Religious leaders meet with Secretary of State to seek end to Mideast violence
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Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, said the religious leaders asked for high-level engagement with both the Israelis and the Palestinians ``that holds both sides accountable in a step-by-step peace process.''
The group also promised to ``say tough things to our communities here and in the region'' about what must be done to bring about peace.
Along with Rice and McCarrick, the meeting Monday included Bishop Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori; Sayyid M. Syeed, national director of the Islamic Society of North America; Rabbi Paul Menitoff, a leader in Reform Judaism; and Rabbi Amy Small, a leader of the Reconstructionist branch of Judaism.
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/interreligious.htm
Parents of convicted arsonist visit burned church in Panola
PANOLA, Ala. (AP) - The parents of a former Birmingham-Southern College student who pleaded guilty in a series of rural church arsons visited with the congregation of one burned church, asking for forgiveness and expressing remorse.
``My son wants you to know how sorry he is,'' Mike Cloyd told members of Galilee Baptist Church on Jan. 28.
Mike and Kim Cloyd of Pelham are the parents of Matthew Cloyd, one of three former college students who pleaded guilty to federal charges in the church arsons. The couple spoke with the congregation, which is meeting in a trailer as its new church building is being constructed.
The Rev. Bob Little said he prays for solace for his congregation, the convicted arsonists and their families.
``We thank God for the opportunity to bring about some healing,'' Little said. ``We need to embrace each other in times of trial.''
The Cloyds said the visit to Galilee Baptist, where the congregation dedicated songs and hugged them during two hours of worship, is part of a pilgrimage to see the rural churches their son admitted to burning in February 2006.
Matthew Cloyd, 21, Benjamin Moseley, 20, and Russell DeBusk, 20, await sentencing in federal court and also face state charges in the arson case.
Five churches were burned in Bibb County on Feb. 3; the others were burned four days later in Greene, Pickens and Sumter counties.
Methodists turn their Web site into social networking center
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) - Methodists have a new way to connect.
United Methodist Communications on Monday unveiled the church's redesigned Web page that is meant to function as a social-networking site, similar to MySpace or Facebook.
The church spent more than two years developing the new umc.org, to allow visitors to set up personal profiles, upload photos, create a blog and establish a network of friends.
The online community has filters that edit out offensive language, among other safety tools, that allow users to flag inappropriate posts for review by an administrator.
``It's about relationships and bringing people of faith together in innovative new ways,'' said the Rev. Larry Hollon, chief executive of United Methodist Communications.
The United Methodist Church claims 8.3 million U.S. members, along with many members overseas.
http://www.umc.org/
Chattanooga congregation votes to leave Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) _ Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church has voted to leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) because of the congregation's theological differences with the national denomination.
The 2,000-member church voted overwhelmingly Jan. 28 to break away and join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, which has fewer than 200 churches and a more conservative view of Scripture than the 2.3 million-member Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), like other mainline Protestant groups, has been struggling for years to reconcile members who disagree over how to interpret Scripture on many issues, including ordaining partnered gays.
In June of last year, a Presbyterian national assembly voted to give local congregations and regional bodies some leeway to install gay clergy and lay officers with same-sex partners.
The assembly also voted to allow church officials to propose experimental phrasings for the divine Trinity, including gender-inclusive language for the traditional ``Father, Son and Holy Spirit,'' without requiring congregations to use the alternative wording.
The Presbytery of East Tennessee will now consider whether the Signal Mountain church can take its building and property when it leaves.
http://www.presbyteryeasttn.org/
Indiana Senate begins session with prayer for first time since court ruling
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The Indiana Senate began its session Monday with an official prayer for the first time since a federal judge's ruling barred sectarian House invocations as part of legislative business.
The Senate had been observing a moment of silent prayer or meditation at the start of each session day since November 2005, when U.S. District Judge David Hamilton ruled that official House prayers that mentioned Jesus Christ amounted to state endorsement of a religion. That case is now on appeal before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed the lawsuit in 2005 on behalf of four people, including a Quaker lobbyist, who said they found the tradition of offering mostly Christian prayers offensive.
Senate leaders said members felt it was important to return to the practice of an oral prayer, even if the invocations cannot mention Jesus. Sen. Dennis Kruse gave the opening prayer, which asked for ``divine guidance.''
Carnival mask of Jesus prompts rebuke by Italian bishop
ROME (AP) _ A ``Jesus'' mask on sale in Verona for Italy's winter Carnival, a celebration that comes every February, prompted a rebuke from the local bishop.
The mask appeared recently in a store in the northern Italian city and consists of a fake beard and a long, brown-haired wig made in China, according to the ANSA news agency. On the box are the words ``Jesus,'' and a drawing of Christ with a crown of thorns.
``I felt humiliated. For me and for millions of people the suffering Christ is a beloved image, and instead it is mocked,'' Bishop of Verona Flavio Carraro said Tuesday.
``We must respect the religious sentiments of our people,'' Carraro added. ``That image is part of art history and poetry, and it's bad to ruin it like that.''
Carnival festivities, which were centered in Venice and have since spread throughout the country, hit their zenith in the 1700s when European nobility were drawn by the promise of an anonymous good time before Ash Wednesday and the somber Lenten season.
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