Church in the World
31 May 2008
Germany
Bishop regrets Church’s inaction on abuse
Christa Pongratz-Lippitt
SEXUAL ABUSE by priests must be talked about openly and "tackled unsparingly", a German bishop has said at a workshop at the 97th Katholikentag, a five-day lay Catholic festival at Osnabrück attended by 60,000 people.
Bishop Hans-Jochen Jaschke of Hamburg said paedophile priests should not be moved from parish to parish but should be suspended. "The Church should be particularly ashamed when it is guilty in such situations because of the high moral pedestal on which it stands," Bishop Jaschke said after listening to the story of a victim who had been abused for years by a priest. The German Church had reacted far too late and the bishops had not issued guidelines on the subject until 2002, said Bishop Jaschke. He said in the archdiocese of Hamburg the Church was now cooperating closely with the police and the prosecutor's office.
Also at the Katholikentag were the new president of the German bishops' conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, and the chairman of the General Conference of Rabbis, Henry G. Brandt, who called for more intensive dialogue between Christians and Jews.
Several prominent Jewish personalities boycotted the Katholikentag because of the revised Tridentine rite Good Friday prayer issued in February, which called for the Jews to recognise Jesus as the Christ and has disrupted Christian-Jewish dialogue in Germany and Austria since then.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Gene Robinson and Gay Church
Anglican Acceptance of both Abortion and Sanctity of Life will Allow the Creation of a Gay Church: Gene Robinson
OrthodoxNews
View profile
Newsgroups: alt.religion.christian.east-orthodox, alt.religion.christian.episcopal, alt.religion.christian.roman-catholic
From: "OrthodoxNews"
Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 08:29:23 -0400
***From another Orthodox list: Saint John Chrysostom said that the proud
sodomite was an insane man, analogous to someone laughing and enjoying
himself, oblivious to the fact that he is naked and besmeared with his own
feces. Sad to say, Gene Robinson demonstrates Saint John's point.
Anglican Acceptance of both Abortion and Sanctity of Life will Allow the
Creation of a Gay Church: Gene Robinson
By Hilary White
LONDON, May 16, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Anglican Church is the perfect
vehicle for creating a new "gay" Christianity by virtue of the fact that it
is the only church that accepts the logical contradiction of asserting both
the sanctity of human life and the existence of a right to abortion.
Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, whose ordination to the episcopate has
precipitated the ongoing schism between traditionally Christian Anglicans
and its ultra-liberal, secularized branches, is in London to talk about his
vision for the homosexual future of the Anglican Church. He was visiting and
promoting his cause in preparation for the upcoming Lambeth Conference in
July.
He told an admiring audience in Putney, in southwest London, that
Anglicanism is uniquely suited to the establishment of the contradiction of
homosexual Christianity. "The Anglican tradition is uniquely capable of
holding two seemingly contradictory ideas together. Its position on
abortion, for example is that all human life is sacred. And, that no one has
the right to tell a woman what to do with her body. Both are true," he said.
The logical principle of non-contradiction, a basic philosophical concept
identified by Aristotle, is defined as the idea that two opposed things
cannot both be true. Aristotle put it that, "One cannot say of something
that it is and that it is not in the same respect and at the same time." It
is not possible, for example, for a person to both be in a room and not in a
room at the same time. This principle is regarded by philosophers as one of
the three first principles of rational thought, without which no assertion
of any truth is possible. Many Christian philosophers have noted that the
moral chaos in western societies has stemmed from the 20th century's
abandonment of this principle as the guiding force of politics and religion.
Robinson is a long-time supporter of abortion. In 2005, he addressed Planned
Parenthood's fifth annual prayer breakfast in Washington. He said then that
the only way to defend the pro-abortion mindset is to reach out religiously,
saying, "Our defense against religious people has to be a religious defense.
... We must use people of faith to counter the faith-based arguments against
us."
He told Planned Parenthood, "We have to take back those Scriptures." He
spoke of "the need to teach people about nuance, about holding things in
tension, that this can be true and that can be true, and somewhere between
is the right answer. It's a very adult way of living, you know. What an
unimaginative God it would be if God only put one meaning in any verse of
Scripture."
In his talk in London and in a later interview with the Spectator's Theo
Hobson, Robinson laid out the precepts of gay Christianity in which
homosexuals, as an oppressed minority, are more capable of Christian charity
than heterosexuals.
To lend biblical credence to his assertions, Robinson cited a passage in
John's Gospel in which Jesus tells his disciples they were not ready for all
of Christian teaching. Robinson asserts that the acceptance of homosexuality
was part of the teaching that the Holy Spirit was to give the Church later.
He said that the growing acceptance of homosexuality in the churches "is all
ultimately about is patriarchy â?" the beginning of the end of it. The
strength of the resistance tells us we're on to something." His book, "In
the Eye of the Storm", reiterates the homosexual lobby movement's doctrine
that homosexuality is the equivalent of race or sex. He said it gives him a
"little window into some of what it must be like to be a woman, or a person
of colour, or a person in a wheelchair â?" and countless other categories
the dominant culture has controlled, diminished and oppressed". This
naturally leads to a greater capacity for "Christian empathy".
"Just as surely as Jesus called to his friend Lazarus to 'Come out!' of his
tomb, Jesus called me to come out of my tomb of guilt and shame, to accept
and love that part of me that he already accepted and loved."
The Exodus story, he said, is "one of the greatest coming-out stories in the
history of the world".
He admitted that it is possible for heterosexuals to sympathize with the
oppressed, saying, "It's not impossible, but it's harder."
***************
OrthodoxNews
View profile
Newsgroups: alt.religion.christian.east-orthodox, alt.religion.christian.episcopal, alt.religion.christian.roman-catholic
From: "OrthodoxNews"
Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 08:29:23 -0400
***From another Orthodox list: Saint John Chrysostom said that the proud
sodomite was an insane man, analogous to someone laughing and enjoying
himself, oblivious to the fact that he is naked and besmeared with his own
feces. Sad to say, Gene Robinson demonstrates Saint John's point.
Anglican Acceptance of both Abortion and Sanctity of Life will Allow the
Creation of a Gay Church: Gene Robinson
By Hilary White
LONDON, May 16, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Anglican Church is the perfect
vehicle for creating a new "gay" Christianity by virtue of the fact that it
is the only church that accepts the logical contradiction of asserting both
the sanctity of human life and the existence of a right to abortion.
Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, whose ordination to the episcopate has
precipitated the ongoing schism between traditionally Christian Anglicans
and its ultra-liberal, secularized branches, is in London to talk about his
vision for the homosexual future of the Anglican Church. He was visiting and
promoting his cause in preparation for the upcoming Lambeth Conference in
July.
He told an admiring audience in Putney, in southwest London, that
Anglicanism is uniquely suited to the establishment of the contradiction of
homosexual Christianity. "The Anglican tradition is uniquely capable of
holding two seemingly contradictory ideas together. Its position on
abortion, for example is that all human life is sacred. And, that no one has
the right to tell a woman what to do with her body. Both are true," he said.
The logical principle of non-contradiction, a basic philosophical concept
identified by Aristotle, is defined as the idea that two opposed things
cannot both be true. Aristotle put it that, "One cannot say of something
that it is and that it is not in the same respect and at the same time." It
is not possible, for example, for a person to both be in a room and not in a
room at the same time. This principle is regarded by philosophers as one of
the three first principles of rational thought, without which no assertion
of any truth is possible. Many Christian philosophers have noted that the
moral chaos in western societies has stemmed from the 20th century's
abandonment of this principle as the guiding force of politics and religion.
Robinson is a long-time supporter of abortion. In 2005, he addressed Planned
Parenthood's fifth annual prayer breakfast in Washington. He said then that
the only way to defend the pro-abortion mindset is to reach out religiously,
saying, "Our defense against religious people has to be a religious defense.
... We must use people of faith to counter the faith-based arguments against
us."
He told Planned Parenthood, "We have to take back those Scriptures." He
spoke of "the need to teach people about nuance, about holding things in
tension, that this can be true and that can be true, and somewhere between
is the right answer. It's a very adult way of living, you know. What an
unimaginative God it would be if God only put one meaning in any verse of
Scripture."
In his talk in London and in a later interview with the Spectator's Theo
Hobson, Robinson laid out the precepts of gay Christianity in which
homosexuals, as an oppressed minority, are more capable of Christian charity
than heterosexuals.
To lend biblical credence to his assertions, Robinson cited a passage in
John's Gospel in which Jesus tells his disciples they were not ready for all
of Christian teaching. Robinson asserts that the acceptance of homosexuality
was part of the teaching that the Holy Spirit was to give the Church later.
He said that the growing acceptance of homosexuality in the churches "is all
ultimately about is patriarchy â?" the beginning of the end of it. The
strength of the resistance tells us we're on to something." His book, "In
the Eye of the Storm", reiterates the homosexual lobby movement's doctrine
that homosexuality is the equivalent of race or sex. He said it gives him a
"little window into some of what it must be like to be a woman, or a person
of colour, or a person in a wheelchair â?" and countless other categories
the dominant culture has controlled, diminished and oppressed". This
naturally leads to a greater capacity for "Christian empathy".
"Just as surely as Jesus called to his friend Lazarus to 'Come out!' of his
tomb, Jesus called me to come out of my tomb of guilt and shame, to accept
and love that part of me that he already accepted and loved."
The Exodus story, he said, is "one of the greatest coming-out stories in the
history of the world".
He admitted that it is possible for heterosexuals to sympathize with the
oppressed, saying, "It's not impossible, but it's harder."
***************
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Isaiah Scroll on display in Jerusalem
The Message of the Isaiah Scroll
By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Selected sections of the ancient Dead Sea scrolls will be put on display in Jerusalem this week to be seen by the public for the first time in more than 40 years.
About five metres (15 feet) of the Isaiah Scroll, one of the world's oldest texts from about 120 BC, will be taken out of its dark, temperature-controlled chamber at the Israel Museum for an exhibit honouring Israel's 60th anniversary.
One section of the exhibit features Isaiah's message of peace: "They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
U.S. President George W. Bush, on a three-day visit to Israel to mark the anniversary, was one of the first to view the scrolls during a ceremony at the museum.
"The Great Isaiah Scroll is the most important cultural treasure of the Jewish nation and one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century," said Adolfo Roitman, curator of the Dead Sea scrolls.
The scroll was discovered in 1947 in a cave in an area called Qumran off the northwest shores of the Dead Sea. It was one of 220 biblical scrolls found near Qumran and the only one containing an entire book from the bible, the museum said.
The entire Isaiah Scroll is about 8 metres (24 feet) long. It was last displayed in 1967 and has been kept since in storage for long-term preservation.
The Dead Sea Scrolls include fragments of the books of the Old Testament, treatises on communal living and apocalyptic war and shed important new light on the origins of Christianity.
(Writing by Ari Rabinovitch; edited by Richard Meares)
By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Selected sections of the ancient Dead Sea scrolls will be put on display in Jerusalem this week to be seen by the public for the first time in more than 40 years.
About five metres (15 feet) of the Isaiah Scroll, one of the world's oldest texts from about 120 BC, will be taken out of its dark, temperature-controlled chamber at the Israel Museum for an exhibit honouring Israel's 60th anniversary.
One section of the exhibit features Isaiah's message of peace: "They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
U.S. President George W. Bush, on a three-day visit to Israel to mark the anniversary, was one of the first to view the scrolls during a ceremony at the museum.
"The Great Isaiah Scroll is the most important cultural treasure of the Jewish nation and one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century," said Adolfo Roitman, curator of the Dead Sea scrolls.
The scroll was discovered in 1947 in a cave in an area called Qumran off the northwest shores of the Dead Sea. It was one of 220 biblical scrolls found near Qumran and the only one containing an entire book from the bible, the museum said.
The entire Isaiah Scroll is about 8 metres (24 feet) long. It was last displayed in 1967 and has been kept since in storage for long-term preservation.
The Dead Sea Scrolls include fragments of the books of the Old Testament, treatises on communal living and apocalyptic war and shed important new light on the origins of Christianity.
(Writing by Ari Rabinovitch; edited by Richard Meares)
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Gmail - [CB] United Methodists Vote for Full Communion with Lutherans - jacobthanni@gmail.com
Gmail - [CB] United Methodists Vote for Full Communion with Lutherans - jacobthanni@gmail.com
[CB] United Methodists Vote for Full Communion with Lutherans
Ecumenical News International
Daily News Service
01 May 2008
Methodists yes to full communion with Lutherans; no on gay change
ENI-08-0350
By Chris Herlinger
New York, 1 May (ENI)--The United Methodist Church, meeting for its once-every-four-years church-wide gathering has approved an agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for full communion between the two U.S.-based denominations.
At the same meeting in Fort Worth, Texas, the 12-million-member United Methodist General Conference, its main governing body meeting from 23 April to 2 May, turned down efforts to change denominational rules on homosexuality.
"It’s not merger. It means we are open to receiving and accepting and acknowledging each other's ministries," Bishop Melvin Talbert who played a key role in the lead up to approval of the denomination's full communion agreement with the Lutheran church was quoted as saying by the United Methodist News Service.
The decision on 29 April to approve full communion with the U.S. Lutheran church means that clergy from either denomination can officiate at parishes from either church. This is seen as a much-needed solution to the shrinking numbers of Methodist and Lutheran parishes in the rural United States, long a stronghold for both of the denominations.
"This is about revival of two church bodies that are deeply committed to re-presenting themselves in a pluralistic, dynamic, changing culture for the sake of mission," said ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson in a statement to his church's news service.
The ELCA is expected to approve the full communion agreement at its 2009 church-wide assembly to be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Meanwhile, the 30 April decision to retain current rules on homosexuality – which include prohibitions against ordaining openly gay clergy – came after hours of heated debate about a resolution which would have changed the denomination's social principles and acknowledged that church members disagree on the issue of homosexuality. Instead, the delegates adopted a resolution that retains the established language in the denomination's Book of Discipline, which calls homosexual practices "incompatible with Christian teaching".
The delegates did approve a resolution declaring that the UMC opposes "all forms of violence or discrimination based on gender, gender identity, sexual practice or sexual orientation".
Even that resolution prompted concern, the Methodist news service reported, with one delegate from the Democratic Republic of Congo declaring that homosexuality was derived from the devil and that its practice "is incompatible with the love of God". Church gay rights groups protested and staged a silent vigil outside the meeting site.
The United Methodist Church is, after the Southern Baptist Convention, the second largest U.S. Protestant denomination, with about 12 million members, 8 million of them in the United States. Other members are based in Africa, Asia and Europe. [439 words]
ENI News Headlines and Featured Articles are now available by RSS feed.
See http://www.eni.ch/rss/
All articles (c) Ecumenical News International
Reproduction permitted only by media subscribers and
provided ENI is acknowledged as the source.
Ecumenical News International
PO Box 2100
CH - 1211 Geneva 2
Switzerland
Tel: (41-22) 791 6088/6111
Fax: (41-22) 788 7244
Email: eni@eni.ch
+ + +
Rev. Paul T. McCain
Publisher and Executive Director, Editorial
Concordia Publishing House
800-325-3040
www.cph.org
3558 South Jefferson Avenue
Saint Louis, Missouri 63118
Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum
The Word of the Lord Endures Forever
Concordia Publishing House strives to be the premier publisher and provider of products and services that are faithful to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions.
[CB] United Methodists Vote for Full Communion with Lutherans
Ecumenical News International
Daily News Service
01 May 2008
Methodists yes to full communion with Lutherans; no on gay change
ENI-08-0350
By Chris Herlinger
New York, 1 May (ENI)--The United Methodist Church, meeting for its once-every-four-years church-wide gathering has approved an agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for full communion between the two U.S.-based denominations.
At the same meeting in Fort Worth, Texas, the 12-million-member United Methodist General Conference, its main governing body meeting from 23 April to 2 May, turned down efforts to change denominational rules on homosexuality.
"It’s not merger. It means we are open to receiving and accepting and acknowledging each other's ministries," Bishop Melvin Talbert who played a key role in the lead up to approval of the denomination's full communion agreement with the Lutheran church was quoted as saying by the United Methodist News Service.
The decision on 29 April to approve full communion with the U.S. Lutheran church means that clergy from either denomination can officiate at parishes from either church. This is seen as a much-needed solution to the shrinking numbers of Methodist and Lutheran parishes in the rural United States, long a stronghold for both of the denominations.
"This is about revival of two church bodies that are deeply committed to re-presenting themselves in a pluralistic, dynamic, changing culture for the sake of mission," said ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson in a statement to his church's news service.
The ELCA is expected to approve the full communion agreement at its 2009 church-wide assembly to be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Meanwhile, the 30 April decision to retain current rules on homosexuality – which include prohibitions against ordaining openly gay clergy – came after hours of heated debate about a resolution which would have changed the denomination's social principles and acknowledged that church members disagree on the issue of homosexuality. Instead, the delegates adopted a resolution that retains the established language in the denomination's Book of Discipline, which calls homosexual practices "incompatible with Christian teaching".
The delegates did approve a resolution declaring that the UMC opposes "all forms of violence or discrimination based on gender, gender identity, sexual practice or sexual orientation".
Even that resolution prompted concern, the Methodist news service reported, with one delegate from the Democratic Republic of Congo declaring that homosexuality was derived from the devil and that its practice "is incompatible with the love of God". Church gay rights groups protested and staged a silent vigil outside the meeting site.
The United Methodist Church is, after the Southern Baptist Convention, the second largest U.S. Protestant denomination, with about 12 million members, 8 million of them in the United States. Other members are based in Africa, Asia and Europe. [439 words]
ENI News Headlines and Featured Articles are now available by RSS feed.
See http://www.eni.ch/rss/
All articles (c) Ecumenical News International
Reproduction permitted only by media subscribers and
provided ENI is acknowledged as the source.
Ecumenical News International
PO Box 2100
CH - 1211 Geneva 2
Switzerland
Tel: (41-22) 791 6088/6111
Fax: (41-22) 788 7244
Email: eni@eni.ch
+ + +
Rev. Paul T. McCain
Publisher and Executive Director, Editorial
Concordia Publishing House
800-325-3040
www.cph.org
3558 South Jefferson Avenue
Saint Louis, Missouri 63118
Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum
The Word of the Lord Endures Forever
Concordia Publishing House strives to be the premier publisher and provider of products and services that are faithful to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions.
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