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WorldNation The Journal News Tuesday, June 20, 2006 5B LoHud.com Episcopalians debate possible moratorium on gay bishops Delegates consider proposal to apologize to Anglicans for vote Rachel Zoll The Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio The Episcopal General Convention approached another defining vote yesterday in the wake of electing its first female presiding bishop: whether the church should temporarily bar gays from becoming bishops to preserve Anglican fellowship. Delegates began considering a moratorium at the request of world Anglican leaders, who remain angry over the 2003 conse adopt then goes to the House of Bishops for final approval. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. arm of the 77 million-member Anglican Communion. If overseas leaders dislike the outcome of this week's meeting, the association of 38 national churches could splinter apart.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the communion's spiritual leader, has expressed concern that the feud over homosexuality and the Bible will cause a permanent rift. The situation has been complicated by Sunday's election of Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori as the first Episcopal presiding bishop the first woman ever to lead an Anglican province. Only two other Anglican provinces New Zealand and cration of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. But the session ended before any vote could be taken on prohibiting homosexual bishops.

Debate was scheduled to resume this morning, one day before the convention ends. The Rev. Frank Wade opened debate in the House of Deputies, comprised of lay people and clergy, by asking delegates not to view the request from Anglican leaders as an ultimatum, but as a plea for peace. "No one is being asked to stop being different No one is being asked to stop believing differently from others," Wade said. The question is how do we live together." Legislation that the deputies Canada have female bishops and many Anglicans believe women should not be ordained.

In a 2004 document called the Windsor Report, Anglicans asked the Episcopal Church for the prohibition on homosexual bishops, a temporary ban on developing official prayers for blessing same-sex couples and an apology for the turmoil caused by Robinson's confirmation. An Episcopal committee, of which Wade is a member, drafted legislation in response to the report that stops short of a ban on homosexual bishops. Instead, it urges dioceses to "refrain from" choosing bishops "whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church." That proposal includes an apology for the pain this causes gays and lesbians. The measure on same-gender blessing ceremonies directs "this General Convention not proceed to develop or authorize" any such liturgies, while using wording that leaves open the possibility that individual dioceses and priests could conduct the ceremonies informally. The proposals also include an "expression of regret" to Anglicans for failing to properly consult them before consecrating Robinson, and an apology for "the consequences that followed." The deputies voted 563-267 to adopt the apology measure.

Several delegates argued that it would Jay LaPreteThe Associated Press The election of Katharine Jefferts Schori as the first woman Episcopal presiding bishop has complicated the feud over homosexuality between the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. Obituaries For more information call (914) 694-5147. Obituaries are available online at LoHud.com. Search by name or date be wrong to apologize for something the church saw as part of its fight against injustice. Others worried it would set a dangerous precedent that could require expressions of regret on other issues.

The Rev. Jorge Gutierrez of the Diocese of Rochester said he feared that "it would not be long before we would also be asked to apologize and repent for the election of Jefferts Schori. However, supporters of the measure said it was critical toward healing ties with Also yesterday, one of three Episcopal dioceses that rejects ordaining women appealed to Williams for help over Jefferts Schori's election. Bishop Jack Eker of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, read a short statement from the convention floor asking Williams to put the diocese under the oversight of another Anglican leader. The two other dioceses that do not accept women priests are Quincy, 111., and San Joaquin, but the overwhelming majority of Episcopalians support women's ordination.

Black cloud awaits Bush in Europe Public, politicians overwhelmingly have negative view of U.S. A 60f vmim IS I frit GRIBETZ, DR. ALLEN R. Dr. Allen R.

Gribetz passed away suddenly on June 17, 2006. He was a highly respected physician specializing in pulmonary disease at Mount Sinai Hospital. Survived by his wife of 27 years, Jessica Schacter Gribetz, their daughters Julie, Nina, Anna and Kate, mother, Florence Gribetz, and brothers Kenneth and Michael Gribetz. He will be deeply missed by friends, relatives and patients. May his memory be a blessing.

Shiva will be observed through Sunday morning, June 25th at 110 Riverside Drive in Manhattan. HELLMAN, IRVING Irving Hellman died on June 18, 2006 at the age of 81. Irving is survived by his loving wife Ruth; his son Howard and Fran Hellman of Suffern; a daughter Penny and Brian Dorwald; and four grandchildren. Irving worked as a kosher butcher in Spring Valley up until his retirement. He will be missed by all who knew him.

Services will be held on June 21, 2006, at 11 a.m. at Hellman Memorial Chapel, 15 State Street, Spring Valley, NY. Shiva will be at Howard Hellman's residence from Wednesday through Friday. Donations may be made to United Hospice of Rockland, 11 Stokum Lane, New City, NY 10956. NEUMANN MEMORIAL CHAPELS 15 State Street Spring Valley 845) 356-8600 JOHNSON, BETTY J.

Betty J. Johnson, of Monroe, New York, died on June 19, 2006, in Arden Hill Hospital. Betty was born in DeKalb Junction, NY on June 12, 1934 to George and Romae (Richer) Pike. She was a resident of Monroe for the last two years, prior a 50-year resident of Rockland County. She was an occupational therapist for Rockland Psychiatric Center in Orangeburg, NY.

Betty is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Cathy and Norm Cairns of Monroe, NY, and Chris and Bill Cull of Monroe, NY; her son and daughter-in-law Carl and Kathleen Johnson of Nyack, NY; her longtime companion Moody G. Crews; two brothers, Kenneth Pike of Waddington, NY and Tommy (Albert) Pike of Nyack, NY; four sisters, Dorothy Osterhout, Grace McBath, Dona Dunn and Alice Dumas, all of St. Lawrence County; grandchildren, Doug and Emily Cairns, Erik and Brian Johnson; and several nieces and nephews. Her ex-husband Ronald Johnson of Congers, NY. Predeceased by six brothers and two sisters.

Religious Services will be held on Tuesday at 8:30 pm at Higgins Funeral Home, New City, NY. Visiting at the funeral home on Tuesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 pm. Burial will be in Brookside Cemetery, Waddington, NY. Donations to your favorite charity. MICHAEL J.

HIGGINS FUNERAL HOME 321 So. Main St. New City (845) 634-6110 DEATH NOTICES CHESTNUT RIDGE Resnick, Geraldine (Nana) 102, on June 18,2006. Arrangements by Hellman Memorial Chapels, Spring Valley. (845) 356-8600 MONROE Johnson, Betty J.

on June 19, 2006. Arrangements by Michael J. Higgins Funeral Home, New City. (845)634-6110 NYC Gribeti, Dr. Allen R.

on June 17, 2006. Arrangements by Plaza Memorial Chapel, NYC (212)769-4400 PEARL RIVER Fernandez, Janis A. 61, on June 18,2006. Arrangements by Assumma-Shankey Funeral Home, Pearl River. (845)735-4849 lr SUFFERN Woods, Doris 65, on June 18,2006.

Arrangements by Scan Funeral Home, Suffern. (845)357-1137 SPRING VALLEY Hellman, Irving 81, on June 18, 2006. Arrangements by Hellman Memorial Chapels, Spring Valley. (845) 356-8600 Widmann, Charles H. 83, on June 18,2006.

Arrangements by Sniffen-Sagala Funeral Home, Spring Valley. (845)356-0012 OTHER AREA Serra, Erminio Ernie 80. of Surfside Beach, SC, for merly of Nanuet, on June 18, 2006. Arrangements by Grand Strand Funeral Home, Myrtle Beach, SC (843) 650-3028 Barnes, Ruby on June 17, 2006. Arrangements by Sniffen-Sagala Funeral Jli- lilli StraussThe Associated Press Demonstrators hold a banner yesterday in front of St.

Stephan's Cathedral in Vienna during a protest against the upcoming visit of President Bush. Bush will meet with European leaders in Vienna tomorrow. SERRA, ERMINIO ERNIE After a long illness Erminio Serra age 80, passed away on Sunday, June 18, 2006, at his residence in Surfside Beach, SC, with his family at his side Born April 19, 1926, in New York City to parents Carlo and Concetta Serra; Mr. Serra was a World War II veteran of the Golden Acorn Division in General Patton's 3rd Army. He was a mem ber of American Legion 178 and the VFW Post 10420.

Predeceased by his par ents, Mr. Serra is sur vived by his loving wife of 58 years, Elinor G. Serra of Surfside Beach; a son James Serra also of Surfside Beach; son Ernest and wife Eileen Serra, of Stone Ridge NY; brothers George Serra, of Morganton, NC; Adrian William Serra, of Stony Point, NY; Charles Serra, of Central Valley, NY; Paul Serra of Harriman, NY; Thomas Serra, of Maybrook, NY; sister Barbara and husband Stephen Anderson, of Wilmington, NC; and numerous nephews and nieces. Mr. Serra was a retired teacher and coach, hav ing taught for 33 years at the Lakeside School, in Spring Valley, NY.

He was an avid golfer, as well. A Memorial Service will be held at Holy Cross Faith Memorial Episcopal Church, Pawleys Island, on Saturday, June 24, 2006, at 2:30 PM; with the Rev. Tommy Tipton of ficiating. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that do nations are made to the Memorial Fund at Holy Cross Faith Memorial Episcopal Church. Grand Strand Funeral Home Crematory is serving the family.

WIDMANN, CHARLES H. Charles H. Widmann, of Spring Valley, died June 18, 2006 at Nyack Hospital. He was 83. Born in Spring Valley to John C.

and Margaret Somberg Widmann, he was a World War II Army veteran, Manager of Widmann Bros. Bakery for ten years and Stock Broker for Prudential Securities, Nanuet. He was also a member of Spring Valley Lions and Haverstraw Elks Club, as well as liking sailboating and golf. He is survived by his brother John W. Wid mann of Spring Valley and several nieces and nephews.

Reposing Wednesday 7 to 9 pm at Sniffin-Sagala Funeral Home, 235 Rte. 59, Spring Valley. Funeral Services Thursday 10 am at the funeral home. Interment St. Anthony's Cemetery, Nanuet.

SNIFFEN-SAGA1A FUNERAL HOME 235 West Route 59 Spring Valley (845)356-0012 George Jahn The Associated Press VIENNA, Austria Abu Ghraib. Guantanamo. Haditha. America's problems with Iraq are casting a long shadow over President Bush's meeting with European Union leaders this week. The gathering is restricted to U.S.

officials and the European Union leadership, and the agenda focuses on Iran's nuclear ambitions, agricultural subsidies and the West's dependence on imported oil and gas. But the United States' precarious world standing will be the unspoken theme of tomorrow's session in Vienna. Ahead of the visit, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said he doubted Bush would have much tp say about the U.S. prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, allegations of prisoner abuse in Iraq and alleged killings of Iraqi civilians by Marines in Haditha. For millions of Europeans, however, these are the issues that matter and their concerns are shared by politicians.

Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, plans to urge Bush to close Guantanamo. Peter Pilz, a senior member of Austria's Green party, says Schuessel should tell Bush "that the criminal actions of his government will not be tolerated in Europe." Pilz is one of Austria's more outspoken public figures. Still, his sentiments that the U.S. is breaking the law in Iraq and in its larger fight against terror are shared by many Europeans angry over the Iraq invasion, recent suicides at Guantanamo and the reported existence of secret CIA prisons worldwide. Newspaper editorials reflect Europe's dismay with a partnership most here see as having gone wrong.

Those who came as liberators, those who wanted to bring the rule of justice lost their moral credibility in Iraq," wrote the German weekly Die Zeit "Not just a few soldiers have 'lost their control' as they like to say. America's entire Iraq policy is out of control." In France, the newspaper Le Monde wrote of the Guantanamo suicides: "We continue to ask by what heavenly decree America holds itself above the rule of law." Young people, like Andrej Man-tei of Berlin, are even more scathing. "I don't think it's possible that anybody could make worse foreign policy than Bush," he says. And even many older people are critical, unlike a few decades ago, when they equated America with the war against Nazi Germany, postwar reconstruction and the shield against the Soviet Union. "I think Bush was wrong, and he should have remorse," said Rosa Sarrocco, 80, of Rome.

"The recent events have had a further negative impact on my opinion of America." America's image problems in Europe are reflected by a survey done by the Pew Research Center for the People the Press and released last week. Favorable opinions of the United States ranged from a high of 56 percent in Britain to a low of 23 percent in Spain. Even in Britain, support for Bush was only 30 percent, and 60 percent of British respondents said the Iraq war has made the world less safe. sentiment is stronger in much of formerly communist eastern Europe, where Washington's contribution to toppling Soviet dominance lingers in many minds. It peaks in Kosovo, whose ethnic Albanian majority gratefully remembers the U.S.-led bombing in 1999 that forced Serb troops from the province.

Till I die, I will support whatever America does, be it in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere," says Arben Shaqiri, a 25-year-old bartender in Pristina, Kosovo's main city. But "Old Europe" is more critical. There have always been trans-Atlantic rivalries, but the divide has grown: The end of the Cold War removed the threat that had united America and Europe since World War II. A recent addition to the differences is widespread European dislike not just of the Iraq war but Bush's blunt style. Editorials often talk of the Texan as the "cowboy president" Washington's decision to work in concert with other world powers as it tries to engage Iran over its nuclear program shows America may have learned some lessons about the benefits of diplomacy.

Still, the damage seems done. "Whatever the Bush administration does, it is automatically viewed with suspicion by the European population," says Steven Casey of the London School of Economics, an expert on American public opinion. Honored Provider Honored Provider Home, Spring Valley. (845)356-0012 OBITUARIES -r FERNANDEZ, JANIS A. OBITUARY DIRECTORY CHESTNUT RIDGE Resnick, Geraldine (Nana) MONROE Johnson, Betty J.

NYC Gribetz, Dr. Allen R. PEARL RIVER Fernandez, Janis A. SPRING VALLEY Hellman, Irving Widmann, Charles H. OTHER AREA Serra, Erminio Ernie Jams A.

Fern-andez, a Pearl River resident, died sud-d 1 June 18, Flynn Funeral Cremation Memorial Centers RESNICK, GERALDINE Geraldine (Nana) Resnick died on June 18, 2006 at the age of 102 of natural causes. Beloved wife of the late Benjamin Resnick. Loving mother of Lois and her husband Gil Price. Dear grandmother of Michelle of blessed memory, Lisa and her husband Steven Shoiock, Dr. Marc Price and his wife Michelle.

Great-grandmother of Lindsay, Danielle and Gabriella. Loved by all including extended family and friends. Outstanding member of Hadassah for 60 years. Will surely be missed by all. Services will be held today, Tuesday, June 19, 2006, 10:45 a.m., at the chapel of the Sanctuary of Abraham and Sarah on the grounds of Cedar Park Cemetery, Paramus, NJ.

Entombment to follow. Memorial contributions may be made in Geraldine's memory to Hadassah or charity of one's choice. HEUMANN MEMORIAL CHAPELS 15 State Street Spring Valley (845) 356-8600 139 Stage Road Monroe, NY 10950 Simple Flexible Private Affordable Practice Limited To Cremation Services Serving New York New jersey www.nyciTenutions com 2006. She was 61 years old. She was born in Toledo, OH on June 14, 1945 to Eugene and Golda Alton.

Janis was a dedicated teacher, educating children in English, modern dance and foreign language. Janis earned her Masters degree in Romance Languages fr.om Rutgers and a certificate in Waldorf education from the Waldorf Institute in Detroit. She maintained an avid interest in fine art, having been an accomplished rpbdern dancer, literacy scholar, potter and painter. She was a devoted mother and spouse, who deeply loved her husband rVid of 36 years, her son David, now 24 and her sister Patricia Alton qf Toledo, OH. Visiting Wednesday andThursday 4" to 7 pm.

Memorial Service Thursday 8:30 pm at The Threefold Fellowship Community, Main House, 241 Hungry Hollow Chestnut Ridge, NY. 'ASSUMMA-SHANKEY FUNERAL HOME Pearl River (845)735-4849 V. -V- Bereavement. Services OBITUARY NOTICE The Journal News publishes paid Obituaries of people who have lived, worked or have family in Westchester, Putnam or Rockland Counties. All notices and submissions must be received by for the next day's edition.

To place a paid Obituary Notice, Card of Thanks, In Mem-oriam, Special Notice or Lodge Notice, please call (914) 694-5147; fax (914) 696-8205 or email nejyifiOJll prior to the day of publication. Hours: to Monday through Friday. Saturday and Sunday: to Obituary thejournalnews.com Joseph W. Sorce Honored Provider Flowers Flowers have i special way of reflecting sincere feelings of sympathy. 914-949-3922 Serving Westchester for over 65 years Open 7 Days Deliveries Excellent Service Professional Staff ntffcn agala Jfuncral Jiome 235 3Hrst Jvoutc 59 Spring Ilallrg, 109T7 (815) 356-0012 Independently Owned Operated Since 1904 John D.

Sagala HANNEMANN Funeral home, Inc. 88 South Broadway Nyack, NY (845) 358-0573 Independently owned and operated since 1957. Keith R. Taylor Brian J. Knecht Shaun M.

Cassidy Funeral Home Inc. Our Family serving yours Independently Owned 728 West Nyack West Nyack, NY 10994 845-358-4433 toseph F. Nardone FUNERAL HOME To Mpur mjfaa is km' 737-1363 Josepk P. Pm, Director Join A. Pro 414 Wahingtoii St.

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