American churches provide health care ministries

New survey shows churches count health care as a priority ministry
Seventy percent of participating churches provide direct health services

New York, Sept. 18, 2007 – A groundbreaking survey of more than 6,000 American congregations reveals that churches spend a significant amount of time, energy and money in the ministries of health care.

The Congregational Health Ministry Survey, conducted by the National Council of Churches USA (NCC) with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, shows that a majority of churches are ministering to their communities by providing health care ministries. As the number of uninsured Americans reaches 47 million people, congregations are supplying health education and direct health care services. Many are advocating on behalf of public policy issues related to health care.

According to the survey, about 70 percent of responding churches provide direct health services, with 65 percent offering health education programs within their community. The survey defines direct services as provision of medical care to individuals by trained health care professionals.

“It is not surprising to find that churches see health care as a part of their faith mission and mandate,” said Rev. Dr. Eileen W. Lindner, deputy general secretary of the NCC for Research and Planning, who supervised the survey. “The results of this survey confirm a higher energy for health care than we might have thought, however, and show that effective health care ministries are being developed by congregations of all sizes to meet the urgent needs of their communities.”

 Read the complete news report from the National Council of Churches
 The full survey report is also online
 Key findings of the Congregational Health Survey

Vatican excommunicates some members of Canadian sect

[John Thavis, Catholic News Service] The Vatican has announced the excommunication of certain members of the Army of Mary, a sect in Canada whose teachings have been deemed dangerous and erroneous by church authorities. The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, acting with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, declared the excommunication after the Army of Mary performed ordinations without church permission, the Canadian bishops' conference said in a statement Sept. 12.

The Army of Mary was founded in Quebec in 1971 by Marie-Paul Giguere, who said she was receiving visions from God. The organization's publications suggested that Giguere was the reincarnation of Mary, a claim that led church leaders in 1987 to warn the faithful that the group could not be considered Catholic. The Army of Mary defied church authorities earlier this year when it ordained several new priests. Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec declared that the priest who conducted the ordination had no authority to do so, and the cardinal issued a public warning against the group.
Read the original news article ...Texte intégral ...
Posted: September 14, 2007Transmis : 14 septembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : catholic canada vatican army of mary

Canadian Muslims observing Ramadan

(Ottawa, Canada - Sept 13, 2007) Muslims in Canada today started fasting for the holy month of Ramadan. During the month, from dawn to sunset, Muslims around the world abstain from food, drink and marital relations. "Ramadan is a time when Muslims strive to spiritually purify themselves to become better people. The month is marked by charity, worship and prayer.

"Throughout the month Muslims struggle to improve their behaviour, character and relations with family and friends. A lot of emphasis is also placed on staying away from gossip, short-temperedness and other bad habits. "On average, Canadians learn most about the Islamic faith during this month through their Muslim friends," said Sameer Zuberi, CAIR-CAN Communications Coordinator.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Maintaining the fast during the month is considered one of the five pillars of Islam. According to a 2001 Statistics Canada census, Canadian Muslims made up 2% of the population.

100 years of praying for Christian unity

[Michael Swan, The Catholic Register] Anyone who thought a look back at 20th-century history through the eyes of prayer would be comforting, uplifting or anodyne might want to begin with the 1919 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Organizers of this early version of the annual week of prayer pulled no punches when they began, "The crowning horror and blasphemy of our divisions is that we shut one another out from the one great Sacrament of Love."

In the months just after the unprecedented slaughter of the First World War, the organizers of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity had harsh words for Catholics and Protestants alike.

"If it (the Eucharist) be the approach to the Real Presence of Christ, if it be the reception of His actual Flesh and Blood, if it be the representation of and the participation in the one full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world, whereby we may receive the very Life of God in Christ, how dare we believe that Christ will deign to dwell in us and we in Him until we are reconciled to Him (and) to the brethren for whom He gave Himself?" the 1919 prayer guide asks Catholics.

The 1919 liturgy is one of a century's worth of prayers for Christian unity members of the Faith and Witness commission of the Canadian Council of Churches have been gathering for a book to commemorate the first century of Christians praying together for unity. The Liturgies for Christian Unity: The First 100 Years will be published by Novalis in January, just in time for the 100th anniversary of the annual ecumenical event, and will concentrate on the uniquely Canadian prayers supported by prayers that were prayed in Canada and around the world.

Read the complete news article on The Catholic Register website.

Posted: September 10, 2007Transmis : 10 septembre, 2007 • TagsMots clés : ecumenism prayer canada ccc canadian council of churches

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