wfn.org | Episcopalians: News Briefs

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

March 19, 2002

2002-067

Episcopalians: News Briefs

U.S. church leaders welcome United Nations resolution on 
Palestine

(ENS) Church leaders have welcomed the March 13 resolution of 
the United Nations Security Council, sponsored by the United 
States, that supports the call for a Palestinian statebut some 
of them warned that the resolution must be followed by concrete 
steps to end the current cycle of violence and resume peace 
negotiations.

Commenting through  Churches for 
Middle East Peace, a 16-member coalition of churches and 
church-related agencies including the Episcopal Church, the 
leaders said that the resolution should be a springboard to 
implement clear-cut initiatives to stop the violence, return 
both parties to negotiations, and end the Israeli occupation of 
Palestinian territories.

Dennis Frado, representative of the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church in America at the United Nations, said that the 
resolution "breaks new ground because it is the first time the 
Council has gone on record specifically endorsing the creation 
of a Palestinian state." And it comes, he added, "at a most 
critical time for all people of the region." It may also signal 
that the U.S. "will support Council discussions of various peace 
initiatives such as that of the Saudi Crown Prince," calling for 
normalization of relations between Israel and the Arab nations 
if Israel returns to pre-1967 borders.

"There is a desperate need to end the violence on all sides," 
said James Matlack, director of the Washington office for the 
American Friends Service Committee. "The quickest and surest way 
to do sothe path that can lead to peace and security for all 
partiesis for Israel to commit itself and move promptly to end 
its occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem."

Church leaders also welcomed the return of the American 
negotiator, General Anthony Zinni, to the area as a signal that 
the U.S. will no longer sit on the sidelines but become actively 
involved in seeking a solution through the United Nations.

Episcopal bishop in Jerusalem says 'peace is the only 
alternative left'

(ENS)  Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal of the Episcopal Diocese of 
Jerusalem sent Lenten greetings to friends around the world, 
describing the deteriorating situation in the region, "bringing 
with it tragic loss of life, innumerable injustices and the 
damage and destruction of infrastructure, hospitals, schools and 
the homes of innocent peopleamong them our own people."

The bishop's letter 
called upon "all our partners and friends to do all that is in 
their power to bring an end to this pain and suffering in our 
homeland. The recent hostilities, as well as the reoccupation of 
liberated Palestinian towns and villages, has proved 
catastrophic and tragic for both parties. No one with common 
sense believes that a whole nation can be controlled with the 
power of the gun. Justice is the only possible way."

Riah said that he had just returned from the Palestinian city 
of Ramallah, shortly after Israeli tanks pulled out of the city. 
He quoted the Rev. George Al-Kopti of St. Andrew's Church who 
said that 150 Israeli tanks had entered the city, "occupying 
every corner and preventing movement, even movement of the 
injured to the hospitals and clinic in town. They occupied 
houses and apartment buildings, asking families to congregate in 
one house with no regard to their age or their health."

"Every one of our institutions and parishes has felt the 
crushing economic repercussions of the situation," Riah added. 
He said that the continued support of friends around the world 
"makes an immense difference in our lives and our ministries. He 
ended with a challenge for those friends "to speak out on behalf 
of the people of this land" and join the church in the region in 
prayers for "peace with justice, justice with truth, and truth 
with righteousness, as well as for the safety and protection of 
all people. Peace is the only alternative left."

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee organizing 
demonstrations

(ENS) The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is 
organizing demonstrations in Washington, DC and Los Angeles on 
March 30 as a national day of solidarity with the Palestinian 
people. "The escalating violence between Palestinians and 
Israelis is disastrous for both peoples. The occupation must 
end," ADC said in its announcement calling on "all people of 
good will" to join with the Arab-American community in calling 
for an end to violence and occupation and support for a just 
peace.

"The way to peace is clear, has long been recognized by an 
international consensus as embodied in international law and UN 
Security Council resolutions, and will be reflected in the 
themes of the demonstrations: end the occupation, 
land-for-peace, two peopletwo states, a shared Jerusalem, and 
the right of refugees to return," the ADC said.

Sudanese Ecumenical Forum examines recent developments

(ENS) The Sudan Ecumenical Forum meeting in London March 4-6 
took a look at recent developments in the area and discussed 
changes in international political and economic relations as 
they affect the lives of the Sudanese people. The forum focused 
on the impact of these changes on the prospects for a just and 
sustainable peace in the Sudan, wracked by 18 years of civil war 
and the loss of some two million people.

Since 1999 the churches in the Sudan have documented bomb 
attacks on civilian settlements and food distribution centers, 
calling on the international community to take action to save 
innocent civilian lives. The documentation includes descriptions 
of recent attacks by helicopter gunships, which fly at low 
altitude, attacking villages and gunning down civilians as they 
run for cover. They charge that the Khartoum government is 
systematically terrorizing the population in the northern and 
western Upper Nile region. Delegates to the forum called for 
international pressure for an immediate end to the bombing.

Delegates to the forum, sponsored by the World Council of 
Churches, confirmed that the oil business has aggravated the 
suffering of the civilians, especially in the concession areas 
where exploration continues. Delegates also heard that the 
inhuman practice of slavery is still a problem in the Sudan. 

Sudanese church leaders emphasized the deep desire for 
self-determination among the people in southern Sudan and other 
marginalized areasstill unrealized despite its inclusion in the 
constitution of 1998. They warned that any settlement of the 
civil war that does not include self-determination would not 
last. They also expressed serious doubts about a resumption of 
aid to Khartoum from the European Union in the absence of any 
tangible improvement in the area of human rights, democracy, 
peace and good relations with neighboring countries. They called 
on the Europeans not to deal with the symptoms of the conflict 
but to listen carefully to the voices of the civil society and 
the churches.

Ecumenical patriarch pays tribute to victims of terrorist 
attacks

(ENI) Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I, spiritual leader of 
the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians, paid tribute to a 
tiny Greek Orthodox church in New York that was destroyed when 
the World Trade Center towers collapsed September 11.

At commemorations to mark the six-month anniversary of the 
terrorist attacks, the patriarch vowed that the small church 
would re-emerge as a visible symbol of recovery. "The damage 
will be repaired, the Holy Church of Saint Nicholas will be 
rebuilt," he said at the site where the church had once stood in 
the shadow of the towers. Rebuilding the church has become an 
international campaign for Orthodox Christians, and more than 
enough funds are already available.

The new church would represent the latest stage in the 
remarkable history of the parish that dates back to 1916. 
Developers of the Trade Center sought to buy the church in the 
1960s but members "refused to sell the place that was dedicated 
to Saint Nicholas, despite the tempting monetary rewards that 
were offered, out of respect for the saint," Bartholomeos said. 
He talked about comforting the family members of victims at 
"this place of unbearable pain" and asked all nations to 
renounce acts of terrorism. "Terrorist acts multiply evil and 
perpetuate the immortal cycle of reciprocating evil with evil," 
he said in his sermon, accompanied by the sound of pneumatic 
drills and generators at the Ground Zero site.

Evangelist Billy Graham apologizes for anti-Semitic comments 
on Nixon tapes

(ENS) The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association issued an 
apology on March 15 after the National Archives released 
hundreds of hours of tapes, made by the Nixon White House 30 
years ago, revealed that the evangelist made anti-Semitic 
remarks in a meeting with the president. He accused the Jews as 
"the ones putting out the pornographic stuff" and said that the 
Jewish "stranglehold" on the media "has got to be broken or the 
country's going down the drain."

In the statement Graham said that he and the president 
"discussed every conceivable subject" but that he repudiated his 
comments about a Jewish stranglehold on the media and offered 
his apology. "I don't ever recall having those feelings about 
any group, especially the Jews, and I certainly do not have them 
now. I humbly ask the Jewish community to reflect on my actions 
on behalf of Jews over the years that contradict my words in the 
Oval Office that day."

During his 83 years Graham said that he realizes his life 
"has been a pilgrimage, constantly learning, changing, growing 
and maturing. I have come to see in deeper ways some of the 
implications of my faith and messagenot the least of which is 
in the area of human rights and racial and ethnic understanding. 
Racial prejudice, anti-Semitism or hatred of anyone with 
different beliefs has no place in the human mind or heart. I 
urge everyone to examine themselves and renew their own hearts 
before God."

Religion's influence in American life is growing, poll 
reveals

(ENS) In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 
about 78 percent of Americans polled by the Pew Research Center 
are convinced that the influence of religion in American life is 
growingand their favorable views of Islamic Americans has 
increased from 45 to 59 percent. 

Church attendance has not increased since the tragedies, 
however, but remains at four out of 10 attending worship weekly 
and three in five Americans saying that religious faith plays an 
important role in their lives, about the same as before 
September 11. "What does seem to have changed is that Americans 
who were already highly religious are praying more and spending 
more time with their families," said David Young in his column 
for Scripps Howard News Service. "Overall, Americans express 
high respect for all the major faiths: 78 percent for Catholics, 
77 percent for Protestants and 75 percent for Jews. Our regard 
for Muslims, although much greater than before, lags at 59 
percent," Young noted.

He also pointed out that the Pew poll "discovered that, 
although one in eight Americans believes that war is never 
justified, more than half the pacifists (55 percent) support the 
current resistance to terrorism." He quoted Alexis de 
Tocqueville who said 170 years ago, "Religion in America takes 
no direct part in the government of society, but it must be 
regarded as the first of their political institutions. I do not 
know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their 
religion for who can search the human heart, but I am certain 
that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of 
republican institutions."

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