World scan

* An ecumenical group of church leaders, including ELCA Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod Bishop Donald McCoid, pressed Secretary of State Colin Powell on June 7 to end U.S. military aid shipments that are used against Palestinians. Powell was also asked to urge Israel to stop controversial settlements in Palestinian territories. McCoid said the delegation was concerned for Palestinian Christians affected by violence as are their Muslim neighbors.

* A Barna Research Group study says 78 percent of American adults donated money to a church or other nonprofit organization in 2000-a 6 percent drop from 1999 and 9 percent since 1998. The average per-person giving decreased 15 percent in 2000 to a mean of $886. In 1999, the mean was $1,045; $1,377 in 1998. Churches are still the most likely groups to receive individual financial support, with 61 percent of adults donating money to one or more churches in 2000.

* With North Korea facing another year of food shortages after the driest spring in 80 years, Lutheran World Relief provided a $20,000 grant for seeds, fertilizers, vinyl sheeting and machinery parts for farm cooperatives in North Korea.

* The Lutheran World Federation discussed the church's role in reconciliation at its June 12-19 council meeting in Geneva but took no official action. In a message to the council, 17 youth representing LWF member churches and ecumenical partners, said: "If we continue to avoid the core issues of violence or simply discuss violence, we will lose the credibility of our Christian communion." The youth called on churches to continue creating programs and partnerships to learn from one another how to address violence. In other business, the council was asked to begin considering a name change that would recognize the LWF as a communion of churches, rather than a federation.

* A Gallup poll found that 60 percent of Americans say premarital sex is morally acceptable; 38 percent say it is wrong. But, when asked specifically if sex between an unmarried man and woman is acceptable, 53 percent said it is; 42 percent said no. Researchers said Americans' views on the topic depends on their age. Sixtyseven percent of young adults find premarital sex to be morally acceptable, while only 28 percent of those 65 and older say it is acceptable.

* The Vatican welcomed a new investigation by Mexican authorities into the assassination of the archbishop of Guadalajara. Cardinal Posadas Ocampo, who had accused the Institutional Revolutionary Party of ties to narcotics traffickers, was killed in 1993. A Milan newspaper reported that an unidentified cardinal gave Vatican authorities new evidence linking the assassination to Mexico's former president, Carlos Salinas, and his brother, Raul.

* Afghanistan's ruling Islamic group, the Taliban, now prohibits foreigners from consuming alcohol and pork, listening to loud music and having inappropriate contact with members of the opposite sex, reports the Bakhtar news agency. Punishment ranges from a three-day jail sentence to expulsion from the country. Women in Afghanistan have lived under strict controls since the Taliban took control of Kabul about four years ago. The group barred women from the workforce and prohibited girls older than 8 from attending school. The United Nations says the strict laws have increased the number of children and women begging for food and money.

* The Episcopal Women's Caucus is sending women into three church dioceses that are refusing to ordain women. Some church leaders say this could hamper the task force appointed to work with the dioceses on the matter. The Angel Project is meant to "place thick-skinned angels-ordained women-intentionally in the paths of people who have been denied the opportunity and gift of the presence and work of female priests," said Lynn Headley-Moore, caucus president.

* Leaders of minority faiths in Russia say the Russian Orthodox Church is encroaching on the freedoms of others. Ali Vyacheslav Polosin, adviser to Russia's Council of Muftis, said the church has pressured regional officials to stop construction of mosques to serve the country's 20 million Muslims. He complained that calls to prayer are forbidden in Moscow, but church bells are not. Roman Catholic leaders also have complained of government discrimination rooted in frequent Orthodox criticism of such Catholic activities as prosyletism.

* Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold called the June 24 consecrations of four dissident bishops "an invitation to schism" and asked for global Anglican help. Griswold won't recognize the bishops, ordained by leaders of the Anglican Mission in America and placed under the oversight of the Anglican Diocese of Rwanda.

* As worldwide refugee numbers rose to 14.5 million, funding to international aid agencies dropped, says a June 19 report from the U.S. Committee on Refugees. In the past two years, the world's refugee population has increased by 1 million, but the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees' budget has shrunk by $100 million. Palestinians are the largest group of refugees with 4 million. Afghan refugees number 3.6 million; Sudanese, 460,000; and Iraq 450,000.