VATICAN CITY
Top Vatican deputy expects to visit Cuba
The Holy See’s No. 2 official, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, will go to Cuba, the highest level visit by a Vatican official to the Communist-run state during Pope Benedict XVI’s tenure.
Bertone is an Italian prelate and secretary of state at the Holy See. Dates and other details for the trip by Bertone will be announced soon.
It was not immediately known if Bertone would try to pay a call on ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who welcomed Pope John Paul II to Havana. The Caribbean island is approaching the 10th anniversary of John Paul’s historic pilgrimage there in January 1998.
John Paul had urged Castro to increase freedom on the island for both the church and society, and denounced U.S. efforts to isolate Cuba.
But in the decade that has passed, Cuba’s Catholic Church has made only limited gains. Catholic leaders can speak or write in state media at times, but religious schools remain closed as they have been since the early 1960s when hundreds of foreign priests were expelled.
NEW YORK
Council of Churches considers leader
Rev. Michael Kinnamon, an ecumenical leader and pastor in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), has been nominated to lead the National Council of Churches.
The nomination goes before the council’s governing board and general assembly at a Nov. 5 to 8 meeting. If he is approved as general secretary, Kinnamon will succeed Rev. Bob Edgar, who resigned Aug. 31 to lead the liberal advocacy group Common Cause.
The New York-based National Council of Churches represents 35 member Protestant and Orthodox Christian denominations. Its programs include ecumenical dialogue, providing humanitarian aid and advocating for Mideast peace.
The organization has struggled with financial problems off and on for years. Last month, the council announced it had to cut 14 staff positions in the face of a deficit in the 2007 fiscal year, and expected to face another deficit in the fiscal year ahead.
Kinnamon is on the National Council of Churches’ governing board and received a doctorate from the University of Chicago Divinity School.
WISCONSIN
Atheists, agnostics prepare to meet
Americans may dislike atheists, but for one weekend those who don’t believe in God will find sanctuary in Madison.
Members of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the nation’s largest group of atheists and agnostics, will gather for a weekend of nonprayer breakfasts and raffles for God-free currency at the group’s 30th annual convention.
Despite a new survey that shows most Americans still have negative views toward nonbelievers, it’s been a pretty good year for atheism.
The foundation has added thousands of members, is starting a national talk radio show and claimed two legal victories in disputes with states in recent weeks.
Against that backdrop, prominent atheists and agnostics will gather Friday through Sunday to hear speeches, give awards and plot strategy in downtown Madison’s Monona Terrace. Christopher Hitchens, author of the best-selling book, “God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything,” will be there. So will comedian Julia Sweeney, who played “Pat” on Saturday Night Live and now has a one-woman show describing a spiritual journey in which she ultimately gives up on the idea of God.
