What’s happening with the war? It depends on who’s watching
This news digest was prepared from news and wire reports by Witness news editor, Pat McCaughan.
While two Church of England (COE) bishops broke ranks with the Archbishop of Canterbury and other Anglicans, calling the attack on Iraq morally and legally justified, the Bishop of Jerusalem characterized the allies and their supporters "Christless Christians." In an interview with The Church of England Newspaper, John Oliver, Bishop of Hereford, said Saddam Hussein had been responsible for the deaths of up to a million of his own people. "Casualties in a quick-strike war are likely to be something like one-tenth of that figure. If he is let off the hook again the next 12 years may well see the death of half a million people at least." But Bishop of Jerusalem Riah Abu-el-Assal called the British and Americans "aggressors" in the war and noted that Israel would be the main beneficiary of the conflict in securing aid from America as part of the war budget. The allies will bear the responsibility of the loss of innocent lives, claimed Abu-el-Assal. "I continue to believe that whoever thinks that they can bring about a new world order with the power of the gun will be defeated," he said.
The Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) in Cambridge, Mass. has come up with a helpful way to remember the Iraqi people, by wearing the name of an Iraqi
child. At press time, the seminary had received requests from around the world for nearly 33,000 "peace pins." A white dove is featured on the light blue pins, along with an olive branch and the name and age of an Iraqi child. To order, contact Nancy Davidge, 617.868.3450 x302, fax 617.864.5385, email:
ndavidge@episdivschool.edu.
What’s happening with the war? All the news that’s fit to watch depends on the audience, and surveys show that an increasing number of Americans believe the war in Iraq is a just war, while most of the world’s Arabs and Muslims see it as a war of aggression. "The difference in coverage between the U.S. and the rest of the world helped contribute to the situation that we're in now," says Kim Spencer, president of WorldLink TV, a U.S. satellite channel devoted to airing foreign news. "Americans have been unable to see how they’re perceived." Media watchers say the European press has tended to be more balanced than the U.S. media, in part because Europe is closer to the Muslim world. "There are really two stories unfolding here, one is the war and its progress and the second one is the progress of world opinion," says Tom Patterson of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. "That second dimension is there in the American press, but it’s clearly way underreported." For instance, U.S. media outlets don’t devote many resources to covering in-depth the growing anti-American sentiment – even among American allies – or its implications for the future, says Professor Patterson. (source: Christian Science Monitor)
Kenya’s government, in announcing an aggressive new campaign against AIDS, is seeking to increase collaboration with church organizations to fight the spread of the disease. A main component of the campaign will be to "scale up" HIV/AIDS programs that various churches offer, a government official said. For example, the Archdiocese of Nairobi will receive about $24,000 for its AIDS programs. Government and church officials said they believe the collaboration is essential to the program’s success due to the churches’ extensive networks. "We realize that they have got their own policies for their church members and training programs for their own staff people. We wanted to bring these people together so that we can learn from each other and inspire one another," said Micah Kisoo of the National AIDS Control Council, the government body that coordinates national HIV/AIDS initiatives.
Romanian church leaders have protested against plans to bulldoze eight churches and nine cemeteries to make way for Europe’s biggest-ever opencast goldmine. "We don't agree to this act of destruction and will insist our demands are met," said Andrei Andreicut, Romanian Orthodox Archbishop of Alba Iulia. The plans for mining at Rosia Montana in Transylvania’s Apuseni Mountains have already raised a storm of protest from local residents, environmental groups and historians. The project was put forward by a Canadian-Romanian joint venture called Gold Corporation.
A group of Anglican indigenous people in Canada has rejected an agreement by the church and the federal government to settle abuse claims filed by former students of schools for indigenous children because the agreement does not cover claims of emotional or cultural abuse. Under the accord, signed in March 2003, the Anglican Church of Canada and the government will share the cost of compensating indigenous students who suffered sexual and physical abuse in residential schools operated by the church on behalf of the government from 1820 to 1969.