08 March 2001 Russian church reassures members who fear bar codes signify 'the Beast' Moscow (ENI). The Russian Orthodox Church is facing one of its biggest crises since it was freed from the restrictions of Soviet life a decade ago - the refusal of many church members to accept the government tax identification numbers known as INN. Critics describe the bar codes on application forms for the ID numbers as a sign of the Antichrist referred to in the Book of Revelation. The problem, which has caused widespread consternation and even the threat of a church schism, has forced the church's head, Patriarch Alexei II, to address his flock in an unprecedented pastoral message, which was signed on 4 March and will be read in churches on Sunday, 11 March. [ ENI-01-0094]
08 March 2001 Anglican scientist-priest wins Templeton award and $1 million New York (ENI). Arthur R. Peacocke, a prominent biochemist and Anglican priest who has devoted his life to elucidating the relationship between science and theology, has won the 2001 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. Peacocke, aged 76, an Oxford University professor with doctorates in both science and theology, is the founder of the Society of Ordained Scientists, an international ecumenical organisation trying to bridge the gap between science and religion and to foster spirituality among scientists. [ENI-01-0095]
March 7, 2001 Ecumenical News International Church officials optimistic that Iran is changing its views of Christians Warsaw (ENI). Church officials from Austria have urged closer contacts with Iran after the first visit by a Roman Catholic leader in two decades to the Shi'ite Muslim country. A leading ecumenist said Iran's state and religious authorities were showing a "new openness", and would consider extending the rights of local Christian minorities.
An Episcopal bishop resigns, blaming liberal critics New York (ENI). The Episcopal (Anglican) bishop of the state of Montana has resigned following a church court's decision to defrock him for sexual misconduct. The resignation on 26 February by Charles I. "Ci" Jones III followed reports of a settlement under which Jones will be given $170 000. The Montana diocese also agreed to forgive the remaining mortgage for his diocesan home, Episcopal News Service (ENS) reported. In exchange, Jones agreed not to sue the diocese.
06 March 2001 Would you Adam and Eve (believe) it? The Bible in Cockney London (ENI). A Gospel translation in London street slang - in which Jesus heals by stretching out his "Ramsgate" before "boarding a nanny with his chinas", has won the backing of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey. "The Bible in Cockney - well, bits of it anyway" includes traditional rhyming slang from East London's working-class community in which common words are represented by down-to-earth rhymes: "nanny" stands for nanny goat = boat, "china" is china plate = mate and "Ramsgate" is Ramsgate sands = hand or hands. The book also uses current street idioms so that the last part of the Lord's Prayer comes out as: "You're the Boss, God, and will be for ever, innit? Cheers, Amen." Christians and Buddhists build bridges for peace in Sri Lanka New Delhi (ENI). Church leaders in Sri Lanka are making a major contribution to efforts to improve understanding between the island nation's two divided communities, the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community and the Tamil minority which is predominantly Hindu. With the approval of the government, church leaders recently led a group of two dozen religious officials - including 18 Buddhist monks - to what are called "uncleared areas" under the control of LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, better known as Tamil Tigers). On 18 February the group then held secret talks with senior LTTE leaders at a Catholic centre, the Madhu Church, in the diocese of Mannar in Northern Sri Lanka.
15 February 2001 Poland's new Lutheran leader aims to bridge the religious
divide Warsaw (ENI). The new head of Poland's Lutheran church has said his exposure to religious tensions in the north of the country, where he has spent much of his life, will help him work for better ecumenical relationships.25 January 2001 Dedication service will link German teenagers to Christian faith Berlin (ENI). In the eastern part of Germany more than 10 years after the collapse of communism, many more teenagers are choosing to take part in a secular dedication service for youth from the communist period rather than in a Christian confirmation service in church. The big difference in participation between the two ceremonies - the secular service is three times as popular as the church confirmation - has prompted a cross-party group of German politicians, mainly from eastern Germany, to propose a new dedication ceremony for teenagers that will not take place in church, but will incorporate Christian elements
19 January 2001 Pentecostal blessing or threat? A challenge to Latin American ecumenism
Ecumenical News International Barranquilla (ENI) 19 January 2001. The growth of Pentecostal Christianity provides the greatest challenge to the ecumenical movement in Latin America, but church leaders gathered at a regional conference in this Colombian port city are having a difficult time agreeing on how to respond to the challenge. "Religious pluralism has expanded enormously in Latin America, and the most urgent task the ecumenical movement faces today is how to open up our movement to a wider participation of Pentecostal churches," declared Walter Altmann, outgoing president of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI), at the organisation's fourth general assembly.
Russian intellectuals try to revive an ideology that has fallen out of fashion
Moscow (ENI). A group of scientists and human rights activists has established the Moscow Society of Atheists in order to revive an ideology that has gone out of fashion here during a decade of post-communist life. The society has been set up to defend Russia against what its members see as the threat of clericalism as religion, particularly the Russian Orthodox Church, the country's main church, grows in influence. . the Society of Atheists was part of a broader trend, which he described as a "new wave of godlessness among a certain group of Russian intellectuals".
18 January 2001 Philippines churches urge members to join 'People Power II' uprising Manila (ENI). Angered by what they describe as the "death of truth and justice", thousands of indignant Filipinos, with the blessing of Roman Catholic and Protestant church leaders, are taking to the streets in a protracted campaign to remove their president, Joseph "Erap" Estrada.
17 January 2001 Dominus Iesus was an attempt to put the clock back, says Methodist leader Barranquilla (ENI). A recent Vatican document, widely criticised after its publication last September because it suggested that Protestant denominations were not real churches, contained language "insensitive" to Christians in non-Catholic churches, according to a leading Roman Catholic official in Latin America. Bishop Paul Schmitz, director of ecumenical relations for the Latin American (Catholic) Bishops' Conference (CELAM), said that Vatican officials "didn't use ecumenical language" in drafting Dominus Iesus. Federico Pagura, a former bishop of the Methodist Church of Argentina, one of eight presidents of the World Council of Churches and a long-time champion of ecumenism, also interviewed by ENI in Barranquilla, said that the document had in fact had little impact in Latin America. "It's nothing new," Pagura said of the document. "Although some people have been hurt by its contents, it really just restates the old traditional posture of the [Catholic] Church before Vatican II."
12 January 2001 Episcopal Church set to improve relations with Jewish and Muslim faiths New York (ENI). The newly appointed officer for ecumenical and interfaith relations for the Episcopal (Anglican) Church in the United States has vowed to make the strengthening of Christian-Jewish-Muslim relations one of his ecumenical priorities. Improving ties between Episcopalians and Orthodox Christians is another of his priorities. "The ecumenical movement is alive and well locally, and the grassroots are leading the way," Bishop Christopher Epting told ENI. Local American churchgoers often "scratch their heads" at theological disagreements among churches at the national and international level, he said.
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