wfn.org | General Convention welcomes ecumeni

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org]

August 6, 1997
Episcopal News Service
Jim Solheim, Director
212-922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

97-1915
General Convention welcomes ecumenical visitors

     (ENS) Actions of the Episcopal Church's General Convention will
have "cosmic significance for peace and for justice," the general
secretary of the National Council of Churches told the House of Bishops
meeting July 16-25 in Philadelphia.
     Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, speaking for the 24 ecumenical
visitors introduced to the bishops, said, "What you do here is not for you
alone. It affects everyone who stands here on this platform and many
who do not."
     In addition to visitors from the Roman Catholic, Presbyterian,
Lutheran and Reformed churches, those on the platform included such
visitors as Bishop McKinley Young, ecumenical officer of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church; His Beatitude, Metropolitan Theodosius,
the Orthodox Church in America's Primate of Washington and
Metropolitan of All America and Canada; and two representatives of the
Swedenborgian Church.
     Campbell told Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning that he is
"treasured by the ecumenical and interfaith arena." And, asking for a
chance on the platform, Bishop Roger White of the Diocese of
Milwaukee proposed a "mind-of-the-house" resolution offering
thanksgiving for Browning's "intuitive and strong support" for
reestablishing a relationship with the Patriarch of Moscow and All
Russia.
     As a token of appreciation, he presented Browning with an icon
from a Russian monastery, an image of St. George, the patron saint of
Moscow. Browning responded by thanking White for his critical role in
nurturing the dialogue. "This blossoming has just been incredible."

Religious freedom highlighted 
     But in other discussion, the bishops denounced a Russian law
about foreign religious operations. The Religion Freedom Act, passed
recently by Russia's lower house of parliament~the Duma, restricts
operations of religious faiths other than three officially recognized
groups, the Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish faiths.
     An effort by the U.S. Congress to impose financial sanctions
against Russia because of the Duma's restrictions on religious activities is
an unprecedented action, said Bishop Richard Grein of New York. He
also noted U.S. understanding of religious freedom is not universal.
"It's not about human rights," Grein said. "It's about religion in Russia."
     Joined by White, Grein proposed another "mind-of-the-house"
resolution opposing U.S. interference in Russian religious affairs.
     The measure expresses "unequivocal support" for religious
freedom while condemning any efforts by the U.S. government to use
financial sanctions "for punishing or coercing the Russian people as they
seek to express this basic indigenous right."
     The resolution also encourages the Russian Orthodox Church to
be more accommodating to other denominations.
     Bishop Mark Dyer, retired bishop of Bethlehem (Pennsylvania),
warned against unwarranted interference in another nation's religion. 
But, he said, given the impact of these restrictions on other faith
bodies~particularly the Roman Catholic Church~the Episcopal Church
should register its concern.

`Jubilee Year' needed for debt?
     The convention also declared 2000 as a jubilee year, to be known
as "Jubilee 2000."
     The declaration commits the church to biblical imperatives of debt
forgiveness, environmental stewardship and human liberation. 
     One deputy described the jubilee as a "profoundly biblical" theme
to level the field, to bring about reconciliation, and to make justice
available to all people.
     Relief of third-world debt will be one of the principal themes of
next year's Lambeth Conference of bishops from all over the Anglican
Communion, as well as a theme of next year's meeting of the World
Council of Churches.

Other action
     Bishops and deputies concurred on other ecumenical issues by:
     ~ promoting dialogue with the Moravian Church;
     ~ directing dioceses to promote interfaith dialogues;
     ~ commending the use of voluntary dialogue on human sexuality;
     ~ seeking dialogue with the National Association of Evangelicals;
     ~ extending "our gratitude to the members of the Consultation on
Church Union, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the several
Orthodox Churches, the Roman Catholic Church and the Polish Catholic
Church for the cooperation between our several churches and expressing
our continuing support for the dialogues between our churches;"
     ~ expressing concern for the safety and future of the people of
Tibet and expressing a desire for further dialogue with the China
Christian Council; and
     ~ endorsing dialogue between Christians and Muslims.

~Based on reports by Genie Carr, a freelance writer from Winston-
Salem, N.C.