The News In Review newsletter is a service
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is a compilation of the news articles
previously posted
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August 22 - ELCA Opens Ordination to Noncelibate Homosexuals
Article: Perilous Times
The Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America on Friday approved a
resolution to allow gays and
lesbians in same-sex relationships to be
ordained.
ELCA's highest legislative body voted
559-451 during the biennial
Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis.
It was a moment of
celebration for supporters of the
resolution, which overturned the
denomination's ban on noncelibate
gay and lesbian clergy.
But
opponents warn the action will likely lead to
an exodus of
churches.
"This
will cause an ever greater loss in members
and finances. I can't believe the
church I loved and served for 40 years
can condone what God
condemns," said the Rev. Richard Mahan,
pastor at St. Timothy Lutheran
Church in Charleston, W.Va., according to
The Associated Press.
"Nowhere in
Scripture does it say homosexuality
and same-sex marriage is acceptable
to God. Instead, it says it is immoral
and perverted."
The panel's social
statement, "Human Sexuality: Gift
and Trust," was narrowly adopted on
Wednesday. The document
acknowledges that there is
neither a consensus nor an
emerging one in the denomination on
homosexuality and also
recommends that the ELCA commit itself to
finding ways to recognize
lifelong, monogamous, same-gender
relationships.
"The Anglican
Communion is in the process of
splitting apart because of the actions of
The Episcopal Church. The ELCA
seems unconcerned about a similar effect
on the LWF (Lutheran World
Federation)," Chavez said.
Lutheran CORE has
invited like-minded Lutherans to
direct funding away from the ELCA.
"We
cannot support this departure from God's
Word," said
Chavez.
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August 17 - DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated, Scientists Show
Article: Misc.
Scientists in Israel
have demonstrated that
it is possible to fabricate
DNA evidence,
undermining the credibility of what has been
considered the gold standard of
proof in criminal cases.
The scientists
fabricated blood and saliva
samples containing DNA from a person other
than the donor of the blood and
saliva. They also showed
that if they had access to a
DNA profile in a database, they could construct a
sample of DNA to match
that profile without obtaining any tissue from that
person.
"You can just engineer
a crime scene," said Dan Frumkin, lead
author of the paper, which has
been published online by the journal Forensic
Science International:
Genetics. "Any biology
undergraduate could perform
this."
"DNA is a lot easier to
plant at a crime scene than fingerprints,"
she said. "We're creating
a criminal justice system that is increasingly
relying on this technology."
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August 22 - Next step in H1N1 scare: Microchip implants - Company developing under-the-skin devices to detect 'bio-threats'
Article: Technology For Global Montary System
A
Florida-based company that
boasts selling the world's
first and only federally
approved radio microchip for implanting in
humans is now turning its
devemopment branch toward "emergency
preparedness," hoping to
produce an implant that can automatically detect
in its host's bloodstream
the presence of swine flu or other viruses deemed
a "bio-threat."
VeriChip Corporation
currently sells a small, under-the-skin
Radio Frequency Identification
capsule, or RFID, that patients
can opt to have implanted,
containing a number computer-linked to
their medical records, enabling
doctors with a special reader
to access the information even if the patient is
unconscious or
unidentified. The company boasts its
microchip, roughly the size of a
grain of rice, is the only such implant approved
by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration.
But VeriChip has also
turned its attention to other uses for the
technology, including microchips
that be used to tag and
log human remains after a
disaster and implants the company hopes will be
able to warn if their host
is infected with the H1N1 swine flu virus, the
H5N1 bird flu virus or other
pandemic agents deemed to be a "bio-
threat."
As we continue to build
on our partnership with Receptors, which started
with the development of a
glucose-sensing RFID implantable microchip,
we are
moving beyond patient identification to sensors
that can detect and identify
illnesses and viruses such as
influenza," said Scott R. Silverman,
chairman of VeriChip, in a statement. "This
is an exciting next step for the future of our
healthcare division."
According to a statement,
the company sold a VeriTrace system, including
1,000 RFID microchips, to
Kentucky's Green River District Health
Department "for
disaster preparedness and emergency
management needs."
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August 21 - Gay Employment Bill on Queue for Returning Congress
Artilce: Perilous Times
A
bill that could
force religious groups to hire gay employees
will be
debated in Congress when lawmakers return from
their summer recess.
The Employment
Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is a proposed bill
in the U.S. Congress that
would make it illegal for
employers to make decisions
on hiring, firing, promoting or paying an
employee based on sexual
orientation.
If
the bill passes,
"sexual orientation" would
be added to a list of
federally protected classes under a 1964 act that
prohibits job
discrimination on the basis of race, color,
religion, sex or national
origin.
Though supporters of the
bill contend it is simply protecting the rights of a
minority group of
Americans from discrimination in the work place,
its opponents argue that
it is in fact religious
employers who disagree with
the homosexual lifestyle that are being
discriminated against.
"This bill will put para-church
organizations and people of faith who own
secular, for-profit businesses
in jeopardy of liability if they hire or fire based on
their religious
beliefs or moral convictions about homosexual
behavior," said Ashley
Horne, federal policy analyst for Focus on the
Family Action on Friday.
"This is yet another
attack on religious liberty in a
long string and must be
stopped."
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August 20 - Army of the Lord? Obama Seeks Health Care Push From Pulpit
Article: Misc.
If President Obama
has his way, you'll soon be hearing about his
health care package
when you go to your church or synagogue to
pray.
Thousands of
religious leaders got a
call from on high Wednesday when Obama
reached out to Jewish
and Christian clergy,
urging them to
push health care reform from the
pulpit.
Obama spoke to
about 140,000
people of faith in a conference call and webcast
Wednesday evening.
He and a White House official discussed
the moral dimension of health care, telling
the mostly Christian
audience that "this debate over health care
goes to the heart of
who we are as a people."
But earlier that
day, Obama went
much further, asking about 1,000 rabbis
to preach
his political agenda in their sermons
on Rosh
Hashanah, the Jewish New Year -- one of the holiest days
of the
year.
The conversation was supposed to be off the
record but was
captured on the Twitter feeds and blogs of
some rabbis who took
part in the call, which was organized by the
Union of Reform
Judaism and included rabbis from other
denominations.
Obama told the
rabbis that "we are God's partners in matters
of life and
death" and asked them to "tell the stories of health
care dilemmas to
illustrate what is a stake" in their sermons,
Moline
wrote.
"Whenever
politicians give a
message that implies that God is on their side on
an issue ... this always
troubles me."
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August 22 - Obama addresses Muslims on Ramadan
Article: One World Religion
US
President Barack Obama spoke
of his "unyielding" support for a two-
state resolution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict in welcoming in
Ramadan on Friday.
After
beginning the remarks in
his Internet video marking the occasion with the
traditional "Ramadam kareem,"
Obama discussed his continuing efforts to reach
out to the Muslim world and
"commitment to a new
beginning between America and Muslims around
the world."
"We are
unyielding in our support for a two-state solution
that recognizes the
rights of Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace
and security," he said.
He noted that
these issues built on the principles he laid out in
his speech to the Muslim
world in Cairo in June, saying that his address
was followed by a tremendous
response from Muslims around the world.
"We have
listened. We have heard you. And like you, we
are focused on pursuing
concrete actions that will make a difference over
time - both in terms of
the political and security issues that I have
discussed, and in the areas
that you have told us will make the most
difference in peoples' lives," he
told them Friday.
Obama also
praised Islam and the various elements of the
Ramadan observance: "These
rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in
common, and
Islam's role in advancing justice,
progress, tolerance and the
dignity of all human beings."
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August 18 - Potential WCC Head Recognizes Obstacles; Focuses on Unity
Artcile: Ecumenical Movement - Misc.
A candidate for the
World Council of Churches' top post
acknowledged recently the many
obstacles keeping churches from
joining the ecumenical body, but spoke
optimistically about the potential to overcome the
differences.
During an interview with
a German newspaper, the Rev. Dr.
Olav Fykse Tveit of the Church of
Norway (Lutheran) noted how Catholics and
Protestants have grown closer than
ever before, and said he believes
a shared communion will
one day be possible.
He said
he hopes
Protestants and Catholics, Pentecostal
and mainline churches, and
Lutherans and Baptists can all work out their
differences and worship
together.
Tveit said he
recognizes that Pentecostals and
evangelicals commonly believe that
the
ecumenical movement emphasizes too much on
political
involvement.
Describing itself as
the "broadest and most
inclusive"
organization of the modern
ecumenical movement, the WCC is an
ecumenical fellowship of 349
Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other
churches representing more than
560 million Christians in over 110
countries.
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August 26 - Palestinians Seek State by 2011
Article: Israel And The Last Days
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad
released a government plan
Tuesday calling for the
establishment of a de facto
Palestinian state by the end of 2011
regardless of the outcome
of negotiations with Israel.
The
plan faces significant practical
hurdles and raised worries that Mr. Fayyad was
advocating the sort of unilateral
actions toward statehood long opposed
by the U.S. and Israel.
Implementing it would mean
overcoming
likely Israeli opposition to key
elements and Mr. Fayyad's
own weak domestic political standing,
and would also require hefty
financial-aid commitments from foreign
donors, such as the U.S., European
Union, and Arab states.
But
the plan also
reflected an unprecedented
Palestinian emphasis on the nuts and bolts of
self-rule. It lays out the broad
outlines of a state on Palestinian
lands occupied by Israel in 1967
with East Jerusalem as its capital, and
details each government ministry
and its functions.
It
also calls for a Palestinian airport
in the Jordan Valley, tax incentives
to attract foreign investment, and
the bolstering of competent security
services capable of keeping law and
order.
"The Palestinian
government is struggling against a
hostile occupation regime to
establish a de facto state apparatus
within the next two years,"
Mr. Fayyad said at a news
conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
He then added that
"this can and must
happen within two
years."
The
release of Mr. Fayyad's plan comes on
the eve of a meeting Wednesday in
London between Mr. Netanyahu and
Washington's special Mideast envoy
George Mitchell.
The two are negotiating an
agreement that would require some degree of a
freeze on building in Jewish
settlements in the West Bank and
restart peace talks.
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August 25 - Smaller Lutheran Church Bodies Reaffirm Bible's Stance on Homosexuality
Article: Perilous Times
The
heads of the second and third largest
Lutheran bodies in the United
States
spoke out Monday
against
the recent actions of the largest and
affirmed their Bible-based belief that
homosexuality is
sinful.
"To view same-sex
relationships as acceptable to God
is to place cultural viewpoint and
human opinions above the clear
Word of God," commented the Rev.
Mark Schroeder, president of the
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS).
"The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod,
along with The Lutheran Church-
Missouri Synod, the Evangelical Lutheran
Synod, and other smaller Lutheran
synods,
maintains and upholds the clear
teaching of the Bible that homosexuality
is not in keeping with God's design
and is sinful in God's eyes,"
he added.
On
Friday, the chief legislative body of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) voted 559-451
to
approve a resolution allowing gays and
lesbians in "life-long,
monogamous,
same gender relationships" to be
ordained.
Opponents of the statement had argued
that adopting the statement
would
constitute abandonment of
Scripture, as the Bible does not support
homosexual behavior.
Supporters, however, said the
document maintain that it is
consistent with the biblical command to
care for one's neighbor and build
trusting relationships.
Following the conclusions of last week's
biennial assembly, WELS's
president acknowledged that it is the Church's
responsibility to show love and
compassion to sinners. But he emphasized
that this is not done by condoning or
justifying the sin, but by calling the
sinner to repent and by assuring
the sinner that there is full
forgiveness in Jesus Christ.
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August 26 - Indulgence Granted During Celestine V Year
Article: Roman Catholic Church And The Last Days
On
Benedict XVI's behalf, the Apostolic
Penitentiary is granting a special plenary
indulgence to those who pray
before the remains of St. Celestine V
during the year dedicated to
him.
His remains
will be on pilgrimage during
this year throughout the dioceses of
the region where people were
affected by the quake, so that the faithful,
having fulfilled the other
requirements, can receive the indulgence.
Now a saint, Celestine V is also
remembered for promulgating the "perdonanza"
[pardon].
It began shortly after he was
elected as Pope, and arrived to L'Aquila
where he was crowned on Aug.
29.
As a gift to all the people, he
decided that
those who confessed and were
sincerely repentant, and visited the
Basilica of Santa Maria di
Collemaggio in that city, between Aug. 28 and
Aug. 29, would receive the
remission of sins and the absolution
of punishment.
Until then,
a
plenary indulgence was only granted to
those who went to the Holy Land as
crusaders and to pilgrims who visited
the Portincula of
Assisi.
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August 27 - On Mary, Mother of Priests
Article: Roman Catholic Church And The Last Days
Mary's "yes" is therefore
the door through which
God was able to enter the world,
to become man. So it is that Mary is truly and
profoundly involved in the Mystery of the
Incarnation, of our
salvation. And the
Incarnation, the Son's becoming man,
was the beginning that prepared the ground for
the gift of himself; for
giving himself with great love on the Cross to
become Bread for the life of
the world. Hence sacrifice, priesthood and
Incarnation go together and
Mary is at the heart of this
mystery.
The Gospel tells us that from that hour St John,
the beloved son, took his
mother Mary "to his own home". This
is what it says in the [English]
translation; but the Greek text is far deeper, far
richer. We could
translate it: he took
Mary into his inner life, his
inner being, "eis tà ́dia", into the
depths of his being.
Because of his
identification with and sacramental
conformation to Jesus, Son of God and Son of
Mary, every priest can and must
feel that he really is a specially beloved son of
this loftiest and humblest
of Mothers.
The Second Vatican Council invites
priests to
look to Mary as to the perfect model for their
existence, invoking her as
"Mother of the supreme and eternal Priest,
as Queen of Apostles, and as
Protectress of their ministry". The
Council continues,
"priests should
always venerate and love her, with a
filial devotion and
worship" (cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis,
n. 18).
The Holy Curé d'Ars, whom we are remembering
in particular in this Year,
used to like to say: "Jesus Christ,
after giving us all that he could give
us, wanted further to make
us heirs to his most
precious possession, that is, his Holy Mother
(B. Nodet, Il pensiero
e l'anima del Curato d'Ars, Turin 1967, p.
305).
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We hope the Weekly News In Review has been a
blessing to you.
Sincerely,
Ron Pierotti
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