Christians rejoice and frown at Obama pro-gay marriage stance
Some rejoiced in the U.S. president’s courage. Others predicted hellfire at the polls. One pastor said he would reflect on the matter in prayer.
President Barack Obama’s announcement on Wednesday that he supported same-sex marriage stirred impassioned responses at places of worship across the United States, underscoring the risk he took in coming out in favor of such a controversial measure.
Gay and liberal Christians found renewed enthusiasm for Obama, who had disappointed many on the left when his 2008 message of hope and change ran into the realities of governing.
“It just makes me giddy with joy. I have been bouncing around all day,” said the Reverend Annie Steinberg-Behrman, a United Church of Christ pastor in Berkeley, California, who married her partner in 2004.
But some conservative Christians who cite the Bible in opposing gay marriage have also found a reason to campaign against Obama when he seeks re-election November 6 against presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
“This could definitely get them riled up … hopefully,” said Caryl Scales, a member of Hampton Road Baptist Church in DeSoto, Texas. “I’m not happy with it. I believe scripture. God’s word says gay marriage is wrong.”
National religious leaders with a weightier voice also came down against Obama.
Jewish pilgrims stay away from Lag Ba’omer festival in Tunisia
Security concerns and threats from some Salafi Islamists kept thousands of Jewish pilgrims away from the annual Lag Ba’omer celebration on the Tunisian island of Djerba this week.
No more than 500 pilgrims attended the religious festival celebrated a month after Passover at one of Africa’s oldest synagogues on Wednesday and Thursday – an event that used to attract thousands of visitors.
Numbers have plummeted since the overthrow of authoritarian secular leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in a popular uprising in January last year, leading to months of political uncertainty, and the rise to power in October of an Islamist-led government.
Israel issued a travel advisory urging its citizens ahead of the festival to “avoid” visits to Tunisia this year, citing information suggesting they might come under attack.
Last year just 100 took part because pilgrims were reluctant to wade into the charged political environment of the Arab Spring, and organisers cancelled traditional celebrations because of security concerns.
This year, the ceremonies – which mark the deaths of ancient Jewish clerics, including a second-century mystic – went ahead amid tight security with police and soldiers lining the streets.
Read the full story by Anis Mili here. . Follow all posts on Twitter @ RTRFaithWorld
Irish Catholic Church head apologises to sex abuse victims but will not quit
The head of the Irish Catholic Church apologised on Monday to victims of sexual abuse but rejected calls to resign after a TV documentary reported the cleric failed to warn parents their children were being sexually abused by a priest in 1975.
The documentary, broadcast by Britain’s BBC on Tuesday, said child victim Brendan Boland gave Cardinal Sean Brady the names and addresses of children being abused by paedophile Brendan Smyth during a Church investigation but Brady failed to act to ensure their safety.
“I apologise without hesitation to him (Brendan Boland) and to any victim,” Brady told state-broadcaster RTE on Monday.
Three out of the four main parties in the Republic of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness have called on Brady to consider his position. “I’ve heard those calls but I’ve also heard the many, many calls from people who want me to stay … I’m not changing my position,” Brady told RTE.
Brady said last week that the documentary was seriously misleading, saying it had exaggerated his role in the inquiry.
Two of the victims whose identities were made known to Brady at the time were subjected to abuse long after the Church inquiry was completed and Smyth continued to abuse other young victims for more than 15 years afterwards. The sister and four cousins of one of the victims were also abused for several years after the investigation.
Smyth died in 1997, just one month into a 12-year sentence after pleading guilty to 74 charges of indecent and sexual abuse of boys and girls for more than 30 years.
Sin has led to Middle East unrest, says Saudi Arabia’s top cleric
Saudi Arabia’s top religious official has blamed Muslim sinfulness for instability in the Middle East, where pro-democracy unrest has toppled four heads of state.
“The schism, instability, the malfunctioning of security and the breakdown of unity that Islamic countries are facing these days is a result of the sins of the public and their transgressions,” Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh was quoted as saying by al-Watan newspaper.
In a Friday sermon, he accused “chaotic” people of wearing mask of “democracy and equality” for actions leading to injustice and instability within the umma, or Muslim nation.
Revolts that erupted last year have removed Arab autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen and are still raging in Syria and Bahrain. They gave voice to millions of people who suffered decades of repression but have alarmed Gulf Arab rulers.
Ties between Riyadh and Cairo were strained by the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, a close Saudi ally, and by the rising power of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, an organization viewed with suspicion by many Gulf governments.
On Friday an Egyptian delegation visited Saudi King Abdullah to smooth a spat caused by protests at the Saudi embassy in Cairo, which had led to the recall of the Saudi ambassador. The king later ordered the envoy back Cairo and the embassy said he would return on Saturday.
Last month, the grand mufti was criticized after international media quoted him as saying all churches in the Arabian Peninsula should be destroyed, angering Christian bishops in Austria, Germany, and Russia. The comments could not be verified by Saudi officials.
Sinfulness? Well before we all start pointing the finger; perhaps all the teachers of Religion should see what the rest of us see when it comes to Religion; here have a look for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMUqhbOac QU and in the end You Decide what Religion means to you.
Salafis attack and injure 29 German police in clash during anti-Islam demo
Ultra-conservative Salafist Muslims turned on police protecting anti-Islam protesters in the western German city of Bonn, injuring 29 officers, two of them seriously, police said in a statement on Sunday.
Authorities arrested 109 people, among them a 25-year-old man suspected of stabbing two police officers, after angry clashes on Saturday between protesters waving banners showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad and a large group of Salafists.
Local media said 500-600 Salafists faced off with 30 anti-Islam protesters.
The Salafists in recent weeks have handed out thousands of Korans, translated into German, to non-Muslims, sparking a highly charged debate in Germany.
North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Ralf Jaeger pledged to identify all Salafists prepared to use violence, so that authorities could take swifter action in future.
Four million Muslims live in Germany, about half of whom have German citizenship.
via Salafists injure 29 German police in anti-Islam demo | Reuters. Follow all posts on Twitter @ RTRFaithWorld
For Tunisia’s Jews, both hope and fears after the Arab Spring
In the Jewish quarters on the Tunisian island of Djerba, only menoras or Hebrew letters painted in blue against the whitewashed walls distinguish a Jewish home from the Muslim family living next door.
Mainly Muslim Tunisia is home to one of North Africa’s largest Jewish communities. Though they now number less than 1,800 people, Jews have lived in Tunisia since Roman times.
The El Ghriba synagogue in Djerba, home to most of Tunisia’s Jews, is built on the site of a Jewish temple that is believed to date back almost 1,900 years and attracts pilgrims each year.
But more than a year after Tunisia’s revolution ousted Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and sparked uprisings around the region, uncertainty over the democratic transition and threats by some Salafi Islamists have begun to raise fears that decades of peaceful co-existence could begin to erode.
Sitting in his jewelry shop in Djerba’s covered souk, David Bitan said life for Tunisia’s Jews was changing, much as it has for all Tunisians since the revolt. Business had yet to recover and the instability that dogs Tunisia affected them too.
“We are not afraid of Salafis who talk too much. We’re afraid of those who say nothing, then do something,” said Bitan.
“Things have changed since the revolution. Before, people were afraid of the police. Now, we are under pressure. The police is weak, so racism is increasing. People are not afraid.”
Texas pastor drives support for blind Chinese dissident Chen
Only a few hours after blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng left his sanctuary in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and the United States’ declared it had won concessions over his future from the Chinese government, a soft-spoken 44-year-old West Texas pastor was questioning the official version of events.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Chen, who had escaped house arrest in a village in Shandong province before making his way to the Chinese capital last week, had “a number of understandings with the Chinese government about his future, including the opportunity to pursue higher education in a safe environment” inside China. Chinese state media said he had left the embassy “of his own volition.”
Pastor Bob Fu, though, issued a statement quickly challenging the official story. It said “relevant reports show unfortunately the US side ‘has abandoned Mr Chen,’” and that he had reluctantly left the embassy because of threats to his family by the Chinese government.
Soon, Chen was confirming Fu’s concerns in a number of interviews with Western media organizations. Chen told Reuters in a phone interview from a Beijing hospital that he wants to leave for the United States rather than stay in China because his safety cannot be assured under the deal.
For Fu, who said he knew about the deal 15 hours in advance, it wasn’t the first time in the past week that he has been one of the few sources of information on what has been happening to Chen, whose case has threatened to badly damage relations between the United States and China.
Read the full story here. . Follow all posts on Twitter @ RTRFaithWorld
God bless pastor fu standing up for basic civil rights that chinese want.God given rights that a communist county that does not allow is worth fighting! continue dr. chen your quest. we will all be praying for you and your family!
Irish deputy PM says Catholic Primate Cardinal Brady should resign over abuse
Ireland’s deputy prime minister said on Thursday he thought the head of the Irish Catholic Church should resign after a TV documentary reported the cleric had failed to warn parents their children were being sexually abused by a priest in 1975.
A BBC documentary broadcast on Tuesday said that Cardinal Sean Brady was given the names and addresses of children being abused by notorious paedophile Brendan Smyth during a Church investigation but had failed to act to ensure their safety.
“It is my own personal view that anybody who did not deal with the scale of the abuse that we have seen in this case should not hold a position of authority,” Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore told parliament, when asked about Brady’s response to the BBC programme.
Gilmore described the revelations as “another horrific episode of failure by senior members of the Catholic Church to protect children”, adding his voice to calls by groups representing victims of abuse for Brady to stand down.
Two of the victims whose identities were made known to Brady at the time were subjected to abuse long after the Church inquiry was completed and Smyth continued to abuse other young victims for more than 15 years afterwards.
The sister and four cousins of one of the victims were also abused for several years after the investigation.
However, Brady said the documentary was seriously misleading, saying it had exaggerated his role in the inquiry and that he did not see it as a resigning matter.
This is just another lame cover-up. Anyone, any year, any job that let the abuse issue drop should be accountable. Sexual Abuse responsibility goes nowhere, no one and every one knew it was going on. This was a world wide issue yet only a handful are accused. It is tragic and places the Catholic Church in a terrible light for years to come.
Catholic bishops and the U.S. election campaign – KTO TV interview
The French Catholic television channel KTO invited me to comment on the role of the U.S. Catholic bishops in American politics, especially their criticism of the Obama administration’s health care reform, in its series Eglises du Monde (Churches of the World). Here’s the half-hour program on Wednesday (in French).
As Dutch churches shut, their sacred art finds new uses abroad
When Christianity fades, it doesn’t just leave empty pews behind. With each church that shuts, the statues, crucifixes, chalices, paintings or vestments that were part of regular Sunday services suddenly have no liturgical home.
In the Netherlands, where faith has faded more dramatically than in many other parts of Europe, two churches close down on average every week. The sacred art left over is piling up in cellars and storerooms around the country.
Some congregations elsewhere have the opposite problem. New Catholic and Protestant churches are springing up in Latin America, Africa and Asia, and pastors in eastern Europe are seeking to refurbish churches used for decades as warehouses or factories.
A pioneering network of Dutch religious art experts, concerned by the accumulation of objects with both artistic and spiritual significance, has been struggling to match some of their supply to this new demand. Thanks to their work, a Roman Catholic cathedral in the Dominican Republic now boasts a marble altar from a church in Eindhoven that is being turned into a health centre.
Another Catholic church slated to become a municipal library and theatre has donated pews, statues and crucifixes to a church in Lviv, Ukraine, that was used as a gas mask factory during the communist era. A Dutch Reformed church has donated a silver communion set to a Protestant parish in Romania.
“If we have something we can’t use, there is nothing better than to know it is being used in another church,” said Rev Martien Mesch, who has sent truckloads of surplus items to Ukraine from two Catholic churches he had to close down in the town of Vught, near the southern Dutch city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
Eugene van Deutekom, diocesan archivist and historian for the Catholic diocese headquartered in this southern Dutch city, said surplus objects should be transferred if possible to churches still in use and valuable ones donated to museums in the Netherlands.
-
Resident FaithWorld Expert
-
