RELIGION NEWS BRIEFS

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Female ordination not for discussion

BOSTON - Cardinal Sean O’Malley banned an Austrian priest from speaking at a parish because the priest advocates ordaining women and making celibacy for priests optional.

The Rev. Helmut Schuller was scheduled to speak at Saint Susanna Parish in Dedham, a Boston suburb, July 17 as part of a 15-city U.S. tour. His talk has been moved to a nearby Unitarian Universalist church, The Boston Globe reported.

Terry Donilon, an archdiocese spokesman, said the archdiocese’s policy is “not to permit individuals to conduct speaking engagements in Catholic parishes or at church events when those individuals promote positions that are contrary to Catholic teachings.” - The Associated PressGroups sue N.J.

over school grants

NEWARK, N.J. - New Jersey’s plans to award more than $11 million to an all-male Jewish school and Princeton Theological Seminary violates state law and should be stopped, civil liberties groups said in a complaint filed in state court.

The ACLU and its New Jersey chapter, along with Americans United for Separation of Church and State, filed the lawsuit in Trenton.

They claim the grants violate the state constitution’s prohibitions against using taxpayer money for places of worship and giving preference to a religion, as well as violating its stipulation that public money be used for public purposes. In addition, the suit says, the grant awarded to the Beth Medrash Govoha, an all-male Talmudic studies center in Lakewood, violates state law against discrimination based on sex.

FBI pulling bus ads

after Seattle upset

SEATTLE - The FBI says it’s pulling some advertisements off buses in the Seattle area, after complaints that they stereotyped Muslims.

The ads, which began running this month in connection with a State Department program, feature pictures of 16 men wanted around the globe for terrorist activities below the words: “Faces of Global Terrorism.”

Among those criticizing the ads was U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott of Seattle, who suggested they gave the impression that “terrorism only comes from one religion or one color of people,” and said the ads might increase the risk of hate crimes against Middle Eastern, South Asian and Muslim Americans.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis is signaling the reform process of the troubled Legion of Christ religious order will stretch beyond next year’s target date amid continued reservations about whether it has truly changed following revelations its founder was a pedophile.

In a letter made public Wednesday, Francis confirmed the order would convene a general assembly in early 2014 to elect a new leadership and approve a revised set of constitutions. Francis said these would be “fundamental steps in the path toward authentic and profound renewal.”

Then-Pope Benedict XVI took over the Legion in 2010 after a Vatican investigation determined its Mexican founder, the late Rev. Marcial Maciel sexually molested seminarians and fathered three children with two women.

Religion, Pages 12 on 06/29/2013