Geneva (ENI). The council of the Lutheran World Federation voted on 19 June to extend full membership of the LWF to two churches representing minority communities in Asia, bringing the total number of LWF member churches to 133. The addition of the Lanka Lutheran Church (LLC) in Sri Lanka and the Banua Niha Keriso Protestan (BNKP) in Indonesia gave the LWF "a sense of what it is to be a church today," said LWF general secretary Dr Ishmael Noko at a news conference after the council took its decision. Dr Noko was referring to the economic and political difficulties that the two churches face. [349 words, ENI-01-0227]

US Presbyterians prepare for more debate on homosexual ordinations

New York (ENI). The Presbyterian Church (USA), one of the nation's most prominent Protestant denominations, is preparing for the next step in a long-running debate over the ordination of openly gay and lesbian clergy. The denomination's 213th annual general assembly in Louisville, Kentucky, voted 317-208 on 15 June to overturn a ban on ordaining gay and lesbian clergy - a decision that must now be considered by the denomination's 173 presbyteries, the church's local legislative bodies. [726 words, ENI-01-0228]

Lutheran church in Minnesota faces censure for ordaining a lesbian

New York (ENI). A Lutheran church in Minnesota faces censure by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for violating the denomination's ordination rules by ordaining a lesbian as pastor. The ordination of the pastor, Anita C. Hill, was also a key factor in the decision last month by Bishop Paul Egertson of the ELCA's Southern California Synod to resign a month before the end of his six-year term. [578 words, ENI-01-0229]

Riot reminds church gathering of realities of Northern Ireland conflict

Belfast (ENI). Delegates at an international church conference here found the realities of the Northern Ireland sectarian conflict dramatically underlined when a major riot occurred in the city on the second day of their meeting. Earlier in the day, about 160 delegates attending the 5th general assembly of the Leuenberg Church Fellowship - which brings together European Lutheran, Reformed, United and Methodist churches - had toured church-related projects working for reconciliation in the divided city. [389 words, ENI-01-0230]

Theologian warns that Protestantism is not a faith of 'enemy images'

Belfast (ENI). A prominent Norwegian Lutheran theologian has warned against an understanding of Protestantism that is dependent upon "enemy images". Addressing the 5th general assembly of the Leuenberg Church Fellowship (LCF), Europe's main Protestant church grouping, keynote speaker Professor Turid Karlesen Seim of Oslo University yesterday warned against an understanding of Protestantism that "sees its core in a perennial protest and that consolidates over against or in competition with other churches". [552 words, ENI-01-0231]

20 June 2001

Harare (ENI). Zimbabwe's Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) has criticised the national government, blaming huge fuel price increases announced last week on corruption and mismanagement at the government-controlled oil procurement company. The CCJP, a Catholic human rights organisation and one of the most outspoken church agencies in this troubled, southern African nation, called on the government of President Robert Mugabe to cancel the price increases immediately. [613 words, ENI-01-0223]

Sydney's new archbishop retreats in row over PM and the Almighty

Sydney (ENI). The newly-elected Anglican Archbishop of Sydney has apparently backed down after suggesting that Australia's prime minister, John Howard, was "out of step with God". The archbishop was referring to the prime minister's failure to apologise on behalf of the government to the so-called "stolen generation" of Aboriginal children who over several decades in the 20th century were forcibly removed by government officials from their families. The prime minister has declared that present-day Australians should not be held responsible for the wrongs of the past. [580 words, ENI-01-0224]

LWF may change its name, but not yet

Geneva (ENI). The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) will keep its name, at least for the foreseeable future, following a 19 June vote taken by the LWF council, meeting near Geneva. The council also decided to continue meeting every 12 months, rather than less frequently. The LWF's general secretary, Dr Ishmael Noko, had put these institutional proposals before the council in a plenary session last week. [460 words, ENI-01-0225]

Europe's Protestants are not yet ready for a single governing synod

Belfast (ENI). A European Protestant synod with binding authority on member churches remains a step too far, the leaders of the continent's main interdenominational Protestant grouping have confirmed. Archbishop Jaan Kiivit, Dr Elisabeth Parmentier and Pastor Heinrich Rusterholz, co-presidents of the Leuenberg Church Fellowship (LCF), told an LCF meeting here on 19 June that such a synod had been proposed in 1999 by the Evangelical Church of the Rhineland, in Germany. But after consultations the LCF executive committee had decided that the idea would not gain general support. [757 words, ENI-01-0226]

19 June 2001

London (ENI). A specialist in liturgical language says a Vatican ruling against "politically correct" words in the liturgy should also encourage non-Catholics opposed to the dropping of "ancient and beautiful prayers". Father John Hunwicke, an Anglican priest who is head of theology at Lancing College in England, complained that "unending revision" of worship had produced "disgusting language, poor doctrine and politically correct versions". [526 words, ENI-01-0220]

Slovakia's Catholics and Lutherans reach agreement on baptism

Warsaw (ENI). Roman Catholics and Lutherans in Slovakia have signed an agreement to recognise each other's baptism. [594 words, ENI-01-0221]

'Do justice to the Palestinian as well as the Israeli child'

Geneva (ENI). Palestinian and Israeli mothers and young people from the Holy Land have appealed to the international community for help in establishing a just peace in their homeland. The appeal was made at a seminar in Geneva on 17 June convened by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). [667 words, ENI-01-0222]

18 June 2001

New York (ENI). Dismayed by the breakdown of peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, two dozen prominent US Christian leaders have called on the US government to bring more pressure to bear on Israel to halt its settlements in the occupied territories. They also declared their intention to take a higher profile in the search for peace in the region. The leaders, seven of whom met US Secretary of State Colin Powell on 7 June in Washington DC, expressed their support for efforts by the new Bush administration to engage Israelis and Palestinians in peace talks. [776 words, ENI-01-0218]

Greek Orthodox priest falls victim to Middle East conflict

Jerusalem (ENI). A Greek Orthodox priest, Father Germanos, who was shot dead in a West Bank ambush, was laid to rest on 14 June at the remote and ancient desert monastery where he had meditated alone for the past 11 years. Thirty-five-year-old Father Germanos was shot dead on the night of 12 June as he was driving from Jerusalem to his monastery at Wadi Qelt near the West Bank town of Jericho. [573 words, ENI-01-0219]

15 June 2001

Geneva (ENI). An increase in the number of Lutheran churches outside Europe and North America is producing a special challenge for the Lutheran World Federation, according to a leading LWF financial official. The issue of church growth was raised in a news conference on 13 June during a meeting of the LWF council, the organisation's governing body, taking place near Geneva. Church membership is growing in areas experiencing economic hardship, said Inger Johanne Wremer, LWF treasurer, following her report to the council. The federation needed to support these "vulnerable, but very enthusiastic" new churches, but "not do it in a way that takes away their self-reliance," she said. [501 words, ENI-01-0214]

Lutheran bishop calls for world's churches to help Middle East Christians

Geneva (ENI). The Lutheran bishop of Jordan and Palestine has called upon churches world-wide to undertake a "plan of action" to save the church in the Holy Land. Christians world-wide had a "big responsibility" for ensuring that the church did not disappear from the region where it was born, Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and Palestine (ELCJ), told ENI in an interview yesterday (14 June), during an eight-day meeting of the Lutheran World Federation's council near Geneva. "The church should wake up and help us, their little sisters and brothers, to stay in the region," Bishop Younan said. "We are the local expression of the church world-wide." [656 words, ENI-01-0215]

'Don't misuse religion to fan conflict,' say Macedonia's religions

Geneva (ENI). With tension still running high in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, despite a declared cease-fire between government forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas, representatives of the country's main religions have issued a joint call for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. In a statement issued on 13 June, representatives of the Orthodox, Roman Catholic and United Methodist churches, and of the country's Islamic Union and Jewish community, strongly condemned the "forced displacement of civilians, the abuse of rights of access to water and to aid for populations". [631 words, ENI-01-0216]

Four arrested after bomb explosion during Mass in Bangladesh church

Thrissur (ENI). Police have arrested four Muslim clerics in connection with a bomb blast in a remote Roman Catholic church in Bangladesh early in June. Ten young people - most of them members of the church choir - were killed, and 14 others injured on Pentecost Sunday, 3 June, when a bomb exploded in the building, near the choir, during Mass at Baniarchar parish in Gopalganj district, 300 kilometres south of Dhaka. [635 words, ENI-01-0217]

14 June 2001

Harare (ENI). The African branch of the International Union of Students (IUS) has called on the Vatican to excommunicate Zimbabwe's Catholic president, Robert Mugabe, because of what the IUS said were the Mugabe government's human rights violations and his failure to uphold the rule of law. The call was made in a letter sent in May to the Vatican's nuncio - ambassador - in South Africa, Archbishop Blasco Collaço, by the IUS political adviser for African affairs, Nicholav Kalav. [677 words, ENI-01-0212]

Take 'federation' out of Lutheran World Federation members told

Geneva (ENI). To promote greater church unity, the name of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the world's biggest family of Lutheran churches, should be changed, according to the organisation's general secretary, Dr Ishmael Noko. Speaking at the annual meeting of the LWF council, the organisation's governing body, being held from 12 to 19 June near Geneva, Dr Noko also said the LWF's assembly - the top decision-making body - should meet in conjunction with those of other church bodies. [628 words, ENI-01-0213]

13 June 2001

Geneva (ENI). The president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Bishop Christian Krause, has called for unhindered access to holy sites in the Middle East and freedom of movement for the people of Israel and the occupied territories. Speaking yesterday to the LWF council, the federation's governing body, Bishop Krause said that regional political leaders in the Middle East must "grant religious liberty free of any form of discrimination", permitting followers of the three major Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - originating in this region to visit important sites "with mutual respect for the dignity of others". [874 words, ENI-01-0211]

12 June 2001

Geneva (ENI). Churches around the world should bring pressure to bear on national governments to ensure that discrimination against India's Dalit community - once known as "untouchables" - be discussed at a United Nations conference on racism later this year, according to an executive staff member at the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva. "The discrimination against [the Dalit people in India] is demeaning. They are treated like they are less than human," Marilia Schüller, WCC staff member for combating racism, told ENI in an interview in her office in Geneva. [799 words, ENI-01-0209]

McVeigh's execution is immoral response to his crime, say churches

New York (ENI). Church and human rights groups have condemned the execution on 11 June of Timothy McVeigh, the first person in 38 years to be executed in the United States for a federal crime. He died through lethal injection after being convicted for the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal office building in Oklahoma City - an act which took 168 lives, including those of 19 children. [993 words, ENI-01-0210]

11 June 2001

Guatemala City (ENI). In a landmark decision that promises to remake Guatemala's war-torn political landscape, a court has convicted three military officers and a priest for the murder of a Roman Catholic bishop. On 8 June retired Colonel Disrael Lima Estrada, Captain Byron Lima Oliva, and Sergeant Jose Villanueva each received 30-year sentences for murdering Juan Gerardi, auxiliary bishop of Guatemala City. The prelate, a champion of human rights, was beaten to death in April 1998, just two days after releasing a report blaming the military for most of the abuses committed during the country's 36-year civil war, during which 200 000 people died. [1125 words, ENI-01-0208]

8 June 2001

London (ENI). Conscience-stricken people have handed in large quantities of stolen goods, including hotel towels, a bathrobe and cash, after attending a church rally at which a preacher urged them to repent. The items were left in large special containers at the Anglican cathedral in Liverpool, northern England, after 15 May when a congregation of 3000 heard renowned preacher J. John speak at the cathedral on the Eighth Commandment: "Thou shalt not steal." [ENI-01-0207, 667 words]

6 June 2001

Warsaw (ENI). In a special church service Poland's Roman Catholic bishops have asked forgiveness for the complicity of church members in a wartime massacre of Jews. At a service on 27 May in All Saints Church, close to the site of Warsaw's wartime Jewish ghetto, Bishop Stanislaw Gadecki, chairman of the Polish church's Commission for Dialogue with Judaism, said his church condemned "all forms of intolerance, racism and anti-Semitism". He referred specifically to the pogrom at Jedwabne where up to 1600 Jewish men, women and children were hacked to death or burned alive on 10 July 1941 during an eight-hour rampage three weeks after the German occupation of eastern Poland. [788 words, ENI-01-0204]

5 June 2001

Warsaw (ENI). Greek church leaders hope to mark the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 by reviving the ancient tradition of the "Olympic Truce", under which armed conflicts were suspended during the sporting contests. Some organisations want the truce to last for the whole of 2004 rather than just the duration of the games, which will be held in August. An Orthodox church official in Greece told ENI that plans for the year would be outlined in September, while a Roman Catholic spokeswoman predicted the initiative could have particular significance for the whole Balkans region. [721 words, ENI-01-0203]

1 June 2001

New Delhi (ENI). Negative references to the life of Christ and his family in a book by a Sikh author have drawn protests from the tiny Christian community in the state of Punjab in northern India. Christians staged a protest "dharna" (sit-in) in Amritsar - the holiest city for Sikhs - near the border with Pakistan on 19 May. The protesters demanded that the state government arrest the author, Satnam Singh, within 15 days and confiscate all copies of the book, Guru Nanak Dev Ji Jeevan Ate Mukti Marg (Life and Liberation Path of Guru Nanak). [813 words, ENI-01-0199]

World's church leaders urged to fight Bush's 'son of Star Wars' project

London (ENI). A prominent Methodist has called on campaigners against America's planned missile defence shield to copy the tactics of the successful, church-inspired, international Jubilee 2000 campaign on Third World debt. The call was made in Britain by Maurice Wright, secretary of the Methodist Peace Fellowship, who said that Jubilee 2000 had turned the cancellation of unpayable Third World debt into a world-wide political issue because people had seen that the cause was "good and just". [807 words, ENI-01-0200]