Patriarch Antonius Naguib, the head of the Coptic Catholic Church, has provided a fascinating glimpse into the life of Christians in Egypt in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need. The patriarch, for example, noted that Egyptian law leaves marital issues to the different religious bodies, allowing the Church to uphold the indissolubility of Christian marriage.

Asked “Is it beneficial for a Christian to convert to Islam just for the sake of employment opportunities?”, he replied:

There are some cases but I would not agree to say that this is the primary reason. There are, I think, two principal reasons. One is based on marriage. The easiest way to get out of a marriage, for a Christian whether its the man or the woman, is to become Muslim - for them it is easy to divorce and have the benefit of full rights against the other partner or spouse and full custody of the children. The second reason is the weakness in one's faith. This is due to the lack of good formation in one's faith. There are some regions, villages and in some quarters of the city where there is not enough pastoral care. The Islamic appeal and the secular media greatly influences and easily contributes to this failure in one's steadfastness towards one's faith because of the lack of a solid faith foundation.

According to Vatican statistics, only 0.3% of Egypt’s 77.6 million people are Catholic; 10% of Egyptians are Christian, with the vast majority of Christians belonging to the Coptic Orthodox Church, which broke communion with the Holy See following the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The Coptic Catholic Church has an estimated 166,000 members.

Associated Press

 GROVE CITY, Ohio – Critics of the country's largest Lutheran denomination and its more open stance toward gay clergy formed a new Lutheran church Friday at a meeting of a conservative activist group.

The overwhelming voice vote by members of the Lutheran Coalition of Renewal created the North American Lutheran Church, a tiny denomination of churches formerly affiliated with the EvangelicalLutheran Church in America, headquartered in Chicago.

As of early August, 199 congregations had cleared the hurdles to leave the ELCA for good, while 136 awaited the second vote needed to make it official. In all, there are 10,239 ELCA churches with about 4.5 million members, making it by far the largest Lutheran denomination in the U.S.

The vote followed the ELCA's decision to move gay pastors into its fold, becoming the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. to allow noncelibate gays into its ranks.

The move came during Lutheran CORE's annual meeting, held this year in a Church of the Nazarene megachurch in Grove City, just south of Columbus.

The gay pastor issue was the tipping point for many Lutherans, but it followed serious concerns about the ELCA's movement away from holy scriptures as the final authority for church beliefs, said Paull Spring, of State College, Pa., the new denomination's first bishop.

He gave as an example the ELCA's use of inclusive language that strips male references to God — such as "Father" and "Son" — replacing them with words like "Creator" and "Savior."

"The issue that really presented itself was the issue of sexuality, but back of that was the broader issue: Which is the authoritative voice of the church today?" Spring said.

"Is it holy scripture, which Lutherans have always confessed, scripture alone, or is supposed to be some combination, that as well as some mood of the times?" he said.

The ELCA has lost more than half a million members over the past 20 years, a decline faced by many mainline congregations struggling to keep congregants. But that decline is balanced by individual congregations that flourish, many of which hold the same views as the North American Lutheran Church, said Mark Chavez of Landisville, Pa., director of Lutheran CORE.

"The average person out there who's interested in a Christian church wants the real thing," Chavez said. "They want Jesus. They want the gospel. They don't want something else."

The ELCA regrets the decision of some congregations to leave for the new denomination, said ELCA spokesman John Brooks.

 One of the hallmarks of the ELCA is that we reach out to other Christians in the spirit of understanding, reconciliation and unity," he said. "We pray for the unity of the whole church and its members, and we pray for those who will be leaving to join the North American Lutheran Church."

St. John Lutheran in Bridgewater, Mich., has taken the first vote toward joining the new denomination, and pastor Kathleen Meyers supports the decision. But Meyers, attending the meeting in suburban Columbus, also acknowledges it's a tough choice.

"I have friends who are gay — for me, it's a very personal issue," she said Friday. "But I can't set aside the authority of scripture just because I have friends that I love."

Bruce Winkler of suburban Tampa, Fla., attends Christ Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation that he says will not be joining the new denomination. But Winkler, 72, a retired chemistry professor, said he supports the new group out of a concern over the loss of scriptural authority.

For too many Lutherans today, "it's the gospel of acceptance, rather than the gospel of redemption — love conquers all kind of thing," he said.

"You don't have to worry about obedience, or sanctification, or any of those issues — you just love everybody and that'll be fine," Winkler said.

By Carol Glatz

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Blessed Teresa of Calcutta is "an exemplary model of Christian virtue" who showed the world that an authentic love for others opens the door to knowing and being with God, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Marking the 100th anniversary of her birth, the pope sent a message to Sister Mary Prema, the superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation Mother Teresa founded in 1950.

The Vatican released the message Aug. 26 after it was read in Calcutta, India, at the end of a special Mass commemorating the 100th anniversary of Mother Teresa's birth.

In Calcutta, most of the Missionaries of Charity nuns gave up their regular seats in the motherhouse chapel to accommodate hundreds of pilgrims and volunteers who arrived for the early morning Mass.

After the Mass, the bishops, priests, nuns and visitors processed to Mother Teresa's ground-floor tomb. Sister Prema handed Cardinal Telesphore Toppo of Ranchi a lamp, and he lit a candle to mark the beginning of the centenary celebrations.

Dozens of Missionaries of Charity novices gathered around the tomb and sang "Happy Birthday."

In his message, Pope Benedict said celebrating Mother Teresa's birth centenary "will be for the church and the world an occasion of joyful gratitude to God for the inestimable gift that Mother Teresa was in her lifetime, and continues to be through the affectionate and tireless work of you, her spiritual children." 

The pope said Mother Teresa was a living example of St. John's words: "Beloved, if God so loved us, we must also love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection."

He asked the order's sisters, brothers, priests and lay members to let God's love continue to inspire them to give themselves "generously to Jesus, whom you see and serve the poor, the sick, the lonely, and the abandoned" and to draw constantly from Mother Teresa's example and spirituality.

After the visit to the tomb, Sister Prema read a message from the congregation, and the group processed to the motherhouse's L-shaped courtyard. Sister Prema and Sister Nirmala Joshi, retired superior general of the order, released white pigeons and blue and white balloons amid cheers from those packing the balconies on the three floors surrounding the courtyard.

Similar events were planned worldwide, including at Washington's Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Archbishop Lucas Sirkar of Calcutta said anniversary celebrations being held throughout India had brought "a ray of hope and joy to thousands of poor, underprivileged, disadvantaged, and marginalized in India," especially as the nation struggles with violence, injustice and natural disasters.

The events were receiving wide media coverage, which was helping make the Gospel message better understood in India, he said in an Aug. 26 interview with Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

- - -

Contributing to this story was Anto Akkara in Calcutta.

 ENTEBBE, Uganda (AFP) – African Anglican bishops voiced their strong disapproval of homosexuality at a meeting Tuesday attended by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, as the issue continues to divide Anglicans.

"Homosexuality is incompatible with the word of God," said conference host and Ugandan Archbishop Uganda Henry Luke Orombi.

"It is good Archbishop Rowan is here. We are going to express to him where we stand," he added.

Head of the Anglican church worldwide, Williams is struggling to keep the communion together amid disagreements over the ordination of female bishops in Britain, and of openly gay bishops in the United States.

"There is already a break. It doesn't need to be announced," said Orombi.

Williams delivered a sermon Tuesday at the opening of the six-day meeting, the first of its kind since 2004.

While he did not mention homosexuality, he said it was the duty of all bishops to be open-minded on contentious issues.

"We must learn to listen to those we lead and serve to find out what their hopes and needs and confusions are. We must love them and attend to their humanity in all its diversity," Williams said.

However the head of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa left little doubt that his position on the matter is settled.

"Today, the West is lacking obedience to the word of God," Reverend Ian Ernest of Mauritius told journalists on the sidelines of the conference.

"It is for us (Africans) to redress the situation," he said, adding that he has severed all ties to the Episcopalian churches in Canada and the United States that have allowed gays to enter the clergy.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Roughly one in five Americans wrongly says President Barack Obama is a Muslim, according to two new US opinion polls out Thursday amid a furor over a planned mosque near New York's "Ground Zero."

And roughly 30 percent of Americans say followers of Islam should be barred from running for president or serving on the US Supreme Court, according to one of the surveys, published in Time magazine and available on Time.com.

The Time poll found 24 percent of respondents said they believed Obama -- who attends a Christian church and has repeatedly spoken out about his faith -- is a Muslim, while 18 percent said the same in a study from the non-partisan Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

The polls amounted to another headache for Obama and his Democratic allies, who worry they face a rout in November elections to decide control of the US Congress and key governorships because of the sour economy.

Pew took its poll before Obama waded last week into a bitter dispute over plans for a mosque and community center roughly two blocks from the New York site of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Time conducted its survey afterwards.

Obama on Friday affirmed the right to build on religious freedom grounds, and on Saturday clarified that he was not taking a stand on the "wisdom" of doing so.

Republicans, including some possible 2012 White House hopefuls, have vowed to make Obama's support for the right to build the project, which is broadly opposed by a majority of the US public, an issue in the upcoming elections.

Pew noted the overall number of those saying Obama is a Muslim had spiked from 11 percent in March 2009 but that the view "is more widespread among his political opponents than among his backers."

Still, "even among many of his supporters and allies, less than half now say Obama is a Christian. Among Democrats, for instance, 46 percent say Obama is a Christian, down from 55 percent in March 2009," said Pew.

Just 34 percent of Pew's respondents overall correctly identified him as a Christian, down from 48 percent from March 2009, and 43 percent said they did not know his religion, up from 34 percent.

Time found 47 percent of its sample labeled Obama a Christian, while 24 percent said they did not know his religion.

Pew's assessment had an error margin of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, while it was roughly three percentage points for the Time study, which found sizeable hostility to Islam nine years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by Osama bin Laden's extremist Al-Qaeda Islamist network.

Forty-six percent said Islam was more likely than other religions to encourage violence against non-believers, against 39 percent who said "about the same" and six percent who said it was less likely to do so, said Time.

And 32 percent said Muslims should be barred from running for US president, while 28 percent said they should be prohibited from serving on the US Supreme Court, and 25 percent said most US Muslims do not believe in US values.

Asked about the controversial mosque project in New York, 23 percent said it would serve as a symbol of religious tolerance, 44 percent said it would be "an insult" to the victims of 9-11 and 27 percent said it would be both.

Overall, just 26 percent supported the project, while 61 percent said it should not be built, according to Time.

The poll also found 34 percent of respondents would oppose the construction two blocks from their home of a Muslim community center and place of worship for major religions in the United States.

But 24 percent said they would oppose such a project by Mormons; 18 percent would oppose one for Jews; and 14 percent would oppose one for Catholics.

 The White House insisted on Thursday that President Barack Obama is a Christian who prays daily as it looked to tamp down growing doubts among Americans about the president's religion.

White House spokesman Bill Burton made the remarks hours after a poll showed that nearly one in five people, or 18 percent, said they think Obama is Muslim. That was up from 11 percent who said so in March 2009. The survey also showed that just 34 percent said Obama is Christian, down from 48 percent who said so last year. The largest share of people, 43 percent, said they don't know his religion.

As Obama headed out for a vacation, Burton told reporters aboard Air Force One that most Americans care more about the economy and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and "they are not reading a lot of news about what religion the president is."

Burton added, "The president is obviously a Christian. He prays everyday."

Andrew Kohut, the Pew Research Center's director, said the confusion partly reflects "the intensification of negative views about Obama among his critics." Alan Cooperman, the Pew Forum's associate director for research, said that with the public hearing little about Obama's religion, "maybe there's more possibility for other people to make suggestions that the president is this or he's really that or he's really a Muslim."

Obama is the Christian son of a Kenyan Muslim father and a Kansas mother. From age 6 to 10, Obama lived in predominantly Muslim Indonesia with his mother and Indonesian stepfather. His full name, Barack Hussein Obama, sounds Muslim to many.

On Wednesday, White House officials did not provide on-the-record comments on the survey but prompted Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell of Houston to call The Associated Press.

Caldwell, who said he has known Obama for years, said the president is a Christian who prays every day. He said he was not sure where the public confusion about the president's religion came from, but he called false media reports about it "a 24-hour noise box committed to presenting the president in a false light."

Six in 10 of those saying Obama is a Muslim said they got the information from the media, with the largest portion — 16 percent — saying it was on television. Eleven percent said they learned it from Obama's behaviorand words.

At the same time, the poll provides broad indications that the public feels religion is playing a diminished role in politics today, with fewer people than in 2008 saying the Democratic and Republican parties are friendly toward religion.

With elections for control of Congress just over two months away, the poll contains optimistic news for Republicans. Half of white non-Hispanic Catholics, plus three in 10 unaffiliated with a religion and a third of Jews, support the GOP — all up since 2008.

The survey also found:

The Democratic Party is seen as friendly to religion by 26 percent, while 43 percent say the same about the GOP. That's a 9 percentage point drop for Republicans since 2008, and 12 points lower for Democrats.

Fifty-two percent say churches should stay away from politics, a reversal of the slim majorities that supported churches' political involvement from 1996 to 2006.

The poll, overseen by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, involved landline and cell phone interviews with 3,003 randomly chosen adults. It was conducted July 21-Aug. 5 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

News agencies

 Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York has volunteered to act as a mediator in an increasingly bitter debate over plans to build a mosque near the "Ground Zero" site of the 9/11 terrorist attack.

The archbishop said that he was hoping for a compromise between advocates and opponents of the Islamic-center construction project. He alluded to the success of Pope John Paul II in forging a compromise over the presence of a Carmelite convent at Auschwitz. The late Pontiff had suggested moving the convent to a site somewhat removed from the Nazi death camp. Suggesting a similar option for New York, Archbishop Dolan said: “It worked there; might work here.”

 Archbishop Dolan is the most prominent New York religious leader to weigh in on the Islamic center, which has spurred a fierce national debate over freedom of religion and the legacy of 9/11 that has even drawn in President Obama.

 Since the controversy began in the spring, the archbishop has condemned prejudice against Muslims. But in July, the church backed away from a plan to sell a vacant convent on Staten Island to a Muslim group that planned to turn it into a mosque. A Catholic parish there had agreed to sell the building, but after strong local protests, the pastor decided to pull out of the deal and the parish board — which includes Archbishop Dolan — agreed.

The planners of the Islamic center in Manhattan, to be called Park51, did not return calls or answer e-mail seeking reaction to the archbishop’s comments. After Gov. David A. Paterson last week suggested finding state-owned land distant from ground zero for the planned center, the developers issued a statement saying they did not intend to build the center somewhere else.

 “Those who wonder about the wisdom of the situation of the mosque, near such a wounded site, ask what I think are some legitimate questions that I think deserve attention,” he said.

At Covenant House, Archbishop Dolan said he welcomed Mr. Paterson’s offer to help the developers find an alternative site. The archbishop also said he was proud of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg for his staunch defense of religious liberty.

Christian Post

 About one out of every eight adults is an "ex-Christian," a new survey reveals.

These include those who left the Protestant or Catholic tradition that they were a part of as a child and who now report being atheist, agnostic or some other faith, according to the Barna Group.

Meanwhile, those who switched from a non-Christian faith or non-belief (from their childhood) to Christianity as an adult represent three percent of the American population.

Findings are based on telephone interviews derived from a random sample of 2,004 adults in the U.S. The interviews were conducted in the fall of 2008 and summer of 2009. Participants were asked to identify their childhood faith and their current faith allegiance.

A second survey asked respondents if they had ever “changed to a different faith or significantly changed their faith views” or if they were “the same faith today as they were as a child.”

According to the Christian research group, the most common reasons for leaving Christianity included life experiences, such as gaining new knowledge or education; feeling disillusioned with church and religion; feeling the church is hypocritical; having negative experiences in churches; being in disagreement with Christianity about specific issues such as homosexuality, abortion or birth control; feeling the church is too authoritarian; wanting to express their faith outside of church; and searching for a new faith or wanting to experience other religions.

The top motivations for becoming a Christian, meanwhile, were going through difficult life events; getting older and seeing life differently; wanting to connect with a church and grow spiritually; discovering Christ; or wanting to know what was in the Bible.

The median age at which respondents changed their faith was 22. Sixty-eight percent of respondents had a major faith change before the age of 30.

David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group and director of the research, emphasized the importance of "staying in tune with people’s questions and doubts."

"Clergy are typically older than those going through significant questions about their faith and are less likely to have personally experienced a period of major faith re-orientation themselves," he noted. "What's more, not every person goes through a crisis of faith, so individuals who are going through spiritual transitions often go unnoticed."

Overall, the Barna Group, based in Ventura, Calif. found that less than a quarter (23 percent) of respondents switched faith traditions – including those who switched between Catholicism and Protestantism but not including those who changed from one Protestant denomination to another.

Twelve percent of adults shifted affiliations within the Protestant tradition.

"The study underscores that the spiritual allegiances of childhood are remarkably sustainable in our society." said Kinnaman. "[T]he most common faith journey that people take is to form  spiritual commitments as children and teenagers that typically last for the duration of their life

Rome (AsiaNews) - A group of Christians and Muslims from Algeria, Morocco and France have planned a pilgrimage in the footsteps of Saint Augustine, their countryman, that will lead them to Milan and Pavia, where the remains of the North African saint of Hippo lie.There are several Muslim converts to Christianity among the group, some for over 40 years, others for just over a year.

It is the first time that Christians of North Africa have ever organized a similar pilgrimage. It will take them from August 26 to 28 to Milan, where Augustine was baptized by Ambrose in 387, to Pavia and the basilica of san Pietro in Ciel d’Oro (see photo), which houses his remains in time to take part in local celebrations, the feast of the saint on August 28.

The group has long desired to make this pilgrimage and had also wanted to include an audience with the pope. Among the pilgrims, 17 are of North African origin, 14 are converts from Islam and two are catechumens. There is also a future seminarian; the other 10 are of French origin, all accompanied by Fr Alexis Doucet, S.J.

To mark the occasion a medal bearing a Berber cross was coined, which will be handed to participants at the end of the pilgrimage.

Among the expressed intentions of the pilgrimage is that "Muslims who have heard the call of the Lord Jesus should not be prohibited from entering the Church." The idea refers to some episodes that have occurred in France and Algeria, where many Muslims who wanted to be baptized, have been impeded by priests and bishops, fearful of the consequences and overly precautious.

The pilgrimage is organized by the Notre-Dame de Kabylie, Saint-Augustin, Nantes and thof eMyriam Baouardi et Charles de Foucauld group from Albi / Toulouse.

 Katharine Jefferts Schori, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, will ordain an Episcopal cleric from New York State as the Episcopal bishop of Alaska on September 4. The ceremony will take place at a Catholic parish in Anchorage.

Until recently,  Bishop-elect Mark Andrew Lattime was a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester’s Committee for Gay and Lesbian Ministry, which “seeks to further the cause of recognition and legitimization of lesbian and gay relationships within the church and in civil society.” Lattime is married and has three children.

“Catholic churches are consecrated or blessed buildings which have an important theological and liturgical significance for the Catholic community,” the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity notes in its 1993 Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism. “They are therefore generally reserved for Catholic worship. However, if priests, ministers or communities not in full communion with the Catholic Church do not have a place or the liturgical objects necessary for celebrating worthily their religious ceremonies, the diocesan Bishop may allow them the use of a church or a Catholic building and also lend them what may be necessary for their services.”

There are four Episcopal Church congregations in Anchorage.

Christian Post

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America witnessed its biggest-ever drop in membership last year, according to a recently released analysis.

By the end of 2009, ELCA membership stood at 4.5 million – 90 thousand less than the year before, reported the ELCA Office of the Secretary and ELCA Research and Evaluation. Before the latest drop, the biggest loss was 79 thousand – a drop witnessed in 2005.

The ELCA congregation count, meanwhile, was recorded as 10,348 – 48 less than the year before. The largest-ever drop in the congregation count was recorded in 2004 – a drop of 72.

Despite the losses, the reported total assets of ELCA congregations was found to have grown in 2009 by 1.2 percent to $20.9 billion.

And average giving per baptized member grew 2.8 percent in 2009 to $492, reported ELCA secretary David D. Swartling.

"During these challenging times, ELCA members have continued to be remarkably steadfast in their giving," remarked Swartling to ELCA’s official news service.

"[A]nd many ELCA congregations remain surprisingly healthy from an economic perspective," he added.

Also included in ELCA’s report was the average number of people in worship in ELCA congregations, which declined slightly from the previous year.

A total of 1,289,967 people, or 28.39 percent of baptized ELCA members, attended weekly worship in 2009. In the previous year, 1,330,709, or 28.71 percent of baptized members, attended weekly worship.

Like other mainline denominations, ELCA has witnessed a steady decline in membership. In 1987, thedenomination reported a membership of 5.3 million and more than 11,000 congregations.

Despite the losses, ELCA remains the largest Lutheran church body in the United States. The next largest, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, reports a membership of 2.5 million.

Telegraph, UK

Edmund Adamus, an adviser to the Archbishop of Westminster, said five decades of liberalizing abortion and gay rights laws had made Britain more anti-Catholic than countries where Christians can be subjected to violent persecution.

The director of pastoral affairs in the diocese of Westminster blamed Parliament for allowing the country to become "the geopolitical epicenter of the culture of death".

His remarks are likely to cause tension ahead of the Pope's state visit to Britain later this month.

Mr Adamus told Zenit, a Catholic news agency: "Whether we like it or not, as British citizens and residents of this country ... Britain, and in particular London, has been and is the geopolitical epicentre of the culture of death."

The expression "culture of death", first used by John Paul II, is often used to refer to liberal policies on abortion and euthanasia.

He added that Parliament over the last 50 years had been "the most permissively anti-life and progressively anti-family and marriage, in essence one of the most anti-Catholic landscapes, culturally speaking – more even than those places where Catholics suffer open persecution."

Speaking about marriage and gender roles, he said Catholics should "exhibit counter-cultural signals against the selfish, hedonistic wasteland that is the objectification of women for sexual gratification".

He said "permissive laws advancing the 'gay' agenda" were one example of how Britain had become such a "wasteland".

A spokesman for Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales told The Independent Mr Adamus's views "did not reflect the Archbishop's opinions".

 Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A federal judge on Monday issued a decision forcing the Obama administration to stop funding embryonic stem cell research with taxpayer funds. The judge ruled the executive order Obama issued allowing such funding contravened a federal law prohibiting taxpayer funding of the destruction of human embryos.

U.S. district court Judge Royce Lamberth granted a preliminary injunction against the funding.

Judge Lamberth's ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by stem cell researchers who said the Obama executive order and subsequent funding from the National Institutes of Health violated the Dickey amendment.

Judge Royce Lamberth noted that the imposition of an injunction required that those challenging the government's funding demonstrate a substantial likelihood of success on the merits for their arguments. Apparently, they succeeded. 

"(Embryonic stem cell) research is clearly research in which an embryo is destroyed," Lamberth wrote in the 15-page ruling

The Court noted, "Embryonic stem cell (ESC) research necessarily depends upon the destruction of a human embryo," and concluded that funding such research violates existing law.

The Obama administration can try to appeal the decision granting the preliminary injunction or could try to rewrite the guidelines to comply with the law. With the initial decision in place, both sides will likely present arguments about whether the order should be permanently blocked.

Dr. Theresa Deisher, of AVM Biotechnology and Dr. James L. Sherley, a former MIT professor and scientist, are parties to the lawsuit because they say the Obama order sends funding for their adult stem cell research to scientists working with unproven embryonic stem cells.

"There is no after-the-fact remedy for this injury because the Court cannot compensate plaintiffs for their lost opportunity to receive funds," Lamberth wrote.

He said his order would not hurt embryonic stem cell researchers because they have the opportunity to find private funds.

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council responded to the decision in a statement to LifeNews.com. 

"Today's ruling is a stinging rebuke to the Obama Administration and its attempt to circumvent sound science and federal law, which clearly prohibits federal funding for research that involves the destruction of human embryos. The Court recognized that since the law is unambiguous, so must be its ruling," he said.

"Embryonic stem cell research will not advance medical treatments or adult stem cell research, which is already benefiting thousands of patients for dozens of conditions," he said. "Embryonic stem cell research is irresponsible and scientifically unworthy."

The lawsuit, filed in August 2009, alleges that the guidelines governing destructive embryonic stem cell research implemented by the Obama administration in July “are contrary to law, were promulgated without observing the procedures required by law."

The lawsuit says the guidelines violate the Dickey-Wicker appropriations provision regarding embryo research that prohibits federal funding of creating human embryos by any method, explicitly including human cloning, or any "research in which" human embryos are harmed in any way.

Thomas G. Hungar, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, which includes the Alliance Defense Fund and the Christian Medical Association, said in 2009 when the lawsuit was filed, "the language of the [Dickey-Wicker] statute is clear" that it "bans public funding for any research that leads to the destruction of human embryos."

"NIH's attempt to avoid Congress's command by funding everything but the act of 'harvesting' is pure sophistry. The guidelines will result in the destruction of human embryos and are unlawful, unethical, and unnecessary," he told LifeNews.com at the time.

Sam Casey, General Counsel of Advocates International's Law of Life Project, a public interest legal project involved in the case, pointed out that NIH officials have admitted they violated the public comment process by ignoring the majority of comments coming from pro-life advocates opposed to destroying unborn children for their stem cells. 

"The majority of the almost 50,000 comments that the NIH received were opposed to funding this research, and by its own admission, NIH totally ignored these comments," he said. "The so-called spare human embryos being stored in IVF clinics around the United States are not 'in excess of need,' as the NIH in its guidelines callously assert. They are human beings in need of biological or adoptive parents."

Embryonic stem cell research has yet to help a single patient, unlike adult stem cell research -- which has helped patients with more than 100 diseases and medical conditions and which President Bush supported with hundreds of millions in federal funding.

The NIH rules say fertility clinics need only provide couples with the options available at that clinic, which likely do not include the possibility of adopting the human embryo to a couple wanting to allow the baby to grow to birth.

The guidelines also suggest that IVF doctors and human embryonic stem cell research scientists “should be” different people, but there is no requirement. That could result in the purposeful creation and destruction of human life rather than merely using "leftover" human embryos.

While the Obama-NIH guidelines prohibit NIH funds from funding cloning research they also re-state that the NIH can fund embryo-destructive research in spite of the Dickey-Wicker federal provision against funding research in which a human embryo is harmed.

Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute to Brother Roger (1915-2005), founder of the Taizé ecumenical community, as an “untiring witness of Gospel peace and reconciliation” in a brief letter written on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of his murder. The letter, dated July 9, was published in the August 11 edition of L’Osservatore Romano; it was written by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on Pope Benedict’s behalf.

“Brother Roger was a pioneer on the difficult path towards the unity of the disciples of Christ,” the letter stated. “Now that he has entered into eternal joy, he continues to speak to us. His testimony of an ecumenism of holiness can inspire us on our path towards unity.”

 Brother Roger was killed by a knife-wielding attacker during a prayer service in France on August 16, 2005.

 Brother Roger was participating in an evening prayer service at a church in Burgundy when he was attacked. More than 2,000 participants witnessed the killing, as an assailant stabbed the 90-year-old Brother Roger in the throat. He died instantly.

World Council of Churches

 For immediate release: 05 August 2010

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops denounced an August 4 ruling in which a federal court struck down a California law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

“It is tragic that a federal judge would overturn the clear and expressed will of the people in their support for the institution of marriage,” said Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). “No court of civil law has the authority to reach into areas of human experience that nature itself has defined.”

“Citizens of this nation have uniformly voted to uphold the understanding of marriage as a union of one man and one woman in every jurisdiction where the issue has been on the ballot,” added Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, chairman of the USCCB’s Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage. “This understanding is neither irrational nor unlawful. Marriage is more fundamental and essential to the well being of society than perhaps any other institution. It is simply unimaginable that the court could now claim a conflict between marriage and the Constitution.”

Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles also condemned the decision.

“Today it was announced that U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn R. Walker has ruled that Proposition 8 which was enacted by the People of California is unconstitutional,” the cardinal wrote on his blog. “His decision fails to deal with the basic, underlying issue-- rather he focused solely upon individual testimony on how Prop 8 affected them personally. Wrong focus.”

Cardinal Mahony continued:

There is only one issue before each of us Californians: Is Marriage of Divine or of Human Origin?

Judge Walker pays no attention to this fundamental issue, and relies solely upon how Prop 8 made certain members of society "feel" about themselves.

Those of us who supported Prop 8 and worked for its passage did so for one reason: We truly believe that Marriage was instituted by God for the specific purpose of carrying out God's plan for the world and human society. Period.

Every single religious faith community in our known history has held this belief since recorded history began. Every indigenous group discovered down through history also understood this belief about marriage, and carried out cultural and religious practices to sustain that belief. Marriage is of divine origin, and that belief is embedded deeply into the heart and spirit of human beings--also described as the natural law for the human family.

Judge Walker assumes that the institution of marriage is of human and civil origin, and therefore, that "marriage" can mean anything any person wishes to ascribe to the institution. Wrong.

The union of a man and of a woman in a life-long loving and caring relationship is of divine origin. No human nor civil power can decree or declare otherwise.

It is too bad that Judge Walker chose to listen to anguished voices about their perception of marriage rather than plumb the depths of the origin of this divinely inspired institution.

For many of us, we will continue to believe that God is the origin of marriage, and we will follow God's constant revelation to that effect.

We in the Roman Catholic Community are totally "pro-marriage" and "pro-family" precisely in the understanding God gave when the first human beings received the breath of God's spirit. 

Associated Press

 SAN FRANCISCO – A person close to the case says a federal judge has overturned California's same-sex marriage ban in a landmark case that could eventually land before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker made his ruling Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by two gay couples who claimed the voter-approved ban violated their civil rights.

A copy of the ruling had not yet been publicly released.

Both sides previously said an appeal was certain if Walker did not rule in their favor. The case would go first to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals then the Supreme Court if the high court justices agree to review it.

Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. – The search by the booming North American population of Amish for affordable, fertile farmland has produced settlements in 28 states and Ontario — and has even led parties to scout recently for suitable properties in Alaska and Mexico.

A new study estimates the number of Amish has increased nearly 10 percent in the past two years alone, to a total population of 249,000, compared with about 227,000 in 2008. That figure was just 124,000 in 1992. Nearly all Amish descended from a group of about 5,000 in the early 20th century.

The study by the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pa., found that about two-thirds of Amish still live in the traditional strongholds of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana, but that they continue to spread west, particularly into the Midwestern corn belt.

Farmland in Lancaster County, Pa., can cost $15,000 an acre, compared with $2,000 or $3,000 per acre elsewhere.

"They are sort of challenging some of the mainstream assumptions about progress and how you achieve the good life and happiness," said Elizabethtown professor Don Kraybill, the study's director. "They're not merely surviving; they're thriving, and growing at this very rapid rate."

The highest rates of growth over the past year were recorded in New York (19 percent), Minnesota (9 percent), Missouri (8 percent), Wisconsin (7 percent) and Illinois (7 percent). High-growth areas for Amish in the past five years also include Kentucky, Kansas and Iowa.

The newest state to get an Amish settlement is South Dakota, after a group of at least six families bought several farms near Tripp in the southeastern part of the state. They have planted forage for their cows, built barns and established a weekly bake sale.

Myra Weber, co-owner of Weber's Grocery, said they've patronized her store for baking supplies and ice cream.

"We put it in paper sacks for them, wrap it up really well," Weber said. "They say they have to get it home right away and eat this."

The study focused on all Amish groups that use horse-and-buggy transportation, so it excluded such automobile-driving groups as the Beachy Amish and Mennonites.

The Amish are a devout Christian faith dating to the 1500s, and their ancestors began arriving in eastern Pennsylvania around 1730. They generally eschew modern conveniences such as motorized vehicles, instead relying on horse-drawn carriages and permitting only limited use of telephones and electricity. Practices can vary from group to group, but their plain dress and use of the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect make them distinct in modern society.

The remarkable growth is almost entirely due to the Amish birth rate — many Amish families have five or more children. Kraybill said the Amish retain about 85 percent of the young adults who have to decide whether to remain in the church. The Amish marry within the community, and the total number of converts nationwide is believed to be less than 100, he said.

About half the Amish are under 18 years old, meaning the community tends to focus much of its energy on young people and schools, Kraybill said.

Earlier this summer, a van of Amish land scouts from Prattsburg, N.Y., visited Alaska to seek a site for a new settlement but were unable to find anything suitable. Another group, from Illinois and Missouri, just made a return trip to Mexico on a similar mission.

Kraybill said there are no Amish congregations in Alaska or Mexico, although small numbers of Amish schoolteachers from Pennsylvania and Ohio have been helping improve education within an Old Colony Mennonite community in Mexico. That conservative Mennonite group has roots in Russia, rather than Switzerland and southern Germany, like the Amish.

The teachers' supporters produced a newsletter describing their experiences in Mexico, in an effort to raise money for the project.

In the new population study, Pennsylvania passed Ohio as the state with the largest Amish population, in part because the authors employed a more precise method to estimate the number, one that takes into account the different average size of an Amish district, or congregation, depending on the state.

The study says the Amish have targeted areas for new settlements judging by the quality and cost of farmland, the potential for nonfarm employment, a rural lifestyle, other factors conducive to their values and proximity to other Amish communities.

Their decisions to leave are often prompted by suburban sprawl, land costs, tourism and other intrusive activities, zoning or similar governmental disputes, the local business climate, employment needs and church-related conflict.

The Amish account for less than one-tenth of a percent of the U.S. population of 310 million.

___

VATICAN CITY, JULY 28, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI appears to be relaxed and enjoying his days of vacation at the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, says the local bishop.

Bishop Marcello Semeraro told Vatican Radio that he saw the Pope "relaxed, happy" when the Pontiff was greeting the faithful on Sunday for the midday Angelus. 

"The moment of meeting with the faithful in Castel Gandolfo is certainly one that makes him happy and comforts him, because he hears the voices, sees the faces and the greetings that the faithful and pilgrims address to him," the bishop explained.
 
Bishop Semeraro said that the number of people attending the Angelus last Sunday was so large that "the Holy Father wished to appear on the other side, on the Square, because there were really so many pilgrims and the inside courtyard was crowded."
 
"They are faithful who come from all over the world who make themselves heard with their songs, their greetings and good wishes for the Pope and, in truth, Sunday, in these feast days, the town of Castel Gandolfo is wholly revived," the prelate added.
 
He noted that in the parish "we must add celebrations of Holy Masses to allow these faithful to participate serenely in the Sunday Eucharist."

Benedict XVI is planning to visit Carpineto Romano, the birthplace of Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci, who became Pope Leo XIII.

L'Osservatore Romano reported today that the Pope will make the visit on Sept. 5 to mark the bicentenary of his predecessor's birth. 
 
The Pontiff will arrive by helicopter at 8:45 a.m. from Castel Gandolfo, where he is spending the summer.

The Holy Father will be received by Bishop Lorenzo Loppa of Anagni-Alatri, the mayor and other authorities after he lands in the local Galeotti stadium. 
 
Benedict XVI will then celebrate Mass in Monti Lepini Square, in the center of Carpineto Romano. 

He will greet some 30 persons representing the local citizens, and then return by helicopter for lunch at Castel Gandolfo. 
 
It will be the third visit of a contemporary Pope to this small Italian town of less than 5,000 inhabitants. The first was Paul VI, who made the trip on Sept. 11, 1966, at the conclusion of the 75th anniversary of the publication of the encyclical "Rerum Novarum," which was authored by Leo XIII.
 
Later, on Sept. 1, 1991, John Paul II also visited Carpineto Romano to commemorate the centenary of the publication of that encyclical. He also celebrated Mass in the Monti Lepini Square. 

Christian Post

 The highest legislative body of the Lutheran World Federation closed its eight-day meeting Tuesday with a “message” to the 145 church bodies in 79 countries that make up the global Lutheran communion.

Based on the theme of its gathering, “Give Us Today Our Daily Bread,” the petition of the 11th Assembly of the LWF reminds Christians that they should give thanks to God, give the Gospel message to others, give their knowledge and material goods to those in need, and care for the environment so that future generations “may enjoy the fruits of creation and lead wholesome lives.”

“True humanity,” the messages states, is found in receiving and giving.

And the issues of “today” include concern for the world’s food supply, global climate change, the plight of indigenous people, and the effects of HIV/AIDS, the LWF message says.

“The message from this Assembly, which grew out of the petition, ‘Give Us Today Our Daily Bread,’ is that we are not asking for bread alone,” LWF’s outgoing president, Bishop Mark S. Hanson, explained Tuesday at the closing press conference of the 11th Assembly.

“[W]e are praying for everything that people need to sustain life each day,” said Hanson.

Since last Tuesday, LWF’s highest decision-making body, which normally convenes every six years, gathered with the alleviation of hunger as its focus. As they discussed more, delegates started to speak of “daily bread” in terms of food, environment, illegitimate debt, climate change and gender justice.

Hanson, who completed his term as LWF President at the close of the 11th Assembly, said, “To have all that we collectively need does not mean only having food in our stomachs but also that there will be justice for all people and sustainability of our environment.”

Bishop Munib A. Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordanand the Holy Land (ELCJHL) was electedpresident of the LWF.

Younan, a former vice-president of the LWF, is president of the Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches and serves with three Jerusalem patriarchs and nine other bishops on the International Christian Committee of Jerusalem. He is also a co-founder of the Council of Religious Institutions in the Holy Land, made up of the two chief rabbis of Israel, heads of the local churches, the Chief Judge of the Islamic Court in Palestine and other Muslim leaders.

Before the conclusion of their meeting, the 11th Assembly passed a number of related resolutions, including ones denouncing human trafficking, committing LWF members to people’s right to food, urging inclusion of socially disadvantaged groups, committing LWF members to actions to protect the globe, and urging global reduction in military spending, among others.

The 11th Assembly also adopted resolutions detailing “principles of inclusive representation” and urging member churches to re-commit to “genuine, practical and effective implementation” of LWF policies and decision regarding the full participation of women in the life of the church – and of the LWF communion – as well as in society.

With over 70 million members, LWF is the world's largest communion of Lutheran churches, spanning across some 79 countries.

Assembly participants this past week reportedly include 418 delegates from the 138 full LWF member churches around the world. Others attending are representatives from associate member churches, observers from recognized congregations and councils, advisers from LWF national committees and related agencies, interpreters and translators, and ecumenical guests and visitors, among others.

 Two Pakistani Christians acquitted of blasphemy charges were murdered on July 19 as they left the courthouse. A police officer who accompanied them was injured in the attack.

Rashid Emmanuel and his brother, Sajid Emmanuel, had been arrested on July 4 after pamphlets critical of the Mohammed had been distributed. The brothers had grown up in a Catholic family; Rashid had recently become a Protestant pastor.

Following the murder of the brothers, some Christians took to the streets in grief and anger. “Emotional tension was high, there was some shouting, stone throwing against Muslim shops,” said Father Khalid Rashid Asi, vicar general of the Diocese of Faisalabad, Pakistan's third largest city.

That night, 2,000 Islamic militants-- urged at local mosques to “fight the infidels”-- went on a rampage in Waris Pura, a Christian district of Faisalabad. “The mob was out of control, shops and streets were devastated, there was shooting, looting and torching,” said Father Pascal Paulus, the local parish priest. “Some Christians were hurt, but the outcome could have been much worse.”

“We, four priests, went from door to door, begging Christians not to react, to stay calm, to avoid provoking a dangerous spiral of violence and revenge,” said Father Khalid Rashid Asi. “We reminded them: we belong to Christ, we love peace, we forgive our enemies.”

“The angry mob attack caused panic, shops and other buildings were damaged, but no one was killed or seriously hurt, only a few had slight injuries,” said Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabad. “I must say that the authorities and the police were most efficient, they arrived immediately and the militants soon dispersed. Of course the defenseless, hunted Christian families are still under shock.”

On the morning of July 20, Bishop Coutts offered the funeral Mass for the two brothers; 500 Catholics were in attendance. “Many of the faithful were still too frightened to leave their homes,” added Father Khalid, the vicar general. “Some leading Muslim citizens expressed solidarity with the Christians and condemned the violence.”

“Amidst general feelings of grief, pain and emotional tension, I told our people that we would offer the blood of these innocent men together with the Blood of Christ,” said Bishop Coutts. “It will further our salvation and we hope, heal our city of Faisalabad of the sickness of hatred and violence.”

“The law against blasphemy is at the root of this tragic situation,” added Bishop Coutts. “The Church in Pakistan is in front line, with the Bishops' Commission for Justice and Peace, calling for the law to be withdrawn … However the blasphemy law is a product of a way of thinking, a cultural attitude: only with hard work at interreligious dialogue can we perhaps gradually change this mentality. Many Muslim leaders are angered by the international situation, and radical anti-west ideas and anti-Zionism circulate freely. Our work of mediation and peace building is not easy, but we trust in the help of God and all Christians in the world.”

Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter

Delegates of the Lutheran Church Missouri-Synod on Tuesday overwhelmingly adopted two resolutions in response to last year's pro-gay actions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

One resolution commends for "study and reference" two documents that state that the ELCA's actions – including allowing partnered homosexuals on the clergy roster – are contrary to Scripture.

The other measure supports efforts to promote "confessional Lutheranism" throughout the world.

The LCMS and the ELCA are the two largest Lutheran bodies in the country with 2.4 million members and 4.6 million members, respectively.

When the ELCA's highest legislative body voted last August to allow gays and lesbians in "publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships" to serve as clergy, the denomination received wide media attention, prompting concerns within the LCMS that many may think all Lutherans share the same beliefs. The ELCA had also adopted a social statement on human sexuality acknowledging that there is no consensus on homosexuality while at the same time recommending that the ELCA commit itself to find ways to recognize lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships.

One of the documents commended for study and reference at the LCMS convention this week is a statement from the International Lutheran Council – comprised of 34 member churches – that was adopted in Seoul, Korea, last August.

The ILC affirmed: "Rooted in the Bible's witness and in keeping with Christian teaching through 2,000 years, we continue to believe that the practice of homosexuality – in any and all situations – violates the will of the Creator God and must be recognized as sin."

The council also declared their resolve to approach those with homosexual inclinations with "the deepest possible Christian love and pastoral concern."

Meanwhile, the second document – "Theological Implications of the 2009 ELCA Decisions" prepared by an LCMS task force – notes that the LCMS and the ELCA have partnered together in works related to mercy and relief but that the controversial decision threatened the cooperative relationship.

The document does not call the LCMS to immediately cut ties with the ELCA, but it states that frank and serious discussion on the issue is needed "so that convictions and beliefs are not compromised and that worthy projects, activities, and relationships between our church and others may continue wherever possible."

LCMS delegates, who are meeting in Houston this week, acknowledged in one of the adopted resolutions that many congregations and individuals have withdrawn from or are considering leaving the ELCA, with some going to the LCMS for support. While not encouraging discord in the ELCA, the LCMS said it cannot turn away from those who dissent from the ELCA and will provide encouragement to other Lutheran church bodies as they strive to remain faithful to confessional Lutheranism.

In other business, the LCMS.,in a hotly contested presidential campaign, elected its new president, the Rev. Matthew C. Harrison, on Tuesday. Harrison, who is executive director of LCMS World Relief and Human Care, received 54 percent of the vote while the current LCMS president, Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, received 45 percent.

ELCA Presiding Bishop the Rev. Mark S. Hanson extended his congratulations to the new president and stated, "We look forward to building upon our cooperative efforts in responding to the needs of our neighbors and to future meetings of the Committee on Lutheran Cooperation as a regular opportunity for conversation between ELCA and LCMS leaders."

Associated Press

NEW YORK – Dozens of opponents and some supporters of a mosque planned near ground zero attended a raucous hearing Tuesday about whether the building where the Muslim place of worship would be created warrants designation as a city landmark and should be protected from development.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio, who has sought an investigation into the funding of the mosque, was among the witnesses who testified in support of giving the building landmark status, which could complicate plans by Muslim groups to develop a community center and mosque there.

After noting the lower Manhattan building's history and architectural significance, Lazio said it also warranted landmark designation because on Sept. 11, 2001, it was struck by airplane debris from the terror attacks against the nearby World Trade Center. That connection to the attacks, he said, made it "a place of deep historical significance and a reminder of just what happened on New York's darkest day."

Lazio has called on state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, his Democratic opponent in the governor's race, to investigate the funding of the project. On Tuesday, he repeated that request and said the pace of the landmark designation process should be slowed to allow time to thoroughly investigate the matter.

Nearly 100 people attended the hearing at a college campus on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Fifty-six people testified at the hearing, which turned contentious at times, with some speakers drowned out by shouts from the audience and with one man escorted out by campus security.

"To deprive this building of landmark status is to allow for a citadel of Islamic supremacy to be erected in its place," said Andrea Quinn, a freelance audio technician from Queens who said she had worked with people at the World Trade Center.

But Rafiq Kathwari, who described himself as a moderate Muslim, said the landmark discussion had been hijacked.

"This has been made by a very vocal minority into an issue of bigotry," said Kathwari, as he held up his U.S. passport and was nearly drowned out by shouts from the crowd. "I'm standing in a hall in which I feel ashamed to be an American."

The mosque and the related community center are a project of several groups, including the American Societyfor Muslim Advancement and the Cordoba Initiative, which promotes cross-cultural understanding between Islam and the West. Cordoba's director, Imam Faisel Rauf, has refused to disclose the sources of funding for the mosque.

But Sharif El-Gamal, the CEO of the company that owns the property, said that the project's backers were committed to transparency and were working to set up a nonprofit organization.

"We are going to go through a capital campaign," which will consist of equity debt, bonds, grants and fundraising from the grass roots, he said. They were committed to working with the attorney general's Charities Bureau, which supervises charitable organizations and works to protect donors, he said.

El-Gamal testified at the hearing, saying they were opposed to designating the building a landmark because it does not meet the requirements of historical significance.

"This is not the Woolworth building, this is not the Chrysler building," he said later in an interview.

The five-story building on Park Place, a few blocks north of Wall Street, was completed between 1857 and 1858 and is an Italian Renaissance-inspired palazzo. It formerly housed a department store, which closed after the building was damaged on Sept. 11. Muslim prayer service is held at the building at least one day a week.

Landmark status could require the owners to obtain the approval of the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission before making significant changes. It's unlikely that, if granted such status, the building could be demolished.

The city's 11-member Landmarks Preservation Commission is expected to vote later this summer on whether the building meets the standards of architectural, cultural and historic characteristics to qualify it for landmark status.

Tel Aviv (AsiaNews) – Religious tourism to the Holy Land has hit a record level. In the first half of 2010, more than a million people have visited holy sites in Israel, Palestine and Jordan. In June alone, 259,000 pilgrims made it the Holy Land; that is 24 per cent more than in 2009, this according to Travelujah, a Protestant social network that monitors travel to the Holy land. It recently reported that tourism to Israel has reached an all-time high with 1.6 million tourists; two-thirds of them are Christian, a 39 per cent jump over the same period last year.

“I confirm the data and expect the numbers to rise in the coming months,” Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custodian of the Holy Land, told AsiaNews. “Interest in the Holy Land is rising again,” said the Franciscan, and “the rise is due to pilgrims coming from Asia, in particular India.”

“This is very important to [local] Christian families and communities,” he explained. “One of the most serious problems for us is the lack of jobs. There are so many Christians employed in tourism that more pilgrims means more jobs. In Bethlehem, five new hotels are under construction.”

This also means a lot for the Church in the Holy Land. “Today, pilgrims do not visit only the holy sites. They want to know Christian communities, which are fragile and weak. This way, they have an opportunity to develop relations that strengthen them.”

There are different reasons for the increase in pilgrimages, Fr Pizzaballa said. “I am no prophet, but there have been no reports of attacks and violence in Israel. The Pope’s visit and support by national bishops’ conferences have been important in encouraging visits. Finally, the government has adopted some measures that have reduced costs and made travel more accessible despite the economic crisis.”

Lillian Kwon

Christian Post Reporter

 The head of the second largest Lutheran body in the country greeted delegates over the weekend with a note of affirmation that they are the front-line defenders of biblical truths.

While lamenting the liberal direction that their sister body, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and The Episcopal Church have taken in recent years, Gerald B. Kieschnick – president of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod – thanked his denomination for uniquely preserving the Gospel.

"The unique contribution of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to Christianity in the world is that we have always stood steadfast and without compromise on the truth of God's inspired, inerrant, infallible Word," he said Sunday at the 64th regular convention in Houston.

During its eight-day convention this week, the LCMS will be considering resolutions in response to the ELCA's decision last summer to allow noncelibate gays and lesbians on the clergy roster. One of the resolutions commends the "Theological Implications of the 2009 ELCA Decisions" document for study and reference.

While the two Lutheran bodies had partnered together in works related to mercy and relief, the ELCA's action – or what Kieschnick described as a desertion of biblical truth – now threatens that cooperative relationship, the document states.

The document does not call the LCMS to immediately cut ties with the ELCA but it expresses hope that their theological position will be respected and that they can "avoid any policies or decisions which would require us to cease our support and involvement in their activities."

Further frank and serious discussions on the matter are also needed, it adds.

In his report Sunday, Kieschnick indicated that the ELCA has descended into "the swamps of compromise," deluded Christian doctrine, and edited "God's Word to suit the whims of the day."

And just as the LCMS defended the "purity of the Gospel" in the early 1970s, they are continuing that fight today, he noted.

Since the ELCA's controversial action, dozens of churches have taken votes to sever ties with the denomination – the largest Lutheran body in the country – and several have sought support from the LCMS, according to Kieschnick.

The breakaway churches are going to the smaller Lutheran body for theological support, training, mission assistance, financial assistance and conservative confessional companionship, he said.

Kieschnick reaffirmed the LCMS' stance that homosexual behavior is contrary to the will of God and therefore intrinsically sinful and that marriage is a divine institution which binds one man and one woman together in a one flesh union not to be broken until death parts them. He further repeated the theology and confessions that the denomination holds to, including belief in the triune God and that the pastoral office is limited to men.

"This is what we believe, teach and confess," he underscored. "Anyone who alleges otherwise is simply misinformed or misled. The Lutheran Church Missouri-Synod for 163 years has been a solid, evangelical, faithful, biblical, confessional Christian church and I pray to God it always will be."

He added that preserving biblical truth does not make the church static or incapable of adapting to changing times though the LCMS has struggled with shrinking membership over the last 40 years.

It's about "proclaiming a changeless Christ to a changing world," he stressed.

Membership at the LCMS is currently 2.4 million. Kieschnick acknowledged that the denomination is struggling with its fair share of problems including disharmony over diversity (in terms of worship, style, role of laity and service of women), a lack of civility and accountability, poor communication, and a loss of its children and grandchildren from LCMS churches.

He urged the church body to face up to this reality in order to fix the problems and move forward to reach the lost.

"Time is short and hell is hot

 In a ruling that applies only to Massachusetts but creates a potential precedent for other states, a US district judge has declared part of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.

Judge Joseph Tauro ruled that the act’s ban on federal pension benefits to homosexual couples violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution and interfered with a state’s right to define marriage.  Massachusetts said the law denied benefits such as Medicaid to gay married couples in the state, where same-sex unions have been legal since 2004. The judge said that individual states have the authority to define marriage, and since Massachusetts has defined marriage to include same-sex couples, any restriction on the benefits these couples receive would violate the equal-protection clause of the Constitution.

The Defense of Marriage Act, which passed the US House and Senate by wide margins in 1996, was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The US Justice Department, which Holder heads, has the responsibility for defending federal laws against legal challenges. The Massachusetts law will likely encourage challenges in other states, bringing some urgency to the task of defending the law. But it is not clear how aggressively the Obama administration will defend the Defense of Marriage Act. Attorney General Eric Holder, who heads the Justice Department, has been a critic of the law. Tom McClusky, the vice president of the Family Research Council, charged that the Massachusetts court's decision “results from the deliberately weak legal defense of DOMA that was mounted on behalf of the government by the Obama administration, which has called for repeal of the law.’’

 In a separate case, Tauro ruled that the act violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Although his rulings apply only to Massachusetts, they could have broader implications for other states in which same-sex marriage is legal if they are upheld on appeal.

Opponents of same-sex marriage said they were certain the rulings would be overturned on appeal.

Congress enacted the law in 1996 when it appeared that Hawaii would soon legalize same-sex marriage and opponents worried that other states would be forced to recognize such marriages. Since then, five states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage.

The lawsuit challenges only the portion of the law that prevents the federal government from affording pension and other benefits to same-sex couples.

 A prominent homosexual cleric has been passed over for the second time after being considered for appointment as a bishop of the Church of England, according to multiple media reports.

Rev. Jeffrey John had been considered the leading candidate for an appointment to head the Southwark diocese. But a nominating committee, which included the Archbishop of Canterbury, decided not to select him.

The appointment of an openly homosexual bishop would have roused intense opposition from more conservative members of the Church of England. However, the decision not to appoint Rev. John will draw intense protests from liberal Anglicans and gay-rights advocates.

Rev. John had been passed over once before, in 2003, when the conservative opposition to his candidacy for an episcopal opening in the Reading diocese prompted him to withdraw from consideration.

Rev. John, who is the dean of St. Alban’s cathedral, registered a civil union with his longtime partner, another Anglican priest, in 2006. The pair say that their relationship is celibate, in conformity with Anglican teachings.

From the  Associated Press:

LONDON – A Church of England committee has decided against nominating a gay priest to become a bishop, British news reports said Thursday.

Church officials would not comment, but Jonathan Wynne-Jones reported in Thursday's Daily Telegraph that the Very Rev. Jeffrey John was rejected as a potential nominee to become bishop of Southwark in south London. Other newspapers had similar reports.

John was nominated to become bishop of Reading in 2003, but withdrew in the face of an uproar from conservatives. He is now the dean of St. Albans cathedral.

John, although united in a civil partnership with his long-term partner, has declared he is celibate, conforming to Anglican teaching.

Church officials had not confirmed news reports that John was on a list of candidates considered by a Crown Nominations Commission which met earlier this week in what is supposed to be a strictly confidential process.

"This is painfully disappointing news for Jeffrey, who has lived through a week in which his identity and reputation have been pored over, analyzed and attacked once again by conservative forces in the church in a way which I can only describe as poisonous," said the Rev. Colin Coward, director of Changing Attitude.

His group is devoted to promoting the "full inclusion" of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion, where issues of sexuality have caused much acrimony and deep splits.

President Hugo Chavez is leading Venezuela down the road to totalitarianism, warns Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino of Caracas.

After Chavez denounced him as a “troglodyte,” Cardinal Urosa fired back with a statement that the nation’s leader wants to “impose a socialist-Marxist system in the country to control all sectors.” The ultimate goal of Chavez policies, the cardinal said, is a “dictatorship led by the elite that is ruling the country.”

Cardinal Urosa, who has clashed repeatedly with Chavez, was unbowed by the president’s public denunciation. He said the public attack on him by Chavez was “unbecoming for such a person.”

Addressing the national assembly on July 5-- Venezuela’s independence day-- President Hugo Chávez denounced Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino of Caracas as a “troglodyte” who is “unworthy of calling himself cardinal.”

Turning to Archbishop Pietro Parolin--the apostolic nuncio since last October-- President Chávez said:

The cardinal is a troglodyte. My candidate was Mario Moronta. He is the one who should be Venezuela's supercardinal. Nuncio, please tell [His] Holiness that as long as we have these bishops we feel that we will be far away from the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. We support the real people's priests. This battle is not over. 

I am Catholic and I feel sorrow when the cardinal talks like a troglodyte and he tries to scare people about communism. We do not deserve such a cardinal. Our people deserve another cardinal. These people are Christian and he (Urosa) is unworthy of being called Cardinal. You should hear what the Cardinal says as he tries to instill fear of socialist Cuba. Meanwhile, Monsignor Moronta has been assigned to San Cristóbal. They have almost sent him into exile. As far as I am concerned, he (Moronta) is the Cardinal rather than this unworthy bishop who does not realize that these people are not manipulated by the Church; these people are free.

The following day, Bishop Mario Moronta Rodríguez, who has led the Diocese of San Cristóbal de Venezuela since 1999, criticized the president’s remarks.

Associated Press

 LONDON – The Church of England may be on the verge of promoting a gay priest to bishop, a step that would widen the split over sexuality in the global Anglican Communion.

If that happens, it would appear to be a significant turnaround for Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the Church of England and the world's Anglicans, who recently imposed sanctions on the U.S. Episcopal Church for electing a lesbian bishop.

According to newspaper reports, Williams is prepared to back the elevation of the Very Rev. Jeffrey John, who withdrew seven years ago from an appointment as a suffragan (assistant) bishop in the face of a heated controversy about his homosexuality. Williams' office will not comment.

"I think the strength of the opposition is much weaker this time," Rev. Canon Giles Goddard, the chairman of Inclusive Church, said Tuesday. His group was founded by people disappointed by John's failure to become a bishop in 2003.

John, who is now dean of St. Albans Cathedral, might be seen as a more acceptable candidate than the U.S. bishop because he has declared he is celibate — and therefore not in violation of church teaching.

A Crown Nominations Commission, composed of 14 Church of England representatives, including Williams, met in secret Monday and Tuesday to choose two nominees to become bishop of Southwark diocese, the half of London that lies south of the River Thames.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who has spoken strongly in favor of equal rights for gays, will have the final decision about whom to recommend to Queen Elizabeth II, who will make the formal appointment. Southwark diocese says a decision may not be announced before October.

Williams has said nothing publicly about the issue.

After the Episcopal Church elected Mary Douglas Glasspool as an assistant bishop in Los Angeles, Williams moved to bar Episcopalians from representing the Anglican Communion on international ecumenical bodies. "This is simply to confirm what the Communion as a whole has come to regard as the acceptable limits of diversity in its practice," Williams said in a letter to the global church.

John, who is 57, has claimed celibacy despite being in a civil partnership. Neither Glasspool nor V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, has claimed to be celibate.

Rev. Paul Dawson, media officer for Reform, an evangelical grouping, objects that John has defended sexual gay relationships that are "Permanent, Faithful, Stable," as the title of one of John's books puts it.

"If you have a bishop who is effectively teaching what is against the Bible's clear teaching and what the Church of England says is its doctrinal position, if you have someone at the highest level saying this is a 'blessing,' this is a 'gift,' that raises all sorts of questions for the average churchgoer," Dawson said.

Appointments to bishoprics are the battleground in the Anglican debate about the role of women and homosexuals in the church.

The Church of England's governing General Synod will resume its debate about permitting female bishops this weekend as it continues trying to mollify conservatives who fought against making women priests and now resist what appears to be general support for women as bishops.

Anglican agonizing over sexuality has dogged Williams since 2002 when he became spiritual leader of the Church of England and of the Anglican Communion.

When John was nominated become bishop of Reading, Williams is believed to have yielded to conservative opposition.

"He cracked after two months of pressure and asked John to withdraw his name, establishing his reputation as a man who could be bullied," religion commentator Andrew Brown wrote in The Guardian newspaper.

"If he is beaten again, he is finished. If he wins, he will have shot the rapids and the Church of England will finally emerge from the turbulence of the last 30 years with a fairly clear and fairly coherent doctrine about sex."

The prime minister, in an interview with the gay magazine Attitude early this year, said his Conservative Party supported equal rights "whether you are male, female, black, white, urban, rural, straight or gay." The church, Cameron said, "has to do some of the things that the Conservative Party has been through — sorting this issue out and recognizing that full equality is a bottom line full essential."

Associated Press

LONDON – About one in nine of England's historically important places of worship are in a bad state of repair, and rural churches tend to be in worse shape than ones in cities, according to research released Wednesday by a conservation group.

According to a sample survey by English Heritage, 11 percent of England's 14,500 listed houses of worship were potentially at risk. A building that has been listed is considered to be historically important and is protected by law.

In rural areas, 13 percent of the houses of worship needed attention, compared to 9 percent of those in cities.

English Heritage chief executive Simon Thurley said they estimated that about 925 million pounds (about $1.4 billion) worth of repairs would be necessary for the buildings in the next five years. He said that yearly grants of about 40 million pounds ($60 million) help, but that congregations eventually shoulder much of the work — and the cost.

"The current climate of increased unemployment, low interest rates and reduced returns on invested capital make fundraising a greater challenge than ever," Thurley said. "Some congregations are finding the responsibility harder to bear."