VATICAN
Clinton Names Ambassador
President Clinton’s decision to appoint Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn to be the next ambassador to the Vatican drew sharp criticism from evangelical and church/state separation groups that had urged an end to official diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
“Such a decision by any President is bad, but coming from a Baptist President, it is even worse,” said Richard Land, executive director of the Southern Baptist Convention Christian Life Commission, citing the “cherished Baptist heritage” of the separation of church and state. In February, the CLC, the National Association of Evangelicals, Church of the Brethren, Seventh-day Adventist Church, and Presbyterian Church (USA) joined in a letter calling on Clinton to break diplomatic ties to the Vatican. The National Council of Churches also opposed the appointment.
Also condemning Clinton’s decision was Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, who said the continued “official relationship between the United States government and the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church” violates the First Amendment. Noting that Flynn, like his three predecessors, is a Catholic, Lynn raised concerns that the United States is establishing “a de facto religious test for this office.”
Flynn, a prolife Democrat, says he hopes to be a bridge between the White House and Pope John Paul II on the concerns they share on “social and economic justice.”
KENYA
Minister Charged with Sedition
A Kenya minister affiliated with the Presbyterian Church of East Africa has been charged with sedition after publishing a magazine article critical of the government of President Daniel Arap Moi.
Jamlick Miano, editor of The Watchman, was arrested February 15 after his magazine printed “Moi, Devil’s Whip on Kenyans.” A state prosecutor said the article sought to incite “hatred, contempt, and disaffection” against the 69-year-old Moi, in power since 1978.
Police raided newsstands February 13 and seized copies of The Watchman. Miano, who remains in jail without bond, will be tried separately for writing an earlier story in another magazine, Jitegamea.
POLAND
Strict Antiabortion Law Enacted
A new antiabortion law in Poland is the toughest in Eastern Europe, allowing the procedure only in tightly regulated situations and calling for up to two years imprisonment of doctors who violate the code.
The legislation permits abortion only if the mother’s life is endangered or her health is seriously threatened as determined by a panel of doctors; if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest as certified by a prosecutor; or if the fetus is seriously and irreversibly malformed as shown through medical tests.
The new regulations reverse Poland’s virtual abortion-on-demand policy that had been in effect since 1956. Even before the new law became official, gynecologists had been targeted with verbal threats and property vandalism by antiabortion crusaders. Still, some antiabortion campaigners say the new law does not go far enough. Before passage, lawmakers deleted a provision that would have imposed jail terms on women who received illegal abortions.
PEOPLE AND EVENTS
Briefly Noted
Sterling College President Roger Parrott has been elected chairman of the U.S. Board of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. He replaces Paul Cedar, who now is chairman of the United States Committee for Lausanne. The U.S. board also has changed its name to the Lausanne Communications Council for World Evangelization to reflect its work more accurately.
• Two issues of a new Russian journal, Pilgrim, have been published with assistance from Christianity Today, Inc. The publication, which shows readers the religious situation in Russia as seen by Russian scholars, is edited by Mikhail Morgulis.
• A lack of funds could mean a delay in the next Lambeth Conference, scheduled for 1998. The proposed meeting, traditionally held in England every 10 years for Anglican bishops, has a price tag of $10 million. Church officials say the cost is prohibitive in light of world recession and financial commitments to other projects. Instead of delaying the meeting, the denomination may limit the number of invitations.
• Peter Ball, Church of England bishop for less than a year, has resigned after an investigation into allegations that he was involved in sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old novice monk in December. Ball admitted his resignation was in connection with a “police caution” issued against him on a charge of gross indecency. “I regret,” he said, “with great penitence and sorrow, the circumstances that have led to this police caution.”
• Mongolian State Television has agreed to broadcast at no charge CBN’s “Superbook” cartoon series beginning in the fall. The English-language videotapes will be translated into Mongolian, along with follow-up materials for children who write in response to the programs.
• Brother Andrew, founder of Open Doors, will present a Bible to Albanian President Sali Berisha and other high government officials in a ceremony May 14 in Tirana. It will be among the first Albanian translations of the Bible in the country, which in 1967 declared itself “the world’s first totally atheist state.”
