Religious Briefs from Around the World

Reform Jews hope to grow numbers, influence in Israel
By The Associated Press

JERUSALEM—World leaders of Reform Judaism have launched a new push for greater support from Israelis despite what they called continuing discrimination at the hands of the Orthodox religious establishment in Israel.

Reform Judaism, a liberal, egalitarian movement, is the largest branch of American Judaism.

But the movement has never caught on in large numbers in Israel, where the majority of religious Jews are Orthodox, and only a small minority Conservative or Reform.

In Israel, the Orthodox rabbinate has strenuously resisted inroads by the other streams, refusing to recognize their rulings or conversions as religiously valid.

Rabbi Uri Regev, head of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, the international umbrella group of the Reform movement, said its membership in Israel numbers in the thousands out of a population of 7 million.

The movement is planning a $100 million project to increase the number of Israelis involved in Reform Judaism.

Vatican says update on bioethics in worksVATICAN CITY—Cardinal Will-iam Levada, the first U.S. head of the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog office, said his office is researching new developments in bioethics as they consider updating the landmark 1987 instruction “Donum Vitae” or “Gift of Life.”

Levada made the comments in a wide-ranging interview this month with Catholic News Service.

Levada’s office, called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, also oversees disciplinary reviews for the entire Roman Catholic Church of priests accused of sexually abusing children.

While many cases are pending, the number of new claims is dwindling, he said.

“I think you could say the crisis dimensions (of the case load), caused by the situation in the United States, are behind us,” Levada told CNS.

On March 14, the congregation condemned as “erroneous or dangerous” some of the writings of a well-known champion of liberation theology, the Rev. Jon Sobrino, a Spanish Jesuit.

No immediate disciplinary action was taken.

Britain says schools have right to ban Muslim veils
LONDON—British schools can ban students from wearing Muslim veils if teachers believe they affect safety, security or pupils’ learning, the government said.

However, school administrators should speak with parents before enacting a ban, the Education Ministry said in a statement.

“While they should make every effort to accommodate social, religious or medical requirements of individual pupils, the needs of safety, security and effective learning in the school must always take precedence,” Schools Minister Jim Knight said.

The issue of face-covering veils has sparked a debate over religious tolerance and cultural assimilation in Britain, which is home to 1.6 million Muslims.