Retired Episcopal bishops leave denomination amid debate over Bible, sexuality
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Daniel Herzog informed Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of his decision in a March 29 letter. He asked to be removed from the ordained ministry of the Episcopal Church.
Herzog, who had retired from the diocese in January, had disagreed with the liberal direction of The Episcopal Church, including the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.
Herzog was the second Albany bishop to recently switch affiliations. The diocese announced March 5 that a retired assistant bishop, David Bena, was transferring to the theologically conservative Anglican Church of Nigeria.
Bena plans to work as a missionary bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a network of Episcopal conservatives created as a rival to the U.S. denomination.
The Episcopal Church is the U.S. wing of the global Anglican Communion. The world fellowship of churches, which trace their roots to the Church of England, is on the verge of splitting up over conflicting interpretations of biblical verses on sexuality, truth, salvation and other issues.
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Pa. county, civil-liberties groups settle suit over jail program
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) -A county agreed not to use public funds for religious activities to settle a federal lawsuit over a jailhouse program that critics said mixed faith with vocational training.
The settlement filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court ended the lawsuit over programs that had been run by The Firm Foundation at the Bradford County jail.
Lawyers for Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania were among those representing six local citizens who filed suit in February 2005. The plaintiffs claimed the company's employees evangelized inmates in a former work-release program and pressured them to pray.
Bradford County admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement.
The Firm Foundation program was the only vocational training program available at the jail, and the company's arrangement with the county was unconstitutional, said Alex Luchenitser, a lawyer for Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
The program started in 2002 but ended three years later because of insufficient funds, said Steven Aden, a lawyer for The Firm Foundation. The program was designed to take prisoners out of jail during the day to teach construction skills and mentor inmates about how to manage money, deal with anger and other life skills, Aden said.
Related lawsuits against the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and The Firm Foundation are still pending.
Muslim appointed as NYPD's newest police chaplain
NEW YORK (AP)- The New York Police Department appointed a young imam as its newest chaplain to counsel Muslim members of the force on faith and other matters.
Imam Khalid Latif, 24, a Sunni, was appointed Monday as the city's newest police chaplain and described a wider vision of his role in the community.
``It is my hope that I can use this position as a means to educate not only the members of the New York City Police about truly what Islam stands for, but also the New York City community as a whole,'' Latif said.
Thousands of Muslims work for the NYPD, according to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. Members of the department are not required to disclose their religious affiliation.
``For a young man, he has an impressive list of accomplishments,'' Kelly said of Latif, who has served as a chaplain and adviser at Princeton University and New York University.
Latif holds a master's degree from Hartford Seminary and is an Edison, N.J., native whose family is from Pakistan. He is the second Muslim chaplain at the department.
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