|
Trending Topics
|
Episcopal Diocese Apologizes for Bishop's Comments about Israeli Soldiers
(Boston Globe) Aimee Ortiz - The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts apologized to the Jewish community Friday after one of its bishops repeated unverified and misleading stories about the Israeli military at the church's July convention in Austin, Texas. Bishop Alan M. Gates, who heads the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, and Bishop Gayle E. Harris, who serves as Gates' second in command, apologized for the "hurt" caused when Harris told church members two stories about alleged mistreatment of Palestinian children by Israeli soldiers. "I now acknowledge that I reported stories which I had heard and unintentionally framed them as though I had personally witnessed the alleged events," Harris said. "I sincerely apologize." She said she "was ill-advised to repeat the stories without verification." Gates said the church "recognize[s] that for Christian leaders to relate unsubstantiated accounts of Israeli violence awakens traumatic memory of a deep history of inciting hostility and violence against Jews - a history the echoes of which are heard alarmingly in our own day."