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Rev. N. J. L'Heureux, Jr., Publisher & Editor
Rev. Pedro Bravo-Guzman, Editor-in-Chief
An Ecumenical Report
of Local and Global News in God's Household
Published by the Queens Federation of Churches
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WCC Asks for Peaceful, Lawful and Collective Response to North Korean Nuclear Test October 9, 2006 – As news on the North Korean nuclear test is breaking on 9 October, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia asks for the response to be peaceful, lawful and collective. In a letter addressed to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and the UN ambassadors of North Korea and its neighbours, South Korea and Japan, Kobia asks that the crisis be resolved "politically" through negotiations, as well as "legally" by strengthening "the spirit and the letter of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)." Anglicans Worldwide Prepare Strategies to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals October 12, 2006 – Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Njongonkulu Ndungane, met with national and international planning committee members last week to discuss an international Anglican conference to be held in Gauteng, South Africa from 7-14 March 2007. ‘Towards Effective Anglican Mission (TEAM): An international conference on Prophetic Witness, Social Development and HIV and AIDS' will include 400 representatives from every province in the Anglican Communion. UN Foundation Helps Fund United Methodist Health Summit October 11, 2006, NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The United Nations Foundation is providing a $100,000 grant to help underwrite a meeting of United Methodist leaders that will focus on a possible churchwide response to global health care challenges. The grant, made to the Foundation for United Methodist Communications, was announced Oct. 10. Leaders from around the denomination will meet in Washington in December to address urgent issues such as HIV/AIDS and malaria, particularly on the continent of Africa. "We believe God is pushing us to move forward with this healing ministry," said the Rev. Larry Hollon, top staff executive of United Methodist Communications. "We are bringing together United Methodist leaders to lay out a strategy to raise awareness of global health issues and mobilize United Methodists into action." Mission Board Continues Call for Better Immigration Laws October 13, 2006, STAMFORD, Conn. – Concerned about proposed changes to U.S. immigration law, the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries is repeating its call for just immigration policies. The action took place during the mission agency's Oct. 9-12 annual meeting in Stamford. The Board of Global Ministries, which both funds and supports programs assisting immigrants and undocumented workers, also wants the denomination as a whole to educate itself about undocumented workers "and how the church is and can continue responding to the economic, social, political, legal and spiritual challenges they encounter," the agency's directors said. Last April, the board's directors asked Congress "to refrain from passing laws relating to immigration that would divide families, make felons out of millions of workers now in the U.S. who are without green cards or visas, encourage mistreatment of immigrants or criminalize the efforts of the Christian church, other faith traditions and social service organizations to help people in need, regardless of their citizenship status." October 11, 2006, SAO LEOPOLDO, Brazil/GENEVA – Participants in a Lutheran World Federation (LWF) consultation for member churches in Latin America have called for the integration of gender issues in all aspects of church work in the Lutheran communion. During the consultation on "Gender and Power," in Sao Leopoldo, Brazil, the 37 women, men and youth leaders from the member churches in Latin America noted that although the LWF had over recent decades developed several programs and documents on gender, the issue was still far from being an integral part of the ministry of the church. United Methodist Military Chaplains Gather in Nashville October 10, 2006, NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Members of the military who served in Iraq are welcomed home, but they often find their homes are not the same, said a seminary professor at a gathering of United Methodist military chaplains. 10 octubre 2006 – El Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI) ha felicitado a los estados patrocinadores de un proyecto de resolución sobre control de armas convencionales presentado a la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas y los ha instado a incluir en el texto una referencia específica a las leyes internacionales sobre derechos humanos. En una carta fechada el 6 de octubre en la que felicita a los siete estados patrocinadores -Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica, Finlandia, Japón, Reino Unido y Suiza- por su trabajo sobre el proyecto de resolución, el secretario general del CMI pastor Dr. Samuel Kobia aboga por "un tratado general y legalmente vinculante" que asegure que las transferencias de armas sean "limitadas y autorizadas, así como legales," que se suspendan las "transferencias al mercado negro" y que se declare a los proveedores "parcialmente responsables de las violaciones de derechos humanos cometidas con sus productos." 10 octubre 2006, BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – En la tarde de ayer se desarrolló el Seminario "Relaciones Estado-Confesiones Religiosas. A 40 años del Acuerdo entre la Santa Sede Y la República Argentina," en el Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales (CARI). De la organización del mismo participó el Consejo Argentino para la Libertad Religiosa (Calir). Raúl Scialabba, abogado bautista y presidente del Calir, disertó sobre el tema "Iglesia Católica, confesiones religiosas y Estado en la Argentina de principios del siglo XXI." En su exposición, el abogado analizó históricamente los que llamó "Dos principios antagónicos que luchan entre sí en el mundo por siglos y siglos: La iglesia y el estado." Se Aprobó La Ley Que Favorece Más Abusos a Detenidos 11 octubre 2006, WASHINGTON – Para tristeza de los defensores de derechos humanos, el Congreso de Estados Unidos aprobó la Ley de Comisiones Militares, que favorece la práctica de más abusos y violaciones de los Derechos Humanos perpetrados por agentes estadounidenses en la "guerra contra el terror." La nueva legislación deja al país firmemente fuera de la ley internacional. Otra derrota para los detenidos Guantánamo (territorio cubano ocupado), Irak y Afganistán. En la guerra contra el terror, el Gobierno de EE.UU. ya ha recurrido a emplear las detenciones secretas, desapariciones forzadas, prolongada detenciones en régimen incomunicado, detención indefinida sin cargo, detención arbitraria, tortura y otros tratos crueles, inhumanos y degradantes. Columna De Opinión – Odio Y Perdón En Pensylvania 10 octubre 2006, GEORGETOWN, Estados Unidos – Con una admirable actitud de estoicismo y perdón, la comunidad menonita (Amish) de Pensylvania, cerró uno de los episodios de violencia mundialmente difundidos y envió un mensaje pacificador luego de enterrar a sus 5 niñas cruentamente asesinadas por un hombre que dijo estar "enojado con la vida y enojado con Dios." Impactada por 3 sucesivas masacres escolares en menos de una semana, la sociedad americana aún busca respuestas al complejo problema y las preguntas se orientan a buscar respuestas en la religión, la psicología, la política, la seguridad nacional, inclusive la red Internet. Cientos De Cristianos Marcharon Por La Paz De Venezuela En Ureña 13 octubre 2006, UREÑA, Venezuela – La Confraternidad de Iglesias y Pastores de la Frontera colombo-venezolana (CONISAV) organizó en el Municipio Pedro María Ureña la denominada "Marcha para Jesús" este 12 de octubre, participando de ella cientos de creyentes. Los participantes caminaron bajo una inclemente temperatura que superaba los 35 grados centígrados, deteniéndose en puntos estratégicos de la ciudad para orar por la juventud del país, el comercio en general, las autoridades cívico militares y por la nación entera. Benedicto XVI Autorizaría La Celebración De Misas En Latín 12 octubre 2006, CIUDAD DEL VATICANO – El papa Benedicto XVI firmará próximamente un decreto con el que facilitará la celebración de la misa en latín, con la esperanza de poner así fin al cisma de los católicos integristas adeptos de Monseñor Lefebvre, informaron el miércoles diversas fuentes. Una fuente vaticana que pidió el anonimato señaló a los periodistas que el Papa está preparando un decreto "sobre las relaciones con los tradicionalistas," que piden celebrar libremente la misa en latín, según el llamado rito de San Pío V o tridentino. WCC Praises
Draft UN Arms Control Resolution, October 10, 2006 – The World Council of Churches (WCC) has congratulated the sponsoring states of a draft resolution on conventional arms control currently before the United Nations General Assembly and urged them to include in the text a specific reference to international human rights law. In a 6 October letter congratulating the seven sponsoring states – Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica, Finland, Japan, Switzerland and the UK – for their work on the draft resolution, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia argues for "a comprehensive and legally binding treaty" ensuring that arms transfers are "limited and licensed as well as lawful," that "transfers to the black market" are stopped, and that suppliers are made "partially liable for human rights violations committed with their products." When it comes to human rights, Kobia says, concern for the treaty's ultimate beneficiaries – the people it must protect – makes a inclusion of "international human rights law" in the draft resolution a must. The WCC general secretary's letter emphasizes the urgency of global arms control while "every week, in every region, the proliferation of weapons causes violent deaths, acute suffering and an unconscionable diversion of resources from things that make for peace." Small Aircraft Crashes into New York City Building October 11, 2006 – A small fixed-wing aircraft crashed into a high-rise residential building located at 72nd Street and York Avenue in New York City around 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, October 11, igniting several apartments and resulting in at least two fatalities. New York's Federal Bureau of Investigation field office has squads that have responded to the scene and say that there is no indication that the crash was linked to an act of terrorism. The plane was reported to have taken off from Teterboro Airport in northern New Jersey earlier in the afternoon. "We've heard from the Rev. Jennifer Linman at the Church of the Epiphany, located at 74th and First – a mere two blocks from the plane crash," said Neva Rae Fox, director of communication for the Diocese of New York. "She reports that they are fine and the school kids are fine. The church will remain open to assist and also to continue their homeless feeding program." UMCOR Grants Bolster Community Centers on Gulf Coast October 13, 2006, STAMFORD, Conn. – Three United Methodist community centers on the Gulf Coast — still struggling to recover from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as they assist area residents — will receive additional assistance from the United Methodist Committee on Relief. UMCOR directors approved the funding during the Oct. 9-12 annual meeting of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, UMCOR's parent agency. The relief agency also announced the awarding of major grants from the U.S. government for work in two African countries and the expectation of a $3.4 million grant from the United Nations Development Program for continuing tsunami-related work in Indonesia. October 13, 2006, GENEVA – The General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, has congratulated South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon on his appointment as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. The UN General Assembly appointed Ki-Moon, 62, on Friday, 13 October, to succeed Mr Kofi Annan, whose second five-year term expires on 31 December 2006. The UN Security Council had nominated the South Korean for this position early this week. He assumes office on 1 January 2007. In a statement issued today, Noko pointed out that Ki-Moon will take up his new role "confronted by a formidable set of challenges, perhaps more so than at any previous point in the history of the United Nations." He will inherit the continuing security and human rights problems posed by international terrorism and the so-called "war against terror," the LWF general secretary stated. China Emerging as Senior Partner in the Fellowship of Nations October 12, 2006 – The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams has spoken of China's immense potential in working to solve the world's problems. Speaking at a reception for a Chevening scholars reunion in Nanjing on the 10th October, Dr Williams emphasised that China had its place in a future which will require nations to work together more than ever: ..". there are more and more problems in our world which no one nation can confront alone. So much of our history – Europe's – has been a history where we've imagined that because of national sovereignty independence of national economies, we can sort out our own business. And of course the big challenges of our day; challenges such as the environment, the challenges of health and health care and the way in which modern disease spreads, the challenges posed by global communications systems – all of these tell us that there are more and more things that we cannot resolve alone." Winter Poses ‘Ticking Time Bomb' for Quake Survivors October 9, 2006, MANSEHRA, Pakistan – As winter approaches the north of Pakistan once again, many of those left homeless by the crippling earthquake in October 2005 are growing increasingly frustrated and newly afraid. "I want to start my life here again, but there is no work," said Shams Shah Zaman, a quake survivor in the remote village of Khanian. "Soon the snow will begin, and our tents are too thin to withstand the winter. How are we supposed to live here? The army doesn't want to let us return to the city, but how can we stay here in the mountains?" A government program to reconstruct housing has not been without its challenges. Most private relief groups, according to Zaman, don't venture far from the region's few roads. From Eve to Mary Magdala, Fortress Press Brings Biblical Women into View October 10, 2006, MINNEAPOLIS – Historical fascination with women of the Bible has contributed a great wealth of artistic images, literature, legends, fables, and religious poetry to Western traditions. From heroic figures such as Judith and Esther to deep friends like Ruth and Naomi, the Bible presents a plenitude of women whose deeds and desires have inspired Western art and culture for more than two thousand years. Fortress Press is happy to announce the release of Great Women of the Bible: In Art and Literature-Abridged Edition. Gritsch Explores the Wit of Martin Luther October 13, 2006, MINNEAPOLIS – In The Wit of Martin Luther, Eric Gritsch ties Luther's wit and humor to his sharp polemical exploitation of the absurd or incongruous in service to his Reform. At a deeper level Luther's wit and witticisms reflected his keen appreciation of human frailty and the unknowability of things divine. Luther, Gritsch shows, especially relished humor in his interpretation of the Bible, in his pastoral relationships, and in his encounters with death. Ultimately humor in face of mortality is a gauge of human freedom, a "lightening up" that makes of life a divine comedy. New in Paper! The First Full Study of Early Christian Ideology and Slavery October 12, 2006, MINNEAPOLIS – Slavery in Early Christianity by Jennifer A. Glancy, originally published by Oxford University in 2002, is now available in paperback from Fortress Press. In Slavery in Early Christianity Glancy situates early Christian slavery in its broader cultural setting, arguing that modern scholars have consistently underestimated the pervasive impact of slavery on the institutional structures, ideologies, and practices of the early churches-and upon the bodies of the enslaved.
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