ECUSA diocese elects first indigenous woman (Carol J. Gallagher) bishop.

New York

(ENS)--The Episcopal diocese of Southern Virginia has elected the first female bishop in its history--and the first indigenous woman bishop anywhere in the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Carol J. Gallagher was elected suffragan bishop to assist Bishop David C. Bane, Jr.

Her primary duties will be to provide pastoral care for clergy families and to work with small congregations. Bishop-elect Gallagher, 45, is a member of the Cherokee Nation.

She has been an Episcopal priest for 11 years and is currently rector of St. Anne's Church in Middletown, Del., where she has served since 1996.

She has been active in the Episcopal church at the national level, serving on the Episcopal Council of Indian Ministries and on the church's anti-racism committee.

Ms. Gallagher is married and the mother of three daughters. She is a candidate for a Ph.D. in urban affairs and public policy at the University of Delaware.

She received her undergraduate degree at Antioch College in Baltimore and her Master of Divinity from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass.

Yoga classes banned

Warsaw

(ENI)--Concerned about yoga's links to eastern philosophy, churches in Slovakia have welcomed a government decision to shelve the introduction of yoga classes for children at state schools.

Slovakia's education minister suspended the plans after discussions with leaders of the country's Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches.

Government sources said at least 400 teachers had been trained by the Yoga in Daily Life Society to introduce the Hatha Yoga system on a voluntary basis at gym sessions in primary and secondary schools starting in September.

But church leaders believed that the plans threatened Christian culture. Yoga, which combines Hindu mystic and ascetic disciplines, teaches liberation of the self and union with the "supreme spirit," but is better known in Europe and the United States for its breathing and meditation exercises.

The Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference issued a pastoral letter describing yoga as "a path to total atheism" and saying that Slovak Christians did not need to "search for some dubious substitute faith."

Christian-Islam conflict focus of conference

Kanuga

(ENI)--Keynote speakers from many parts of the world, and from two faiths, will share their theological viewpoints and international experience at a conference on "Christianity and Islam in conflict" at Kanuga, N.C. this month.

"I consider this conference to be addressing the single most important international problem we face," said Van Kussrow Jr., coordinator of the conference and president of the Community of the Cross of Nails in the United States. "There is scarcely a corner of the world where Christians and Muslims are not in conflict. We need to know more about each other," he said.

The five speakers who will present the issue from an international viewpoint are: Rev. Andrew Shite, director of international ministry for Coventry Cathedral in England; Dr. Liyakatah Takim of the department of religious studies at the University of Miami who will discuss the history and theology of Islam; Rev. Sookhdeo, director of the Barnstable Fund in England, which assists Christians suffering for their faith; Bishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon of Nigeria, the scene of armed clashes between Christians and Muslims; Dr. Douglas Johnston, president and founder of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy in Washington, D.C.

Paintings on the block

London

(ENI)--The Church of England is planning to sell a set of religious paintings that have hung in one of its grandest bishops' palaces for more than 200 years in order to boost the church's investment funds.

The paintings, by the 17th-century Spanish artist Francisco de Zurbaran, show the biblical patriarch Jacob and his twelve sons. The set is estimated to be worth at least $15 million (US). The paintings hang in the Auckland Castle residence of the bishop of Durham, Michael Turnbull.

Campaigners opposed to the planned sale say the castle's Long Dining Room was created to accommodate the paintings and "is probably the first picture gallery in Europe to be so designed."

Bishop Turnbull has defended the decision of the church authorities to sell the paintings but has urged that they stay in the region.