Religion briefs

Priests ask bishops to reaffirm celibacy

Harrisburg, Pa. — An association of conservative Roman Catholic priests has denounced a petition signed by 160 fellow clergy in Milwaukee arguing that married men should be allowed to enter the priesthood.

The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, which says it represents more than 600 priests and deacons in the United States and Canada, said making celibacy optional would not solve the clerical sex abuse crisis.

The conservative group sent a letter on Aug. 29 to Bishop Wilton Gregory, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in response to a petition circulated last month by priests in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee seeking to lift the celibacy requirement.

The Rev. John Trigilio, Jr., president of the confraternity, blamed the molestation scandal on “bad theology, bad liturgy and bad morality,” and urged the bishops to affirm celibacy, and ensure that the theology taught at Catholic colleges and in seminaries adhered to church teaching.

“Only by restoring the sacred, by defending the revealed truths and by upholding the natural moral law can we achieve any victory over the current crisis of faith now affecting the church,” Trigilio wrote.

Muslim clerics threaten legal action

Toronto — Two Muslim clerics who were denied entry into the United States will lodge a complaint with the Canadian government and seek legal advice on suing U.S. officials, their lawyer said.

Ahmed Kutty, 59, and Sheik Abdul Hamid, 37, were detained Sept. 11 after their flight from Canada landed in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. They were questioned by immigration officials and the FBI, held overnight at a county jail, then returned to Canada on a Friday afternoon flight.

Barbara Gonzalez, spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection in southern Florida, said the two men were found inadmissible to the United States on “security grounds.” She said privacy concerns prevented the government from disclosing details.

Kutty said FBI agents told him the name Abdul Hamid appeared on a list of undesirables and that a business card Kutty was carrying appeared suspicious.

“This is racial profiling, pure and simple,” Kutty told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Saturday.

Anglican bishop dismisses officials

Vancouver, British Columbia — The head of a Canadian Anglican diocese that sanctions same-sex blessing ceremonies removed some leaders of a parish who disagree with the practice.

Bishop Michael Ingham of the Diocese of New Westminster said he acted only out of concern for maintaining order in the church, and insisted he did not remove the officials because of their views on homosexuality.

He said the officials at St. Martin’s Anglican Church in North Vancouver had not been taking care of the daily business of the congregation and had challenged “the order of the church,” hurting the diocese’s mission within the community.

“The minister and the wardens found that getting on with the normal, day-to-day activities that any church would be engaged in — including work with all parishioners, not simply some who agreed with one side or the other of the issue — just wasn’t happening,” attorney George Cadman, legal officer for the diocese.