European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 31, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes religion saturday october 31,1992 spouse abuse is sinful Catholic Bishops affirm new York a the Bible does t justify wife beating and Parish priests should help abused women seek assistance the nation s roman Catholic Bishop say in their first official statement on spouse abuse. Violence in any form physical sexual psychological or verbal is sinful the Bishops say in when i Call for help a pastoral response to Domestic Vio Lence against women. The joint statement of two Bishops committees was proposed in March and approved last month by the administrative committee of the . Catholic Confer ence. Lori Beaman Hall a Canadian researcher studying religion and wife abuse said the statement is a Good starting Point to Challenge attitudes that the Bible sanctions abuse or that clergy should encourage abused spouses to return  to some extent Are very materially supportive but when it comes to actually sending people to transition houses they Are still not very supportive the University of new Brunswick researcher said thursday. Church panel to decide on lesbian pastor Rochester . A the approval of a lesbian minister As pastor of presbyterian congregation could drive some people out of the Church says a local min ister challenging the appointment. The highest court of the presbyterian Church .a. Was scheduled Friday to hear the final Appeal of a group of upstate new York churches whose protests have blocked the Rev. Jane Spahr from becom ing a pastor of the downtown United presbyterian Church in Rochester. Their arguments were to be heard by the Church s general Assembly permanent judicial commission in Irving Texas a Deci Sion is to be announced wednesday. It will be a great Relief to know one Way or another what life s going to be like said the Rev. Rosemary Mitchell a pastor of the Rochester Church. It has been very  the appointment is opposed by the Rev. Ron Sallade pastor of the Union presbyterian Church in Scottsville . If it is sustained there Are a lot of people who will feel the presbyterian Church has abandoned its scriptural base Sallade said thursday. I suspect that there will be peo ple and entire congregations that would be  Spahr was chosen by the downtown United Church in november 1991. The Genesee Valley presbytery which includes the Rochester Church twice voted to approve her appointment. But appeals by 10 churches in the presbytery led by Sallade have blocked her from assuming her duties. Sallade said he expects the commission to decide in favor of the dissenting churches based on a 1978 declaration by the general Assembly that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian Faith and  the Bishops warned Church leaders about biblical passages encouraging wives to be submissive to their husbands saying they have been taken out of context to justify spouse abuse. Abused women say i can t leave this  Bible says it would be wrong abusive men say the Bible says my wife should be submissive to me they take the biblical text and distort it to support their right to Batter the Bishops said. The statement makes Clear that violence against women is never justified and that the Parish must be a place where both abused women and men who Batter can come for help. It encourages Parish churches to dedicate a weekend to educate parishioners about Domestic violence and to build relationships with Poike and Domestic violence agencies to help abused women seeking assistance. To further reduce Domestic violence the Bishops encourage parishes to work to see that women Are Well represented in Parish leadership positions and to insist that religious education is free of sexual stereotyping. Battering thrives on sexism the statement said. Papal spokesman Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurai talks with Pope John Paul ii at the weekly general audience at the Vatican on wednesday. Indurai gave the pontiff a bicycle and the Pink and yellow jerseys he won this Yea rat the Tours of Italy and France. Others in photo Are unidentified. Cleric seeks to revive ecumenical movement by the new York times in a time of shrinking resources Christian denominations Are increasingly turning their attention to their own concerns. As a result the ecumenical Ideal the impulse to join together with christians of different stripes has become less of a priority. The Rev. Konrad Raiser the German University pro Fessor of theology who will soon take Over the top Post at the world Council of churches visited the United states this week for the first time since his election. His purpose to trumpet the ecumenical cause in lectures at Auburn theological Seminary in new York City. In an interview Raiser noted that a growing number of christians live in a Post denominational conscious Ness in which the dividing lines Between different de nominations and different faiths Are gone. For Many of these people especially the Young a major part of their religious Energy goes into the Hope of bringing different denominations together. For them it is one of the Basic lifelines in their Christian existence he said. Without the ecumenical vision they would Cut that  interfaith clergy building Bridges to understanding from wire reports it had an Only in new York Quality jewish Christian and Muslim clergy members gathered thursday in a roman Catholic Church to eat bagels and talk about islam. A Banner overhead said expect  the words were the motto of the sponsoring group a partnership of Faith in new York City which Hopes to heal divisions in the City through better understanding among religions. Imam Talib Abdur Rashid used a common biblical metaphor to give an introductory talk about islam saying his religion was the latest Patch i Joseph s multicoloured coat of  to demonstrate that islam is not something foreign or fanatical but familiar and neighbourly he led a discussion with four new yorkers who Lead islamic lives in the City. When the floor was opened to the visiting clergy there were some Sparks Over the morality of the death sentence declared by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on Salman Rushdie for writing the satanic verses. The assembled muslims supported the decree but rabbi Marshall Meyer of congregation b Nai Jeshurun in Manhattan called it violent  Imam Talib the Leader of the mosque of islamic brotherhood in Harlem broke the tension when he said muslims were also upset by the film the Las temptation of Christ by Singer sine and o Connor s ripping up a picture of Pope John Paul ii on no television and by the desecration of jewish houses of worship and cemeteries. Faith a Factor in election not surprisingly americans put the Economy ahead of All other issues in determining How they will vote tuesday for president. But in a National poll sponsored by the vis interfaith television network 10 percent of respondents said the determining Factor would be religion. A Telephone Survey of 718 registered voter conducted Early this month found that 74 percent said a candidate s economic plan would determine How they would vote. But among those who attended Church More than once a week the number who put economics first fell to 50 percent As against 26 percent who cited religious issues. The poll conducted by Blum & Weprin inc. Of Manhattan from oct. 8 to 10, had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage Points. The poll also found that despite the efforts of the republicans to paint themselves As the party of god the democrats were Well ahead among churchgoing christians. The Survey found democratic gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas to be Well ahead of president Bush even among voters who said they attended Church five or More times in the last month 46 percent to 34 percent. Ross Perot the Independent candidate garnered 4 percent of these churchgoers. The two major candidates ran neck and neck among voters who believe everything in the Bible word for word with Clinton favored by 37 percent and Bush by 36 percent. Micheline Blum president of the polling company said the results demonstrated that religion which has been a focal Point of Republican politics for the last 12 years is not helping this year in the Way that the Bush Campaign hoped it  . Rabbi honoured rabbi Haskell Lookstein of congregation Keilath Jeshurun in Manhattan has won the Finkle award Given each year to the rabbi who exemplifies the highest ideals of the Rabbinate serves a congregation in exemplary fashion an reaches out to the broader  the award presented thursday by the new corkboard of rabbis includes a $10,000 prize. The spiritual Leader of cambodian buddhism Preah Maha Ghosananda also has been awarded the $4,000 professor Thorolf Rafto prize for human rights for his work in promoting peace and reconciliation in his country. The prize is awarded by the Thorolf Rafto foundation Tor human rights of Bergen Norway