US wants UN to take up Dalai Lama succession: envoy

Yahoo – AFP, Shaun TANDON, November 8, 2019

The Dalai Lama arrives for prayers wishing him a long life at the Tsuglagkhang
temple in McLeod Ganj, India in September 2019 -- the US wants the UN to
look at the issue of who will succeed him (AFP Photo/Lobsang Wangyal)

Washington (AFP) - The United States wants the United Nations to take up the Dalai Lama's succession in an intensifying bid to stop China from trying to handpick his successor, an envoy said after meeting the Tibetan spiritual leader.

Sam Brownback, the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said he spoke at length about the succession issue with the 84-year-old Dalai Lama last week in the monk's home-in-exile of Dharamsala, India.

Brownback said he told the Dalai Lama that the United States would seek to build global support for the principle that the choice of the next spiritual chief "belongs to the Tibetan Buddhists and not the Chinese government."

"I would hope that the UN would take the issue up," Brownback told AFP after returning to Washington.

He acknowledged that China, with its veto power on the Security Council, would work strenuously to block any action, but he hoped countries could at least raise their voices at the United Nations.

"I think it's really important to have an early global conversation because this is a global figure with a global impact," he said.

US religious freedom envoy Sam Brownback, seen here at a July 2019 ministerial 

meeting in Washington, is raising pressure over the Dalai Lama's succession (AFP 

Photo/MANDEL NGAN)

"That's the big thing that we're really after now, to stir this before we're right in the middle of it -- if something happens to the Dalai Lama, that there has been this robust discussion globally about it ahead of time," he said.

"My estimation undoubtedly is that the (Chinese) communist party has thought a lot about this. So they've got a plan and I think we have to be equally aggressive with a plan."

The Dalai Lama once traveled incessantly, drawing huge Western audiences with his good-humored lectures on compassion and happiness.

But the Nobel Peace Prize winner has slowed down and earlier this year suffered a chest infection, although he is not known to have serious health issues.

Brownback said he found the Dalai Lama "quite jovial" and that the monk had told him, "'Look, I'm going to live another 15, 20 years; I'm going to outlast the Chinese government.'"

But Beijing has indicated it is waiting out the Dalai Lama, believing his campaign for greater Tibetan autonomy will end with him.

China, which argues that it has brought modernization and development to the Himalayan region, has increasingly hinted that it could name the next Dalai Lama, who would presumably be groomed to support Chinese rule.

Indian police detain Tibetan students as they protest against the visit of 

China's President Xi Jinping in Chennai in October 2019 (AFP Photo/STR)

In 1995, the officially atheist government selected its own Panchen Lama and detained a six-year-old identified for the influential Buddhist position -- whom rights groups called the world's youngest political prisoner.

Seeking 'unfettered' access

Mindful of Beijing's plans, the 14th Dalai Lama has mused about breaking with the centuries-old tradition in which wandering monks look for signs that a young boy is the reincarnation.

He has said that he could pick his own successor, possibly a girl, or even declare himself the final Dalai Lama.

The US Congress has also stepped up efforts, including by mandating visa denials by the end of the year for Chinese officials unless Beijing eases restrictions on US diplomats, journalists and ordinary people seeking to visit Tibet.

Brownback said he would like access to Tibet, "but I want it unfettered."

He said he similarly hoped to visit the western region of Xinjiang, which has drawn intense US scrutiny over the incarceration of some one million Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims.

"It is part of the same war on faith," Brownback said of Tibet and Xinjiang.

A Tibetan-in-exile carries a photograph of the Dalai Lama during celebrations 

marking the Lunar New Year in Kathmandu in February 2018 (AFP Photo/

PRAKASH MATHEMA)

Fears in Nepal

Brownback also visited Nepal, historically the gateway for Tibetans fleeing to India but which has increasingly clamped down under pressure from its giant northern neighbor.

Brownback said he raised fears for Tibetans with Nepal's foreign minister, Pradeep Gyawali.

But he acknowledged Nepal's difficult situation and said: "I would hate to be very harsh on the Nepalese because they've been so good over so many years to help the Tibetans."

Brownback said that the burden was ultimately with China to allow freedom of movement -- and not to interfere in Tibetan Buddhism.

"A government doesn't own a religion," he said. "A religion runs itself."

"We hope we'll get a number of other communities around the world to express similar positions and concerns."

Pope signs Jerusalem declaration on Morocco trip

Yahoo – AFP, Sophie Pons and Catherine Marciano, March 30, 2019

Pope Francis is the first pontiff to visit Morocco since John Paul II in
1985 (AFP Photo/CIRO FUSCO)

Rabat (AFP) - Pope Francis on Saturday joined Morocco's King Mohammed VI in saying Jerusalem should be a "symbol of peaceful coexistence" for Christians, Jews and Muslims, on the first day of a visit to the North African country.

The spiritual leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics was invited by King Mohammed VI for the sake of "interreligious dialogue", according to Moroccan authorities.

In a joint statement, the two leaders said Jerusalem was "common patrimony of humanity and especially the followers of the three monotheistic religions."

"The specific multi-religious character, the spiritual dimension and the particular cultural identity of Jerusalem... must be protected and promoted," they said in the declaration released by the Vatican as the pontiff visited Rabat.

The Moroccan king chairs a committee created by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to safeguard and restore Jerusalem's religious, cultural and architectural heritage.

The joint statement came after US President Donald Trump's landmark recognition of the disputed city as capital of Israel, which sparked anger across the Muslim world, especially from Palestinians who see Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

Improving relations with other religions has been a priority for the Argentine pontiff, whose papacy has been marred by clergy facing a wave of child sex abuse allegations.

Thousands of Moroccans greeted Pope Francis in the capital Rabat 

(AFP Photo/Alberto PIZZOLI)

Opposing extremism

Addressing thousands of Moroccans who had braved the rain to attend the welcome ceremony, Francis said it was "essential to oppose fanaticism".

He stressed the need for "appropriate preparation of future religious guides", ahead of meeting trainee imams later on Saturday.

Catholics are a tiny minority Morocco, where 99 percent of the population is Muslim. The king is revered across West Africa as "commander of the faithful".

Speaking at the ceremony at the Tour (or tower) Hassan mosque and nearby mausoleum in Rabat, the monarch also voiced opposition to radicalism.

"That which terrorists have in common is not religion, it's precisely the ignorance of religion. It's time that religion is no longer an alibi... for this ignorance, for this intolerance," he said.

Francis rode to the ceremony in his Popemobile, passing rows of Moroccan and Vatican City flags and an estimated 12,000 well-wishers who packed the esplanade.

Buildings had been repainted, lawns manicured and security stepped up ahead of the first papal visit to Morocco since John Paul II in 1985.

A 17-year-old was arrested after trying to throw himself onto the king's limousine to seek the monarch's help, the police said.

Pope Francis (L) was welcomed to Rabat by Morocco's King 

Mohammed VI (AFP Photo/Fadel SENNA)

Some 130,000 people across Rabat watched the first stage of the pope's visit, which was beamed onto giant screens, officials said.

'Right to a future'

After stopping by the royal palace, Francis and Mohammed visited an institute where around 1,300 students are studying to become imams and preachers.

There they heard from a French and a Nigerian student of the institute, which teaches "moderate Islam" and is backed by the king.

In Morocco, where Islam is the state religion, authorities are keen to stress the country's "religious tolerance" which allows Christians and Jews to worship freely.

But Moroccans are automatically considered Muslim, apart from a minority who are born Jewish. Apostasy is socially frowned upon, and proselytising is a criminal offence.

Those who try to "rock the faith of a Muslim or to convert him to another religion" risk a prison term of up to three years.

After years in the shadows, since 2017 the small number of converts have called openly for the right to live "without persecution" and "without discrimination".

The pope finished his Saturday schedule by meeting migrants (AFP Photo/
Alberto PIZZOLI)

Around 30,000 to 35,000 Catholics live in Morocco, many of them from sub-Saharan Africa.

The pope finished his Saturday schedule by meeting migrants -- including children dressed in colourful hats -- at a centre run by Catholic humanitarian organisation Caritas.

"Everyone has the right to a future," said Francis, who has throughout his papacy highlighted the plight of migrants and refugees.

He criticised "collective expulsions" and said ways for migrants to regularise their status should be encouraged.

Caritas centres in Rabat, Casablanca and Tangiers welcomed 7,551 new arrivals in 2017, according to the charity, helping migrants access services.

The number of people taking the sea route from Morocco to Spain has recently surged as it has become harder for them to pass through Libya.

Rabat claims to have a "humanistic" approach to migration and rejects allegations by rights groups of "brutal arrest campaigns" and "forced displacement" to the country's southern border.

On Sunday, the pope will celebrate mass at a Rabat stadium with an estimated 10,000 people attending.

Related Article:

Pope Francis issues sweeping sex abuse legislation

Pastor Curry spices up royal wedding with power of love

Yahoo – AFP, Joseph STENSON and Pauline FROISSART, May 19, 2018

Bishop Michael Bruce Curry gave an impassioned address during the wedding
ceremony (AFP Photo/Owen Humphreys)

Windsor (United Kingdom) (AFP) - US pastor Michael Curry fired up Britain's royal wedding on Saturday with some dramatic oratory about the power of love that bemused the royal family but made him a social media hit.

Curry, the first African-American leader of the US Episcopal Church, opened his full-throttle sermon in front of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle by quoting Martin Luther King.

"We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will be able to make of this old world a new world," he said, quoting the US civil rights icon.

With rhetorical flourish, the 65-year-old from Chicago said: "There's power in love. Don't underestimate it. Don't even over-sentimentalise. There is power, power in love.

"I'm talking about some power. Real power. Power to change the world," said Curry, who heads up the US branch of the Anglican church and is renowned as an animated and lively preacher.

Members of the royal family looked visibly bemused, not only at the lectern-banging, theatrical style and impassioned content -- but also his lengthy, off-script freestyling.

'Extraordinary and powerful'

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the leader of the world's Anglicans who married the happy couple, called it an "extraordinary and powerful sermon".

In the Windsor streets, crowds of royal fans watching on giant screens reacted with amusement at his 13-and-a-half-minute speech.

"He's STILL going on!" one man shouted from the crowd.

Kristin Glithero, 45, from nearby Wokingham, told AFP: "I wasn't expecting this American preacher. It is nice to see something a bit different.

"His message was lovely and the way he delivered it was very powerful. But maybe too long for the British public!"

At a street party in east London, retiree Janet Price, 69, told AFP: "It didn't go down well with some of the royals, judging by their faces."

Watching on a giant screen in Leeds, northern England, David Fryer said: "There was one little blip in the proceedings where the archbishop of wherever he was from just went on -- and on, and on, and on."

Star of the show

But reactions on social media were far more positive and he was trending worldwide on Twitter.

Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator magazine, said he had stolen the show, as maid of honour Pippa Middleton did with her figure-hugging dress at her sister Kate's 2011 wedding to Prince William, Harry's brother.

"If Pippa was the unexpected star of Kate's wedding, Michael Curry is the star of this one. Wonderful, wonderful sermon," he wrote, offering the preacher a column.

Formula One commentator David Croft said: "I haven't heard anyone talk as passionately as that about the Power Of Love since Huey Lewis and the News."

The Times newspaper columnist Hugo Rifkind tweeted: "I love how the entire British royal family is visibly dying of embarrassment because somebody is shouting openly about love at a wedding."

Curry also referred to slaves singing spirituals about the healing power of love in their captivity.

The ancestors of Doria Ragland, the African-American mother of bride Meghan Markle, were slaves and her surname is that of a slave owner.

"I cannot believe there is a pastor talking about slave spirituals at a dang royal wedding. Hello 21st century," wrote one Twitter user, @kateyrich.

"This Reverend just won the Royal Wedding," wrote @nat_sinclair93.

Curry's sermon also featured lighter moments.

"Two young people fell in love and we all showed up," he told the crowd, prompting an outburst of laughter.

Finishing up, he turned to the couple and smiled, exclaiming: "We gotta get y'all married!"

The royal newlyweds kissed in front of the Windsor crowds (AFP Photo/Danny Lawson)

Related Articles:

Harry and Meghan shake up royal tradition in star-studded wedding

#RoyalWedding Time to party and Harry's driving.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave Windsor Castle for an evening reception at Frogmore House pic.twitter.com/q2MeMD1Y7C

— AFP news agency (@AFP) May 19, 2018

India bends it like Modi on first World Yoga Day

Yahoo - AFP, Annie Banerji, 21 June 2015

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C) participates in a mass yoga session 

along with other yoga practitioners to mark International Yoga Day on Rajpath 

Avenue in New Delhi on June 21, 2015 (AFP Photo/Prakash Singh)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday hailed the first International Yoga Day as a "new era of peace", moments before he surprised thousands in New Delhi by taking to a mat himself to celebrate the ancient Indian practice.

Yoga-loving Modi led more than 35,000 people, including bureaucrats, students and soldiers, performing poses such as the half camel and cobra in a 35-minute mass outdoor yoga session beginning at 7:00 am (0130 GMT) on a New Delhi boulevard.

Organisers are hoping the event qualifies for the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest yoga class at a single venue.

People take part in a mass yoga session

 to mark International Yoga Day on 

Rajpath in New Delhi on June 21, 2015 

(AFP Photo/Prakash Singh)

The current title, according to the Guinness website, was set by 29,973 students in Gwalior, India, in 2005.

"Yoga is more than only physical fitness. We are not only celebrating a day but we are training the human mind to begin a new era of peace," Modi told the crowd at Rajpath avenue.

He thanked the United Nations and the 177 co-sponsoring countries for adopting his idea for a world Yoga Day.

"This is a programme for human welfare, a tension-free world and a programme to spread the message of love, peace and goodwill," said the premier, wearing a crisp white outfit with a national tricolour scarf.

Modi then surprised the crowds by leaving the stage, removing his glasses, and securing a spot at the front of the massive session to mirror the stretches, breathing, and meditative moves beamed on giant screens along the historic avenue.

He took a brief break in the middle of the session to walk around and inspect students doing yoga around him before rejoining the routine of 15 different poses, including the crocodile and "wind-releasing" posture.

The prime minister, who credits yoga for his ability to work long hours on little sleep, had been scheduled only to make a speech at Rajpath, where colourful mats were lined across the stretch that connects the president's palace with the iconic India Gate monument.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C) gives instructions as yoga practitioners

 take part in a mass yoga session to mark International Yoga Day on Rajpath in

New Delhi on June 21, 2015 (AFP Photo/Prakash Singh)

Sea of white

Aerial images taken near dawn showed Rajpath, or King's Avenue, as a sea of white with scores of people, clad in new Yoga Day T-shirts, bending and stretching in sync with the English and Hindi instructions to a background score of Indian classical music being played over loudspeakers.

Central Delhi was sealed off and carpeted, with dozens of metal detectors and multiple checkpoints erected for the big day that saw other VIPs including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal participate.

People in 650 districts joined in, with pictures pouring in on Twitter from across the country.

Some showed soldiers performing various yoga poses -- or asanas -- against a backdrop of soaring snow mountains at Siachen glacier, the world's highest battleground, in disputed Indian Kashmir while others showed residents stretching it out in local parks.

India will be joined by yoga enthusiasts in 192 other countries -- including in Britain, where mats will be rolled out along the banks of the River Thames.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (front L) participates in a mass yoga 

session along with other yoga practitioners to mark International Yoga Day on

Rajpath in New Delhi on June 21, 2015 (AFP Photo/Prakash Singh)

In his maiden address to the United Nations General Assembly, Modi proposed to dedicate a day devoted to the ancient Indian discipline, prompting the UN to proclaim June 21 as the International Day of Yoga.

Indian scholars believe yoga dates back 5,000 years, based on archaeological evidence of poses found inscribed on stones and references to Yogic teachings in the ancient Hindu scriptures of the Vedas.

And Modi, a vegetarian who practises the art daily, has made Yoga Day a key initiative of his Hindu nationalist government since he took office 13 months ago.

He wants to reclaim yoga as an historical part of Indian culture which has been lost to the West, where it has become a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Since storming to power, the Hindu nationalist premier has set up a ministry dedicated to promoting yoga and other traditional Indian treatments, and also started free yoga classes for his government's three million bureaucrats and their families.

"Yoga is the soft power of India and through that soft power the whole world can be one global village... (and) violence can be removed with this kind of peace," Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has told reporters.

Guinness World Recocrds Representative Marco Frigatti (2nd L) speaks with a 

yoga practitioner as attendees prepare to participate in a mass yoga session to

 mark International Yoga Day on Rajpath Avenue in New Delhi on June 21, 2015 

(AFP Photo/Prakash Singh)

Swaraj is at the UN's headquarters in New York for Yoga Day, when scores are expected to strike a pose in Times Square.

But the government's push for "yoga for harmony and peace" met with criticism in the run-up to Sunday, with some religious minorities accusing Modi of pushing a pro-Hindu agenda in officially secular India.

A few Muslim groups have complained that chanting the sacred Hindu sound of "Om" during yoga and certain poses, such as "surya namaskar" or sun salutation, have clear Hindu overtones and were against Islam.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon(C) takes part in a special event celebrating

the first International Day of Yoga on June 21, 2015 at UN headquarters in

New York (AFP Photo/Mark Garten)

Related Articles:

Yoga event draws thousands, including UN chief, to Times Square

Yoga classes do not violate students' religious rights, Californian court rules

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."

Pope Francis and Canada’s prime minister discuss Catholic school abuse

Canada sent the pope a report detailing decades of abuse suffered by aboriginal children in Catholic boarding schools, but Harper did not ask for an apology

The Guardian, AFP, Thursday 11 June 2015

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets with Pope Francis at

the Vatican on 11 June 2015. Photograph: Adrian Wyld/AP

During a meeting Thursday, Pope Francis and Canada’s prime minister Stephen Harper discussed decades of abuse suffered by aboriginal children at Catholic boarding schools in Canada.

Harper’s meeting with the pontiff at the Vatican wraps up nearly a week of travel for the Canadian leader, including his participation at the G7 summit in Germany.

In advance of Harper’s visit to the Vatican, Canada’s aboriginal affairs minister sent a letter to the Holy See outlining a national truth and reconciliation commission’s report on the “spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse” of students at Church-run institutions. The report had 94 recommendations, including the call for a papal apology, which is widely supported by Canadian tribal chiefs. Harper did not, however, ask the pope to apologize.

Beginning in 1874, 150,000 Indian, Inuit and Metis children in Canada were forcibly enrolled in 132 boarding schools run by Christian churches on behalf of the federal government in an effort to integrate them into society.

Many former students alleged abuse by headmasters and teachers, who stripped them of their culture and language.

At least 3,200 students never returned home.

The experience has also been blamed for gross poverty and desperation in native communities that has led to abuse, suicide and crime.

Most of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools, modeled after US Indian industrial schools of the period, were shut down in the 1970s. The last one closed in 1996 in Saskatchewan province.

The two men also discussed the plight of Christians and other religious minorities currently under threat in the Middle East, Eastern Ukraine, Crimea and Africa,the prime minister’s office said.

Harper also invited Pope Francis to attend Canada’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2017, said the prime minister’s office said.

Related Article:

Pope creates tribunal to judge bishops who cover up sex abuse

Yoga classes do not violate students' religious rights, Californian court rules

Appeals court upholds ruling against lawsuit brought by family who claimed yoga promoted Hinduism and inhibited Christianity

The Guardian, Associated Press, Saturday 4 April 2015

A yoga class in Encinitas, California. Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP

Yoga taught in a public school is not a gateway to Hinduism and does not violate the religious rights of students or their parents, a California appeals court has ruled.

An appeal court in San Diego upheld a lower court ruling that tossed out a family’s lawsuit that tried to block Encinitas Union school district from teaching yoga as an alternative to traditional gym classes.

“While the practice of yoga may be religious in some contexts, yoga classes as taught in the district are, as the trial court determined, ‘devoid of any religious, mystical, or spiritual trappings,’” the court wrote in a 3-0 opinion.

Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock and their two children had brought the lawsuit claiming yoga promoted Hinduism and inhibited Christianity. They were disappointed with the ruling and considering their options.

“No other court in the past 50 years has allowed public school officials to lead children in formal religious rituals like the Hindu liturgy of praying to, bowing to, and worshipping the sun god,” attorney Dean Broyles said in a statement.

Paul V Carelli IV, a lawyer for the district, said there were no rituals occurring in the classroom and no one was worshipping the sun or leading Hindu rites. The district said the practice was taught in a secular way to promote strength, flexibility and balance.

Yoga is now taught at schools across the US, but the district is believed to be the first with full-time yoga teachers at all schools.

A three-year grant from the KP Jois Foundation, a nonprofit group that promotes Ashtanga yoga, provides twice-weekly, 30-minute classes to the district’s 5,600 students.

About 30 families opted out of the classes begun in 2011.

Related Articles:

US States Pass Amended Religious Freedom Laws After Outcry

Pope and Welby joined by imams and rabbis for anti-slavery declaration

Pope Francis and other religious leaders at the Vatican. Photograph: AP

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."

The ‘Rev’ in revolution: The gay man leading Canada’s Protestants

Gary Paterson is the first homosexual to rise to the top of Canada’s United Church. He describes his experience of coming out and how he feels other churches deal with LGBT people.

Deutsche Welle, 11 Dec 2014

Gary Paterson, the first openly gay minister in the United Church of Canada.

Life Links: Before the National Conference elected you Moderator in 2012, were you anxious that there would be a push back?

Rev. Gary Paterson: I had some apprehension that my being a gay person might be a significant factor in whether or not I would be chosen. On the other hand I knew that we had been wrestling and dealing with this issue for decades and primarily our church had come to a place of complete acceptance. The only question was whether people felt completely comfortable having their spiritual leader as being openly gay.

I was elected and there was general affirmation. In fact, I heard a story: two elected commissioners were talking to each other and said: ‘I didn’t know he was gay.’ At that point I was on stage with my spouse and we were having a celebratory hug. The other person turned and said: ‘Oh, that’s interesting!’ And that was the total conversation - which is to say that the big news in our denomination was that the election of an openly gay Moderator was not a news story in itself.

It was in my bio, it was certainly public information as I have been publicly out since 1993, within church circles and have served in many different ways. So everybody knew who I was. Most people knew that I was married. And people just said: This isn’t the issue we would base a decision on. It’s interesting, it certainly adds something to the complexity of who you are. But we are choosing someone who we think has the best gift for this point in time.

Why did you decide to come out?

I think the coming-out process is a step-by-step journey. In the 1980s I’d left my marriage and I came out as a gay person to myself personally, to a circle of friends and to my family. I came out to an ever-widening circle of people within family and within the church. And I finally arrived at what I call a “glass closet,” meaning most people knew and if anybody asked me any questions I responded with a full, truthful explanation and sharing of who I was.

But I decided I needed to make a more public statement so that it was out there and nobody would have to feel awkward about asking me questions. And in a sense for my own personal sense of integrity I felt I needed to be at peace with who I am and have a sense that within the church there would be an acceptance and a recognition of that and that it would enable in fact a richer and better ministry and more possibilities for conversation and dialogue.

You and your husband have marched in pride parades together in your clergy collar. How did people attending with you react?

It was constant support. First of all I would sometimes hear almost whispered surprise, people would say: ‘Look! Look!’ You could almost hear it, particularly because people might assume that I’m a Catholic priest. There would be no visual distinction between me wearing a black shirt and a white collar. But then there would be this outpouring of applause and affirmation.

Gary Paterson (right) with his husband.

I think members particularly of the gay and lesbian community or their supporters and families were absolutely delighted that a representative of the Christian church was marching. They would see it as a statement that gay and lesbian people are not somehow condemned, they are not sick sinners - they are in fact welcome children, brothers and sisters within the Christian community.

What do you think of other Churches like the Catholic Church not accepting LGBT people?

Personally I am quite critical of that stand. I worry that often people are tempted to use theological and biblical work to justify an already existing social prejudice, so I want to continue the conversation and dialogue and try to understand why people hold that position and to see if by sharing my story, my experience and my insights - biblically and theologically - we can bring about some change. And I have had some really good experiences in that effort. I spent some time travelling in Colombia and Cuba and had very fruitful conversations simply sharing my insights. People then do with that what they will.

But I have also been in certain situations where people have not wanted to engage in that conversation or have been critical in their response. I would have people say: “We love the sinner but we hate the sin”. And I’ll say that’s a false dichotomy. Or they’ll say: “Please don’t take this personally.” And I say: “Well, in truth I do take it personally.”

Being a gay person is not the definitive characteristic of who I am - it’s one of many of my realities. But it is an essential part of me. And I know and am absolutely convinced that this is actually a gift and that God is pleased. I still face the same challenges as anybody does, to live that out responsibly and faithfully. And so I would be equally critical of heterosexual or homosexual persons in terms of lifestyle, and support responsible expression of sexuality, partnership and integrity.

I don’t get judgmental on people. But often I worry that an open lifestyle that moves towards promiscuity is one that damages your heart - and also of course has worrisome implications for physical health. I think that we are called to be in a committed relationship where we can flourish and be reassured and grow.

The membership numbers in the United Church of Canada have declined in the past years. One reason could be your reassuring position on homosexuals. Aren’t you harming your church by being that open-minded?

I would say not at all. When we made our decision in 1988 there were some people who left the United Church. But nowadays, you only have to look at a cross-section of churches that I would say are liberal-Protestant. All of them are struggling and wrestling with a decline in membership and finances. When we compare ourselves to Presbyterians or Anglicans in Canada, our statistics are stronger and better.

And even when you look across the border to the Southern Baptist denomination which is one of the largest and very conservative denominations in the US, they are also experiencing a decline in membership. So it seems to me to have very little to do with issues of justice or inclusion and much more to do with a change in social secularity and people saying we’re distrustful of institutions.

We’re spiritual but not religious. It has very little to do with one’s position on gay and lesbian issues. If anything over the last several years we might have experienced a net-plus in membership growth as people come to us and say: “I may not myself be lesbian or gay but I want to belong to a church that is inclusive and progressive and welcomes all people.”

Related Articles:

Opinion: It's a start. Nothing more, nothing less

Bishops scrap welcome to gays in sign of split

Homosexuals 'have gifts to offer,' says Vatican in historic turnaround

Pope Francis: Vatican begins landmark synod to discuss family life

"The Akashic Circle" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.)  - (Text version)

“… Gender Switching

Old souls, let me tell you something. If you are old enough, and many of you are, you have been everything. Do you hear me? All of you. You have been both genders. All of you have been what I will call between genders, and that means that all of you have had gender switches. Do you know what happens when it's time for you to switch a gender? We have discussed it before. You'll have dozens of lifetimes as the same gender. You're used to it. It's comfortable. You cannot conceive of being anything else, yet now it's time to change. It takes approximately three lifetimes for you to get used to it, and in those three lifetimes, you will have what I call "gender confusion."

It isn't confusion at all. It's absolutely normal, yet society often will see it as abnormal. I'm sitting here telling you you've all been through it. All of you. That's what old souls do. It's part of the system. …”

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  1 - Spirituality

Number one: Spirituality. The systems of spiritual design on your planet are starting to change. This is not telling you that certain ones are going to go away. They're simply going to change. Some of the largest spiritual systems, which you would call organized religion on the planet, are shifting. They're going to shift away from that which is authority on the outside to authority on the inside. It will eventually be a different way of worship, slowly changing the rules while keeping the basic doctrine the same.

The doctrine of the Christ has always been to find the God inside. The teachings were clear. The examples of the miracles were given as an example of what humans could do, not to set a man up for worship as a God. So when that has been absorbed, the teaching of the Christ can remain the teaching of the Christ. It simply changes the interpretation.

The teachings of the great prophets of the Middle East (all related to each other) are about unity and love. So once the holy words are redefined with new wisdom, the Human changes, not the words of the prophets. In fact, the prophets become even more divinely inspired and their wisdom becomes even more profound.

You're going to lose a pope soon. I have no clock. Soon to us can mean anything to you. The one who replaces him may surprise you, for his particular organization will be in survival mode at that point in time. That is to say that fewer and fewer are interested in starting the priesthood. Fewer and fewer young people are interested in the organization, and the new pope must make changes to keep his church alive. That means that his organization will remain, but with a more modern look at what truly is before all of you in a new energy. It is not the fall of the church. It is instead the recalibration of the divinity inside that would match the worship that goes on. It's a win-win situation. The new pope will have a difficult time, since the old guard will still be there. There could even be an assassination attempt, such is the way the old energy dies hard. That is number one. Watch for it. It's a change in the way spiritual systems work. It's a realignment of spiritual systems that resound to a stronger truth that is Human driven, rather than prophet driven. .. ”