Prayer returns to house

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Prayer returns to House

Bauer says scripted prayer is 'interim measure.'

By Cory Havens, The South Bend Tribune, January 9, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS -- Speaker of the House B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, began Monday's opening session of the Indiana House of Representatives for 2007 with a prayer.

Whether the legislative body may engage in formal prayer, particularly sectarian prayer, without violating the constitutional separation of church and state is the subject of a federal lawsuit.

The court ruled in 2005 that the House could not formally pray if it invoked a particular religious faith over others. Then-Speaker Brian C. Bosma, R-Indianapolis, appealed the ruling, and a panel of federal judges is expected to rule soon on the matter.

Bosma had decided to open last year's session with a gathering of lawmakers in the back of the chamber to privately pray.

Before leading the House in prayer, Bauer explained that, while awaiting the latest ruling in the suit, he would use a script he prepared in consultation with the attorney general's office to avoid violating the court's order.

Bauer told reporters later that he will be the one to lead the prayer while the suit is still pending because, as speaker, he is the defendant.

He said it was important to return the prayer to the front of the chamber.

"It is a tradition of nearly 200 years," he said. "It is done by every body in this country.

"I don't think it should be a political issue."

If the ban is overturned on appeal, Bauer said the House will hear prayer from "a variety of religions."

"It will be about inclusion, not exclusion," he said.

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