Global Oddities

Bishop Jepsen

The bishop of Hamburg – the world’s first female Lutheran bishop – has resigned amid criticism of her handling of a sex abuse case.

Maria Jepsen stepped down saying her credibility had been contested.

She denies having known before May this year about a priest in the town of Ahrensburg who reportedly sexually abused boys and girls in the 1980s.

Several cases in Germany form part of sex abuse scandals that have hit the Roman Catholic Church recently.

Maria Jepsen was elected bishop in 1992, becoming the first woman worldwide to hold the post.

“My credibility has been put in question,” she said.

“Consequently, I feel that I am no longer able to spread the good word, as I vowed to do at my ordination.

“I expect that the… cases in Ahrensburg and elsewhere will be swiftly investigated and that the truth will come to light.”

Maria Jepsen is the third bishop to resign in Germany in recent months.

Roman Catholic Bishop Walter Mixa resigned in April after claims he hit children.

And the former head of the Protestant Church in Germany, Margot Kaesmann, resigned after she was caught by police drunk driving.

In recent months, allegations of abuse levelled against Catholic priests have surfaced in many countries.

There have also been accusations that Church authorities in Europe and North and South America failed to deal with cases openly or properly.

Pope Benedict XVI himself has been accused of being part of a culture of secrecy, and of not taking strong enough steps against abusers when he had that responsibility as a cardinal in Rome.

However, his supporters say he has been the most pro-active pope yet in confronting abuse.

The Pope pledged in April to “bring to justice” Church officials responsible for abuse.

On Thursday, the Vatican issued new instructions to speed up the handling of the “most urgent” cases of sex abuse by priests, after a series of abuse scandals.

Priests who sexually abuse a mentally ill adult will now be treated in the same way as those who abuse minors

Source: BBC news online, July 16, 2010

Vuvuzela seller in South Africa

Cyprus police announced on Friday that they would confiscate any vuvuzelas taken into the island’s football stadiums because the tuneless plastic horns were “dangerous”.

Police said the announcement was prompted by the appearance of the horns made famous by the World Cup finals in South Africa on the stands during Cyprus clubs’ Europa League and Champions League qualifying games in recent weeks.

“The public are informed that in the instance where a fan is seen carrying a vuvuzela inside a stadium or the surrounding area, it will be confiscated,” the announcement said.

Police said that a dangerous object “is anything that can be used or thrown in a way which causes bodily harm or material damage”.

“These objects (vuvuzelas) are judged to be dangerous for possession at grounds under the law to prevent and combat violence at sports stadiums,” the statement said.

Linguists from around the world voted vuvuzela the word of the World Cup but the monotonous drone is loathed by many and Cyprus police are not the first organisation to impose a ban.

Tennis authorities barred vuvuzelas from Wimbledon this summer, while in the Islamic world authorities in the United Arab Emirates issued a fatwa or religious decree against them.
Source; AFP July 16, 2010