World News
The Vatican rejected the concept that other religions could be equal to Roman Catholicism and ordered its theologians not to manipulate what it called the truth of the faith. The Vatican’s restatement of its position was outlined in a complex theological document [which] repeated Church teachings that non-Christians were in a "gravely deficient situation" regarding salvation and that other Christian churches had "defects," partly because they did not recognize the primacy of the Pope. The 36-page document was prepared by the Vatican’s Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by Pope John Paul. Walking a theological tightrope, the document said the "Church of Christ" was present and operative in other Christian Churches today. But, in the Vatican’s view, it subsists fully in the Roman Catholic Church because the Pope is the successor to Saint Peter whom Christ named as his first vicar on earth. Papal primacy was divinely willed, it said. "Therefore, there exists a single Church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him," it said. —Reuters, 9/5/2000 Climaxing a 30-year ecumenical journey, the Episcopal Church gave final approval Saturday to a historic unity agreement with the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination. The pact, previously approved by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, means that the 7.5 million members of the two mainline denominations may receive communion in each other’s churches, share in outreach ministries and, most notably, call either an Episcopal priest or a Lutheran minister as their local pastor. The agreement, which takes effect next January, is not a merger. Both denominations will maintain their separate identities and organizations. The move, however, represents a major departure from denominational distinctions—and a dramatic new sign that churches are moving to heal centuries of division as Christianity enters its third millennium. —Los Angeles Times, 7/9/2000 In November, the northern Nigerian state of Kano will begin enforcing sharia, Islamic law. "We are all scared of what will happen," said Tarosi, a 41-year-old Christian in this sprawling, mainly Muslim city of more than 1 million. "All Christians are afraid. . . . Many have sent their families away and are here standing on one foot, ready to run if things get bad." As part of a movement to reassert the Islamic identity of northern Nigeria, eight mainly Muslim states have adopted sharia since last October. That step has ignited Muslim-Christian fighting that has killed hundreds of people and renewed questions about whether Africa’s largest and most populous country can remain united and peaceful. For many here, this conflict has become a threat to Nigeria’s stability and democracy. Kano is the largest and most economically important state to adopt sharia. Nigerian interpretations of the code prescribe such punishments as amputation of a hand for theft and public flogging for other crimes. States adopting sharia also have introduced Islamic curricula in public schools, prompting Christians—those who can afford it, anyway—to transfer their children to private religious schools. Ibrahim Datti Ahmad, president of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria predicted that 19 of the country’s 36 states eventually will adopt the Islamic code. —Washington Post Foreign Service, 8/31/2000 The nation’s two largest ecumenical organizations [the National Council of Churches and the National Association of Evangelicals] are positioning themselves for a radical realignment that could bring liberal and conservative churches together in common social causes and lead to the disbanding of the venerable National Council of Churches. Earlier this year, the executive board of the National Council of Churches voted to disband the organization over the next three years if a new broad-based church group is formed. Precisely what form a new organization would take remains deliberately vague. "We want to invite Roman Catholics and evangelicals to come to our table, but to have them see this as an opportunity to invent a new table," [said the Rev. Robert Edgar, the council’s general secretary]. The next step is likely to be a summit next spring that would bring together leaders from a broad range of Christian denominations. Father John Hotchkin, a ranking Catholic ecumenical affairs officer in Washington, said in interviews that [his] organization would probably participate. —Los Angeles Times, 9/5/200 Social Life expectancies in some African countries will soon drop below age 30 because of the staggering number of AIDS deaths, experts said Monday. And for perhaps the first time in their history, some nations in southern Africa will experience negative population growth as a result of AIDS, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The epidemic in Africa is the continent’s "worst social catastrophe since slavery," said Dr. Kevin DeCock of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 5,500 now die of AIDS every day [in sub-Saharan Africa], but researchers predict that about 13,000 will die daily by 2010. AIDS now accounts for 21% of all deaths in the region, with malaria a distant second at 9.1%. —Los Angeles Times, 7/11/2000 The [old] view was that the adult brain couldn’t manufacture new cells to replace those that naturally died off over time. However, a growing body of research has revolutionized the way neurologists perceive the adult brain—no longer as a cerebral clock that winds down over time but as a dynamic organ that responds to new information and experiences by generating additional circuitry. Experts now say that the adult brain, far from being doomed to wither, appears able to grow, adapt, and in some ways even improve with age. —Consumer Reports, August 2000 Open sewers give Brazil’s cities a wastewater stomach ache. Lack of treatment is damaging health and the environment. Less than half of the sewage generated by greater Sao Paulo’s 15 million inhabitants is actually treated and the situation is even worse in the rest of the country. According to a recent government study, 92 percent of wastewater generated in urban areas is pumped into the country’s rivers without any treatment at all. Fifty people die every day as a result of inadequate basic sanitation. Many of the victims are children. Sixty-five percent of all infant admissions to hospitals are a result of infections related to solid or liquid waste. Cities in Brazil’s central and northeastern states have the most serious problems, experts say. The problem is not limited to impoverished towns. Even Sabesp, the Sao Paulo utility and possibly the world’s largest water company, still treats only 40 percent of Sao Paulo’s sewage. The principal reason is that the municipalities, which are charged with waste management under Brazil’s constitution, lack the necessary funds to expand treatment facilities. "The situation of sanitation and water management in Brazil is a disgrace and the population will become angry if the politicians and society at large do not act soon," says Mr. Passeto of Agua e Cidade. —Financial Times 7/27/2000 Ben Gurion University of the Negev researchers have proposed an innovative irrigation system that will help reduce the widespread hunger that is affecting Ethiopia. The system was developed with the Israeli company Netafim and costs one-tenth of systems currently available. The Ambassador of Ethiopia to Israel, the Hon. Zewde Otoro, is visiting the International Program for Arid Land Crops Center (IPALAC) at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, to see the model African Market Garden that uses this new technology. IPALAC will be creating some 25 irrigation systems of this kind in West Africa during the next year. The Pilot Project is based on a Low Pressure Drip Irrigation system, designed especially for use by resource-poor small farmers. "We built a remarkably easy system at relatively low cost that is simple to maintain," explains model garden creator Dov Pasternak, "which is why it works." IPALAC is an initiative designed to share relevant aspects of the Israeli experience in combating "desertification" with countries of the developing world, particularly Africa. The program has traditionally worked with local farmers teaching them to grow hardier plants. —Israel Wire, 7/31/2000 Financial The Turkish Nicosia government failed to pay the July installment of an 18-month plan to pay money owed to depositors of four banks taken over by the authorities. The deputy prime minister said that the repayment timetable negotiated by the finance ministry was "unrealistic." "The bank owners are guilty but free while many people I know have lost their money," said Alez Ulugbay, a Turkish Cypriot airline employee. The Social Democrat party conceded that Turkey no longer had the means to be as generous as in the past after launching ambitious economic reforms in January, 2000. —Financial Times, 7/26/2000 The leaders of the world’s seven richest nations, the Group of Seven, vowed at their summit to get tough on money laundering around the world. The G-7’s communiqué outlined its hit list: Underworld cartels that launder cash from drug deals and other criminal activities through willing banks; corruption in the world financial system; bank secrecy and laws that sustain it; nations and mini-states whose laws shield the identities and assets of account holders. The G-7 says the narcotics business is worth $600 billion a year. Huge as that number is, it is dwarfed by the amount Americans alone have sent to offshore tax havens, estimated to be six trillion dollars by Vernon Jacobs, editor of the Global Asset Protection newsletter. —Investor’s Business Daily, 8/1/2000 Civil Russia plans to send an aircraft carrier battle group to the Mediterranean Sea at the end of the year. Independent analysts say that such a force would have the potential to complicate NATO military operations in the Balkans or the Middle East, and its establishment signals that Russia plans to become more involved in these regions. Vladimir Kuroyedov, commander-in-chief of the Russian navy said in a press interview, "I can assure you that the group of vessels flying the St. Andrew flag will have greater power than the power of the Soviet Mediterranean squadron in its time." Russia remains harshly critical of the U.S. and NATO for its military operations against Serbia in 1999, and has been hostile to a U.S. plan to deploy anti-ballistic missile defenses. —Financial Times, 7/31/2000 The head of the Turkish army has called for a purge of all Islamist government employees, accusing them of trying to undermine the secular state. Huseyin Kivrikoglu, chief of the army’s general staff, is quoted by the Hurriyet newspaper as saying that Islamists have penetrated official positions at every level. "The army expels this kind of people as soon as it detects them. If [the government] wants public offices to function properly it should do the same," he said. The comments come in the wake of a disagreement between Turkey’s president and prime minister over a decree enabling the sacking of civil servants linked to Islamist and Kurdish movements. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has twice refused to approve the decree. The draft is now to be submitted to parliament when its summer recess ends in October. —BBC News, 8/31/2000 Israel Never before did Israeli and Palestinian leaders lay their cards on the table, face up, for the other to see. Never before did they agree to make such a serious effort to agree on their three principal disputes—Jerusalem, borders, and refugees. And never before did such a dramatic attempt fail. Barak and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat came to grips with issues that Israeli citizens have for the most part disposed of with slogans and certainties. In his post-summit news conference, Barak lauded the "legitimate and important" discussion of these issues that had begun as a result of the summit. Yet how will the agonizing examination of these bottom-line disputes that took place at Camp David change Israeli thinking, if at all? A survey conducted by Dr. Mina Tzemah and published last Friday in Yediot Aharonot found that 70 percent of Israeli Jews opposed giving up any control in Jerusalem, even if the Palestinians agreed in return to declare an end to the conflict with Israel. This squared with the traditional "holy" consensus on keeping Jerusalem "the eternal, unified capital of the Jewish people under Israeli sovereignty." —Jerusalem Post 7/31/2000 The Camp David summit has united the Arab world like the crisis preceding the Six Day War. But then, in 1967, the crisis caused unity on the Israeli side as well, and a national unity government was formed. The publicity boosted Yasser Arafat’s reputation as a second Saladin, fighting heroically for Moslem rule in Jerusalem. It is aiding him in enlisting the help of the Moslem world for the Palestinians’ struggle. Today, as in 1967, the Palestinians are making a settlement with Israel conditional on a prior agreement to grant the "right of return" to the Palestinians, in other words, to supplant the millions of Jewish immigrants who came to Israel under the Law of Return with millions of Palestinians [who claim their] ancestors lived in the country before the establishment of the state of Israel, and who want to challenge the Jewish character of the Jewish state. —Jerusalem Post 8/2/2000 The Jewish National Fund will soon launch a five-part environment plan that will substantially shift the focus of the 98-year-old organization from its time-honored crusade of planting trees to saving water. The JNF will initiate an awareness and fund-raising campaign in the US that will highlight the severe shortage of water that Israel currently faces and the potentially disastrous situation in the near future, according to Ronald Lauder, president of the JNF in the US. "Israel could run out of water by 2012," Lauder said Wednesday at a luncheon of the JNF board of directors with Jerusalem Post editors. "And that’s assuming that Israel has no major drought. If there is a major drought, that number gets closer to 2007 or 2005. There is no great mystery to how to do it," Lauder said. "The only one that’s really difficult is desalination, which takes money. All the technology is there." The biggest difficulty is getting the government to recognize the urgency of the problem and to act on it now. For example, in order to get a desalination plant built and running, "it takes five to ten years. No government here, as far as I can see, thinks in terms of longer than one or two years. We feel like we’re David against the Goliaths of the Israeli bureaucracy. It’s something very scary." —Jerusalem Post 8/24/2000 Media analyst David Bedein of the Israel Resource News Agency in Jerusalem reports that the Palestinian Authority’s new textbooks for grades one and six contain numerous passages that call on the students to liberate all of Jerusalem and all of Palestine. The new books also feature maps which do not show Israel, but portray all of "Palestine" instead. The Italian consul in Israel, Mr. Gianni Ghisi, who was responsible for organizing the funding of the European consuls for the new Palestinian textbooks, said that the PA would not let him see the new textbooks before they were published, in direct violation of an agreement stipulating that the Europeans would review the texts before publication. Bedein also reports that the task force on incitement established at the Wye Plantation Conference almost two years ago has ceased its meetings. The committee met regularly for over a year after its formation, discussing Palestinian incitement in its media and textbooks. —Arutz 7, 8/31/2000 Book Review A World Lit Only by Fire, William Manchester, Back Bay Books, 1992, 299 pages. No era has been a greater source of awe, honor, and wonder than the Medieval Period, the Middle Ages. Bible Students generally believe this was the time of the true church’s wilderness wanderings in the 1,260 years of Revelation 11:3. The world was engulfed in deep superstition, ruled by the Catholic Church. As Will Durant observed in the Age of Faith, one secret of the papacy’s hold on the masses was its capacity to inspire absolute terror. In the early 1500s however, the power of the Catholic Church was waning, reeling from the failure of the crusades, corruption in the Curia, and debauchery in the Vatican. Even so, Martin Luther’s revolt against Rome seemed hopeless until he decided to address the German people in their own language rather than Latin. As Luther spoke to the common people, a new wave of nationalism fueled the growth of nation states and gradually led to the replacement of the Holy Roman Empire. Luther’s revolt led to similar success in England, where loyal Englishman rallied to Henry VIII. As the Renaissance dawned, multiple critics made it difficult for the church’s intimidation to continue. Defenders of the Catholic faith such as Sir Thomas More encountered scholarly dissidents such as Copernicus and Erasmus. Luther and Erasmus successfully rallied the people on a spiritual level as Ferdinand Magellan unwittingly prepared to alter their perception of the physical by a voyage around the world. Manchester sees both activities as equally significant: "[Magellan] will be at sea when Luther takes his stand at Worms. Most of the rest of the contemporaneous tumult in Europe would seem irrelevant to him. However, all these events form a mosaic, and his expedition will become part of it. History is not a random sequence of unrelated events. Everything affects, and is affected by, everything else. This is never clear in the present. Only time can sort out events. It is then, in perspective, that patterns emerge." Most students of the Bible will recognize this "mosaic" as the hand of God in the affairs of the earth. Manchester organizes a tremendous amount of history into a compelling narrative which greatly aids an understanding of the Papacy, its rise, power, and decline. Known for his compelling historical works, Manchester sorts through the multiplicity of activity to isolate those few that drove the world into a most important time in the history of the true church—the Reformation. —Len Griehs |
