CHURCH GROUP CRITICIZES PLAN TO SELL WEAPONS SHARES
Ecumenical News InternationalLONDON -- Plans by the Church of England to sell shares in a weapons manufacturing company on ethical grounds have drawn criticism from an unexpected quarter -- a church-based campaigning group, the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility.
The Church Commissioners, responsible for much of the Church of England's investment portfolio, are to dispose of a $40 million holding in British Aerospace that they will acquire as part of a takeover.
ECCR's coordinator Crispin White told ENI: "Owning shares presents opportunities for our mission work. Once you sell, you lose your voice. We would hope the church retains an interest so they can work for change in the company in regard to environmental questions, employment conditions and so on."
NOTES FROM 'GOD' POPPING UP ON BILLBOARDS ALL OVER
Associated Press
PEORIA, Ill. -- It's not every day you see a message from God. Especially on a billboard. But there it is, overlooking the strip mall parking lots: "Come on over, and bring the kids. -- God."
Nondenominational messages -- irreverent, funny, eye-catching -- began appearing on billboards in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area last year, funded by an anonymous donor.
They now appear in 200 cities in 40 states, on more than $13 million worth of donated ad space, said Sheila Hays, spokeswoman for the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, which has adopted the campaign.
Among billboard messages attributed to God:
"What part of 'Thou shalt not . . . ' didn't you understand?"
"Let's meet at my house Sunday before the game."
"I can think of 10 things that ARE carved in stone."
E. EUROPEAN WOMAN BISHOP TAKES HER CUES FROM MARY
Ecumenical News International
WARSAW -- Eastern Europe's first woman bishop has distanced herself from feminism and declared that she will be guided by the "femaleness" of Christ's mother.
Jana Silerova, who was installed on April 17 as Bishop of Olomouc in the Czech Republic, by the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, said she would seek "help rather than power" in her new position, and has described her appointment as a victory for ecumenical awareness in post-communist countries.
"This step had to be taken, since women already make up almost half our church's clergy," she said. "However, it has also needed its own time, as well as more forthcoming ecumenical attitudes and a greater spirit of unity."
INDIAN CHRISTIANS RELIEVED AT HINDU COALITION'S DEMISE
Ecumenical News International
NEW DELHI -- Leading Indian Christians have expressed "relief" over the collapse of the 13-month-old coalition government led by the Hindu nationalist party Bharatiya Janata Party, but they remain "anxious" about the political instability troubling their nation.
"The evil -- the sword that was hanging over the head of the Christians -- is gone," said K. Rajaratnam, president of the National Council of Churches in India, a forum of 29 Protestant and Orthodox churches with 13 million members.
The BJP-led coalition, headed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, lost a confidence vote in Parliament on April 17 .
"Many Christians all over the country feel happy that it (the BJP-led government) has finally fallen," said Rajaratnam, saying that "Christians have reasons to be relieved," as they had "campaigned" for the downfall of the BJP government. The BJP government, Rajaratnam said, "not only failed to stop" recent atrocities directed against Christians, but "even encouraged" such actions by supporting groups linked to the BJP which had been involved in violence.
LEBANESE SINGER RETURNS TO EGYPT AS BAN IS LIFTED
Associated Press
CAIRO, Egypt -- Lebanese singer Najwa Karam returned to Egypt when officials lifted a ban imposed in the belief that she named her dog after Islam's Prophet Mohammed.
Muslims consider dogs unclean, and to insult Prophet Mohammed is blasphemous.
Egyptian security officials barred Karam from entering Egypt in early April, saying she insulted the founder of Islam and criticized Egypt. The ban was canceled after she wrote to the information minister, asking him to reconsider.
A magazine had claimed Karam, a Christian, had named her dog after the founder of Islam. She denied the accusation, saying the "enemies of success and religion" were behind it. Still, the claim prompted many radio and TV stations to ban her songs.