The Wonder Worker or Father Christmas?

WALL STREET JOURNAL, August 31, 1998-An unlikely dispute has arisen between Demre in Turkey and Bari in Italy over the bones of St. Nicholas.

The Santa Claus Foundation in Demre wants the bones of St. Nicholas to reside in its city, which was called Myra when the saint lived there. The Greek Orthodox Church, which descends from the Byzantine-era Catholic Church in Constantinople, has the bones and wants to keep the former bishop's remains to venerate as relics.

The Santa Claus Foundation is made up almost entirely of Moslems, who claim that St. Nicholas is now the property of all faiths because he is “Father Christmas.” Their annual December 6 ceremonies revere the “jolly old elf” and award “The Father Christmas Peace Prize.”

The Greek Christians call him “St. Nicholas, the Wonder Worker” and pray for his intercession, celebrating his example of faith and God's grace working in men on December 6, his feast day.

“Santa Claus is supra religious, universal,” said Muammer Karabulut, the Santa Claus Foundation's chairman. The report said that even the Dalai Lama sends an emissary to the Father Christmas ceremonies.

But “What about his sainthood?", answered Metropolitan Chrisostomos, St. Nicholas's current successor in the see of Myra. “People should believe in something, after all.”

He complained that the “Father Christmas” ceremonies exist only as “a means to get money.” The bones were moved (“stolen” according to the Foundation) in 1087 from Myra to Bari. Some believe they were moved with the express purpose of keeping them out of the hands of advancing Turkish armies.

“Unity and Faith” in Nigeria

NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE, Aug. 28-Nigeria's motto, “Unity and Faith,” is sometimes hard to live up to in a country made up of devout Christians and Muslims, said the news service about the African nation which is seeing a new growth in Catholicism and Protestant sects.

“Of all the fissures in this country, which was thrown together on the whim of a British colonial governor in 1914, those based on religion may be the most treacherous. But it is still not clear whether religion will ultimately push Nigerians toward fracture or reconcile them,” said the report.

“Of the three main ethnic groups, the northern Hausas are Muslim, the southeastern Ibos are overwhelmingly Christian, and the southwestern Yorubas mixed.”

The article quoted religion scholar Onaolapo Soleye, saying that the southern Christian faith is buoyant and hopeful. “But in the north, religion is different: more fatalistic and more all-encompassing. Everything there is Allah's work. Well, we do not think it's Allah's work that more and more people are poor.”

Much of the difference has theological roots. For Muslims, God's will is a direct force moving events, good and bad. Christians praise Muslims for their simple religion of abandonment to God's will. For Christians, God's Providence is also in control. But evil is the result of man's fall: God allows it but does not directly cause it.

Diana is Not a Saint, Says British Cardinal

BRITISH BROADCASTING CORP., August 27-The one-year anniversary of her death saw another wide-scale demonstration of public fascination with Lady Diana, and with her tragic death. But Basil Cardinal Hume warned that Diana was no saint, calling her “flawed, but much loved” in a British radio interview.

But while maintaining that she was “by no means a saint” the Primate of England and Wales defended Diana more than other Churchmen, such as former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Coggan, who has described the princess as “a false goddess of loose morals.”

He also clarified the Catholic position after two evangelical Sunday school teachers told their young students that Diana had gone to hell. Diana “did a great deal of good,” he said, pointing out that her life was no worse than most people's.

Cardinal Hume refused to respond to Lord Coggan's comments, saying merely that the former Archbishop was “very wise and very experienced.” However, he did say that the Sunday school teacher's words were “upsetting to us all” and that he would be praying for Diana's soul.

Said the BBC report, the Cardinal “doubted that, one year on from the princess's death, the country had been changed by it.”