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Making amends with Anabaptists, AmeriCorps teachers banned from Catholic schools, and the Graham Staines hospital.

Making Amends with Anabaptists

Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed churches are seeking to make amends for persecuting Anabaptists in the 16th and 17th centuries. A Vatican-appointed delegation last fall concluded five years of meetings with a group from Mennonite World Conference, the global Mennonite fellowship. Similarly, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has finished a two-year series of meetings this spring with the Mennonite Church U.S.A., and on June 26 the Reformed Church in Zurich held a reconciliation ceremony with participation by Anabaptist descendants from around the world. Also on June 26, Pope John Paul II met with Johann Christoph Arnold, an elder of the Bruderhof Communities, in Rome.

AmeriCorps Dispute Settled

Federal District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled July 2 that the federal agency that oversees AmeriCorps may not pay for programs that place volunteers in Catholic schools (CT, March 2003, p. 28). Kessler sided with the American Jewish Congress. The AJC said the Corporation for National and Community Service was improperly paying for religious instruction. AmeriCorps argued its funding was for secular activities, not the religious elements of the schools, which it said were separate. AJC general counsel Marc Stern said there could be additional lawsuits.

Staines Hospital Opens

Five and a half years after the brutal killing of Australian missionary Graham Staines in India, his dream project of a referral hospital opened in Baripada, Orissa, on July 8. The 10-bed hospital is for both leprosy and general patients. The next week, widow Gladys Staines said she would be leaving India temporarily, citing her daughter’s education, an ailing father, and a need for “spiritual reflection in solitude.”

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

The Mennonite Weekly Review has information about the meetings between Catholics and Mennonites.

The Washington Post has a story on Judge Gladys Kessler’s order to prohibit AmeriCorps teachers from serving in Catholic schools.

The BBC has an article on Gladys Staines’ decision to leave India, and the Indian newspaper, Rediff, has information on the inauguration of the Graham Staines hospital.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

What God Hath Not Joined

The Man Behind the Marriage Amendment

Pro-Abortion Madness

Q & A: Deborah Dortzbach

News

Quotation Marks

Teaching and Learning

Senate Showdown

So, Who Owns the Sanctuary?

Southern Baptist Surprise!

The Art of Debating Darwin

Editorial

Never Again?

Editorial

The Values-Driven Voter

The Visit

Theological Tango

Thirteen Bad Arguments for Same-Sex Marriage

When God Doesn't Heal

Keeping the Sabbath

Forgetting God

Court Guts Porn Law

News

Go Figure

News

Loose Lips

News

Passages

A False Cry of Peace

A Crumbling Institution

Unintelligent Debate

Bad Cops

Clearing the Clutter

Courtroom Thriller

Cracking Down on Conversions

Fighting Zealous Tolerance

Fish Tales

Forgetting God

Inside <em>CT</em>: The Cure of Gay Souls

Loving Military Enemies

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