Conscience articles from March 2003

Conscience archives from March 2003

Editor's note.(Editorial)
March 22, 2003... WE LIVE IN FEARFUL TIMES. THERE IS A MANIFEST FEAR of freedom, a fear of the unknown and a fear of the different. Many openly express an aversion to being provoked, prodded or challenged by new ideas. We are told that if we want to retain the...

Behind the Great Wall. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
March 22, 2003... IN HER EXCELLENT ARTICLE on China's population policies Barbara Crossette could have given more credit to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) for its role in helping China perform the u-turn, based on its acceptance of the Cairo Programme of Action...

Tough times, tougher choices. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
March 22, 2003... THE INTERVIEW WITH DR. Obaid provides much needed insight into the impact of the funding loss from the US withdrawal of UNEPA funding. We have watched from Europe with growing dismay the increasing US hostility to reproductive health in all its...

Coercion in family planning. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
March 22, 2003... BARBARA HEWSON'S ARTICLE rightly makes the point that the notion of coercion is often ill-defined, and moreover that context makes a difference. For example, financial incentives for sterilization are likely to exert more pressure on poor...

Chinese whispers. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
March 22, 2003... THANK YOU FOR JENNIFER Bernstein's article giving a comprehensive documentation of the single-minded acts of the Bush administration. The UNFPA assists developing countries, at their request, to address reproductive health and population...

President of Poland urged to reform abortion laws. (The Church and Abortion).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... AN INTERNATIONAL coalition of more than 150 leaders from 46 countries organized by Serra Sippel, CFFC'S senior associate for international programs, signed a letter to President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland expressing concern over recent...

Catholic school fires teacher for prochoice views. (The Church and Abortion).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... SCHOOL OFFICIALS AT THE Ursuline Academy, a Catholic girls school in Wilmington, Delaware, fired a religion teacher for signing onto a prochoice advertisement in a local newspaper. Michele Curay-Cramer, who had worked at the school for 18...

At international conference, NGOs criticize hierarchy's views on the family. (The Church and Family).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... THE FOURTH WORLD MEETING of Families took place in Manila, the Philippines, January 22-24. In the opening address, Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jaime Sin argued, "The family is still good news [in] the third millennium. But not simply family, it...

Vatican issues guidelines for politicians. (The Church and State).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... THE VATICAN HAS URGED Roman Catholic politicians to oppose abortion, gay marriage, euthanasia and scientific research involving embryos. The Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life, is a...

Catholic groups protest Novak's visit to Rome. (The Church and State).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... THE WAR BETWEEN IRAQ and the US and its allies has lead to a rift between the Catholic hierarchy in the US, which opposes the war, and conservative Catholics, who support military action. Leaders of major Catholic organizations and prominent...

Bishops in New York sue over new medical insurance law. (Catholic Health Care).
March 22, 2003... THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS' conference in New York has sued the state over a new law that requires health insurance policies that cover prescriptions to also cover Food and Drug Administration approved prescription contraception and other women's...

Nicaraguan bishops fail in attempts to force 9-year-old to give birth. (In Catholic Circles).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... The Nicaraguan bishops' conference failed in its attempts to force a nine-year-old girl to carry her pregnancy to term. The girl, who had been raped on a trip to Costa Rica, had the abortion when her parents and feminist groups found a doctor...

Doctors protest merger, seek to buy hospital. (Catholic Health Care).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... DOCTORS IN DEKALB HOSPITAL in Smithville, Tennessee, which was bought by the Catholic health system, Saint Thomas Health Services, are looking to buy the hospital back. As a result of the merger deal, DeKalb had to stop providing tubal...

Pope John Paul II has approved changes to church law. (Update).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Pope John Paul II has approved changes to church law that will expedite trials of priests accused of sexual abuse of children--making it easier to defrock priests.

Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern has defended his decision to give up to $1 billion to Catholic religious orders. (Update).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern has defended his decision to give up to $1 billion to Catholic religious orders that face enormous payouts after priests have been successfully sued in child sexual abuse cases.

A New York Times survey has shown that the sexual abuse scandal in the US involves some 1,200 priests and more than 4,260 people. (Update).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... A New York Times survey has shown that the sexual abuse scandal in the US involves some 1,200 priests and more than 4,260 people who have claimed publicly to have been abused or are named in lawsuits as having been abused.

Lawyers for the Diocese of Albany are opposing a sexual abuse victim's efforts to sue it under federal antiracketeering laws. (Update).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Lawyers for the Diocese of Albany are opposing a sexual abuse victim's efforts to sue it under federal antiracketeering laws. The success of such a case would greatly increase the liabilities for the diocese.

Bishop John B. McCormack of Manchester, New Hampshire, released a report seeking to explain the diocese's ineffectual response to allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests. (Update).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Bishop John B. McCormack of Manchester, New Hampshire, released a report seeking to explain the diocese's ineffectual response to allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests. His report was released at the same time as the state attorney...

Intense lobbying by Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, DC, resulted in the withdrawal of a bill before the Maryland General Assembly that would have required priests to report suspected child abuse, even if the information came during confession. (Update).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Intense lobbying by Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, DC, resulted in the withdrawal of a bill before the Maryland General Assembly that would have required priests to report suspected child abuse, even if the information came...

A grand jury in Cleveland, Ohio, completed its investigation into the church sexual abuse scandal there, finding allegations against 145 priests and 351 laypeople involved in the church. (Update).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... A grand jury in Cleveland, Ohio, completed its investigation into the church sexual abuse scandal there, finding allegations against 145 priests and 351 laypeople involved in the church. The authorities only filed charges against one priest and...

Cardinal Bernard F. Law has appeared before a grand jury in Boston to determine whether he should face charges over the clergy sexual abuse scandal. (Update).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Cardinal Bernard F. Law has appeared before a grand jury in Boston to determine whether he should face charges over the clergy sexual abuse scandal. Law resigned in late 2002 as a result of his decision to reassign rather than defrock pedophile...

A grand jury has charged the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, with protecting 58 sexually abusive priests. (Update).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... A grand jury has charged the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, with protecting 58 sexually abusive priests. It concluded that the diocese was "incapable of properly handling issues relating to the sexual abuse of children by priests."...

Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York has indicated his disdain for the National Review Board on sexual. (Update).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York has indicated his disdain for the National Review Board on sexual abuse appointed by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). He refused to celebrate mass for them and then denied them permission to...

The pope has accepted the resignation of Bishop Manuel Moreno of Tucson, Arizona. (Update).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... The pope has accepted the resignation of Bishop Manuel Moreno of Tucson, Arizona. Moreno, who had three years to go before the mandatory retirement age of 75, resigned after being accused of mishandling a sexual abuse scandal in his diocese....

The committee formed by the US bishops' conference to investigate the sexual abuse crisis has chosen New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice to do a national study.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... The committee formed by the US bishops' conference to investigate the sexual abuse crisis has chosen New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice to do a national study. The National Review Board on sexual abuse has asked the college to...

Clergy sexual abuse index. (Sexual Abuse Crisis).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Is part of a continuing effort to keep people informed about the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the church, Catholics for a Free Choice has made available a detailed chart of the known national and international cases of sexual abuse as reported...

Pregnant women banned from church weddings in Eastern Philippines. (Endnotes).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... A BISHOP IN AN EASTERN Philippine province has banned pregnant women from taking their marriage vows in front of the altar. Bishop Jose Sorra, head of a diocese in Albay province, has instructed his priests to ensure all prospective brides are...

Catholic universities host Vagina Monologues. (Endnotes).
March 22, 2003... DESPITE PRESSURE FROM CONSERVATIVE Catholic groups, the majority of Catholic universities that planned performances of Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues decided to host the play. A small number, including Xavier University in Cincinnati, Gonzaga...

The Bishops go to the movies: The Miracle: film censorship and the entanglement of church and state.
March 22, 2003... LATE IN DECEMBER 1950, AN OBSCURE ITALIAN FILM called Il Miracolo (The Miracle) opened at the Paris Theater in Manhattan. Directed by Roberto Rossellini, The Miracle features a dim-witted peasant woman who is plied with drink and then seduced...

A retreat from reason? The Catholic church and scientific progress.
March 22, 2003... THE 19TH CENTURY WAS DOMINATED BY THE discoveries of chemistry from dyes to dynamite; the 20th century by physics, from computer chips to nuclear weapons; and the 21st century looks as if it will be dominated by biological discoveries from the...

Playing the anti-Catholic card: historical perspectives on the power of "anti-Catholicism.".
March 22, 2003... "IF YOU WOULD SAVE THE INSTITUTIONS OF YOUR country from the sacrilegious hands of Jesuit priests... you must retain the power of sometimes taking your deadly enemy by surprise." --J. WAYNE LAURENS, The Crisis: or, The Enemies of America...

Sex, lies and duct tape.
March 22, 2003... LAST DECEMBER, AT THE London offices of the sexual and reproductive rights organization International Family Health, employees found a festive musical email in their inboxes. Entitled "The 12 STIS of Christmas," the four-part harmony sing-along...

Prochoice politics and church law: what the Catholic anti-abortion lobby does not want you to know.
March 22, 2003... POLITICIANS AND LAWMAKERS expect criticism and censure from their political opponents, it goes with the territory. Politicians and lawmakers who are prochoice expect further vitriol from anti-choice activists. Recently, the church hierarchy and...

Art, religion and censorship. (Roundtable).
March 22, 2003... AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELIGION and art existed before the creation of modern religious systems: the very origins of art can perhaps be traced back to primitive ritual. With the recognition of the power of images, however, comes the...

Ambiguously provocative. (Roundtable).
March 22, 2003... IN 1989, ONE OF MY WORKS, Piss Christ, came under attack. The misrepresentation of my work in Congress and in the media and the cavalier and blasphemous intentions ascribed to me on the Congressional floor bore little semblance to reality. ...

Nude body beautiful. (Roundtable).
March 22, 2003... OUT OF THE DESIRE TO RESPECT EACH others' diversity of cultures, views, ethnicities and religious or moral values, comes the rationale that art that might be perceived as offensive by one person or group should not be shown. But almost any...

More than the "right to be wrong". (Roundtable).
March 22, 2003... I COME FROM A (MOSTLY) IRISH CATHOLIC family where dissent among family members was not tolerated. This was on my mother's side, where Joe McCarthy was admired, where they voted for Nixon over Kennedy and where the best you could hope for was...

Our Lady of Controversy. (Roundtable).
March 22, 2003... "WHAT A SHAME THAT YOU USE YOUR exquisite talent in such a shameful, and artistically ludicrous way. Your depiction of Our Lady of Guadalupe in a bikini offends me." [John Correll in an email dated February i8, 2003.] After two years, I am...

Violence in religious and sexual imagery. (Roundtable).
March 22, 2003... I AM TRYING TO UNDERSTAND OUR species' propensity for violence and the degradation of others, and have noted that two common sources of depictions of that inhumanity are found in religious (specifically Catholic) and sexual imagery. The...

The Pregnant Virgin. (Roundtable).
March 22, 2003... SINCE JESUS WAS BORN OF A WOMAN, a woman was pregnant with Jesus. For this woman, the pregnancy must have been what it is for every woman: a world. A world of feelings and thoughts. A succession and crisscrossing of moments of glory and...

Postmodern Heretics: Catholicism and art today. (Roundtable).
March 22, 2003... WHY DO ARTISTS WHO WERE RAISED AS Catholics figure so prominently in the battles of the Culture War? Are there religious roots to their tendency to create work that is perceived as blasphemous, sacrilegious or pornographic by the moral...

Trembling Before G-d. (Roundtable).
March 22, 2003... TREMBLING BEFORE G-D IS AN UNPRECEDENTED feature documentary that shatters assumptions about faith, sexuality and religious fundamentalism. Built around intimately-told personal stories of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews who are gay or lesbian, the...

In the face of all. (Roundtable).
March 22, 2003... THE SASSI, MATERA, IN SOUTHERN Italy, summer 2001. I was invited to do a solo exhibition and, while still not sure of what work I would show, I found myself entering a church. This, surprisingly, after many years of trying to wash off the holy...

What are they so afraid of? Catholic anti-intellectualism in America.
March 22, 2003... ONE OF THE FIRST GROUPS TO settle in America was the Puritans, trenchantly described by comedian Robin Williams as "people so uptight the English kicked them out." They brought with them a rigid religious and social system suspicious of and...

Academic freedom: do religious universities shape up?
March 22, 2003... THIS JOURNAL HAS BEEN DESCRIBED as Catholic, pro-choice, and pro-feminist; I, however, teach at Baptist Baylor University, which is not particularly prochoice, would rarely be described as feminist, and is certainly not Catholic. How can I do...

No place for religion in EU constitution: the absence of God does not mean an absence of good. (Opinion).
March 22, 2003... Pope John Paul II has "expressed his deep disappointment" that the draft text of the European Constitution does not mention the contributions and role of Christian churches in the development of the European Union. A statement from the...

Thirty-Four Million Friends at work. (Opinion).
March 22, 2003... ON FEBRUARY 8, 2003, THE last day of my trip to Mali and Senegal, a young Mali girl visiting a Youth Promotion and Health Center--jointly sponsored by the government of Mali and the United Nations Population Fund--went online and showed me that...

A liberating and inclusive reality.
March 22, 2003... Gender, Ethnicity and Religion: Views from the Other Side Rosemary Radford Ruether, (ed.) (Fortress Press, 2002, 262pp.) ONE STATEMENT FROM Magarita Suarez's essay in Gender, Ethnicity and Religion: Views from the Other Side encapsulates...

A square peg in a round hole?(Catholic Power vs. American Freedom )(Product/Service Evaluation)
March 22, 2003... Catholic Power vs. American Freedom George La Piana & John Swornley (Prometheus Books, 2002, 286pp.) Critics of efforts to reform the Roman Catholic church from within almost always argue that the church is not a democracy. Of course, these...

Bookshelf.
March 22, 2003... Abortion: Examining Issues Through Political Cartoons by Mary E. Williams (ed.) (Greenhaven Press, 2002, 75pp.) Editor Mary Williams presents a representative and diverse collection of cartoons with commentary on a range of abortion-related...

Postscript.
March 22, 2003... "Excommunication for procured abortion constitutes a gesture of maternal love." --Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Milan, a front-runner to be the next pope. (1) "I did not have sexual intercourse with your son, I only fondled him.... I...

Index: a Selective Timeline of Censorship 1235-2003.(Chronology)
March 22, 2003... 1235-2003 1235 Pope Gregory IX establishes the Inquisition to patrol and enforce the orthodoxy of Catholicism. 1534 Martin Luther's translation of the Bible into vernacular German, Biblia, dat ist, die gantze Heiluge Schrift Deudsch is...