WASHINGTON, May 9 (UPI) -- Capital Comment -- Daily news notes, political rumors, and important events that shape politics and public policy in Washington and the world from United Press International.
Blurring the separation of church and state -- On Wednesday, the opening day of the U.N.'s Special Session of the General Assembly on Children, a coalition of self-described "abuse survivors, legal experts, and progressive Catholic groups" announced they are lobbying the United Nations to "hold the Holy See -- the government of Vatican City and the Roman Catholic church -- accountable for the international cover-up of child sexual abuse by high-ranking church officials."
Organizers of the effort say the Vatican is violating the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and have called on The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors the convention to "Demand the Holy See issue a full report on the magnitude of the abuse; demand concrete plans from the Holy See to ensure future abuse does not occur; and, recommend changes to the Holy See's legal system to provide protection and due process for abuse victims." They also want the church to make a formal apology to the United Nations and "reinstate its contribution to UNICEF."
"We come to the United Nations because there is no sign that Catholic bishops or the institutional church are prepared to deal with this problem in a definitive way that will end pedophilia in the church," Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for a Free Choice, a liberal group that is one of the organizers of the campaign, said in a release.
Not a surprise party -- The libertarian Cato Institute think thank begins its 25th anniversary celebrations Friday with a banquet at the Washington Hilton Towers Hotel where the inaugural Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty will be awarded posthumously to economist Peter Bauer, who died May 2. Bauer was notified of his award before he passed away. John Blundell of London's Institute of Economic Affairs will read his acceptance statement. The dinner will also feature a keynote address by ABC News Correspondent John Stossel. Author P. J. O'Rourke will deliver comments as well.
A fight inside the family -- Toward Tradition, a politically conservative Jewish organization, is questioning what it calls "the apparent hostility emanating from the American Jewish Congress toward American Christians." Toward Tradition's president, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, says, "We have been puzzled and concerned at the contradictory attitudes of some of the major Jewish organizations toward our Christian fellow citizens. On one hand the American Jewish community seems at last to be waking up to the blessings of friendship with Americans Christians, who, precisely because of their Christian faith, have been the most passionate supporters of Israel's right to defend herself. On the other hand, we note the bristling enmity from certain Jewish leaders toward any hint of publicly expressed Christian faith."
Lapin points to several media releases emanating from the AJC -- two of which essentially recognize the state of solidarity that exists between Christians and Israel. The other two, Lapin says, criticize the efforts of Christians to invoke their faith in the education arena. The seemingly contradictory views have the rabbi puzzled, wondering how those who support Israel because of their faith can then be condemned for wanting to practice it.
Jack Rosen, president of the American Jewish Congress, responded to Lapin's criticism.
"Upholding the constitution is not denigrating Christianity. If anyone, including Jews, had used religion in a such a manner in the public schools, we would have been equally and forcefully as critical," he said.
A no cost opportunity -- As part of the celebration of his 90th birthday, economist Milton Friedman will be honored at the White House by President Bush on Friday. The recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Economic Science, Friedman has been a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution since 1977. He is widely regarded as the leader of the Chicago School of monetary economics, which stresses the importance of the quantity of money as an instrument of government policy and as a determinant of business cycles and inflation. Friedman was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988 and received the National Medal of Science the same year.
Treasures in their own right -- Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas; Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.; House Minority Whip Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; and Rep. Connie Morella, R-Md.; are joining in a bipartisan effort on Tuesday to save what organizers call "one of the premier women's history sites in the nation" -- the Sewall-Belmont House.
Located next to the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, the house has played a role in American political life as the center for the women's campaign for equal rights and full citizenship as the headquarters of the National Woman's Party. It is one of only four nationally significant projects named in legislation that created Save America's Treasures, a co-sponsor of the event. The other three are the Star Spangled Banner, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In 1999, Congress awarded a $500,000 Save America's Treasures challenge grant and the organizers hope this event will help raise the funds still needed to meet the required match.
Got a Capital Comment? E-mail [email protected]
