Pope decries abuse of authority in Mideast

Vatican City — Pope John Paul II decried abuse of political authority in the Middle East, writing in a message released Tuesday that the region needs leaders who will carry out policies based on respect for human rights and dignity.

In his annual peace message, the pope said that “the question of peace cannot be separated from the question of human dignity and human rights.”

“Perhaps nowhere today is there a more obvious need for the correct use of political authority than in the dramatic situation of the Middle East and the Holy Land,” John Paul said in the 16-page message for the Roman Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace on Jan. 1.

“Day after day, year after year, the cumulative effect of bitter mutual rejection and the unending chain of violence and retaliation have shattered every effort so far to engage in serious dialogue on the real issues involved,” the pope said.

He also singled out the “clash of interests among the members of the international community” for hampering the peace process.

Conservatives continue to pressure archbishop

London– Keeping pressure on the new archbishop of Canterbury, several evangelical groups in the Church of England have issued a statement contending that sexual ethics should be a “first order” concern of the church.

The statement did not refer by name or title to Rowan Williams, who took office earlier this month as head of the Church of England. But many conservatives have been alarmed that Williams knowingly ordained a practicing homosexual while he was a bishop in Wales.

Chicago-area leaders march to protest war

Chicago– More than 1,000 people joined local religious leaders protesting a possible war with Iraq.

Leaving from a vigil in a packed downtown church Sunday, protesters carried lit candles and sang “We Shall Overcome” and other protest songs while marching down Michigan Avenue.

“There is beginning to move in this nation a voice of sanity in the midst of insanity,” Bishop C. Joseph Sprague, a leader of the United Methodist Church in Illinois, said to loud applause. “The polls are beginning to show that we are not as alone as we once thought we were.”