Crosswalk - Religion Today Summaries for July 1, 2003
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Religion Today Summaries, June 30, 2003
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk News Staff
http://link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.15.12853.1.1478944
Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the
world. In today's edition:
> 200 Police Halt Church Construction in Vietnam
> 83-Year-Old Ten Commandments Plaque Can Stay
> Police Use Lure of Registration to Arrest Chinese Church Leaders
> Pope Warns Against 'Loss of Europe's Christian Heritage'
>> 200 Police Halt Church Construction In Vietnam
Compass Direct
For the second time in three years, authorities in Thu Thiem district of
Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) halted the construction of a church
building. This time, however, they did not destroy the initial
construction, as Christians involved showed increased sophistication in
their organizational skills. At 4 a.m. on June 9, Christian believers
transported building materials to the construction site and, while one
group gathered to pray, another constructed the temporary building's
frame. At 7 a.m., an estimated 200 police arrived on the scene, but left
after realizing they could not legally stop the building project. Police
then sent a gang of troublemakers to the site, but efforts to provoke
the praying Christians failed. The incident ended when authorities
seized and hauled away all the building materials. Two weeks later,
Catholic priests Peter Nguyen Huu Giai and Peter Phan Van Loi published
an unprecedented "Letter of Solidarity with the Protestant Church in
Vietnam" in which they expressed strong support for Christians involved
in the Thu Thiem building project, as well persecuted Montagnard
believers in the central highlands.
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>> 83-Year-Old Ten Commandments Plaque Can Stay
Religion News Service
An appellate court has ruled that a Ten Commandments plaque that has
long hung on the facade of a Pennsylvania courthouse can remain there
for the sake of historical preservation and does not constitute an
official endorsement of religion. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
ruled Thursday that a reasonable person acquainted with the plaque's
history would consider a ruling to leave it there as religiously
neutral, not evangelical. The plaque has been attached to the Chester
County Courthouse in since 1920. "We cannot ignore the inherently
religious message of the Ten Commandments," wrote Judge Edward R.
Becker. "However, we do not believe that there can never be a secular
purpose for posting the Ten Commandments, or that the Ten Commandments
are so overwhelmingly religious in nature that they will always be seen
only as an endorsement of religion." Margaret Downey, a member of the
Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia, an atheist group that
considers the plaque to be a violation of church-state separation, said
she might appeal the case to the Supreme Court. Chester County
Commissioner Andrew Dinniman, who is Jewish, disagreed, saying the
commandments may be inspired by religion but have a place in the history
of secular law, too.
>> Police Use Lure Of Registration To Arrest Chinese Church Leaders
Voice of the Martyrs
Church leaders in Yunnan Province, China, were thrilled when police said
they could get government registration for their church group. The group
had sought registration, which would give legal sanction to their church
meetings, since the Chinese government changed the church registration
law in 1994. They were told to bring their leaders to a meeting to sign
the needed documents, but when 12 leaders arrived, officers of the
Public Security Bureau (PSB), the Court Marshall's office and the
prosecutor's office awaited them. The 12 were arrested without warrants
or required documentation. "Police say these are law-breakers," said a
spokesman. "But this clearly shows that these are patriotic citizens
trying to follow their country's laws if they can do so in good
conscience." Eight of the leaders were sentenced to three years of
"laogai," so-called re-education through labor. This sentence can be
given in China without filing formal charges or a formal trial. The
other four leaders were indicted and held for trial, which likely means
they will face sentences longer than three years. During a 1997
"anti-cult" campaign, eight of the group's leaders were sent to a labor
camp. Some were put on public display, where police encouraged
passers-by to spit on them. "This is business-as-usual for the
underground church in China," said the spokesman.
>> Pope Warns Against 'Loss' of Europe's Christian Heritage'
Peggy Polk, Religion News Service
Appealing anew to the European Union to give formal recognition to the
continent's Christian roots, Pope John Paul II has warned that the "loss
of Europe's Christian memory and heritage" has serious consequences for
society. The Roman Catholic pontiff said that growing secularism in
Europe is causing a "kind of fear of the future," which he blamed for a
falling birth rate, a decline in religious vocations and rejection of
marriage. The pope's appeal was contained in a statement responding to
concerns expressed by Europe's bishops at a meeting known as a synod.
John Paul signed the document Saturday. Secretary general of the Synod
of Bishops acknowledged at a news conference the release of the document
was timed to coincide with discussion of a new European Union
constitution. The Vatican was dismayed when a first draft of the
preamble said that Europe was nourished by `Hellenic and Roman
civilizations" and "the philosophical currents of the Enlightenment" but
not specifically by Christianity. "I would like to mention in a
particular way the loss of Europe's Christian memory and heritage,
accompanied by a kind of practical agnosticism and religious
indifference," the pope wrote. "It is no real surprise, then, that there
are efforts to create a vision of Europe which ignores its religious
heritage."
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