Posted on 12/17/2006 6:29:00 AM PST by Huber
A pilgrimage by the Archbishop of Canterbury and fellow Church leaders to Bethlehem this week is in danger of being overshadowed by allegations of nepotism against the senior Anglican bishop in the Holy Land.
The high-profile pilgrimage led by Dr Rowan Williams and Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, his Roman Catholic counterpart, is designed to demonstrate support for the beleaguered Christian community in the region.
But the leaders could find themselves embroiled in an embarrassing row involving one of their hosts during the four-day trip, the Bishop in Jerusalem, the Rt Rev Riah Hanna Abu El-Assal.
The bishop has come under pressure to resign after a report drawn up by a committee appointed by his own diocese accused him of abusing his position to help family members. The four-month investigation alleged that the bishop had arranged for the insurance policies for staff at two Anglican schools to be handled by an insurance company that had promised to give half the commission to his son-in-law.
The report claimed that the Bishop’s actions constituted a “dramatic combination” of nepotism and a violation of trust.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. I may have truncated the distribution list at your name. Just in case...
"The report claimed that the Bishop’s actions constituted a “dramatic combination” of nepotism and a violation of trust."
Kid's stuff compared to the corruption of our guys down there! The EP and the other Orthodox Patriarchs had to remove the immediate predecessor of the Patriarch of Jerusalem for corruption on a massive scale. Your man is just doing what everyone in the Levant does, prefering family over strangers. Nothing new, or in context, particular wrong, with that! :)
El-Assal was quoted by Christianity Today on Nov. 17 as saying that the curriculum advisory committee did not include evangelicals because "they are not counted as members of the mainstream Christian fellowship." He said evangelicals are also often perceived as having "a different agenda, more to do with Zionism....In 2003, El-Assal signed a letter opposing Israel's separation wall that was built to prevent suicide bombers from murdering Israeli citizens.
http://www.layman.org/layman/news/2006-news/anglican-bishop-who-aided-pcusa.htm
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