Religion Briefs
Man parks Nativity scene outside court
LAFAYETTE, Ind. >> Ever since a Nativity scene was banished from the courthouse grounds by Tippecanoe County commissioners in 1999, Jack Ruckel has marked Christmas by putting a portable manager display on his pickup truck and parking it outside the building."I'll quit when the good Lord tells me to," he said as supporters drove by, honking horns and giving the thumbs-up sign.
After some citizens complained, the county commissioners made the courthouse a "closed forum," allowing only government-sponsored displays.
Commissioner Ruth Shedd said Ruckel has the right to show the manger on the street, but "I don't know what the need is to have it on the courthouse grounds. It needs to be in your home, your personal yard or a church yard."
White supremacists move HQ to Wyoming
RIVERTON, Wyo. >> The white supremacist World Church of the Creator has moved its world headquarters to Riverton, a central Wyoming city on an American Indian reservation.The move was announced online last week by the leader of the group, Matt Hale, of East Peoria, Ill.
Evan Zuckerman, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the group's literature has inspired members and former members to commit acts of violence.
"Wyomingites should be concerned," Zuckerman said last Saturday.
Vatican anti-gay stance draws Episcopalian ire
BOSTON >> Two Episcopal bishops say that anti-gay comments from the Vatican could lead to hate crimes in the United States.Bishop M. Thomas Shaw and assistant Bishop Roy Cederholm Jr. of the Massachusetts Diocese told the Boston Globe they hesitated to enter another denomination's controversy but found it necessary.
The Vatican is preparing a statement that is expected to address whether homosexually oriented candidates should enter priestly training. A cardinal who formerly led a top Vatican agency wrote recently that gay ordinations are imprudent and risky.
"I'm really concerned about hate crimes and homophobia that comes from supposedly responsible people" making statements against gay clergy, said Shaw, who has ordained openly homosexual priests since becoming head of the diocese in 1994.
Greek Orthodox cleric criticizes relic worship
ATHENS, Greece >> Hundreds of thousands of Greeks braved biting cold and rain to see a holy icon brought from Jerusalem, sparking a dispute in the Greek Orthodox hierarchy after a cleric said the church was encouraging idolatry.Media images of devout Greeks of all ages lining up for hours to pray before the icon prompted harsh words from the bishop of Ioannina, Theoklitos, who slammed the church for emphasizing relics over teachings.
"We are encouraging idolatry and carry around the bones of saints and holy relics to fill the church's benches," Theoklitos told Greek daily Ta Nea Monday.
The archbishop of Athens and All Greece said the comments were close to "Protestantism," tantamount to saying they were against the Greek Orthodox faith.
"On the basis of one aberration, we cannot expel icons from our faith," Archbishop Christodoulos said.
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