Vatican soccer tournament attracts clergy from 50 nations

ROME — Italian soccer has not been a pious spectacle of late, with riots and scandals marring a game that is practically a religion here.

Sports officials now hope clergymen from 50 nations can bring back faith to soccer as they take to the field for the first time in a tournament for priests and seminarians kicking off Saturday.

Catholic institutes have entered 16 teams in the Clericus Cup, fielding 311 athletes from countries including the United States, Brazil, Papua New Guinea and Rwanda.

“It’s an intelligent initiative which helps give a positive image to sport and especially to soccer,” Italian Olympic Committee President Gianni Petrucci said at a presentation of the event Tuesday.

Even as Italy’s national team was making its successful run for the World Cup last summer, club soccer at home was ravaged by a match-fixing scandal that led to sanctions against several top teams. Earlier this month, rioting at a game in Sicily caused the death of a policeman and forced authorities to take measures, including barring fans from many stadiums.

The Clericus Cup will run through June and most games will be played at a Vatican soccer field in Rome.

The matches will last one hour and rules will differ from professional club soccer. Teams will be allowed one time-out and the referee will brandish a blue card, which will send off errant players for a 5-minute suspension.

“I expect (the tournament) to create a friendly relationship among the players and the teams,” said Cameroon’s Father Emil Martin, who plays with the team of the Pontifical Urban College. “I hope each one can learn to win but also to lose, because not everybody knows how to lose.”

Baptists want to examine spiritual health of church
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A top Southern Baptist executive says leaders in the convention should examine the spiritual health of the denomination now that theological conservatives have been in control for several years.

Morris Chapman, president of the Southern Baptist executive committee, said his fellow leaders must look at whether the 16.3 million-member church is now better off.

“Is our convention any better spiritually because biblical conservatives are leading?” Chapman asked Monday, during the committee’s winter meeting. “I leave that question for you to answer in the depths of your own heart.”

The conservative resurgence started in 1979, when Southern Baptists angry about what they saw as the liberal direction of their seminaries elected a fellow conservative as the convention president. It was a watershed that began a dramatic shift to the right — theologically and politically — in the years that followed.

But in the last few years, the number of baptisms in Southern Baptist churches has reached a low point, and many of the congregations have either not grown or declined in membership.

Also, internal conflicts have arisen over whether Southern Baptists can speak in tongues during worship, among other theological disagreements.

Chapman said that cooperation among Southern Baptists is the “glue that holds us together.” The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant group in the country.

“The key ingredients of cooperation are truth, trust and being trustworthy,” he said. “Do you trust completely in the Lord to answer your needs? Are you willing to take the risk of trusting your fellow Southern Baptists and being worthy of their trust?”

Exiled Buddhist leader makes reconciliation plea
HANOI, Vietnam — A prominent exiled Vietnamese monk returned to his homeland to lead mass prayers promoting reconciliation in a nation still nursing memories of war.

Thich Nhat Hanh, who has lived outside Vietnam for four decades, made his first homecoming in 2005 after being forced to live outside the nation during the Vietnam War.

He is now back for a second visit, planning three “Grand Requiem Masses” intended to unite people across regional, religious and political lines.

The Zen master arrived Tuesday in Ho Chi Minh City and plans to travel around Vietnam visiting temples until May 9.

A proponent of peace, Hanh was shunned by the leaders of both the former South Vietnam and the government of eventually victorious North Vietnam.

Although religious freedom has improved recently in the country, the communist government still strictly controls spiritual expression, recognizing just half a dozen official faiths.

Hanh, who lives in France, has traveled frequently in the United States, where several of his books have become best sellers. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once nominated Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Malaysian police using spies to catch ‘immoral couples’
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Religious police in a Malaysian state plan to deploy spies working as waiters or janitors in hotels to stop activities the authorities consider immoral, including sex between unmarried people.

The spies, known in the Malay language as “mat skoding,” would tip off the Islamic police about claims of immoral activities in the northeastern state of Terengganu, The Star newspaper reported Tuesday.

Terengganu and neighboring Kelantan are two of the most conservative states in Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim nation of 26 million people.

“Some of these spies could be waitresses or even janitors at hotels acting as ... undercover agents for our religious department,” said Rosol Wahid, chairman of a state Islamic welfare committee.

Rosol said the spies would largely look for unmarried couples committing “khalwat,” or “close proximity,” a crime under Islamic law in Malaysia akin to adultery. It applies to unchaperoned meetings between men and women.

Those found guilty of khalwat can be jailed for up to two months under laws that apply to Muslims only. The spies would be given rewards for each tip they provide, Rosol said.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.