Philadelphia Catholics conclude laity synod

Philadelphia – More than 240 Roman Catholics concluded discussions at the Philadelphia Archdiocese’s first synod since 1934 and the first to involve lay participants.

The archdiocese is not releasing the recommendations that came out of the meeting. The three sessions were closed to parishioners, the public and the news media.

Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua said he would consider synod recommendations, but not necessarily follow them, in setting policy.

To set the agenda, the five-county archdiocese distributed 800,000 ballots. The 6,000 returned ballots proposed 80 topics that were narrowed to nine. Among them: ailing parochial schools, anti-abortion issues and racism.

Valparaiso University caught in dispute

Valparaiso, Ind. – The president and pastor at Valparaiso University could be defrocked by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod over an interfaith event that marked the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

President Alan Harre and Pastor Joseph Cunningham are clergy in the 2.6 million-member Missouri Synod, which forbids interfaith worship. Indiana District President Timothy Sims is investigating a complaint filed against them and said he would report within several weeks.

A Valparaiso spokesman said the university’s Sept. 11 event, which included Jews and Muslims, was not a worship service. It was billed as a “community gathering.”

Church sanctions would not directly affect the men’s university posts, since the school has Synod ties but is not financially supported by it.

In June, the Rev. David Benke, Missouri Synod district president in New York City, was suspended for participating in a post-Sept. 11 memorial service. He was supported by the denomination’s national president, the Rev. Gerald Kieschnick. The case is pending.

Pennsylvania church settles case on zoning

Lima, Pa. – A small Baptist congregation near Philadelphia settled one of the first challenges of a 2000 federal act that exempts religious groups from most local zoning rules, unless a community can prove they are necessary for public safety.

Freedom Baptist Church cited the act in a lawsuit after Middletown Township ordered it to close a small chapel on the first floor of a dentist’s office.

The chapel was next to a synagogue and across the street from a Presbyterian church, but township officials said zoning rules limited the office to commercial purposes. Township lawyers argued that the federal act is unconstitutional.