressing "shame and remorse" and saying "your trust
had been betrayed and your dignity has been violated."

His message, in a long-awaited, eight-page pastoral
letter to Irish Catholics, seemed couched in strong
and passionate language. But it did not refer directly
to immediate disciplinary action beyond sending a special
apostolic delegation to investigate unspecified dioceses
and religious congregations in Ireland. Moreover, it was,
as the Vatican said it would be, focused particularly on
the situation in Ireland, even as the crisis has widened
elsewhere.

Read More: http://tinyurl.com/yg5xbnj

___


New York Times
March 25th, 2010

Abuse Scandal's Ripples Spread Across Europe
by Katrin Bennhold, Nicholas Kulish and Rachel Donadio

German prosecutors are weighing criminal charges against
a priest suspected of molesting children, and a bishop
accused of mishandling abuse allegations in Ireland
resigned.

Read the article: http://tinyurl.com/y9sl7ru

___

New York Times
March 26th, 2010

Pope May Be at Crossroads on Abuse,
Forced to Reconcile Policy and Words
by RachelL Donadio

Even as Pope Benedict XVI has urged clerics to cooperate
with civil justice, those strong words are running up
against the complexities of his past.

Read the article: http://tinyurl.com/ydeo4kf


*****

AGAINST THE DYING OF THE LIGHT IN IRELAND

The Tablet
March 20th, 2010
by Brendan McCarthy

The days when Ireland's identity was inseparable from its
religion may well be over, and the sexual-abuse crisis
delivered the coup de grace. But in the wake of the Pope's
unprecedented yet criticised apology to the Irish people
for the scandal, can there be any hope of renewal and a
change in its clerical culture?

Read more...

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/14477


*****

CALGARY BISHOP CAUTIONS ABOUT "BODY WORLDS"

Announcement of Calgary Body World Exhibition
Calgary Science Centre

CBC News
February 9th, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/y87qegj

___


Zenit News Rome
March 23rd, 2010

Says More Than Anatomy Should be Studied

CALGARY, Alberta, - There are ethical and moral issues to
be considered in putting real human bodies on display, says
Bishop Frederick Henry of Calgary as that city prepares to
host the internationally renowned "Body Worlds" exhibit.

The prelate wrote about the exhibit in an article published
on the diocesan Web site. Body Worlds opens in Calgary on
April 30. It presents real human bodies that have been
subjected to plastination, thereby enabling viewers to
see the details of the bodies' anatomy.

Read the entire article:

http://www.zenit.org/article-28729?l=english

*****

US HOUSE APPROVES LANDMARK HEALTH CARE BILL

The New York Times
March 21, 2010

Congress gave final approval on Sunday to legislation that
would provide medical coverage to tens of millions of
uninsured Americans and remake the nation's health care
system along the lines proposed by President Obama.

By a vote of 219 to 212, the House passed the bill after a
day of tumultuous debate that echoed the epic struggle of the
last year. The action sent the bill to President Obama, whose
crusade for such legislation has been a hallmark of his
presidency.

Democrats hailed the votes as historic, comparable to the
establishment of Medicare and Social Security and a long
overdue step forward in social justice.

Read More:  http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na

___

Sojourners Online
March 24th, 2010

A Significant Step Toward Health Reform
in Spite of Poisonous Politics

http://tinyurl.com/yf4u8p8


*****

A FLOCK GROWS RIGHT AT HOME FOR PRIEST IN UKRAINE

New York Times
March 22nd, 2010
by Clifford J. Levy

In western Ukraine, many Catholic priests are married,
fruitful and multiplying - with the Vatican's blessing.

http://tinyurl.com/y9dgqfb


*****

UK ENTREPRENEUR GIVES $700 MILLION TO CHURCH TRUST

March 24th, 2010

An English supermarket entrepreneur has put US$700M
- nearly all of his fortune - into a Catholic trust,
to fulfill a promise to God.

Read more... http://tinyurl.com/y9t5zvu


*****

GLOBAL FAITH POTPOURRI

Ecumenical News International
News Highlights

22 March 2010

Victims criticise Pope's 'dramatic'
pastoral letter on Irish abuse

Dublin/Rome. (ENI). Ireland's leading prelates have welcomed
Pope Benedict XVI's pastoral letter to the Catholic Church in
Ireland, in which he apologised to Irish child abuse victims,
and strongly criticised the hierarchy's failure to deal with,
"these sinful and criminal acts". Those who suffered from
those abuses, however, are not so impressed. Colm O'Gorman,
a survivor of Irish clerical sexual abuse and a campaigner
on behalf of other victims, said that in the papal letter,
which he noted had been described as "unprecedented", the
Pope had failed to, "acknowledge the cover-up of the rape
and abuse of children by priests, to take responsibility for
it, and to show how he would ensure it never happened again".
Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, said "I welcome the Pope's
expression of apology and his recognition of the suffering
and betrayal experienced by survivors." In a 21 March sermon
he said, "The Pope recognises the failures of church
authorities in how they dealt with sinful and criminal acts."

_____


Haiti's prime minister tells ACT head, elections will go ahead

Port-au-Prince (ENI). Haitian Prime Minister Jean Bellerive has
said in a meeting with the head of a church-backed aid group that
elections planned for this year will take place, and that putting
them off is not an option. Bellerive gave his undertaking in a
meeting with John Nduna, the general secretary of the emergency
aid and development group, the ACT Alliance, who visited the
prime minister in his office earlier in March. Nduna said in
an interview after that meeting that Bellerive made it clear
the Haitian government would inform people of the election date
in due time, but there was no doubt that the election would be
held. The ACT Alliance formally launches on 24 March after an
amalgamation at the beginning of 2010 of two church-backed
humanitarian agencies. It is one of an estimated 5000 non-
governmental agencies offering assistance in Haiti since a
magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the country on 12 January.

_____


Japan mission urges: Don't put economy first at all costs

Tokyo (ENI). Participants in a Japanese ecumenical urban-
rural mission meeting have warned against the distortions
of present-day societies, including in Japan, by policies
that put the economy first, whatever the cost. In a 16 March
statement, the missioners pointed out that such policies have
resulted in a worsening of safety standards at Japan's
nuclear power plants, and conditions for those working in
agriculture, or as migrant workers and day labourers, and
for those on U.S. military bases in the country's
southwestern islands of Okinawa. The Japan Times newspaper
in an editorial on 19 May 2009 warned, "Poverty is becoming
a major problem that is threatening the basic social fabric
of this nation."

*****

23 March 2010

Charge or release former president,
urges Taiwan church official

Taipei (ENI). A senior official of Taiwan's largest Christian
denomination says the Taiwanese government should charge former
president Chen Shui-bian or release him from prison. Chen was
president of Taiwan from 2000 to 2008, but he has been held
without trial for more than a year in connection with
allegations of corruption against him. "If they have evidence
against him, then they must try him," said Lyim Hong-Tiong,
deputy general secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan,
in an interview with Ecumenical News International. "Otherwise
it is an abuse of human rights."

_____


Communists, KGB guided Bulgarian church role in WCC says book

Sofia (ENI). Bulgaria's communist-era regime guided the Bulgarian
Orthodox Church's participation in ecumenical organizations, such
as the World Council of Churches, the Christian Peace Conference
and the Conference of European Churches, a new book asserts. In
his book, "Between Faith and Compromise", Bulgarian historian
Momchil Metodiev, who has authored a previous book on his
country's communist-era State security apparatus, claims that
under communism the State sought to subvert the Church and, later,
to get it to co-operate in spreading propaganda for the communist
system. Metodiev argues in his book, which is said to be based
on extensive research in archives that the communist regime,
which took power in 1944 and lasted until 1989, wanted to
infiltrate the WCC to exploit it for propaganda purposes.

_____


Canadian rights' commission weighs in on Muslim face veil

Toronto (ENI). A human rights body in Canada has ruled that
Muslim women who wear veils must show their faces when
applying for health cards in the province of Quebec.

Additionally, Muslim women may not demand to be served by
women at provincial health insurance board offices, the Quebec
human rights commission said in a decision released in mid-
March. The rulings are the latest in Canada to attempt to
balance the rights of minorities with religious rights and gender
equality, and they have sparked vigorous debate across
the country.

_____


German Protestant church admits cases of sexual abuse

Trier, Germany (ENI). The Evangelical Church in the Rhineland,
the second biggest Protestant Church in Germany, is the latest
to apologise to victims of sexual abuse in their institutions.
The vice-president of the church, the Rev. Petra Bosse-Huber,
said on 22 March in Duesseldorf, "We are ashamed and upset that
such infringements apparently also happened in our church and
in our social welfare department. We ask the victims for
forgiveness." Her apology came just days after Pope Benedict
XVI apologised for abuses that had been carried out in Roman
Catholic institutions in Ireland and kept under wraps for


*****

24 March 2010

Malawi churches won't 'bow to donor pressure' on gay issue

Blantyre (ENI). Malawi must not bow to pressure from donors
to legalise homosexuality, the Malawi Council of Churches
has said. The statement came shortly before a Malawi gay
couple was ordered to stand trial on 22 March on charges
of "buggery" and "indecency" after getting engaged to be
married in 2009. Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga,
who are being held in a maximum security jail, face a
prison sentence of up to 14 years. "In the balance of
probability the State has established a prima-facie case
against the two as charged," magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa
Usiwa said in the court and adjourned the case to April.

_____


Church aid group ACT Alliance called 'agency of goodness'

Geneva (ENI). Norway's ambassador to the United Nations
in Geneva has praised the ACT Alliance, a new agency
bringing together 100 church relief and development groups
worldwide, as an "agent of goodness". Bente Angell-Hansen
said at the official launch of the ACT Alliance on 24
March, "The members of the ACT Alliance are agents of
goodness. You are close to the people in need. "You reach
tirelessly to reach out to victims of war, of poverty, of
hunger, of sexual violence," said the Norwegian envoy
speaking of ACT Alliance, one of the biggest church-based
humanitarian bodies. The general secretary of ACT Alliance,
John Nduna, a Zambian-born relief and development executive
said, "As a faith-based alliance, our member organisations
are local with their roots firmly implanted in the
communities they serve."

_____


Architect of secular Nepal,
who eased life for Christians, dies

Kathmandu (ENI). Girija Prasad Koirala, a former prime
minister of Nepal and the architect of a secular republic
in what was once the world's only Hindu State, died after
a protracted illness in Kathmandu on 20 March. The 85-year
-old was one of the leaders of a pro-democracy struggle in
1990 that led to his appointment as prime minister in May
1991, and a government that relaxed its vigilance on the
church, and dropped legal cases against Christians accused
of proselytising. In 2005, Koirala led a new protest against
the Hindu king, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah, who tried to
rule the country with the help of the military.
_____


Bishops say abuse allegations in US
dropped dramatically in 2009

Washington DC (ENI/RNS). The number of sexual abuse
allegations against Roman Catholic clergy in the United
States declined dramatically in 2009, even as similar
accusations spread through Europe, according to a report
commissioned by the country's bishops. There were 513
allegations against 346 U.S. Catholic clergy last year,
both drops of more than 30 percent from 2008, and the
lowest totals since the church began taking a tally in
2004, according to figures released on 23 March by the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Religion News
Service reports.

*****

25 March 2010

Science, religion like two windows on world
says Templeton winner

New York (ENI). A geneticist and molecular biologist, who
has argued that science and religion should be kept separate,
has won the Templeton Prize ? an award associated with
honouring those who advocate dialogue between the two
disciplines. The winner, Francisco J. Ayala, aged 76 and
a former Dominican priest, is a native of Spain and a
naturalised U.S. citizen. He now teaches biological science
at the University of California in Irvine. Ayala is known as
an opponent of religious intrusion into science, and argues
for the need to protect the teaching of evolutionary theory
in U.S. public schools. Still, he has also called for
discussions between religion and science, and claims that
they "are like two different windows through which we look
at the world". "I contend that science and religious
beliefs need not be in contradiction," Ayala said.


*****

'Accountability crucial' when faith is funded to fight HIV

Den Dolder, Netherlands (ENI). A top official from a
major funding agency says faith communities are crucial
to combating the HIV pandemic, but they need to meet
international standards of accountability when funds
are channelled through them. Christoph Benn, director
of external relations and partnerships at the Global
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said
relationships between major international funding
agencies and faith communities have, "a mixed history".
On the one hand, funding organizations regard the role
of faith communities as, "absolutely critical", said
Benn. "We want to work with you, [and] channel funds
through you, otherwise we often cannot make progress
against AIDS and other diseases." On the other hand, he
noted that one challenge in working with faith communities
is that of accountability. "You may be used to being
accountable to a higher authority," Benn told the
religious leaders but he added that for funding
organizations, "accountability! is about money".

_____


Hong Kong Catholic Official Supports Google Decision re China

Hong Kong (ENI). A Hong Kong Roman Catholic diocesan official
has praised Google's decision to stop filtering the contents
in its search engine as it faces a backlash in the Chinese
mainland. "The action of Google is encouraging," Or Yan-yan,
project officer of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission,
told Ecumenical News International on 24 March. "It brings a
positive message in promoting the freedom of information."
Google shut its search engine in mainland China on 22 March,
after it refused to carry out filtering required by Chinese
laws. Church official Or acknowledged that many international
companies want to invest in China because the economy there
is booming. She noted that, "A successful deal may require
some compromises," adding, "but to uphold business ethics
is also important."

*****

26 March 2010

Vatican newspaper defends Pope
as US accusations now assail him

Rome (ENI). The Vatican's newspaper on 26 March sprang
to the defence of Pope Benedict XVI, who is facing a new
barrage of accusations of failing to deal with church
child abusers, this time from the United States and
involving allegations of a sexual predator priest and
deaf children. The allegations were related to The New
York Times newspaper by 61-year-old Arthur Budzinski,
who said that when he was 12 years old, a priest molested
him while he was at a school for deaf children. Budzinski
told the newspaper that one priest, the Rev. Lawrence
Murphy, was asked to hear his confession but instead
sexually assaulted him after taking him into a closet.
In an editorial on 26 March, the Vatican newspaper
L'Osservatore Romano asserted, "There was no cover-up
in the case of Father Murphy. And this is confirmed
by the documentation that accompanies the article in
question.

_____


African religious leaders call
for strong arms trade treaty

Kigali (ENI). African religious leaders meeting in the
Rwandan capital of Kigali have called on their governments
to support calls for a strong and comprehensive treaty
against arms trading so that funds can be redirected into
development. After their 23-25 March meeting, Christian,
Hindu and Muslim leaders said such an agreement would
reduce the human cost associated with the proliferation
of small arms and light weapons, and control illegal
dealing. "When you manufacture guns, you have to find
a market. When you find a market, you cause trouble,
you cause conflict, so it becomes an endless cycle,"
Anglican Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda told
Ecumenical News International in Kigali on 24 March."
But now that has to stop, so that we can build a
peaceful Africa."

_____


European churches join 'keep Sunday free of work' campaign

Geneva (ENI). More than 70 organizations including churches,
trade unions as well as civil society groups have met in the
European Parliament in Brussels for the first European
Conference on a work-free Sunday. More than 400 conference
participants on 24 March launched an appeal to the heads
of States and of governments who were meeting tomorrow in
the European Council. They are calling for a Sunday free
of work for all European citizens. "The protection of a
work-free Sunday is of paramount importance for workers?
health, for the reconciliation of work and family life as
well as for the life of civil society as a whole," they
said in a statement released by the Conference of European
Churches.

*****

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

The New York Times
March 22nd, 2010

"Health care is not only a civil right, it's a moral issue."
- Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, Democrat of Rhode Island.

http://tinyurl.com/y8oafuj

___


Sojourners Online
March 22nd, 2010

"The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of
despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour
of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing
... not healing, not curing ... that is a friend who
cares."

- Henri J.M. Nouwen, from his book Out of Solitude

___


March 24th, 2010

"Even when they call us mad, when they call us subversives
and communists and all the epithets they put on us, we know
we only preach the subversive witness of the Beatitudes,
which have turned everything upside down."

- Archbishop Oscar Romero, an advocate for the poor and
  marginalized, was assassinated thirty years ago today
  while giving Mass in El Salvador

*****

ON THIS DAY -

On March 20, 1995, in Tokyo, 12 people were killed, more than
5,500 others sickened when packages containing the poisonous
gas sarin leaked on five separate subway trains.
http://tinyurl.com/yg67cyx

_____


On March 21, 1965, more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators
led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their march from
Selma to Montgomery, Ala.

http://tinyurl.com/ygklbx6

_____

On March 23, 1965, America's first two-person space flight
began as Gemini 3 blasted off from Cape Kennedy with astronauts
Virgil I. Grissom and John W. Young aboard.

http://tinyurl.com/ye4rjus

_____


On March 25, 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led 25,000
marchers to the state capitol in Montgomery, Ala., to protest
the denial of voting rights to blacks.

http://tinyurl.com/yffs6fb

_____


On March 26, 1979, the Camp David peace treaty was signed by
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President
Anwar Sadat at the White House.

http://tinyurl.com/yzemj3e


*****

Closing Reflection:

God of reconciliation, we pray for people around the
world who face conflict and violence on a daily basis.
In the midst of instability, insecurity, and the perpetual
risk of injury and death, we ask that you would strengthen
them. Bring peace to their regions and bring reconciliation
between enemies. With you all things are possible, and in
this truth we hope for shalom. Let it be, Lord.

- Sojourners Online

(end)

Friday, March 19, 2010

Colleagues List, March 20th, 2010

Vol V. No. 30


*****

Edited by Wayne A. Holst


*****


Blogsite:

http://colleagueslist.blogspot.com/


*****

In this issue:
Special Items -


Two Key Lectures at the U. of Calgary This Week -

The Iwaaza Lecture on Urban Theology
Chair of Christian Thought

"Cross-Pressured Authenticity"
by Ronald A. Kuipers

___


Muslim Awarness Week
Western Muslim Presentation:

"Jihad of the West:
Alienation, Integration & Identity"
by Tariq Ramadan

___


Oscar Nominated Film: My Notice:

Christianity.ca
March 17th, 2010

"The Most Dangerous Man in America"

___


Colleague Contributions:

Ron Rolheiser
Ralph Milton
Ken Kuhl
Jim Taylor
Donald Grayston
Kelly Johnson

___


Net Notes:

Vatican Sees Campaign Against Pope
Ratzinger's Responsibility by Hans Kung
Abuse Scandals Surface in Brazil, Chile
Restoration Work Starts on Rio's Christ
Bart Ehrmann on the Bible's Contradictions
Book Review: Oscar Romero and the Communion of Saints
Bp-Elect Mamakwa Vows to Move Native Ministry Forward
Joy and Sadness Greet News of Second Gay ECUSA Bishop

_____


Global Faith Potpourri:

Fourteen Stories from Ecumenical News International

___


Quotes of the Week:

Joan Chittister
Rosa Parks
Sarah Miles
Abraham Heschel

___


On This Day (March 16th - March 17th)

March 16, 1968 - My Lai Massacre During Vietnam War
March 17, 1942 - MacArthur New Allied Commander in SW Pacific

___


Closing Meditation - St. Patrick's Prayer for the Faithful


***********

Dear Friends:

There is much to share with you in this week's issue of
Colleagues List. I hope that the dominant items, space-
wise, will not direct your attention away from many fine
contributions and reports.

I had the opportunity to listen to two fine presentations
from very different perspectives at the U. of C. this
week.

First was a Chair of Christian Thought lecture entitled:
"Cross-Pressured Authenticity" (a part-assessment of the
book "A Secular Age" (Charles Taylor) by Ronald A. Kuipers
of the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto.

Second was Muslim Awarness Week "Western Muslim" presentation:
"Jihad of the West: Alienation, Integration and Identity" by
the famous Islamic theologian-scholar Tariq Ramadan of
Oxford University.

"Secularization" viewed creatively, and a better definition
of the term "Jihad" may be a good way to sum up the talks given
by Kuipers and Ramadan.

I appreciate their visits to my campus and hope that my
transcriptions capture the essense of what they said. Of
course, I hope you will benefit from my text as well.

___


Two weeks ago, on Oscar weekend I offered a notice of
the new film "The Most Dangerous Man in America."

This week, Christianity.ca editor and colleague Daina Doucet
posted an edited version of my comments.

___


Colleague Contributions:

Ron Rolheiser - shares his views on "The Imperative
of Ecumenism" from his weekly e-column.

Ralph Milton - will be concluding his weekly e-column
"Rumors" after almost 600 issues. I want to honour
Ralph for his contribution to Canadian religious
journalism and share an example of this thought.

Ken Kuhl - introduces the biggest religious news story
of the week, and of many weeks, with his article from
the Irish Times of Dublin on the Catholic sexual abuse
scandal in that country. (ENI, Cathnews, Zenit, BBC)

Jim Taylor - picks up on this week's St. Patrick's Day
focus with a story about St. Brendan, another famous
Irishman we should know more about.

Donald Grayston - found a story by Thomas Cahill in the
New York Times that celebrates the Irish in classic
fashion.

Kelly Johnson - sent me a helpful reminder that the
founder of Earth Day (coming soon) was John McConnell
Jr. a Pentecostal.

___


Net Notes:

"Vatican Sees Campaign Against Pope" - opens the second
front in this week's Catholic church struggles. The New
York Times has been commenting daily on the German church
crisis that threatens to implicate the pope himself.

The BBC religion commentator states it in stark terms:
"I have never seen a graver crisis affecting the credibility
of the leadership of the world's longest surviving
international organization, the Roman Catholic Church."
I include a series of articles, reflecting this huge story.
(ENI, New York Times, The Tablet)

___


"Ratzinger's Responsibility" - it was inevitable but also
galvanizing, to have Hans Kung enter the debate on the
involvement of Ratzinger, his frequent nemesis, in the crisis.
(National Catholic Reporter)

___


"Abuse Scandals Surface in Brazil, Chile" - at the risk
of 'piling on' I add yet another dimension to the story -
the two-thirds world and global nature of the crisis
(Cathnews)

___

"Restoration Work Starts on Rio's Christ" - visitors
to Rio are familiar with the famous statue of Christ
that overlooks the city and its harbour. (Cathnews)
___


"Bart Ehrmann on the Bible's Contradictions" - modern
religion readers have no doubt heard of Bart Ehrmann.
His latest book "Jesus Interupted" reveals what the
author finds as 'contradictions' in the Bible. The
author tells how he has evolved from a conservative
to a liberal Christian, and now to agnosticism.
(Wall Street Journal)

"Book Review: Oscar Romero and the Communion of Saints" -
last week we recognized the thirtieth anniversary of
the martydom of Oscar Romero. This week, I share a
review of a new biography (published by Orbis in America)
and now appearing in the UK (The Tablet)

"Bp-Elect Mamakwa Vows to Move Native Ministry Forward" -
Canadian Anglicans recognized the election of Archdeacon
Lydia Mamakwa - the first area bishop of the Diocese
of Keewatin in NW Ontario. Another first is that she
is a woman (Anglican Journal)

"Joy and Sadness Greet News of Second Gay ECUSA Bishop" -
US Anglicans celebrated the March 17 news that Diocese of
Los Angeles Bishop-elect Mary Douglas Glasspool had received
the required number of consents to her ordination and
consecration as bishop. Still others lamented the decision...
(Anglican Journal)

_____


Global Faith Potpourri:
Thirteen Stories from Around the World

_____


Quotes of the Week:

Joan Chittister, Rosa Parks, Sarah Miles and
Abraham Heschel provide us with wisdom.

___


On This Day (March 16th - March 17th)

This week, we remember the My Lai Massacre during the
Vietnam War (1968) and the fact that Douglas MacArthur
was named commander of the Allies in the SW Pacific
during World War II (1942)

___


Our closing meditation is "St. Patrick's Prayer for the
Faithful" provided by Sojourners Online.

___


In spite of all the material, I hope that your selections
will give you a good current awareness of the religion
and culture world today.

Blessings on your continuing Lenten journey.

Wayne

*****

SPECIAL ST. DAVID'S LINKS

Contact us at: asdm@sduc.ca (or) admin@sduc.ca
St. David's Web Address - http://sduc.ca/

Listen to audio recordings of Sunday services -
http://sduc.ca/services.htm

___

ST DAVID'S ACTS WEB PAGE

Created and maintained by Colleague Jock McTavish
http://stdavidscalgary.net/

__


THE FUTURE OF FAITH by Harvey Cox

Monday Night Study, January 18th - March 29th, 2010
An insightful description of where Christian faith
is moving in the twenty-first century.

Follow our class videos, power point presentations,
other notes and study resources. Bookmark this link:
http://www.1journey.net/stdavids/SD/BookStudy/24/24.htm

___


SPECIAL END OF WINTER SERIES GUESTS

All are welcome to attend these events!
Monday, March 22nd, 2010 (7-9PM)

Kelly Johnson and Glen Ryland
Pentecostal Chaplains at the U. of Calgary
and Mount Royal University, Calgary

"What Pentecostalism Means to Us"

___


Monday, April 5th, 2010 (7-9PM)

Ola Mahajer, Science Commissioner
2010-2011 U. of C. Student Council
Biology and Religious Studies Major

"QandA - on the Meaning of Islam"


*****

STUDY ARCHIVES

A collection of twenty-five+ studies conducted since 2000 can
quickly be found at: http://bookstudies.stdavidscalgary.net/
This collection of study resources represents a decade of
Monday Night Studies at St. David's, plus extra courses too!

You are welcome to use our course outlines, class notes and
resource pages in your personal and group reflections.


********************************************************

SPECIAL ITEMS

TWO LECTURES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY THIS WEEK

Iwaasa Lecture on Urban Theology
Chair of Christian Thought
March 16th, 2010

"Cross-Pressured Authenticity:
 Charles Taylor on Religious Identity in a Secular Age"
 by Ronald A. Kuipers
 Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto, ON

My notes of the lecture:

Dr. Kuipers based his paper on the important book
"A Secular Age" by McGill University philosopher
Charles Taylor, a recent winner of the Templeton Prize
as well as many other honours.

This is a helpful, descriptive volume to help us better
understand our secularized times.

Taylor is unhappy with the general acceptance of the
"contraction theory" - assuming a decline or "loss" of
of religion due to the emergence of secularity.

Is religion truly in decline? We have failed to tell
the whole tale about this, he says, for in reality, the
matter is much more complex.

Dr. Kuipers introduced two themes around which he presented
his ideas. "Cross-pressure" and "authenticity" - these are
descriptives which can help us to recognize why we tend
to confuse secularization with the decline of religion.

1. Cross-Pressure

There is a proliferation, not a contraction, of spiritual
options for people today.

What seems like decline is actually the confusion that
results from exposure to many spiritual forces converging
upon us at the same time.

No matter what spiritual 'option' people may follow, the
end result is a general, heightened contemporary awareness
of the spiritual.

People are in various states of this spiritual awareness.
Even those who are "entrenched" in a faith tradition are
growingly aware of this cross-pressure.

2. Authenticity

We all are individuals and reserve the right to find faith
on our own without having it imposed upon us. "I will do
my spirituality my way" is a commonly held value today.

Search and struggle is a natural part of this individualized
spiritual journey. Issues of transcendence are becoming more
- not less - pronounced.

When cross-pressure and authenticity converge in us, we
experience an unsettled, "fragilized" situation and a deep
need for spiritual resolution.

B. God is Dead, and I Don't Feel So Good Myself

1. Dealing with Cross-Pressure

The new atheists like Dawkins and Hitchens buy the contraction
theory claiming, in essence, that science has replaced religion.
Taylor, however, assumes a difference approach.

The "social imagination" or the framework for recognizing God
is changing in our time. Secularization is a shifting of that
framework. "Open" and "closed" views of God exist together in
this frame. Fixed and unfixed approaches learn to co-exist.

Atheism is now an option for people. This was not so in the past.
Personal faith becomes "one possibility among others" in our
contemporary situation.

All perspectives tend to be influenced by the "spin" of many
differing representatives in this spiritual mix. Intellectual
dishonesty exists on all sides of this spin.

It is important to stand beyond this dynamic, and see all sides
of what is being offered.

Religion can continue to exist without traditional authority
by reverting to the essentials - i.e. the primal spiritual
meanings that existed for humans before our various inherited
authorities developed.

In other words, we are not confined by the master narratives of
faith we have inherited. Nor need we buy the contraction theory.
Alternate master narratives exist.

We are mostly at mid-point of these current cross-pressures.

2. Dealing With Authenticity

Our times make us dubious of readymade answers for faith.
The Romantic era, several centuries ago, taught us to
"find our own way; avoid a slavish following of any tradition."
This tendency has been democratized in our culture and most
people support the idea.

What might authentic religion, rather than inherited
traditional religion, look like?

The matter of personal meaning is a central value of
our age. We need to be concerned about that meaning
in our contemporary spiritual journeying. The goal should
not be to "role back modernity" to the affirmations of
the past, but to "work through" the implications of what
we experience as personally meaningful.

There is a proliforation of religious experience available
to people today. As well, there is much meaninglessness.
The sense that there is "something more" presses in.

In spite of this confusion, authenticity compells us to
realize that we are far from accepting unbelief as a
viable option. Still, we do not see value in a return
to traditional religion.

One of the great gifts of Christianity and its two thousand
year history is that it links us to other ages of faith
from our own. We need to avoid too much "identification"
with our own particular age. It too will pass.

We must both "know our age" in order to engage it, and
"losen ourselves spiritually from this age" so as not to
be confined by it.

We are experiencing a new kind of religious identity in
these times. It is important to "throw away the crutches"
that keep us from fully engaging the secular age we
inhabit.

***

QandA:

Taize provides people with the kind of spiritual hospitality
as well as discipline that many seek today. You bring who
you are to Taize, and you engage it as you can in order
to find meaning.

Many people search for faith at secular universities but
cannot find it. The social scientific approach to religion
in such schools prevents many from a personal spiritual
engagement. Yet even in such places, a spiritual quest
is possible.

How should creedal and confessional churches respond to
this "doing it my way" meaning-quest taking place among
their own people? We need to see all creeds and
confessions as historic reference points, not definitive
statements for all time.

---

Buy the book "A Secular Age" by Charles Taylor:
http://tinyurl.com/yz7d3fz


**************************

The Western Muslim Lecture
Muslim Awareness Week
March 17th, 2010

"Jahid of the West: Alienation, Integration and Identity"
 by Tariq Ramadan
 St. Anthony's College, Oxford University, UK.

Wikipedia biographical article on Tariq Ramadan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariq_Ramadan

In addition to his book "Western Muslims and the Future
of Islam" Ramadan has also written "What I Believe" and
"Radical Reform" (among other titles.)

Ramadan spoke to a large group made up mainly, but not
totally, of Muslims. He spoke to his audience assuming
they were primarily Canadian Muslims. I was warmly
welcomed  by many people that I met.

___


My Notes:

Canada is in a privileged position, compared with many
Western countries, to tackle issues about which I speak.
The situation for Muslims is much better in this country
than most in the West. The situation, however, is always
fragile, and can easily turn negative. Your country has
been too quick to follow the lead of the USA, in the past.

(I'm thinking, for example of when Harper seemed to be
influenced against Muslims by Bush) but things have changed.
Take advantage of the current opportunities to influence
Canadian attitudes toward Muslims. That is indeed possible.

Let me unpack the four key words of my presentation title:
jihad, alienation, integration and identity.

1. Jihad

Jihad, in Arabic, means "to strive" - to make an effort.
There is a spiritual dimension to this term; with both
positive and negative; individual and social, aspects to it.

To engage in a personal Jihad, for example, means to engage
in a personal struggle to know oneself totally - both the
positive and negative aspects (greedy and generous, dishonest
and truth-teller, aggressive and peaceful.) Of course, all
these traits are universal in nature.

"Use the positive side of your being to master the dark side."
We have to learn to do good things, as this does not come to
us naturally.

Resist - what is bad
Reform - from bad to good
Knowledge - is required to know and do the good.

What you face in terms of a personal jihad is the same for
you in the West as for any Muslims around the world.

There are political and spiritual aspects to jihad as well,
and these require the same disciplines I have noted above.

___


Remember that you are not visitors to Canada. You are
Canadians and belong here. From here on, Islam will be
a religion of Canada. Make it a faith that will truly
contribute to the well-being and the good of Canada.

Speak, as I do, about being a Western Muslim. Be proud
if this, and do not convey a victim mentality.

___


Islam is one, but it must fit into many different social
contexts around the world. One faith, but many different
interpretations of it. It is not Islam that needs reforming
but our own minds need to be changed.

2. Alienation (Psychological/Spiritual Jihad)

You feel alienated from others when you think of yourself
through the eyes and biases of others. You need to learn
to take responsibility for seeing yourself as the subject,
and not the object, of how others perceive you.

The current Western view of Muslims is negative. The media
convey us as violent people. This is true even in Canada.

If you think that alienation and negative perceptions are
bad, you must deal with this reality and move past hurt
and defensiveness.

Do not begin with how others perceive you. Define your own
meaning. This is psychological/spiritual jihad - seeing
yourself not defensively, but as a subject.

Don't respond in fear but as an equal subject with others
in a common quest for good. When I do this, I not only
serve myself and my Muslim community, but all my fellow
citizens in Canada. I have a sense of my own dignity and
I can look upon all others with dignity as well.

This psychological/spiritual jihad can help all people
become better human beings.

When I am successful in dealing with myself I am no longer
alienated from, but fully integrated into, my world as it is.

3. Integration (Intellectual Jihad)

We must learn to translate the meanings of Islamic (Koranic)
words and their meanings into understandings that fit our
situations in the West.

For example, many translate Islam as "submission" but this
has a connotation that can be negative. Better to use a
term like "surrender to the peace of God" "to enter into
God's peace" "to come to experience an inner peace."

Translation of such key meanings represents an intellectual
jihad, and is very important for Muslims living in the West.
We need to translate our teachings in ways that help us to
integrate to the West.

We need to translate, from the heart of Islam, other words
like "citizenship" and "secularism" and go deeper than mere
surface definitions. This intellectual jihad will not only
serve Muslims in the West, but all Muslims and all humans.

Western Muslims can play a crucial, though not exclusive,
role in intellectual jihad.

4. Identity (Social, Cultural and Political Jihad)

We need to demonstrate our identity with Western societies
by adhering to the laws of Canada; speaking the languages of
this land and being loyal to this nation.

We are both committed and contributing members of our society.
We can be integrated citizens of Canada now by showing that
we believe in it and want to contribute to it.

We take from this culture, but we also find ways to give back.

In that regard, we might not always agree with the common
wisdom of this land, but we respect it and learn from it.

Go for wisdom wherever you can find it. Be involved in all
fields of social endeavour to demonstrate you belong here.
___


Encourage each other to be good Muslims, but also good Canadians!
Remember that through an honest jihad, it is possible to be both.
This struggle will help you to destroy alienation, find ways to
become fully integrated, and to build your identity here.


***

QandA

1. Our Imams need to be trained in the West so they can make
distinctions between Islamic religion and Islamic culture.
They need to help Muslims integrate to Canadian society.

2. Canada is a promising country, but our situation remains
fragile. Make the most of this time in our history here.

3. Radicalization - as we have seen with some Islamic groups
is always unacceptable, but sometimes understandable.

4. If you challenge Muslim practices that are inappropriate
for this country you can expect criticism. But always speak
from Muslim Tradition itself when you challenge. When you
do this, you will not be contradicted by other Muslims.

5. Homosexuality - it is classically condemned in Islamic
understanding, but do we condemn without discussion? No.
Always seek to respect those who think differently.

6. In Europe, the term "immigration" is a problem with negative
connotations. In Canada "immigration" is a good word because
it is the basis for how this country has developed. This is
the root of your society and a very positive thing. You
need to help us in Europe to understand your definition
of "immigration."

7. Non-violent jihad? Not all Muslims accept my explanation,
but challenge those who question non-violent jihad. Don't
expect to change all minds, but always attempt to promote
discussion and dialogue.

____


Buy his book: "Western Muslims and the Future of Islam"
http://tinyurl.com/yecb9xs

Two video presentations by the speaker:

Tariq Ramadan on Youtube:

"Western Muslims and the Future of Islam"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6sxhmrSkVQ

A Conversation with Tariq Ramadan on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYpXjFXvwN8


*****

Oscar Nominated Film - My Notice:

"The Most Dangerous Man in America"

This week on the Christianity.ca website:
Read the article:
http://www.blogger.com/goog_1269043044753


*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

RON ROLHEISER
The Imperative of Ecumenism
March 14th, 2010

I am deeply grateful for having... strong, conservative,
religious roots. But a lot of things have changed for me
since I was a young, idealistic, Roman Catholic boy growing
up in an immigrant community on the Canadian prairies.

Early on in my seminary years, my professors, honest
scholars (and mostly Roman Catholic priests), exposed me
to some wonderful Anglican and Protestant biblical scholars
and theologians whose insights and commitment deepened my
understanding of Jesus and helped rivet me more firmly in
my own religious life.

Later on in my seminary years, I was joined in the classroom
by men and women from various Christian denominations, all of
whom were studying for ministry and all of whom had a deep
commitment to Christ. Friendship with them and respect for
their faith did not lead me to leave Roman Catholicism and
join another denomination, but it did begin to reshape my
thinking about what constitutes true faith and true religion.
It helped me too to realize that our commonality as Christians
largely dwarfs our differences...

Read the entire article: http://tinyurl.com/y8mdosb


*****

RALPH MILTON

The End of Rumors
March 14th, 2010

“To everything there is a season,” said the ancient preacher.
And the season has now come when Rumors must end.

The weight of age presses more heavily on me than I often want
to admit, and the mental energy needed to do this newsletter
each week becomes harder to find. We’re approaching 600 issues
and a dozen years, and I have always maintained that I wanted
to stop doing this when it was still hard to stop, and when
people still wanted me to continue. As P.T. Barnum has said,
“Always leave ‘em wanting more.”

So Easter will be the last issue. The last lectionary commentary
will be the one for Easter Sunday.

It’s a hard thing to say and a hard thing to do, and I will
miss it. Most of all I’ll miss the delightful notes I get from
so many of you each week.

But the time is right and it must be done. There are other
things I need to say to you all, but I’ll save those for that
last issue on Easter Sunday.

Ralph

___


My Comment:

Ralph Milton has inspired many Canadians to use their gifts to
write biblically and spiritually. I have read Ralph's books
and his weekly "Rumors" for many years.

When you and Jim Taylor established Wood Lake Press about
thirty years ago, it was a giant step forward for Canadian
religious publishing.

We will miss you, Ralph, but we hope you will continue to share
with us what you can, as long as you can.

Wayne

*****

Here is an example of Ralph's recent "Rumors" writing:

Rumors – When I was 13 or 14 years old, I decided I wanted
to be a writer when I grew up. In middle age, I concluded I
was too ordinary to be a writer. Now at a somewhat frailer
75 I realize that ordinariness is the essential quality of
a writer.

When I first took up this craft, I didn’t realize how much
time you have to spend alone. And that’s exactly how it has
to be, because it takes a long, long, time to discipline
promiscuous words into an approximation of what you have in
your head.

Or what’s in your heart. And that’s where the best writing
always comes from. And it often involves intense emotion.

On one occasion Bev came into my office to locate a book.
“Why are you crying?” she wanted to know.

It was a reasonable question, but I didn’t really have a
reasonable answer.

The particular tears on that occasion came when I was trying
to capture in words the picture in my heart of Bev and Zoë,
in the middle of a quiet afternoon.

Bev was sitting way back in an easy chair. Zoë was on her lap
sitting way back into her grandma. And the two of them were
singing, one song after another, quietly, unconsciously,
simply being there with each other, their eyes half closed.

And as they sang “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” I finally
understood the difference between religious music and non-
religious music. It has nothing to do with the music at all.
It has to do with who is singing what to whom and why.

“Mary Had a Little Lamb” can be a far more powerful hymn of
praise and beauty than anything Luther or Wesley or Wren ever
penned.

So I sat in the glory and the beauty of that holiness, and
tried not to blow my nose too loudly...

The power of the ordinary almost overwhelm me sometimes when
I read stories such as that of the woman who poured oil over
Jesus’ feet. Somebody who was there saw what happened, heard
Jesus’ reply, and recognized it as a holy moment.

The story got told over and over in the early church, and
people understood the holiness of that moment, even though
they got all mixed up in the details and argued about whether
it was Mary of Bethany, or Mary of Magdala, or some other Mary
who did the pouring. And what Judas said and why he said it.

But there was someone there the time it first happened –
someone who could see the holiness in the ordinary – who had
the soul of a writer. Or better yet, the soul of a story
teller.

And for that someone, I thank God.

____


Want to communicate with Ralph?

Write him at: ralphmilton@shaw.ca


*****

KEN KUHL
London, ON

DIFFICULT WEEK FOR IRISH CARDINAL BRADY

The Irish Times
March 15, 2010
by Mary Rafterty

OPINION: When clerics are shown to have blatantly breached
the principles they preach, they must accept the consequences
and resign...

Read the article: http://tinyurl.com/ybludjk

___


Ireland's Cardinal Brady Rejects Calls to Resign

Cathnews USA
March 15th, 2010

Sean Brady has rejected calls to resign over claims he
helped cover up sex abuse investigations in the 1970s
after he admitted being present at meetings where two
abused teenagers were made to sign vows of silence.

Read more... http://tinyurl.com/ya8mhhw

___


Ecumenical News International
News Highlights
16 March 2010

Irish church explains cardinal's role
in sex-abuse investigation

Dublin (ENI). The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland has issued
a statement aimed at clarifying actions of its current leader,
Cardinal Seán Brady, back in 1975 when he was a teacher, and
who now faces calls to resign due to a paedophile investigation
in which he was then involved. The statement follows Cardinal
Brady's confirmation that he represented the church at meetings,
where two young victims of a paedophile priest signed an oath of
silence about their complaints. The Catholic communications
office in Ireland released a statement on 16 March saying, "In
late March 1975, Father Seán Brady was asked by his bishop,
Bishop Francis McKiernan, to conduct a canonical enquiry into
an allegation of child sexual abuse which was made by a boy in
Dundalk, concerning a Norbertine priest, Fr Brendan Smyth."
The statement said, "However, he had no decision-making powers
regarding the outcome of the enquiry," the statement explained.

___


Zenit News, Rome
March 17th, 2010

Cardinal Brady Admits Shame, Asks for Prayer

Says "Drip, Drip, Drip" of New Revelations Has to Stop

ARMAGH, Ireland - On the feast of St. Patrick, patron of
Ireland, the president of the country's episcopal conference
is asking for forgiveness for his role in a sexual abuse case
from the '70s.

Cardinal Sean Brady reflected on "wounded memories and past
mistakes" during his homily today in Armagh's Cathedral of
St. Patrick.

The cardinal has come under media fire because he interviewed
two adolescent boys in 1975 who reported being abused by a
priest who would later be jailed for his crimes, but not
for another two decades and after abusing dozens of children.

The cardinal's involvement in the case -- he was asked by his
bishop to interview the boys because he had a degree in canon
law - has only come to light this week...

Apology

"I have listened to reaction[s] from people to my role in
events 35 years ago," the cardinal said in his homily today.
"I want to say to anyone who has been hurt by any failure on
my part that I apologize to you with all my heart. I also
apologize to all those who feel I have let them down. Looking
back I am ashamed that I have not always upheld the values
that I profess and believe in."

Read the entire article:
http://www.zenit.org/article-28666?l=english

___


Pope Writes Letter on Irish Pedophile Priests

BBC
March 19th, 2010

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8575734.stm

___


Ecumenical News International
News Highlights
19 March 2010

Irish cardinal's apology comes as Pope
releasing Irish abuse letter

Dublin (ENI). The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in
Ireland is facing pressure to resign after apologising for
his actions in 1975, when he represented the church at
meetings where victims of a paedophile priest signed an
oath of silence. At the same time the Vatican said that
Pope Benedict XVI has signed a pastoral letter aimed at
defusing anger in Ireland over a simmering sex abuse scandal
in the Catholic Church. The letter follows growing criticism
over the church's handling of abuse cases across Europe.
Cardinal Sean Brady used a homily on St Patrick's Day,
when the patron saint of Ireland is celebrated, to apologise
after he had earlier confirmed that he represented the church
at meetings where two victims of the paedophile priest signed
their oath of silence.

*****

JIM TAYLOR

March 17, 2010

FOLLOWING THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE SAINTS

Remembering Brendan
By Jim Tayloa

St. Patrick is not the only Irish saint, although he is by far
the best known. When Joan and I went on a “pilgrimage” through
Ireland four years ago, we met St. Brendan.

Not in person, of course. According to legend, St. Brendan reached
North America about 500 years before the Vikings. In 1978, author
Tim Severin showed that Brendan’s voyage was possible by sailing a
leather-clad boat, like the one Brendan would have used, across
the Atlantic to Newfoundland.

For 15 centuries, pilgrims have come to the Dingle Peninsula, as
far west as you can go in Ireland, to plod the pilgrims path from
the sea to the top of Mount Brandon -- the ancient Irish weren’t
much concerned about consistency in spelling.
Part of the walk was fairly easy, across a ridge, down the other
side. Our group merely had to watch out for sheep droppings,
slippery mud, and an incredibly prickly plant called gorse,
furze, or whins...

Read the article:
http://edges.canadahomepage.net/category/soft-edges/


*****

DONALD GRAYSTON

Turning Green With Literacy
by Thomas Cahill

March 16th, 2010

WHY should we celebrate the Irish? No doubt, several
reasons could be proffered. But for me one answer
stands out. Long, long ago the Irish pulled off a
remarkable feat: They saved the books of the Western
world and left them as gifts for all humanity.

Read the article: http://tinyurl.com/ylqn85n


*****

KELLY JOHNSON

Thought you also might be interested in the origins
of Earth Day and it's links to a Pentecostal and
Lutheran minister!

http://ifphc.org/Uploads/Heritage/2010_04.pdf


*****

NET NOTES

VATICAN SEES CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE POPE

Ecumenical News International
News Highlights
15 March 2010

Vatican defends accusations against Pope from Germany
Rome (ENI). The Vatican has described accusations that
Pope Benedict XVI was involved in covering up a German
sex abuse case as part of a campaign to discredit him.
At the same time a group of reform-minded Catholics in
the pontiff's home country has called on him to speak
about the wider sex abuse scandal currently in the
headlines there. Some media in Germany have linked the
action, or non-action, taken against a paedophile priest
to Benedict during his period as archbishop of Munich in
the early 1980s. Along with this, the Roman Catholic
reform group We are Church has criticised the Pope and
the church for not doing enough to speak on a wider
scandal dating back some decades in which clerics and
church institutions are said to have been involved in
sex abuse against children. At the Vatican Press Office,
the Rev. Federico Lombardi said on 14 March.

___


New York Times,
March 14th, 2010
by Nicholas Kulish and Rachel Danadio

The Vatican decried what it said was an aggressive
campaign against Pope Benedict XVI in his native
Germany over a sexual abuse scandal.

Read the article: http://tinyurl.com/yzghlll

___


The Tablet
March 15th, 2010

A Church on trial
Editorial

This is proving a long, cold winter for the Catholic Church
in relation to the sexual abuse of children by clergy. Hard
on the heels of the devastating Murphy report into sexual
abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin, similar cases are now
coming to light elsewhere in Europe, especially in Germany.
The possibility of a similar scandal in Spain is now being
openly talked about there too, and child abuse allegations
are being investigated in Holland and Austria.

This follows a series of grave scandals in the United States,
and of course the Catholic Church in Britain has not been
spared. These developments on the continent of Europe mean
that any simplistic assumption that the problem is confined
to Ireland and the Catholic Irish diaspora, or even to
Catholics in the English-speaking world, is no longer
sustainable.

Read more... http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/14410

___


New York Times
March 17th, 2010

German Priest in Church Abuse Case Is Suspended
by Nicholas Kulish

The priest at the center of a sex-abuse scandal that has
embroiled the pope worked with children for decades after
he was convicted of molestation.

Read the article: http://tinyurl.com/y92m73v


*****

National Catholic Reporter
March 18th, 2010

Ratzinger's Responsibility
by Hans Kung

'Scandalous wrongs cannot be glossed over,
we need a change of attitude'

After Archbishop Robert Zollitsch's recent papal audience,
he spoke of Pope Benedict's "great shock" and "profound
agitation" over the many cases of abuse which are coming
to light. Zollitsch, archbishop of Freiburg, Germany, and
the chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, asked pardon
of the victims and spoke again about the measures that have
already been taken or will soon be taken. But neither he nor
the pope have addressed the real question that can no longer
be put aside.

According to the latest Emnid-poll, only 10 percent of
those interviewed in Germany believe that the church is
doing enough in dealing with this scandal; on the contrary,
86 percent charge the church's leadership with insufficient
willingness to come to grips with the problem. The bishops'
denial that there is any connection between the celibacy rule
and the abuse problem can only confirm their criticism.

1st Question: Why does the pope continue to assert that what
he calls "holy" celibacy is a "precious gift", thus ignoring
the biblical teaching that explicitly permits and even
encourages marriage for all office holders in the Church?

Celibacy is not "holy"; it is not even "fortunate"; it is
"unfortunate", for it excludes many perfectly good candidates
from the priesthood and forces numerous priests out of their
office, simply because they want to marry. The rule of celibacy
is not a truth of faith, but a church law going back to the
11th Century; it should have been abolished already in the
16th Century, when it was trenchantly criticized by the
Reformers.

Honesty demands that the pope, at the very least, promise
to rethink this rule -- something the vast majority of the
clergy and laity have wanted for a long time now. Both Alois
Glück, the president of the Central Committee of the German
Catholics and Hans-Jochen Jaschke, auxiliary bishop of
Hamburg, have called for a less uptight attitude towards
sexuality and for the coexistence of celibate and married
priests in the church

2nd Question: Is it true, as Archbishop Zollitsch insists,
that "all the experts" agree that abuse of minors by clergymen
and the celibacy rule have nothing to do with each other? How
can he claim to know the opinions of "all the experts"? In
fact, there are numerous psychotherapists and psychoanalysts
who see a connection here. The celibacy law obliges the priest
to abstain from all forms of sexual activity, though their
sexual impulses remain virulent, and thus the danger exists
that these impulses might be shifted into a taboo zone and
compensated for in abnormal ways.

Honesty demands that we take the correlation between abuse
and celibacy seriously. The American psychotherapist Richard
Sipe has clearly demonstrated, on the basis of a 25 year
study published in 2004 under the title Knowledge of sexual
activity and abuse within the clerical system of the Roman
Catholic church, that the celibate way of life can indeed
reinforce pedophile tendencies, especially when the
socialization leading to it, i.e. adolescence and young
adulthood spent in minor and major seminary cut off from the
normal experiences of their peer groups, is taken intoaccount.
In his study, Sipe found retarded psycho-sexual development
occurring more frequently in celibate clerics than in the
average population. And often, such deficits in psychological
development and sexual tendencies only become evident after
ordination.

3rd Question: Instead of merely asking pardon of the
victims of abuse, should not the bishops at last admit
their own share of blame? For decades,they have not only
tabooed the celibacy issue but also systematically covered
up cases of abuse with the mantle of strictest secrecy,
doing little more than re-assigning the perpetrators to
new ministries. In a statement of March 16, Bishop Ackermann
of Trier, special delegate of the German Bishops' Conference
for sexual abuse cases, publically acknowledged the
existence of such a cover-up, but characteristically he
put the blame not on the church as institution, but rather
on the individual perpetrators and the false considerations
of their superiors. Protection of their priests and the reputation
of the church was evidently more important to the bishops than
 protection of minors.

Thus, there is an important difference between the individual
cases of abuse surfacing in schools outside the Catholic
church and the systematic and correspondingly more frequent
cases of abuse within the Catholic church, where, now as
before, an uptight, rigoristic sexual morality prevails,
that finds its culmination in the law of celibacy.

Honesty demands that the chairman of the German Bishops'
Conference should have clearly and definitively announced,
that, in the future, the hierarchy will cease to deal with
cases of criminal acts committed by those in the service
of the church by circumventing the state system of justice.

Can it be that the hierarchy here in Germany will only wake
up when it is confronted with demands for reparation payments
in terms of millions of dollars? In the United States, the
Catholic church had to pay some $1.3 billion alone in 2006;
in Ireland, the government helped the religious orders set
up a compensation fund with a ruinous sum of $2.8 billion.

Such sums say much more about the dimensions of the problem
than the pooh-poohing statistics about the small percentage
of celibate clergy among the general population of abusers.

4th Question: Is it not time for Pope Benedict XVI himself
to acknowledge his share of responsibility, instead of
whining about a campaign against his person? No other person
in the Church has had to deal with so many cases of abuse
crossing his desk. Here some reminders:

* In his eight years as a professor of theology in
Regensburg, in close contact with his brother Georg, the
capellmeister of the Regensburger Domspatzen, Ratzinger
can hardly have been ignorant about what went on in the
choir and its boarding--school. This was much more than
an occasional slap in the face, there are charges of
serious physical violence and even sexual abuse.

* In his five years as Archbishop of Munich, repeated
cases of sexual abuse at least by one priest transferred
to his Archdiocese have come to light. His loyal Vicar
General, my classmate Gerhard Gruber, has taken full
responsibility for the handling of this case, but that
is hardly an excuse for the Archbishop, who is ultimately
responsible for the administration of his diocese.
* In his 24 years as Prefect of the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith, from around the world all
cases of grave sexual offences by clerics had to be
reported, under strictest secrecy ("secretum pontificum"),
to his curial office, which was exclusively responsible
for dealing with them. Ratzinger himself, in a letter on
"grave sexual crimes" addressed to all the bishops under
the date of 18 May, 2001, warned the bishops, under threat
of ecclesiastical punishment, to observe "papal secrecy"
in such cases.

* In his five years as Pope, Benedict XVI has done
nothing to change this practice with all its fateful
consequences.

Honesty demands that Joseph Ratzinger himself, the man
who for decades has been principally responsible for the
worldwide cover-up, at last pronounce his own "mea culpa".

As Bishop Tebartz van Elst of Limburg, in a radio address
on March 14, put it: "Scandalous wrongs cannot be glossed
over or tolerated, we need a change of attitude that makes
room for the truth. Conversion and repentance begin when
guilt is openly admitted, when contrition1 is expressed
in deeds and manifested as such, when responsibility is
taken, and the chance for a new beginning is seized upon."

[Fr. Hans Küng is a theologian and author of many books,
including "Does God Exist: An Answer for Today" and
"Infallible?: An Inquiry"]


*****

ABUSE SCANDALS SURFACE IN BRAZIL, CHILE

Cathnews Asia
March 17th, 2010

Child sex scandal revelations have emerged in Brazil after
the Vatican said three priests were under investigation
following allegations of child abuse.
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/yarwyfl


*****

RESTORATION WORK STARTS ON RIO'S CHRIST

Cathnews Asia
March 15th, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/yhltdgz


*****

BART EHRMANN ON THE BIBLE'S CONTRADICTIONS

Wall Street Journal
March 15th, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/yfsfrxt


*****


BOOK REVIEW

OSCAR ROMERO AND THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS: A BIOGRAPHY

The Tablet,
March 15th, 2010
by Scott Wright

Reviewed by Jim O'Keefe

It is now 30 years since Archbishop Oscar Romero of El
Salvador was assassinated by a Salvadorean military death
squad, on 24 March 1980.

Christians throughout the world will remember the "Monsenor",
as he was known, during this anniversary year. This book
helps us appreciate why Oscar Romero has found a place in
the affection, memories and spirituality of so many people.

Read more... http://www.thetablet.co.uk/review/489


*****


BISHOP-ELECT MAMAKWA VOWS
TO MOVE NATIVE MINISTRY FORWARD

Anglican Church News
March 15th, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/y8cjqa7


*****

JOY AND SADNESS GREET THE NEWS
OF GLASSPOOL'S ORDINATION CONSENT

Anglican Church News
March 19th, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/ycrz43a


*****

GLOBAL FAITH POTPOURRI

Ecumenical News International
News Highlights
15 March 2010

Australian churches 'curry' support
to halt attacks on Indians - Feature

Melbourne, Australia (ENI). Church leaders have taken to
eating curry meals to support campaigns to overcome violence
and racism against Indian students living in Australia.
"Vindaloo against Violence" was a recent event where
Australians were invited to have a curry lunch or dinner
on 24 February as an act of appreciation and peace between
local citizens and the Indian student community. The Rev.
Alistair Macrae, leader of Australia's largest Protestant
Church, the Uniting Church in Australia, had urged church
people, "to head out for a curry … to the local Indian
restaurant and order a vindaloo or a curry and while giving
thanks for the food, pray for Indian students in this country
and pray for the generous Spirit to soften our hearts".

_____


Adventist leader who survived Soviet prison, exile; remembered
Moscow (ENI). Mikhail Kulakov, a Seventh-day Adventist leader
and Bible translator, is being remembered as a survivor of
imprisonment and exile in the Soviet Union for his religious
beliefs, after his death in Highland, California, at the age
of 83. Kulakov had brain cancer, and died on 10 February,
according to a statement released by the world headquarters
of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The Russian Adventist was born in Leningrad, which is now St
Petersburg, in 1927, as Stalinism was beginning to grip the
Soviet Union. He followed in the steps of his father, who was
an Adventist minister. Kulakov's work as the leader of
underground worship services resulted in his arrest in 1945,
and subsequent exile to the central Asian Soviet state of
Kazakhstan. [430 words, ENI-10-0178]

_____

Lutheran grouping's membership tops 70 million for first time

Geneva (ENI). For the first time, the total number of members
in churches belonging to the Lutheran World Federation has risen
to just over 70 million increasing by 1.6 million from the
preceding year. On its Web site, the Geneva-based grouping says
that in 2009 membership of LWF churches in Africa and Asia
increased, while churches in Latin America and the Caribbean,
as well as in North America, experienced a slight decline.
In a statement, the communications' office of the federation
said that the total number of members in churches affiliated
to the federation in 2009 stood at 70 053 316. In 2008, LWF-
affiliated churches had around 68.5 million members worldwide,
up from 68.3 million in 2007.


*****

16 March 2010

Christian leaders call for peace prayers in divided Thailand

Tokyo (ENI). Christian leaders in Thailand have called on people
to pray for peace, reconciliation and a "just solution" in the
country, where political tensions are escalating in protests
involving opponents of the government and its supporters. Fewer
protestors in red shirts turned out on 16 March than in previous
days, though this time they threw their own blood at the entrance
to Government House, news agency reports said. The demonstrators
said the action was a symbolic expression of what government
opponents were prepared to do to achieve their aims.

_____


Less than half in US link Easter to the Resurrection,
survey shows

Washington DC (ENI/RNS). While most Americans describe Easter as
a religious holiday, less than half of U.S. adults surveyed link
it specifically to the Resurrection of Jesus, a Barna Group study
shows. Seven in 10 respondents mentioned religion or spirituality
in their response to an open-ended question about how they describe
what Easter means to them personally. But just 42 percent tied
Easter to the Resurrection following the death of Jesus on the
cross.


*****

17 March 2010

March and message highlight plight
of India's Dalit Christians

Bangalore, India (ENI). Churches in India are calling for
equality and justice for discriminated and marginalised
communities in a Lenten campaign that has started in the
world's second most populous nation. It has a message that
cites the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark in the Bible
(15:34), who, when he had been crucified, cried out, "My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" ," The Rev. Raj
Bharath Patta, secretary of the NCCI Commission on Dalits
told Ecumenical News International, "In our times today,
when the doors of hope are closed from every corner to
communities that have been dying under the rubric of
discrimination and oppression, to cry out one's
frustration is also to invoke hope.".

_____


Christian rights' body asks UN
to reject new Burma poll law

Kathmandu (ENI). A Christian rights organization has urged
the United Nations to reject a law passed by Burma's military
rulers that could lead to the expulsion of pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi from her own party ahead of the country's
first poll since 1990, an election she convincingly won. The
military junta in Burma has not yet set a date for the next
election but there has been speculation that it could be held
in October. There has also been speculation that the
authorities will aim to have the election before Suu Kyi
is released from imprisonment. The new law disenfranchises
significant sections of the population, and bars a person
with a criminal conviction, which would include Suu Kyi and
Buddhist monks arrested for protesting, from standing as a
candidate or being members of a political party. Christian
Solidarity Worldwide and BurmaInfo (Japan) recently sent a
joint fact-finding mission to the Burma-Thailand border,
and released a report earlier in March.

_____


Salvation Army reports record US donations
despite sour economy

Washington DC (ENI/RNS). Nickels, dimes and dollar quarters
added up quickly last Christmas despite the economic slump as
Americans donated a record US$139 million to the Salvation
Army's Red Kettle campaign. "America is an incredibly
generous nation and philanthropy is alive and well, despite
the current economic conditions impacting so many," said
Commissioner Israel L. Gaither, national commander of the
Salvation Army, Religion News Service reports. "We are
grateful for every donor, volunteer and corporate partner
for supporting the Salvation Army's mission by giving more
than ever during a time when some have so little to give."
The Salvation Army reported a 7 percent increase in giving
over the $130 million record of 2008.


*****

18 March 2010

Pope visits Lutheran church in Rome

Rome (ENI). When Pope Benedict XVI visited Rome's Lutheran
"Christuskirche", he noted both successes and challenges in
relations between Lutherans and Roman Catholics touching on
the unresolved subject of receiving the Eucharist. The Pope
in a 14 March visit cautioned against being content and
resting "with the successes of the ecumenism of recent years".
The pontiff said, "We cannot drink of the same chalice and we
cannot be together around the altar." Benedict said, "This
should make us sad because it is a sinful situation, but
unity cannot be created by men."


*****


19 March 2010


Gaddafi's call for Christian-Muslim split
denounced in Nigeria

Nigeria (ENI). Nigerian religious and political leaders
have criticised Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi's call
for the partitioning of Africa's most populous nation into
two countries - one for Christians and one for Muslims
Nigeria said on 19 March it was recalling its ambassador
to Libya, noting that Gaddafi’s remarks were offensive
and irresponsible. Gaddafi said on 17 March that partition
had saved many lives in India and Pakistan. He asserted
that splitting Nigeria into two "would stop the bloodshed
and burning of places of worship". Gaddafi's comments came
in a speech to students and were quoted by the Libyan State
news agency, Jana.

____


Ousted Zimbabwe bishop said to be flouting court order

Harare (ENI). Anglicans in Zimbabwe are saying that former
Harare Anglican Bishop Nolbert Kunonga is ignoring a High
Court ruling that restored access to church buildings by
members of the Anglican Church of Central Africa. High
Court Judge Chinembiri Bhunu on 5 March dismissed an
attempt by Kunonga to block an appeal by the Church of
the Province of Central Africa against a ruling in 2009
that gave Kunonga, who has been excommunicated, control
of church properties. The man who took over as bishop of
Harare after Kunonga was excommunicated, Sebastian Bakare,
rued in an interview carried in the Church Times newspaper
on 12 March that other denominations in Zimbabwe "have
been silent on such "injustice perpetrated against
ordinary members of one church whose only 'crime' is to
worship in their churches".

_____


Dutch summit to engage faith leaders
and UN on HIV response

Geneva (ENI). A summit of 40 Baha'i, Buddhist, Christian,
Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leaders and the United
Nations aims to inspire change in the fight against HIV
and AIDS and the stigma that goes with it. The two-day
summit, which organizers said is the first of its kind,
starts on 22 March in Den Dolder, Netherlands. It aims to
explore opportunities for religious leaders to take action
to eliminate the stigma and discrimination affecting people
living with HIV and AIDS. "The leaders gathered at this
summit have the ability to inspire and empower change –
within their own communities, across countries, and
throughout wider communities," said the Rev. Richard
Fee, head of the board of directors of the Ecumenical
Advocacy Alliance.


*****

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

National Catholic Reporter
March 18th, 2010

The Bifurcation of Loyalties

Our theology of obedience (loyalty to church authority)
must be reviewed so that those of good heart can become
real moral leaders rather than simply agents of the
institution.

- Sr. Joan Chittister

___


Sojourners
March 16th, 2010

This movement was not just about desegregating the buses,
or even just the mistreatment of our people in Montgomery.
This movement wasabout slaking the centuries old thirst of
a long-sufferingpeople for freedom, dignity, and human
rights. It was time to drink at the well.

- Rosa Parks from "A Call to Conscience," edited by
  Clayborne Carson and Kris Shepard

___


March 17th, 2010

Jesus is real, and so, praise God, are we. Every single
thing the resurrected Jesus does on earth he does through
our bodies. You're fed, you're healed, you're forgiven,
you're pronounced clean. You are loved ...
Go and do likewise.

- Sarah Miles, from her book "Jesus Freak"

___


March 18th, 2010

"For many of us the march from Selma to Montgomery was both
protest and prayer. Legs are not lips, and walking is not
kneeling. And yet our legs uttered songs. Even without
words, our march was worship. I felt my legs were praying."

- Abraham Joshua Heschel, American rabbi, theologian,
   and philosopher

*****


ON THIS DAY -

On March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War, the
My Lai Massacre was carried out by United States troops
under the command of Lt. William L. Calley Jr.

http://tinyurl.com/y93qjqn

_____


On March 17, 1942, Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia
to become supreme commander of Allied forces in the southwest
Pacific theater during World War II.

http://tinyurl.com/yzg55p5

_____


On March 18, 1965, the first spacewalk took place as Soviet
cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov left his Voskhod 2 capsule and
remained outside the spacecraft for 20 minutes, secured
by a tether.

http://tinyurl.com/ygb8k6d


*****


CLOSING BENEDICTION

Prayer for the Faithful

May the Strength of God guide us.
May the Power of God preserve us.
May the Wisdom of God instruct us.
May the Hand of God protect us.
May the Way of God direct us.
May the Shield of God defend us.
May the Angels of God guard us.
Against the snares of the evil one.

May Christ be with us!
May Christ be before us!
May Christ be in us,
Christ be over all!
May Thy Grace, Lord,
Always be ours,
This day, O Lord, and forevermore. Amen.

(Sojourners Online)

(end)