wfn.org | Episcopal News Service News Briefs

[Daphne Mack <dmack@dfms.org>]

For more information contact:
Episcopal News Service
Kathryn McCormick
Kmccormick@dfms.org
212/922-5383
http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens
2000-058
News Briefs
The Diallo verdict raises larger issues of racism

     (ENS) Following the February 25 not guilty verdict in the 
Amadou Diallo shooting, Bishop Richard Grein and Bishop Coadjutor 
Mark Sisk, both of the Diocese of New York, and clergy leaders 
called on the public to address the causes of the deteriorating 
relationship between the New York City Police Department and 
people of color.

     Diallo is the man who was killed in the vestibule of his 
apartment building on February 8, 1999, by four New York City 
police officers who, believing that Diallo was a crime suspect, 
fired 41 times as he reached for his wallet. The police thought 
the wallet was a gun.

     It's been nearly a year since Grein, Sisk, Suffragan Bishop 
Catherine Roskam, and Vicar Bishop E. Don Taylor led over 300 
Episcopal demonstrators in protest of the killing to Police Plaza 
in Manhattan.

     Grein said that the Diallo verdict confirmed the "crying 
necessity" for effective gun control. "The proliferation of 
handguns in our midst can only contribute to the fear among 
police officers that in pressing circumstances they must either 
kill or be killed," said Grein. "Until and unless we pass gun 
control legislation that directly addresses this dilemma, we will 
see no real change. Our constitutional right to bear arms needs 
to be a right disciplined and regulated by law."

     He added that while "we must not underestimate the ingrained 
and obdurate racism" that fueled Diallo's death, it would be "an 
insult" to the people of color on the jury to say that their 
decision was based on racism.

     "The fruits of racism, as well as its roots, are complex and 
entangled, reaching as they do to the very floor of human sin and 
ignorance," continued Grein. " For the redress of this sin and 
ignorance, we cannot look simply to our justice system, which is 
impotent to heal by its power alone.  We must also look, each of 
us, to God and to our own souls, infected as those souls are with 
the fear and hatred that killed Amadou Diallo, as well as with 
the fear and hatred that insist that only the further destruction 
of life will redress his loss.  This is the moral paralysis that 
infects the state of race relations in our city: that we are 
tempted to believe that only fear and hate can effectively combat 
fear and hate."

     Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, responding to the verdict, 
said, "I find myself asking, again and again, if Amadou Diallo 
had been white would the shooting ever have occurred? Quite apart 
from the strict terms in which the verdict was arrived at is the 
larger and continuing question of racism."

Church leaders say no more bombing on Vieques

     (ENI) Following a February 21 church-sponsored rally in San 
Juan, Puerto Rico, local church leaders decided to ask President 
Bill Clinton to remove a U.S. Navy base from the nearby island of 
Vieques.

     Vieques is a small Puerto Rican island that the Navy has 
used for bombing practice and munitions storage for six decades. 
The church leaders believe that Clinton will ultimately make the 
decisions about what happens to the base, which is now the cause 
of deep and widespread anger. It was reported that at least 
100,000 people from both Vieques and Puerto Rico marched in 
silence while waving white flags.

     "The U.S. Navy has to abandon the island," said Bishop 
Alvaro Corrada del Rio, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Caguas. 
"It was clearly demonstrated that the people of Vieques can count 
on tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans who are not going to 
abandon them."

     Corrada del Rio was one of more than a dozen religious 
leaders who marched at the head of the demonstration carrying a 
giant banner stating "Peace for Vieques." Other participants 
included the Catholic Archbishop of San Juan, Roberto Gonzalez, 
and bishops and presidents of the Episcopal, Methodist, Lutheran, 
Baptist, and several other Protestant and Evangelical churches.

     The public protest was organized in response to a negotiated 
settlement between Puerto Rico's Governor Pedro Rossello and 
Clinton that in theory would allow the Navy to resume bombing 
this year. The settlement also allows the 9,000 inhabitants of 
Vieques to vote within the next few years on the navy's presence 
on the small island. 

     Carlos Romero Barcelo, Puerto Rico's non-voting 
representative in the U.S. Congress and a close ally of Rossello, 
called religious leaders "separatists." He said the march was 
"anti-American."

     Church leaders gathered with Gonzalez on February 22 to 
evaluate the march and to decide when a meeting to discuss 
Vieques with Clinton should be requested.

New Bible translations help to preserve world's languages

     (ENI) For the first time a New Testament has been published 
in the English-based Caribbean Creole language, which was once 
used by slaves.

     According to Geoffrey Stamp, chief editor for the United 
Bible Societies (UBS), which published the Bible, it was created 
for the island of St Lucia.

     "Creole used to be looked down on, so there is a tremendous 
reaction from people who feel that now their language has been 
accepted."

     Stamp said the UBS's 1999 annual Scripture Language Report 
revealed that scripture became available in 21 more languages 
last year. The total number of languages in which the Bible is 
available in part or in its entirety now stands at 2,233. But 
this is still barely more than one third of the estimated 6,500 
living languages in the world.

     "There are empowerment issues in scripture becoming 
available in the language of the home," he said. "And throughout 
the developing world there is a move toward using the first 
language in elementary schools, with the national language being 
used later on in education."

Generation X clergy meet to discuss future

     (ENS) The future of ministry to young adults looks more 
promising after a recent conference of Generation X clergy and 
lay leaders at the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest.

     Thirty-five clergy, chaplains and lay professionals from 
throughout the country gathered at the seminary in late January 
for a four-day conference to explore issues related to their 
young adult ministries.

     The Rev. Sean Cox, conference organizer, said the largely 
unchurched members of Generation X "were raised by Baby Boomers 
who rejected the institutional church. It's a post-modern 
generation that was raised on ethical relativism and holds 
absolute truth as highly suspect." He asked, "How do you proclaim 
the Gospel without changing it? How do you package it for 
Generation X?"

     "Ministering more effectively to young adults is crucial to 
our church," said the Rev. Durstan McDonald, dean of the 
seminary. "We were pleased to host such a conference that's sure 
to enhance this vital mission field."

     Conference participants formed project teams that will 
explore the following ministry initiatives and report their 
findings when the group meets again at the seminary early next 
year:

     *Work on better communication with computer-literate 
Generation X members through the use of technology and the 
Internet.

          *Compile the "nuts and bolts on how to create projects 
for young adults."

          *Reflect on the years when Generation X members were 
growing up.

     Commenting on the conference, Cox said, "I am encouraged 
that the Seminary of the Southwest is serious about mission and 
welcomed our gathering. A generation of leaders came together and 
began a conversation about our ministry. The relationships we 
formed will enable the church to grow and deepen."

Presiding Bishop's Fund helps Georgia and Africa

     The Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief (PBFWR) 
recently disbursed two emergency grants totaling $50,000 to 
Camilla, Georgia, and Mozambique, Africa.

     According to a report, when tornadoes ripped apart Camilla, 
killing 18 people and destroying homes and businesses, which 
resulted in $25 million in damages, the PBFWR sent a total of 
$25,000 in two installments to the Diocese of Georgia to help 
with clean-up efforts.

     The Diocese of Lebombo, in Mozambique, received a $25,000 
emergency grant to assist it with relief efforts after a cyclone 
battered the coast. (See separate story.)

Winners of 1999 John Hines preaching award announced

     (ENS) Virginia Theological Seminary recently announced the 
Rev. James Donald, rector at St. Columbia's, Washington, D.C.; 
Todd Miller, music director at St. Paul's Church, Ventura, 
California, and the Rev. Ramona Rose-Crossley, assistant 
missioner at Slate Valley Ministry of the Dioceses of Vermont and 
Albany are recipients of the first annual John Hines Preaching 
Award.

     This honor is bestowed upon the outstanding preaching entry 
where prophetic voice is central within the sermon.

     It was established in 1998 and is named after John Hines, a 
former presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church and graduate of 
Virginia Theological Seminary. Hines, whose 12-years as presiding 
bishop covered most of the tumultuous 60s and early 70s, was 
known for his powerful preaching and commitment to social 
justice, particularly civil rights. The prophetic element that 
characterized Hines' own ministry demonstrated how Scripture and 
the theological tradition address Christians in their present 
social contexts and call for a faithful and costly response.

Raiser joins the global ethics dialogue at EDS

     (ENS) Calling for a new "life-centered" global ethic, Konrad 
Raiser, general secretary of the World Council of Churches in 
Geneva, challenged the Christian Church to lead the way by 
"reclaiming its moral foundation" in a January 13 lecture at 
Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

     His lecture on "Ecclesiology and Ethics: The Church as a 
Moral Community," was part of a two-week course Raiser was 
teaching at EDS on the prospects and challenges the ecumenical 
movement faces in the 21st century, covering contemporary issues 
of religious and cultural plurality, interfaith dialogue, 
globalization and sustainable human community.

     Raiser said the ethical challenges of today's world have 
brought about a "growing recognition of the need to go beyond 
resistance to develop an alternative culture marked by dialogue, 
cooperation, nonviolence and truthfulness."

     Environmental crisis and world violence are the "most urgent 
expressions of the need for ethical dialogue," he said, and the 
challenge of building a sustainable international order is "one 
of the strongest inspirations for religious dialogue in this 
age."

     Raiser said the movement for unity among churches is "more 
necessary than ever." And that the church is a "microcosm which 
reflects that larger [world] household in which the continued 
dialogue can take place."

New archbishop for Westminster announced

     (ENS) Bishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor was named the new Roman 
Catholic Archbishop of Westminster on February 15.

     Murphy-O'Connor, currently bishop of Arundel and Brighton, 
will fill the position left vacant since the June 1999 death of 
Cardinal Basil Hume.

     Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey said, "I am delighted 
to learn of the appointment of Bishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. I 
have known [him] well and regard [him] with great esteem."

     "The Anglican Communion has a true friend in the new 
Archbishop," said Canon David Hamid, director of Ecumenical 
Affairs for the Anglican Communion Office. "Throughout the years 
he served as the Roman Catholic co-chairman of ARCIC, Bishop 
Cormac Murphy-O'Connor has come to know and understand us at a 
very deep level and he will bring to his new office a lively 
commitment to the search for full ecclesial unity."

If the Queen has her say, Carey won't retire at 65 

     (ENS) Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey will turn 65 
years old in November and has hinted in the past of retirement at 
that time. Nonetheless, a recent report speculates that the Queen 
may try to change his mind.

     The date under discussion is 2003 when the Queen will 
commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of her ascent to the throne. 
She has made it clear to insiders that she does not want too 
imposing a celebration, but there is expected to be at least one 
big church service. The Queen has said she admires Carey's 
honesty, faith and steadfastness under attack, according to 
reports.
     If Carey decides to stay many people in the church would be surprised
since in November, 1997, he said he found his job too demanding. "I get very
tired. I feel fine now, but there is no doubt that in five years' time I
would be ready to hand over to somebody else," he said.
     Legally Carey is entitled to remain archbishop until 2005 when he turns
70 years old.
New archbishop in Melbourne calls for tolerance of gays
     (ENS) Bishop Peter Watson, the newly elected archbishop of Melbourne,
has begun his tenure with a call for greater tolerance towards homosexuals.
     Watson, currently bishop of South Sydney, said he is committed to
making the church more relevant to contemporary society.
     His comments, in which he said gay men deserved "dignity and respect"
surprised many because just two years ago, he supported a resolution against
the ordination of practicing homosexuals.
     Watson's remarks were made after an attack by Cardinal Edward Clancy,
archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the Rev. Harry
Goodhew, Anglican archbishop of Sydney, who advised Sydney residents to
avoid the March 4 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, saying it was a
highly erotic and gross way of promoting a homosexual lifestyle.
     Watson said the parade was part of Sydney life, although he did warn
that any event "glamorizing sexual promiscuity" was a cause of concern for
religious leaders.
     "The church has ordained people of homosexual orientation for
generations, some of them our best priests," he said.
     Watson will be officially installed in mid-May replacing Bishop Keith
Rayner.
Prince Charles of Wales backs the Book of Common Prayer
     (ENS) Prince Charles of Wales has emphasized his support for the
traditional Anglican liturgy by agreeing to become patron of the Prayer Book
Society, which supports the Book of Common Prayer.
     Anthony Klimister, chairman of the Prayer Book Society, said, "The
prince's decision to grant his patronage to the society is a great
encouragement to those who care about the continuity and who understand that
the prayer book is a stable point of reference in a changing world."
     In 1980, the Church of England published the Alternative Service Book,
which will be replaced this year by a new book of prayer entitled Common
Worship. Prince Charles is also supportive of this effort, saying, "Common
Worship, as its title implies, is designed to draw the worshipping
traditions in the Church of England together."