In Brief
In Brief

Saturday, November 25, 2006

China Urged to Accept Faith

China should allow religion to grow as faith can help address social problems, the head of a global Christian group said Tuesday, although he warned against the influence of foreign missionaries.

Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches, also said he had seen no evidence of persecution of Christians in China. But he said the issue should be addressed.

"It is in the best interests of the government to actually expand the space for the practice of religion, and I feel that it will be to the detriment of the government here if it is not seen to be providing this freedom of religion," Kobia said.

"If China wants to be the kind of global player that it is clearly becoming . . . then there are norms and standards which will be expected of the Chinese government, and I think they are aware of this and that is why it is in their best interest to guarantee this freedom."

Kobia was visiting at the invitation of the government-recognized China Christian Council, a member of the World Council of Churches.

-- Reuters

Accused Priests Are Listed

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, Del., has released the names of 20 priests against whom it says there are substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse.

The list of names was printed in the Nov. 16 edition of the diocese's weekly newspaper, the Dialog. It includes eight living priests accused of abusing minors in the diocese, and two who worked in the diocese but were accused of abuse elsewhere.

Of the 20 priests, the names of 10 had been made public previously, either by the diocese or by the media, church officials said. The list includes only priests who have been employed by the diocese, not those employed by religious orders.

Relatively few U.S. dioceses have released the names of accused priests. Advocates for victims have been urging more dioceses to do so, to encourage victims to come forward and to warn the public about predators.

-- Associated Press

India-to-Israel Migration

Dozens of people who profess Jewish ancestry were headed from India to Israel on Monday, the first such group to migrate after rabbinical leaders accepted them as descendants of one of the "lost tribes" of Israel.

The emigrants are members of the Bnei Menashe community in India's remote northeastern states of Mizoram and Manipur, and they trace their lineage to one of the 10 lost tribes of Israel exiled by an Assyrian empire 27 centuries ago.

Last year, rabbinical leaders converted them to Judaism and agreed to bring them to Israel. There are about 800 Menashe in Israel, most in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and 7,000 more in Mizoram and Manipur hoping to join them.

"Altogether, 218 people are coming. The first group is leaving on Monday," said Yarban Vatikay, spokesman for the Jewish Agency, an Israel-based group coordinating the migration. "The remaining will be brought in batches."

-- Reuters

Iranian Targets Azeri Writer

An Iranian cleric has offered his house as a reward to anyone who kills an Azeri writer he says insulted the prophet Muhammad, the Fars News Agency in Tehran reported.

Last week, an Azeri court jailed journalist Rafika Tagi, who wrote an article in Azerbaijan's Senet newspaper illustrated by cartoons of Muhammad. The cartoons were originally published in Denmark and caused an outcry in the Muslim world earlier this year.

Tagi and the paper's editor were each jailed for two months.

"Whoever kills this Azeri writer who insulted the prophet Muhammad, I will give him my house as a reward," Ayatollah Morteza Bani Fazl was quoted as saying.

Ethnic Azeris make up about 25 percent of Iran's population of 70 million. On Sunday, 50 people gathered in front of the Azeri Embassy in Tehran, chanting slogans against the author, witnesses said. Police cordoned off the area.

-- Reuters