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ABC News: Five Years for a Joke About the Pope?
Italian Actress Faces Possible Five-Year Jail Term for Off-Color Joke About Pope
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Pope: Religion has a place in politics
Pope Benedict XVI has asked Christians to make their voices heard in traditionally secular countries, in a totally innocent an inobtrusive move. Pope Benedict XVI has asked Christians to make their voices heard in traditionally secular countries, in a totally innocent an inobtru... more
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Vatican Gets a "Makeover"
The Catholic Church, after a few hundred years, gets back in the modern-art business. When Michelangelo created the 'Pieta' in 1499, it defined contemporary art. If the Vatican wants to be cutting edge again, how about calling Jeff Koons, creator of 'Michael Jackson and Bubbles'?
When Renzo Piano sketched his initial plans for the church of San Padre Pio in Puglia, Italy, in 1993, he envisioned a contemporary space decorated with modern interpretations of Roman Catholic symbolism. Sure, he included plenty of traditional mainstays in church design like nooks for fonts, crucifixes and statues of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Padre Pio himself. But he also incorporated a 150-square-foot sunshade printed with what he refers to as a mirthful interpretation of the apocalypse by Roy Lichtenstein. Back then, the Vatican was warming to the idea of stark modern structures instead of baroque palaces for its new churches—which is why Piano got the job—but it wasn't yet willing to compromise on how to decorate them. "Our feet echoed in the giant halls inside the Vatican as we walked in with 30 fragments of our happy apocalypse," Piano told NEWSWEEK, describing the day he presented the avant-garde idea to the Holy See. "But they simply wouldn't have it. They loved the church design, and they had no problem with the sunshade, but in the end I had to use a solemn 12th-century apocalypse interpretation from a book that was Vatican-approved."
The Catholic Church was once the world's most important art patron—or "Client No. 1," as Piano calls it. But it has not had any real influence on art since the mid-18th century. For the last hundred years, the church has simply played the role of collector, acquiring antique religious art but commissioning very few pieces. This fall, though, the Holy See hopes to revive its cultural side by searching for artists willing to create new interpretations of tired spiritual art. The Vatican campaign is nothing short of a genius hunt for a modern-day Michelangelo or Raphael. "We have made great progress with innovative church designs by top architects," says Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, who heads the Pontifical Council for Culture, which is spearheading the project. "Now we need artwork of the level we inspired centuries ago. We need to return to the spirit of the 1500s."
The artists will be chosen by a commission made up of art critics and art-savvy clergy. Ravasi suggests the artists might be given a theme—such as light, suffering or death—or they could be given a figure such as David or one of the saints as a starting point. Once these artists have completed their work, the Vatican will send the best forward, perhaps even to the Venice Biennale, a competition for contemporary artists the Vatican once dismissed as "the breakdown of art in modern times." By channeling the competition through the Biennale, Ravasi admits, the Vatican is hoping to be perceived as embracing the concept of modern art, not just changing its art-collection criteria, though the Vatican has no preferential treatment with Biennale organizers, which could ultimately snub the church.
Even before the artist hunt commences, the Vatican is diligently working to find sponsors or, more aptly, wealthy Medici-style patrons who would be willing to commission artists like British sculptor Anish Kapoor or American artist Bill Viola for a themed competition. The Vatican is already speaking to one potential British-based sponsor about pledging around $1 million for the project. Since Italy's old churches overflow with masterpieces, the concentration will be on new churches—which in Italy means those built in the past century.
--- More with Link --- The Catholic Church, after a few hundred years, gets back in the modern-art business. When Michelangelo created the 'Pieta' ... more -
Pope arrives in France for first visit
Pope Benedict XVI urged France to take Christianity into account despite its secular tradition, saying Friday on his first visit there as pontiff that church and state should be open to each other.
The four-day trip will take the pope from the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris to the Roman Catholic shrine in Lourdes. Benedict, who has said he comes to France as a "messenger of peace and brotherhood," was greeted at Orly airport outside the capital by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.
While in Paris, the pope will also address a group that includes Muslim leaders on the second anniversary of a speech that heightened tensions with much of the Islamic world.
France is wrestling with its changing religious landscape and how to reconcile it with the secularism that underpins the modern French Republic.
On the plane, Benedict expressed understanding for France's long tradition of separating church and state, but added that, nonetheless, "Religion and politics must be open to each other." Pope Benedict XVI urged France to take Christianity into account despite its secular tradition, saying Friday on his first visit there... more -
Menominee Tribal School students speak out about protecting Mother Earth
Menominee Tribal School students in Keshena, Wisconsin are learning valuable lessons about protecting the environment and learning their tribe’s heritage including keeping native language alive.
In April 2008 the tribal school’s 180 students participated in “Clean Up the Rez Day" by picking up garbage around the reservation. The many environment projects at the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin were part of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day challenge. During a drum & feast to honor the students, teacher Beth Waukechon and culture teacher Dana Warrington explained the importance of taking care of Mother Earth. During a field trip to Green Bay's Pamprin Park, students climbing a replica of the Planet Earth were reminded of their reservation clean up. The 234,000-acre reservation has thick forests and 24-miles of the pristine Wolf River. Sturgeons spawned in reservation portions of the river until two dams were built blocking annual migration. Fifth grader La-Rie Corn hopes to form an Earth Club at the tribal school. After whitewashing gang graffiti at a popular skateboard park, students replaced negative symbols with American Indian art. Corn, 11, knows about 500 Menominee words thanks to teachers & elders that care about saving their native tongue. Fourth graders Tahekiah Bourdon, Raven Webster, Shae Perez, Naneque Latender, & Sherlinda Nahwahquaw learned the importance of respecting the Earth and how it fits their heritage.
Teacher Beth Waukechon said students will hopefully continue environment friendly practices as they grow older. MITW Restorative Justice Coordinator Claudette Hewson said the Menominee Teen Court Panel picked up litter & removed graffiti from roads signs in the Middle Village housing area. Tribal school students learned about the sturgeon, a vital part of Menominee heritage. Named the “People of the Wild Rice,” Menominee legend calls the sturgeon “the protector” of the grain that grows in water.
Corn said sturgeon hold a high place in Menominee culture because they're one of three gifts the creator gave to the Menominee people. Language arts instructor Joe Awonohopay said Earth Week 2008 classes were devoted to the sturgeon including the effects of pollution on life cycle, habitat, biology and more.
The College of Menominee Nation Implementing Sustainable Development Class collected electronic waste & pharmaceuticals. Students collected 23 pounds of medicines including 100 bottles of pills. The college students won 50 recycling bins in the Coca-Cola National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant. The class participated in the 10-week Recycle Mania project for the second year in a row. College Prof. Dr.William Van Lopik said the class is “actually doing something." Including curbside collections, Menominee reservation residents recycled over four tons of electronics.
Sponsors: Community Resource Center, Menominee Tribal Police, Tribal Clinic, Maehnowesekiyah Wellness Center, Probation & Parole, Recreation Department, Community Recycling Project; Menominee County Sheriff’s Department, Keshena U.S. Post Office.
The Earth Healing Initiative assisted some challenge organizers with interfaith liaisons & encouraged churches/temples to participate in Earth Day events. Videos on 2008 Challenge projects made possible ban US Environmental Protection Agency grant, EPA Region 5 office in Chicago, EPA Great Lakes National Program Office.
The EHI involves American Indian tribes, churches/synagogues, other faith traditions working to heal, protect and defend the environment.
Websites:
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov
http://mtsbia.edu
http://www.menominee.edu
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/keshenahtml
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/maehnowesekiy...
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/youthDevel/yo...
Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain/Interfaith Resources/Special Ideas:
http://www.interfaithresources.com Menominee Tribal School students in Keshena, Wisconsin are learning valuable lessons about protecting the environment and learning the... more -
Pope: 'Spiritual desert' growing across world
Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday a "spiritual desert" was spreading throughout the world and he challenged young people to shed the greed and cynicism of their time to create a new age of hope for humankind.
Speaking at a Mass before some 350,000 Roman Catholic pilgrims and a likely television audience of millions more, Benedict wrapped up the church's six-day World Youth Day festival. He urged the young people in his more than 1 billion-strong flock to be agents of change because "the world needs renewal."
"In so many of our societies, side by side with material prosperity, a spiritual desert is spreading: an interior emptiness, an unnamed fear, a quiet sense of despair," the pontiff said.
The appeal came as Benedict finished a visit to Australia that touched on the themes that have defined his three-year-old papacy, including the struggle to rejuvenate a crisis-battered Church, reaching out to other faiths and raising global warming as an important issue among his 1.1 billion-strong flock.
The 81-year-old pope said it was up to a new generation of Christians to build a world in "which God's gift of life is welcomed, respected and cherished -- not rejected, feared as a threat and destroyed."
They must embrace the power of God "to let it break through the curse of our indifference, our spiritual weariness, our blind conformity to the spirit of this age," he said.
The aim was "a new age in which hope liberates us from the shallowness, apathy and self-absorption which deadens our souls and poisons our relationships," he said.
The Mass came a day after the pope made a forceful apology for the sexual abuse of children by Australia's Roman Catholic clergy, keeping up efforts begun in the United States to publicly atone for what he called evil acts by priests.
The Mass was delivered at a horse racetrack filled with pilgrims who had camped out overnight.
Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said 350,000 attended Sunday's Mass. Australian organizers surmised a global television audience of up to 500 million during big World Youth Day events. Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday a "spiritual desert" was spreading throughout the world and he challenged young people to shed... more -
It’s SEX versus RELIGION in Brazil
BRAZIL may be the largest Roman Catholic country in the world, but its image is marked by its beaches and Carnival much more than by its approach to religion.Indeed, the effortless and yet self-aware sexiness of ‘The Girl from Ipanema’ and the voluptuous women who frantically dance samba on Carnival floats are world-famous symbols of the South American giant - in which an estimated 135 million people consider themselves Catholic.
Most Brazilians live happily with the dichotomy of a strong faith and a prominent presence for sexuality.
However, tension has been rife between Brazilian authorities - particularly under the current left-wing, socially-progressive government - and Roman Catholic officials over key issues like abortion, contraception and homosexuality, among others.
The country’s constitution establishes the separation of church and state, even if about 74 percent of the total population say they are Catholic.
When Pope Benedict XVI visited the country in May 2007, he made scathing comments on abortion even before he landed.
But Brazilian Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao was quick to put him back in what the Brazilian government considers to be his place.
‘Debate in the field of philosophy, ethics, religion, in the field of morals is legitimate, but the minister has to focus on the field of public health,’ said Gomez Temporao.
He stressed that the issue of abortion is ‘up to each person’s faith’, while Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - who defines himself as a Christian - stressed, ‘no one has an abortion as an option or for pleasure’.
Brazilian law currently allows abortion in the first three months of pregnancy, but only when there is a danger to the mother’s life or when the pregnancy is the result of rape.
Violations to the current law can be punished with up to three years in prison. But abortion is not the only point that has seen Lula at odds with the Roman Catholic Church.
‘We are going to combat hypocrisy in this country. Condoms have to be handed out and we have to teach people how to use them. People have to have sex, and we have to teach people how to do it,’ Lula once said as he launched an anti-AIDS programme in Rio de Janeiro.
The Brazilian government plans to distribute 600 million free male condoms throughout 2008.
The state is also set to begin paying for sex-change operations, and Lula claimed that a refusal to pay for such surgery would amount to discrimination.
‘When you pay your taxes, nobody asks you which is your sexual option. Why discriminate against you when you freely choose what to do with your body?’ Lula said.
Brazil’s Federal Medicine Council approved sex-change operations in the late 1990s, but until now they could only be conducted in the private healthcare system at a very high cost. BRAZIL may be the largest Roman Catholic country in the world, but its image is marked by its beaches and Carnival much more than by i... more -
Bishop Thomas Skrenes - EPA Great Lakes Challenge: "We are all environmentali...
Bishop praises interfaith success of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge
Marquette, Michigan - A Lutheran Bishop who has participated in interfaith Earth Day recycling projects for four years in a row said.
"Celebrate - what a great day Earth Day has been 2008," said Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes of the Northern Great Lakes Synod (NGLS) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). "The Earth Healing Initiative has been a great success this year."
"Congratulations Earth Healers - you've done it, it has been a success," Bishop Skrenes said. "The EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge has been a great success."
"Computers have been recycled, pharmaceuticals have been brought together for proper disposal," Skrenes said. "Congratulations to those members of the faith communities and others who have been a part of this."
"We are all environmentalists," said Skrenes of Marquette, MI. "All of us want clean air to breathe, all of us want clean drinking water. We all enjoy the outdoors and nature."
"No matter our political understandings are, no matter where we are on the liberal and conservative line - no matter what we think of any of the big issues facing thee one of us - world today - all of us can agree that it is in all of our interests."
"We can all certainly conserve and save and bring back and then give to the next generation what has been given to us."
Bishop Skrenes said interfaith environment projects like the challenge ensure a better future for all humans.
"It is a sign of great significance that people can join hands and work together," Skrenes said.
Bishop Skrenes thanked the EPA, faith communities and "people of goodwill throughout the upper Midwest who have been a part of this work."
"Thanks to the Environmental Protection Agency for their help and assistance in all of this work," Bishop Skrenes said. The EPA challenge "has been a part of the lives and will be a part of the future of this whole area."
"It is a wonderful opportunity to begin to look at what it is that we hold in common," Skrenes said. "What we hold in common is this wonderful Great Lakes basin."
"This is a wonderful place with lakes and streams and forests everywhere in the Midwest, and the great plains and the great fields," Skrenes said. "We have been a part of saving some of this and making a difference."
"Sometimes we become so focused on what divides us, what disconnects us, what separates us - and there are important things that sometimes do that - but yet we can all have loyalty and allegiance to this world that has been our home and this of the world that we have been blessed with by God."
"God has given us the privilege of living here in the midst of these lakes and all of this beautiful nature," Skrenes said.
"When people of faith, whether they be of Christian traditions or of other traditions, gather together to work on what connects us. One of those things that connects us is respect and awe for the creation that surrounds us."
"We are part of a movement together in these early years of the Twenty-first Century to save what has been given to us by the generations before us and what God has provided to us," Skrenes said.
Bishop Skrenes is one of nine faith leaders who signed the Earth Keeper Covenant in northern Michigan in 2004 that lead to many interfaith projects.
The Cedar Tree Institute co-founded the interfaith Earth Keeper Initiative in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that works closely with ten faith traditions on a wide range of environment projects that include college students, at-risk teens, American Indian tribes and others.
The EHI is developing the same relationship with faith communities across the Great lakes.
The faith communities include Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Baha'i, Jewish, the Religious Society of Friends (commonly known as the Quakers) and Zen Buddhist.
"Everyday is Earth Day," Skrenes said. Bishop praises interfaith success of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge ... more -
Lutheran Bishop Thomas Skrenes praises interfaith work: EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth...
An Earth Healing message, thank you and congratulations from Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes about the success of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge
A Lutheran Bishop who has participated in interfaith Earth Day recycling projects for four years in a row said "the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge has been a success."
Celebrate - what a great day Earth Day has been 2008," said Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes of the Northern Great Lakes Synod (NGLS) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). "The Earth Healing Initiative has been a great success this year."
"Computers have been recycled, pharmaceuticals have been brought together for proper disposal," Skrenes said.
"What a great opportunity it has been to be part of the ecumenical work and interfaith work of assisting others to see the environmental concerns set before us," said Bishop Skrenes of Marquette, Michigan.
With hundreds of thousands of people participating across eight states in the Midwest and Northeast, Bishop Skrenes said interfaith environment projects like the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge will help ensure a better future for all humans.
"It is a sign of great significance that people can join hands and work together," Skrenes said. "So celebrate - it is a good day for the environment and it is a good day for all of us together."
Bishop Skrenes thanked the EPA, faith communities and "people of goodwill throughout the upper Midwest who have been a part of this work."
"It has been a great day, a great week, a great Earth day 2008," Skrenes said.
"The EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge has been a part of the lives and will be a part of the future of this whole area."
Bishop Skrenes is one of the original nine faith leaders who signed the Earth Keeper Covenant in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in 2004 that lead to many interfaith projects
Background: Earth Healing Initiative and the Michigan Earth Keeper Initiative
The Cedar Tree Institute (CTI) co-founded the interfaith Earth Keeper Initiative in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that works closely with ten faith traditions on a wide range of environment projects that include college students, at-risk teens, American Indian tribes and others.
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The CTI Earth healing Initiative is developing the same relationship with the same faith communities in northern Michigan and others across the Great lakes.
The faith communities include Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Baha'i, Jewish, The Religious Society of Friends (commonly known as the Quakers) and Zen Buddhist.
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For more information:
Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative
http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org
906-401-0109 An Earth Healing message, thank you and congratulations from Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes about the success of the EPA Great Lak... more -
Recycling 101: College of Menominee Nation sets example in EPA Great Lakes 2008 Ea...
The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin contributed over 4 tons of electronic and pharmaceutical waste to the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.
This is the first of several videos explaining the tribes numerous projects that included cleaning up the reservation, replacing gang symbols with Native American art, teaching youth about the legend of the sturgeon and its place in tribal culture.
In part one, the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative looks at the many recycling projects of the College of Menominee nation.
The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin in Keshena is being praised for its massive cleanup projects during the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge - involving over 100 projects across eight states that comprise the Great lakes basin.
The college of Menominee Nation held a pharmaceutical and electronic waste collection as part of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.
Other tribal projects during the challenge included the clean up of two reservation communities by tribal school students, the Menominee Teen Court Panel, and many other volunteers.
All classes at the tribal school taught the students about the sturgeon, that is a vital part of Menominee heritage.
Called the protector guardian of Menominee wild rice, the sturgeon used to spawn on the reservation until a man made dam blocked the route to ancestral spawning grounds.
The students whitewashed gang graffiti at a skateboard park replacing it with American Indian art.
"The younger students put their hands in paint and made flower hand prints on the wall," said teacher Beth Waukechon.
Adults participated in the challenge in a big way - as the tribe's Solid Waste and Recycling Department held curbside e-waste collections during Earth week 2008 - and all month accepted e-waste at the transfer station.
Native American and other students also made garbage monsters at the Keshena Public Schools with help from their parents using common every day trash from home.
More than four tons of e-waste and other recyclables were removed from the reservation during April.
At the College of Menominee Nation, over 23 pounds of medicines were turned in including 100 bottles of pills, more than 25 computers and dozens of related components like hard drives, printers, keyboards and speakers; televisions, radios, DVD players, 12 cell phones and over 100 small batteries.
Sponsors include the tribe's Community Resource Center, Menominee County Police, Menominee Tribal Police, Tribal Clinic Wellness Program (Maehnowesekiyah), Probation and Parole, Community Recycling Project, Recreation Department and the U.S. Post Office in Keshena.
While hosting the collection, the college's Implementing Sustainable Development class found out they won the National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant through Coca-Cola, said professor William Van Lopik, Ph.D.
"One of premises of the class is to do things, not just talk about what we are going to do and how the world is going to be changed, but having students do things," Dr. Van Lopik said.
The grant pays for 50 recycling bins.
The class has participated in the ten-week Recycle Mania project two years in a row that involves weighing recyclables as they leave the building. This year, the class ranked 136 out of 200 colleges and universities with 8 pounds of recyclables per person, beating out Ohio State and Georgetown, Van Lopik said.
This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA Region 5 office in Chicago, and the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI.
The EHI involves American Indian tribes and "a coalition of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal, protect and defend the environment," said EHI founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan. The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin contributed over 4 tons of electronic and pharmaceutical waste to the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Ear... more -
Lutheran Bishop inspires interfaith groups to join EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day ...
(Chicago, Illinois) - Faith leaders across eight Great Lakes states are urging their members to participate in an Earth Day 2008 challenge to collect one million pounds of electronics and more than one million pills because trust is needed between all people to stop “an environmental crisis.”
The U.S. EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge is in high gear with more than 100 projects involving hundreds of communities collecting pharmaceuticals, electronics and household poisons.
An EPA grant to the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative (EHI) is mobilizing religious communities in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania.
A Lutheran Bishop who has participated in numerous interfaith Earth Day recycling projects hopes people of all faiths will help protect the environment.
“We are in an environmental crisis in many ways,” said Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes of the Northern Great Lakes Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). “The Great Lakes watershed is really kind of a mother to all of us" in the Midwest.
Interfaith environment projects like the challenge will help ensure a better future for all humans, Skrenes said, adding “sometimes it's trusting each other that really counts in environmental work.”
“The culture, the society and the environment are now connecting in some fantastic new ways to build relationships between people,” Skrenes said. “We are building trust along and across denominational lines.”
The EHI is a coalition of American Indian tribes and a "partnership of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together and sharing their projects and resources to heal, protect and defend the environment,” said founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan.
Saying “it’s not your grandfather’s environment movement anymore,” Skrenes said that environmental work is now more mainstream and no longer “an obscure thing for a certain group of people” unlike 40 years ago when he was in high school “and I dare say some of my relatives said it was kind of a hippie movement.”
“The church is called to bring people together to be part of the healing,” Skrenes said. “This interfaith earth healing effort is really a great gift that has been given to all of us."
Interfaith organizations assisting the EHI include the University of Minnesota Lutheran Campus Ministry, the Arrowhead Interfaith Council in Duluth, the Marquette University Ministry outlets in Milwaukee, several Catholic interfaith groups and the ELCA office of Ecumenical Formation and Inter-Religious Relations.
The interfaith EHI is one of numerous environment and Native American projects founded by the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, Michigan including the Earth Keepers, who removed more than 370 tons of e-Waste, pharmaceuticals and household poisons during three Earth Day clean sweeps.
The northern Michigan Earth Keeper project involves the congregations of over 150 churches and temples representing ten faith communities: Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Bahá'í, Jewish, Zen Buddhist and the Religious Society of Friends commonly known as the Quakers.
The EHI is coordinating the same interfaith relationships. For more info call 906-401-0109 (Chicago, Illinois) - Faith leaders across eight Great Lakes states are urging their members to participate in an Earth Day 2008 chall... more -
Pope's Red Shoes - Remindes me of Dorthea of Wizard and Oz
Pope Benedict XVI, sporting his handmade red loafers, steps onto U.S. soil at Andrews Air Force Base in Camp Springs, Md. Getty Images
All Things Considered, April 17, 2008 · Pope Benedict XVI's ruby red shoes are drawing plenty of attention as he visits Washington, D.C. The handmade loafers, crafted for Benedict by an Italian shoemaker, are seen as a statement of his desire to demonstrate continuity with the symbols and history of the church. Although Pope John Paul II often wore brown shoes, other pontiffs have also worn red shoes. Benedict's shoes also serve as a reminder of the many years he wore the red cloth of a cardinal.
Lawrence Cunningham, professor of theology at Notre Dame University, offers more insights on why the pontiff favors the color in a conversation with Michele Norris. Pope Benedict XVI, sporting his handmade red loafers, steps onto U.S. soil at Andrews Air Force Base in Camp Springs, Md. Getty Images... more -
Earth Healing Initiative: Menominee Indian Tribe of WI in Great Lakes 2008 Earth D...
Youth and adults at the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin plan three events as part of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge
(Keshena, Wisconsin) - As the students of all ages plan a major hands-on clean up of a tribal community and the recycling of electronics and proper disposal of unwanted medications to honor Earth Day 2008, adult members of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin in Keshena, WI have already turned in several thousand pounds of electronic waste as part of a national Earth Day Project.
The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin is collecting e-Waste all month including during the tribe's regular curbside bulk items Spring Cleaning collection on April 21-24 (Monday thru Thursday).
"We are getting lots of electronics right now," said Diana Wolf, the MITW Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator.
The projects are part of the eight-state Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge sponsored by the USEPA. The events are being promoted by the interfaith Earth Healing Initiative that teams numerous faith communities and American Indian tribes with local challenge organizers to be volunteers and participants in the projects spread across the Great Lakes basin.
During the first week of April, the tribe’s drop-off sites collected several thousand pounds of electronics including 919 pounds of "low-grade circuit boards" removed from TV sets, stereos, high quality computers, cassette players and other electronics.
Wolf estimated that about two tons (4,000 pounds) of electronics will be turned in by the end of the month.
“We will do whatever it takes to do cradle to grave recycling,” Wolf said. "We are not making a profit off of it but it is the right thing to do."
On April 25 students at the Menominee Tribal School (k-8) will be cleaning the area around the school of litter and recyclables and other downtown areas of Neopit. The tribe's 234,000-acre reservation includes the communities of Keshena, Zoar and South Branch.
"The students will be picking up litter and recyclables - and anything that's on the roads or sidewalks or the yards," Wolf said, adding the students will be planting 50 saplings.
"We are inviting the parents to bring a potluck and there will likely be wild rice and other Native American dishes," Wolf said.
The lunch will include a drama performance and include Native Music involving the "Wind Eagle Drum" or the "high school drum" consisting of students who are learning the music of the Menominee tribe's history.
"Our school is very much a cultural-motivated school," Wolf said. "The school teaches about the Menominee culture and language. The students learn about our Menominee history and our language amongst the non-native teaching."
"My children speak fluent Menominee because they have been in the school for three years," Wolf said.
Menominee tribal college students are doing their part to protect the planet with e-Waste and pharmaceutical collections.
The College of Menominee Nation (State Hwy. 47/55) in Keshena, is accepting e-waste and unwanted medicines on April 22 from 9 a.m. to noon and accepting e-Waste from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the commons building.
The college’s Implementing Sustainable Development class is hosting the collection with help from the tribe's solid waste coordinator.
The e-Waste collection will accept electronics including old/broken computers, cell phones and batteries.
The pharmaceutical collection is accepting old and unwanted medications that must be in their original bottle or container.
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/keshena.html
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov
http://www.menominee.edu
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/earthWeekFlyer.pdf Youth and adults at the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin plan three events as part of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge ... more -
Earth Healing Initiative brings interfaith, Indigenous groups to Great Lakes Earth...
An Introduction: The interfaith Earth Healing Initiative and Earth Day 2008
Numerous faith communities, American Indian tribes and many others being encouraged to volunteer or participate in a large eight-state Earth Day 2008 project with events across the Great Lakes Basin through mid-May.
The new Earth Healing Initiative (EHI) is organizing faith communities. The EHI is one of numerous environment and Native American projects founded by the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, Michigan.
Collection sites will accept old/broken computers, cell phones, TVs and other electronics to be recycled, and old/unwanted medicines to be properly disposed during the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.
The EPA is awarding grants to some of the collection sites where residents can drop off e-waste and old/unwanted pharmaceuticals.
The Michigan Earth Keeper Initiative, co-founded by the Cedar Tree Institute, have alliances with ten faith traditions across the Upper Peninsula, and the EHI is coordinating the same relationships with religious communities across the Great Lakes and beyond.
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Earth Healing official website::
http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org
EPA GLNPO Official challenge link:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008/index.html
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008/events.html
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EPA Press Release on challenge:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/D48F2AD96EC6...
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The co-founder of the Michigan Earth Keepers, ELCA Lutheran Rev. Jon Magnuson created the Earth Healing Initiative in March 2008 to spread the word about interfaith and Native American environment projects.
The EHI is offering free media assistance to environment projects including press releases, press contacts, internet and high definition digital videos, podcasts and vast internet postings.
For more details call Greg at 906-401-0109.
--- An Introduction: The interfaith Earth Healing Initiative and Earth Day 2008 ... more
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