In a unanimous decision today (June 30, 2010), the Wisconsin Supreme Court stood behind voters and upheld the state's ban on same-sex marriage, the Christian Broadcast Network website reports.
In a 7-0 ruling, the court upheld a 2006 voter referendum preventing gay marriage and civil unions.
The court said the ban on gay marriage was properly put to a vote.
Fifty-nine percent of voters in Wisconsin said marriage should only be between one man and one woman.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tadic: Kosovo's Image Is Serbian Christian; Some Trying to Change It to Albanian Muslim
Serbia's President Boris Tadic said today (June 30, 2010) that Serbia's Kosovo province -- along with its Christian character -- is a matter of identity for Serbs, according to today's Serbianna website.
In an address at the celebration of 150 years of the Serbian Orthodox Church parish in Vienna, Tadic said that Christian liberty to worship freely in the Roman Empire was legalized inside the Serbian territory. He also reminded the audience that the Roman Emperor Constantine was born on Serbian soil.
"That is why the Kosovo issue, which Serbia wants to solve peacefully, is not only a matter of territorial integrity and sovereignty, but above all, a matter preserving our identity," Tadic said.
Tadic warned that diplomats and others are seeking to "usurp" Serbia's Christian presence in its own province and substitute it with an Albanian Muslim one.
Kosovo illegally seceded from Serbia in February 2008, and declared itself an independent nation. Kosovo's legal status -- as an independent nation or a province in Serbia -- has been referred to the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands. A decision by the court on the status of Kosovo is expected to be made by late summer in 2010.
In an address at the celebration of 150 years of the Serbian Orthodox Church parish in Vienna, Tadic said that Christian liberty to worship freely in the Roman Empire was legalized inside the Serbian territory. He also reminded the audience that the Roman Emperor Constantine was born on Serbian soil.
"That is why the Kosovo issue, which Serbia wants to solve peacefully, is not only a matter of territorial integrity and sovereignty, but above all, a matter preserving our identity," Tadic said.
Tadic warned that diplomats and others are seeking to "usurp" Serbia's Christian presence in its own province and substitute it with an Albanian Muslim one.
Kosovo illegally seceded from Serbia in February 2008, and declared itself an independent nation. Kosovo's legal status -- as an independent nation or a province in Serbia -- has been referred to the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands. A decision by the court on the status of Kosovo is expected to be made by late summer in 2010.
COMMENTARY: Council to Re-Evangelize Secular Nations May Be Fruitful
Pope Benedict XVI made a crucial decision this week to create a new Vatican office to fight secularization, and to "re-evangelize" the West.
The new pontifical council will promote a new evangelization in countries where the Christian Church has existed for centuries, but where a secular society has prevailed over Christianity in recent years.
Whether or not the new council will have a significant impact in returning a multitude of Europeans to the Catholic Church remains to be seen; however, Pope Benedict's decision to create such a council is an important step in the right direction.
The fact is that many Catholics have lost faith (no pun intended) in the Catholic Church in recent years, due to the plethora of child abuse cases against Catholic priests. For archdiocesan hierarchs -- and even the Vatican itself -- to "look the other way" and to allow these abusive priests to continue to celebrate Mass has indeed had a disastrous spiritual, social, and financial effect on the Catholic Church.
For example, in Austria, the Catholic Church has suffered exceptionally during the past several months, as some 700 people have come forward to report violent and sexual abuse at Catholic institutions. This is believed to be the chief reason for Austrians leaving the Church in droves. More than 30,000 Austrians left the Catholic Church in just the first three months of 2010; about 80,000 are expected to leave it by the end of 2010.
Other European nations have also had a huge exodus (again, no pun intended) of Catholic worshipers. Consequently, the new pontifical council that the Pope is creating will not be able to "re-evangelize" European and other Western nations unless the Catholic Church cleans its own house first.
In other words, the Catholic Church must have a zero tolerance with respect to abusive priests -- they must be removed from pastoral duties the first time an abusive incident occurs -- if the Catholic Church expects to re-evangelize secular nations, and to regain the respect and credibility it once enjoyed.
The new pontifical council will promote a new evangelization in countries where the Christian Church has existed for centuries, but where a secular society has prevailed over Christianity in recent years.
Whether or not the new council will have a significant impact in returning a multitude of Europeans to the Catholic Church remains to be seen; however, Pope Benedict's decision to create such a council is an important step in the right direction.
The fact is that many Catholics have lost faith (no pun intended) in the Catholic Church in recent years, due to the plethora of child abuse cases against Catholic priests. For archdiocesan hierarchs -- and even the Vatican itself -- to "look the other way" and to allow these abusive priests to continue to celebrate Mass has indeed had a disastrous spiritual, social, and financial effect on the Catholic Church.
For example, in Austria, the Catholic Church has suffered exceptionally during the past several months, as some 700 people have come forward to report violent and sexual abuse at Catholic institutions. This is believed to be the chief reason for Austrians leaving the Church in droves. More than 30,000 Austrians left the Catholic Church in just the first three months of 2010; about 80,000 are expected to leave it by the end of 2010.
Other European nations have also had a huge exodus (again, no pun intended) of Catholic worshipers. Consequently, the new pontifical council that the Pope is creating will not be able to "re-evangelize" European and other Western nations unless the Catholic Church cleans its own house first.
In other words, the Catholic Church must have a zero tolerance with respect to abusive priests -- they must be removed from pastoral duties the first time an abusive incident occurs -- if the Catholic Church expects to re-evangelize secular nations, and to regain the respect and credibility it once enjoyed.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Vatican Case; Sought Sovereign Immunity in Pedophile Case
The Radio France Internationale (French) website reports today (June 29, 2010) that the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal by the Vatican for immunity in a high-profile pedophile case. The refusal is a blow to the Holy See, as it tries to protect itself from a number of sex-abuse cases.
The Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case will allow the trial of a lower court suit filed in 2002 by a plaintiff who was abused several times as a teenager by an alleged pedophile priest, Fr. Andrew Ronan, in Portland, Oregon.
Before being accused of the offenses in the United States, Ronan -- who died in 1992 -- allegedly sexually molested children in Ireland and Chicago.
The Vatican wanted the federal courts to throw out a lawsuit that sought to hold the Roman Catholic Church responsible for moving Ronan from Ireland to Chicago and then to Portland, despite the sex abuse accusations. The Vatican claimed immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976.
However, the Supreme Court rejected the Church's claim that it enjoys "sovereign immunity." Consequently, the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case provides survivors of sexual abuse with more leverage in obtaining justice and truth about the complicity of Vatican leaders in covering up the criminal acts of Catholic priests.
The Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case will allow the trial of a lower court suit filed in 2002 by a plaintiff who was abused several times as a teenager by an alleged pedophile priest, Fr. Andrew Ronan, in Portland, Oregon.
Before being accused of the offenses in the United States, Ronan -- who died in 1992 -- allegedly sexually molested children in Ireland and Chicago.
The Vatican wanted the federal courts to throw out a lawsuit that sought to hold the Roman Catholic Church responsible for moving Ronan from Ireland to Chicago and then to Portland, despite the sex abuse accusations. The Vatican claimed immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976.
However, the Supreme Court rejected the Church's claim that it enjoys "sovereign immunity." Consequently, the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case provides survivors of sexual abuse with more leverage in obtaining justice and truth about the complicity of Vatican leaders in covering up the criminal acts of Catholic priests.
Pope Makes Plans to "Re-Evangelize" the West; Says Europe Is Decaying to a Secular Society
Pope Benedict XVI is creating a new Vatican office to fight secularization and "re-evangelize" the West -- a tacit acknowledgment that his attempts to reinvigorate Christianity in Europe have not succeeded and need a new boost. Benedict announced the new office during a vespers' service yesterday (June 28, 2010), according to the Huffington Post website.
Benedict said that in Europe -- where Christianity has existed for centuries -- "the process of secularization has produced a serious crisis of the sense of the Christian faith and role of the Church."
The new pontifical council, he said, would "promote a renewed evangelization" in countries where the Church has long existed "but which are living a progressive secularization of society and a sort of 'eclipse of the sense of God.'"
Benedict did not say who would head the new office, but Italian media have said he will select Monsignor Rino Fisichella, who as head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, is the Vatican's top bioethics official.
Benedict said that in Europe -- where Christianity has existed for centuries -- "the process of secularization has produced a serious crisis of the sense of the Christian faith and role of the Church."
The new pontifical council, he said, would "promote a renewed evangelization" in countries where the Church has long existed "but which are living a progressive secularization of society and a sort of 'eclipse of the sense of God.'"
Benedict did not say who would head the new office, but Italian media have said he will select Monsignor Rino Fisichella, who as head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, is the Vatican's top bioethics official.
Swedish Archbishop to Royal Couple: "No One Is Indispensable, Not Even a Princess or Prince"
The Ecumenical Church International website reports today (June 29, 2010) that Church of Sweden Archbishop Anders Wejryd, who married Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling in Stockholm's Church of St. Nicholas on June 19, has reminded the couple -- they are not indispensable.
The archbishop, who heads the Lutheran Church in Sweden, reminded the couple that they will not have total control over their lives. "But you will successfully make your way through life if you keep your focus on people other than yourselves, on wider contexts, on society, on family, and on the future."
Wejryd, who was one of four officiating clergy at the Storkyrkan Cathedral -- as the Church of St. Nicholas is also called -- said the couple should ask themselves both, what they can do, and what they should do.
"None of us is indispensable, not even a crown princess or a prince. But we are still needed. We can all be called into question, not least if we are public figures," the archbishop said.
The archbishop, who heads the Lutheran Church in Sweden, reminded the couple that they will not have total control over their lives. "But you will successfully make your way through life if you keep your focus on people other than yourselves, on wider contexts, on society, on family, and on the future."
Wejryd, who was one of four officiating clergy at the Storkyrkan Cathedral -- as the Church of St. Nicholas is also called -- said the couple should ask themselves both, what they can do, and what they should do.
"None of us is indispensable, not even a crown princess or a prince. But we are still needed. We can all be called into question, not least if we are public figures," the archbishop said.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Head of WCC, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Meet; Discuss Role of WCC in Ecumenical Movement
The role of the World Council of Churches (WCC) within the ecumenical movement and of the Russian Orthodox Church within the fellowship of WCC member churches were among the subjects discussed by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, who met in Moscow today (June 28, 2010).
"The Russian Orthodox Church can play an inspiring role in the fellowship of WCC member churches," said Tveit after the meeting. Tveit highlighted Kirill's leadership for the development of the church's mission -- especially among youth -- according to the WCC website.
The meeting between the WCC general secretary and the Russian Patriarch took place in a warm and open atmosphere, Tveit said, which allowed for a frank discussion.
"His Holiness has expressed a deep commitment to, and a strong interest on the WCC which I really appreciated," Tveit said.
"The Russian Orthodox Church can play an inspiring role in the fellowship of WCC member churches," said Tveit after the meeting. Tveit highlighted Kirill's leadership for the development of the church's mission -- especially among youth -- according to the WCC website.
The meeting between the WCC general secretary and the Russian Patriarch took place in a warm and open atmosphere, Tveit said, which allowed for a frank discussion.
"His Holiness has expressed a deep commitment to, and a strong interest on the WCC which I really appreciated," Tveit said.
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