Warsaw, 27 June (ENI)--A senior Romanian Orthodox archbishop faces possible defrocking for receiving Holy Communion during a Catholic service. "Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches have a theological dialogue, and such actions can only discourage this," said Constantin Stoica, a spokesperson for the Bucharest patriarchate of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Stoica added, "We hope our dialogue will greatly improve in future, and make it possible to realise church unity and receive Holy Communion together but we are not yet prepared for this, and for many Catholics and Orthodox it is a strange idea." Metropolitan Nicolae Corneanu of Banat is to face his church's governing Holy Synod in July to explain why he received Communion during the dedication of a new Greek Catholic parish church in Romania.

"We have a good, normal relationship with Catholics here that we hope to build on," said Stoica, whose church claims the loyalty of 87 percent of Romania's 22 million people. "But decisions on shared Communion have to be taken by the whole church, not by individuals," he added. Ties have long been tense between Greek Catholics, who combine the eastern liturgy with loyalty to Rome, and Romania's predominant Orthodox church. The tension is over Orthodox refusal to return Greek Catholic churches that were taken away when the country's communist regime outlawed the Transylvania-based church in 1948.

Metropolitan Corneanu surprised members of the congregation at the 25 May dedication of the Greek Catholic church in the city of Timisoara, when he stepped forward to receive Communion. The action was extensively reported in Romanian newspapers and criticised on 31 May in an Orthodox patriarchate statement that said interchurch dialogue was, "very fragile" and "cannot be assisted but rather complicated by gestures considered prophetic or problematic".

Another Romanian Orthodox metropolitan, Bartolomeu Anania of Cluj, told journalists that according to Orthodox theology, the acceptance of Communion at a Catholic Mass implied "full unity". He called for Metropolitan Corneanu to be defrocked and dismissed. Still, the local Greek Catholic bishop, Alexandru Mesian, defended the, "unprecedented, progressive gesture" of the Orthodox metropolitan, and told Ecumenical News International that Romanian Orthodox lay people regularly made confessions and received Communion at Greek Catholic churches.

"This holy and sympathetic man of God has helped create excellent ties between our churches here that are an example for not only Romania but also the whole world. He should not be condemned and punished for this," said Bishop Mesian. [414 words]

[COURTESY TO ENI AS SOURCE]

New York, 24 June (ENI)--The US religious landscape is far more nuanced than many might have believed, according to a survey detailing a broad range of US religious, social and political beliefs. One finding is that most people in the United States, including evangelical Christians, are not particularly dogmatic about their religious faith. The report from the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, issued on 23 June, reveals that while people in the United States describe themselves as highly religious, most do not believe that their own religious faith is the only path to eternal life. The study found that 70 percent of those surveyed agreed that many religions can lead to salvation or eternal life, and that 68 percent believed, "There is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of my religion."

About 83 percent of what are called mainline, or traditional, Protestants believe that different faith traditions can lead to salvation or eternal life. The Pew analysts said, however, they were surprised, even startled, to learn that 57 percent of evangelical Christians believe that different faith traditions can pave the way to eternal life, and that 53 percent of Evangelicals see the validity of multiple ways of interpreting a particular faith. "That was a very surprising figure that will surprise many Evangelicals," John Green, senior fellow at the Pew Forum, told Ecumenical News International during a telephone news conference with reporters to explain the study.

Green said that even for someone like himself, who studies US religious trends, the survey's findings of the "enormous diversity" of the religious landscape in the United States was surprising. "I was stunned by it," he said. The Pew researcher added that the finding about religious acceptance and diversity displayed a notable "pragmatic streak" in US religious belief and practice that co-exists with an overall high level of religiosity in the United States. This was also underlined by the finding that 71 percent of those surveyed were, "absolutely certain" there is a god; 56 percent said, "religion is very important" in their lives, and 39 percent said they attend religious services once a week.

On the issue of religion and politics, the Pew study found that people in the United States who regularly attend religious services are more apt to describe themselves as political conservatives, and hold conservative views on such issues as abortion and homosexuality. However, the survey found shared views across the political and religious spectrum on such topics as a government's responsibility to assist the poor, and the need for environmental protection.

[COURTESY TO ENI AS SOURCE]

Shillong, India, 16 June (ENI)--India's first Christian university says it is pursuing a unique agenda in its goal to provide quality job-oriented education that will also meet the needs of the healthcare and social service work of the churches in the world's second most populous nation. "Though we [the churches] have been pioneers in the field of education running hundreds of colleges, we could not devise courses that we needed most," said K. M. Shyamaprasad, chancellor of the recently-founded Martin Luther Christian University based at Shillong, the capital of India's northeastern Meghalaya state

"Only a university can devise new courses, while a college can only follow the syllabus prescribed by the university," Shyamaprasad told Ecumenical News International in an interview. He was a founder of the university, which was enacted by a special resolution of the legislature of the Christian-majority Meghalaya state. Initiated by the National Lutheran Health and Medical Board of the Lutheran churches in India, the Khasi Jaintia Presbyterian Assembly based at Shillong is the local sponsor of the university according to the federal government's registration norms for a university.

The first batch of admissions started in June 2006 with more than 500 students enrolling for vocationally-oriented courses such as master's degrees in social work, counselling and psychology, and degrees in nursing, surgical and laboratory technology, hospital administration, as well as diplomas in laboratory management and paramedical care. "Most of those who are undergoing courses in our university have been already assured of jobs," said the Rev. Edwin H. Kharkongor, the university registrar.

The university admitted a fresh batch of 500 more students for the 2007 academic year, and efforts are now on to add to the available places from June 2008 due to an increasing demand from the region, where three of the seven small states have a Christian majority. "In many ways, this is a unique university," said Shyamaprasad, who is also the director of the National Lutheran Health and Medical Board of the Lutheran churches in India, which is based at Chennai in south India.

Christians in India account for only 2.3 percent of the 1.1 billion population, but administer more than 15 percent of the country's educational and health care institutions. Nearly half of the students get 60 percent of their fees subsidised from state scholarships, but the university is now mooting a scholarship endowment fund to take care of other needy students.

India's northeastern states constitute one of the least developed areas in the country. The university coordinates its operations from the Presbyterian church office in Shillong while the classes are held at five Christian hospitals and other centres across in Meghalaya state. [454 words]

[COURTESY TO ENI AS SOURCE]

Bangalore, India, 10 June (ENI)--Church leaders have expressed concern over mob attacks on religious targets in the southern Indian state of Kerala whose own tourism department promotes it as "God's own country". Spiritual personalities of all faiths including Christian, Hindu and Muslim have been under intense police and public scrutiny since May following the arrest of a high-profile Hindu astrologist in early May on allegations of sexually abusing young girls in orphanages he ran.

The astrologist and Hindu sage Santosh Madhavan is also alleged to have been involved in some dubious land deals with the support of top police and politicians who flocked to him for spiritual guidance. Madhavan's arrest was followed by a widespread crackdown on sages of all creeds by the police in Kerala, whose government is headed by Communists, while the youth wing of the Communist Party and Hindu extremists have attacked alleged faith-healing centres.

"The law should certainly catch up with those abusing religion," Philip N. Thomas, the secretary of the Kerala Council of Churches, told Ecumenical News International on 10 June. "But, unfortunately, it has now become a handy tool to discredit religion and faith." As part of an investigation into faith-healing centres, police have several times raided the offices of the influential Gospel for Asia group and the Believers Church in central Kerala.

Hindu groups mounted a huge protest march to the headquarters of the Believers Church in early June, and some protesters attacked Christians who had photographed the protest. After police raided and made public the recovery of foreign currency from an evangelical group called "Heavenly Dinner", Communist activists attacked the centre and destroyed its roadside posters.

"What is happening now is much more than investigation against fake religious leaders," said the Rev. Paul Thelakkat, spokesperson for the Syro Malabar Church, the largest church group in Kerala. The Christian community accounts for nearly 20 percent of Kerala's 34 million people. Thelakkat said there was no justification for Hindu groups and Communists to march and attack Christian centres, saying there seemed to be a "wider agenda" to denigrate religion and faiths, especially non-Hindu ones. [365 words]

[COURTESY TO ENI AS SOURCE]

Bangalore, India, 2 June (ENI)--The leader of the Christian Conference of Asia has told Hindu religious leaders, meeting to discuss HIV/AIDS, that the pandemic is a challenge to faith groups to put their beliefs into practice. "HIV/AIDS continues to be a critical test of our religious faith and practice," said Prawate Khid-arn, chairperson of the Asian Interfaith Network on HIV/AIDS, and general secretary of the Asian Christian conference.

Prawate was addressing the 1 June inaugural session in Bangalore of "'Faith in Action", said to be the largest-ever gathering of Hindu religious leaders to discuss HIV/AIDS. "We must recognise that in many instances there is a gap between religious teaching and practice. The main challenge is how to bridge this gap," the Asian Christian leader told the meeting, organized by the Art of Living Foundation with the Asian interfaith network, and UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

"Health is the biggest wealth of the society. If we have no health, we are poor," Ravi Shankar, the founding director of the Art of Living Foundation, said in his address to more than 200 Hindu delegates, including 70 prominent Hindu sages, all drawn from across India. Shankar later told Ecumenical News International that the conference was part of his foundation's attempt to involve Hindu leaders in the fight against HIV and AIDS. "Religious leaders have lot of say, and they have lot to do about this," he said.

In a 2 June statement released at the end of the two-day gathering, the Hindu leaders said they were committed to ensuring, "that the Hindu faith leadership at all levels is equipped with relevant information to help them guide the community to reduce HIV infections, and fight stigma and discrimination." Sujatha Rao, director general of India's National AIDS Control Organization, told the religious leaders, "The challenges posed by HIV/AIDS are far beyond the reach of the government, doctors and counsellors." He added, "Along with being a medical and social problem, it is also a behavioural and moral issue. It is here that religious and spiritual leaders have the power to change the thoughts of people."

India is estimated to have nearly 3.5 million people living with HIV, many of whom face social stigma and discrimination. "The stigma is so strong that women are expelled from houses, and children are prevented from going to school," said Denis Broun, UNAIDS country director in India. He urged the faith leaders to use the goodwill they command with India's Hindu majority to generate support for people with HIV to lead normal lives. [440 words]

[COURTESY TO ENI AS SOURCE]