Religion Briefs
Star-Bulletin staff &
Associated Press
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HAWAII
Saint Francis School gets $25,000 grant
Saint Francis School in Manoa Valley has been awarded a $25,000 grant from First Hawaiian Bank for its new Troubadome gymnasium.
Construction of the Ahuna Troubadome, named after Sister Rose Ahuna, began in January. The gym will include bleachers to seat 420, a scoreboard, new blackboards, water coolers, electrical upgrades, lighting and a public address system.
Two new buildings adjacent to the gym will house restrooms and showers, a new office for the athletic director, a weight room and equipment storage. Also, the original 1960 outside clay practice court will be resurfaced, according to a release.
The Catholic school includes grades six through 12.
Professor to lead tour of Buddhist temples
Hawaii Pacific University religion professor Gregory Johnson will lead a tour of Nuuanu Buddhist temples next Saturday.
The "Beautiful Temples of Honolulu" excursion will be from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. It will conclude with an open discussion and lunch at Queen Emma Summer Palace. The $25 cost includes a boxed lunch. Call Spiritual Life Center, 523-1170, to register.
WORLD
Vatican discourages women as bishops
LONDON » A Vatican cardinal warned the Church of England that any move to consecrate women as bishops would make it impossible for their churches to fully reunify.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, made the remarks at a private meeting of Church of England bishops.
"Instead of moving towards one another, we would coexist alongside one another," Kasper said in the June 5 speech.
Three Anglican provinces, including the U.S. Episcopal Church, already consecrate female bishops. The 77 million-member Anglican Communion, a loose association of churches that trace their roots to the Church of England, has been engaged in ecumenical talks with the Vatican for decades.
In a statement following the speech, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the communion's spiritual leader, thanked Kasper for his honesty. "Nothing is served by avoiding these hard questions," Williams said.
Williams is scheduled to meet with Pope Benedict XVI for the second time in the fall.
Asians among 'least reached' by Gospel
REDLANDS, Calif. » New research released by Mission Aviation Fellowship analyzes 364 isolated areas whose inhabitants are considered the hardest to reach for evangelistic work and social services.
Of the world's 20 "least-reached" ethnic groups, 15 were in Asia, including five each in Afghanistan (Hazara, Pashtun, Tajik, Turkeman, Uzbek) and China (Han, Han-Gan, Kham, Salar, Tu) and two in Nepal (Magar, Rai). Other groups on the list were located in Djibouti, Guinea, India, Iraq, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Pakistan.
The report focuses on "pockets of people who are either forgotten or unreached," and the problems that "prevent or impede peoples' access to the Gospel."
The Protestant fellowship provides 40,000 flights per year and other support services for missionaries and nongovernment organizations in remote areas. It conducted the research to set its own plans for the next 15 to 20 years and help other evangelical groups with strategy.