Episcopal Press and News
News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. June 18, 2002 [2002-155-1]
African religious leaders adopt AIDS declaration
(ENS) African religious leaders, meeting in Nairobi at the first African Religious Leaders Assembly on HIV/AIDS and Children June 10-12, adopted a progressive declaration mobilizing action to end stigma and expand programs to protect children affected by AIDS, but couldn't agree on the use of condoms to prevent the spread of the disease.
The meeting, organized by the World Conference of Religions for Peace and the Hope for African Children Initiative, was a forum for religious leaders to reflect on their role in the fight against AIDS in Africa. Acknowledging past shortcomings with regards to stigma, ignorance and denial, religious leaders adopted a joint Declaration and a Plan of Action.
The Declaration called on religious leaders to re-examine their traditions to allow all believers to fight the disease in ways respectful of their consciences. "We recognize that all people have a right to information on how the spread of the disease can be stopped," explained Twaib Mukuye, deputy mufti of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council.
"When religious leaders work together on a major issue such as AIDS, they not only improve their own capacity to respond, but are in a better position to leverage increased commitment from other leaders," Archbishop Winston Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town, an outspoken HIV/AIDS advocate, told the gathering. "Some of the solutions to this crisis already exist at the community level, what is lacking is the political will to make AIDS a global priority and the financial resources that would automatically come with that. So even though we are grateful for all that has been done in the areas of AIDS and debt cancellation, this is not enough."
Islamic, Christian, Hindu, Baha'i and indigenous religious leaders joined in making specific demands for African governments and the international community to respond urgently to the AIDS emergency. "We call on our governments to abolish school fees and immediately withhold debt servicing payments to the World Bank, IMF, and wealthy G8 governments, and to commit these resources to eradicate poverty and implement HIV/AIDS interventions," said Hajia Katoumi Mahama, president of the Women's Muslim Association of Ghana. "We call on the G8 to donate $7-10 billion this year to stop AIDS."
While they agreed on strategy, some of the tactical issues remained difficult. Stephen Lewis, the UN Secretary-General's special envoy on HIV/AIDS in Africa, told the conference that although abstinence is the surest way of avoiding AIDS, condoms should be made available to stop the spread of the virus, because many people could not remain celibate. Other leaders at the conference disagreed with Lewis. Sheikh al Haji Yusuf Murigu of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims said condoms were acceptable only in marriage, where the partners used them to protect each other against cross-infection. Roman Catholic Archbishop John Onaiyekan repeated the position that condoms were not acceptable to Roman Catholics. Other leaders said they opposed the availability of free condoms to the unmarried and advised couples intending to marry to go for HIV/AIDS tests.
"There is now a mandate to the World Conference of Religions for Peace to establish its African Senior Religious Leaders Council to make these commitments real in churches, mosques, and temples across Africa," said William Vendley, secretary general of the World Conference of Religions and Peace. "This leadership structure will bring a new voice to the global and regional efforts to ensure that every African child has hope for the future."
Tutu draws parallels between South African apartheid and Middle East policies
(Herald Tribune) Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa has drawn a parallel against the struggle against apartheid and some Israeli policies in the Middle East.
"The end of apartheid stands as one of the crowning accomplishments of the last century--but we would not have succeeded without the help of international pressure," Tutu said in an article in the International Herald Tribune. "There is no greater testament to the basic dignity of ordinary people everywhere than the divestment movement of the 1980s."
Tutu said that "a similar movement has taken shape recently, this time aiming at an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories." He noted that "moral and financial pressure is again being mustered," pointing out that students on American campuses are "demanding a review of university investments." The tactics parallel the divestment strategy that helped demolish the apartheid policies of the South African government.
"To criticize the occupation is not to overlook Israel's unique strengths," Tutu wrote, "just as protesting the Vietnam War did not imply ignoring the distinct freedoms and humanitarian accomplishments of the United States. In a region where repressive governments and unjust policies are the norm, Israel is certainly more democratic than most of its neighbors."
Yet Tutu warned that "aggression is no more palatable at the hands of a democratic power" and that "territorial ambition is equally illegal whether it occurs in slow motion, as with the Israeli settlers in the occupied territories, or in blitzkrieg fashion, as with the Iraqi tanks in Kuwait."
"The Jewish people have always been on the side of the voiceless," with deep and painful memories of "massive round-ups, house demolitions and collective punishment," Tutu wrote. "The occupation represents a dangerous and selective amnesia of the persecution" they endured in their own history.
"More than 35 new settlements have been constructed this year," Tutu added. "Each one is a step away from the safety deserved by the Israelis, and two steps away from the justice owed to the Palestinians. If apartheid ended, so can the occupation, but the moral force and international pressure will have to be just as determined."
UN official says voice of religion has been muted in fight against AIDS pandemic
(ENI) In a blunt message to a gathering of 120 African religious leaders in Nairobi to discuss the church's role in fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Stephen Lewis of the United Nations said that the "voice of religion has been curiously muted." He challenged the African leaders to "seize the leadership," arguing that they had unique access to the grassroots and exceptional opportunities to influence politicians.
"When AIDS has run its course--if it ever runs its course--it will be seen as an annihilating scourge that dwarfs everything that has gone before," said Lewis, the UN secretary general's special envoy on the crisis in Africa. "We know certain of the faiths have problems around sexual activity and the use of condoms, and we know there are internal struggles around the leadership roles of women," he said. "I want to suggest, in the strongest possible terms, in the name of all children, infected or affected, it is time to seize the leadership, re-energize the struggle, and turn the pandemic around."
In a final statement the church leaders admitted that they might have done more, that they had often "been reluctant to speak openly about HIV/AIDS." The statement confessed that "too often our own ignorance, fear and denial have held us back as teachers about HIV/AIDS in our communities," they said, pledging to fight the pandemic and make "its impact on children, young people and families a priority."
Ecumenical patriarch and Pope sign declaration on the environment
(ENI) Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I of Constantinople and Pope John Paul II used a video hook-up to sign a statement on June 10 urging increased efforts to protect the environment, calling on Christians to proclaim moral values and educate people in environmental awareness.
The patriarch, first among equals in the Orthodox churches, was in Venice at the end of his fourth cruise intended to call attention to the environmental problems of the Adriatic and raise awareness of "the state of Europe's waters." He made similar cruises on the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea and the Danube River in recent years.
Observers suggested that the "shared concern for nature" might help improve relations between Roman Catholics and the Orthodox, strained in recent years over territorial issues, especially in former republics of the Soviet Union. Bartholomeos plans to send a delegation to Rome for an ecumenical ceremony celebrating the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul, observed by both churches on June 29, and the patriarch himself plans to visit Rome next year.
During a June 9 angelus at the Vatican, the pope described the joint declaration as "another example of that sharing of intentions which is the prelude to a renewed and full communion." The pope has spent considerable energy in recent years reaching out to the Orthodox, with mixed results.
"It's not too late," their statement concluded. "God's world has incredible healing powers. Within a single generation, we could steer the earth towards our children's future. Let that generation start now, with God's help and blessing."
Episcopalians and Presbyterians initiate new conversation
(ENS) Meeting at the Seamen's Church Institute in lower Manhattan, a few blocks from the Ground Zero site of terrorist attacks on September 11, representatives of the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA) inaugurated a new round of official dialogue, beginning with a Bible study and discussions on gifts for ministry and common baptism.
Personal vignettes focused on how members in both churches are living out their baptismal ministries and how the churches understand the role of ordained ministries. Presbyterians described the role of Elders who serve in full parity with ministers of Word and Sacrament. Some discussion centered on the meaning of Apostolic Succession and the Historic Episcopate, with Episcopalians describing the role of bishops, priests and deacons.
"What is the way forward?" asked George Telford, a retired professor of Columbia Theological Seminary, in the final session of the June 6-8 meeting. Several participants suggested the dialogue review what is happening in the broader international family for both churches--the Anglican Communion and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. Another suggestion was to seek voices from church members who are living on the edge of the ecumenical frontier in cooperation and shared ministries, looking at models for mission in racial/ethnic communities and among youth ministries.
Evangelicals commit themselves to participation in liturgical revision
(ENS) The Episcopal Evangelical Assembly, meeting at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry near Pittsburgh at the end of May, committed itself to "constructive participation in the process of liturgical revision" in the church.
In a statement at the end of the assembly, meeting under the theme "Truthful Speech and the Power of God," participants laid out some principles that they said were "important in our vision of liturgy and worship." Among the principles were an understanding of the "current call for a variety of worship expressions." The participants said that, while they embraced the "call to liturgical diversity," at the same time they "wish to maintain as the principle of common worship the whole of the faith as expressed in Scripture."
As another principle, the statement said that "liturgy is to carry forward biblical truths, acknowledging the reality of our fallen human condition and our need for salvation through the cross of Jesus Christ. This theme, which demonstrates God's merciful initiative in addressing our human need, should be reflected adequately in our central act of worship."