US-CHINA-TIANANMEN ANNIVERSARY
Congress marks anniversary of 1989 Chinese crackdown
WASHINGTON (AP) β A survivor of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre says material prosperity won’t quench the Chinese people’s longing to live and worship freely.
Chai Ling, a leader of the pro-democracy protests that were crushed 25 years ago next week, joined House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Thursday at a U.S. Capitol ceremony. She now heads All Girls Allowed, a charity that seeks to save girls from being aborted under China’s one-child policy.
Ling said, “Despite the brutal oppression, forced abortions and religious persecutions, China is undergoing a powerful and unprecedented spiritual growth.”
Although China has flourished economically, she noted that Jesus said, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Another survivor of the 1989 crackdown, U.S. Army Chaplain Yan Xiong (yahn shee-ONG’), delivered the ceremony’s opening prayer. He prayed that the massacre’s victims would not be forgotten.
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285-a-15-(Chai Ling, Tiananmen Square massacre survivor, at ceremony comemmorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre)-“unprecedented spiritual growth”-Chai Ling, a survivor of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, says the Chinese people still long to live and worship freely. (29 May 2014)
< 289-a-15-(U.S. Army Chaplain Yan Xiong, Tiananmen Square massacre survivor, at ceremony comemmorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre)-“in our memory”-U.S. Army Chaplain Yan Xiong, a survivor of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, delivers the opening prayer at the U.S. Capitol ceremony. (29 May 2014) < 287-a-19-(Chai Ling, Tiananmen Square massacre survivor, at ceremony comemmorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre)-“there is liberty”-Chai Ling, a survivor of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, says Chinese repression will end someday. ((note length of cut)) (29 May 2014) < 286-a-09-(Chai Ling, Tiananmen Square massacre survivor, at ceremony comemmorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre)-“mouth of God”-Chai Ling, a survivor of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, says material prosperity alone won’t satisfy the Chinese people. (29 May 2014) < 288-a-14-(U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., at ceremony comemmorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre)-“with absolute impunity”-New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith says China’s government has grown more oppressive since the massacre 25 years ago. (29 May 2014) < IMMIGRATION-BISHOPS Catholic bishops renew call for immigration reform WASHINGTON (AP) β The Roman Catholic archbishop of Miami says current immigration laws are “a stain on the soul of our nation.” Archbishop Thomas Wenski renewed the U.S. bishops’ call for immigration reform at a Mass for immigrants and their families Thursday a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol. He said undocumented immigrants “are not so much breaking the law as being broken by the law.” Legislation is stalled in the House 11 months after the Senate passed a sweeping bill dealing with border security, workplace enforcement and eventual citizenship for millions. Action is looking increasingly unlikely before Congress’s August recess and the November midterm elections. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte said Thursday that Americans have lost confidence that President Obama will enforce immigration laws. Sound: 290-a-04-(Archbishop Thomas Wenski, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Miami, in homily at Mass for immigrants and their families)-“of our nation”-Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski says Congress must reform U.S. immigration laws. (29 May 2014) < 292-a-13-(Archbishop Thomas Wenski, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Miami, in homily at Mass for immigrants and their families)-“harm of humankind”-Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski says today’s immigration laws hurt people. (29 May 2014) < 291-a-13-(Archbishop Thomas Wenski, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Miami, in homily at Mass for immigrants and their families)-“to be changed”-Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski says current immigration laws are “a stain on the soul” of America. (29 May 2014) < WOMAN PRIEST-MICHIGAN Women’s priesthood group plans Michigan ordination THREE RIVERS, Mich. (AP) β A group that promotes opening the Catholic priesthood to women plans to ordain a woman as priest Saturday in western Michigan, drawing a warning of excommunication from Kalamazoo’s Roman Catholic bishop. The organization Roman Catholic Womenpriests says it’s ordaining 75-year-old Lillian Lewis on Saturday. Group spokeswoman the Rev. Suzanne Thiel (TEEL) tells The Associated Press that Bishop Joan Hauk will officiate at First Congregational Church in Three Rivers. Thiel says Womenpriests began ordaining women in Germany in 2002 and now has 182 priests and priesthood candidates worldwide, 146 of them in the U.S. Bishop Paul Bradley says the ordination is invalid and will bring the woman attempting it “automatic excommunication.” He says any Catholics “attending or participating” in the ceremony place themselves “outside of full communion with the Catholic Church.” COMMISSIONERS-PRAYER S. Indiana commissioners return prayer to meetings WASHINGTON, Ind. (AP) β A southern Indiana county’s commissioners have returned prayer to their meetings following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling affirming local governments’ right to include prayers in official proceedings. The Daviess (DAYE’-vihs) County Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution stating that it gives citizens an opportunity to pray at the beginning of public meetings for the county. Commissioner Larry Wilson called the resolution “very appropriate” in light of the high court’s May 5 ruling. The Washington Times-Herald reports that the Rev. Christopher Wiles of the Church of Christ then offered the first prayer for a Daviess County meeting in decades. He said it’s “good to see the separation of church and state breaking down.” County Attorney Grant Swartzentruber says the opportunity to offer a prayer under the new resolution will be open to anyone. PRAYER COMPLAINT Buncombe County schools says prayer a violation ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) β A spokesman for North Carolina’s Buncombe County Schools says a prayer at a fundraiser for a high school band violated the policy on religion. The Asheville Citizen Times reports that several students and at least one parent complained about the prayer that was said at an event hosted by the North Buncombe Band Boosters last weekend. The fundraiser was not held on school property and occurred at a “Field of Honor” flag display designed to honor veterans. It also was designed to raise money for the band to travel to Hawaii for the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade. But school spokesman Jason Rhodes said the Christian prayer violated policy since all the members of the band were present. The policy states that schools will neither advance nor inhibit any religious belief, viewpoint, expression, or practice. GRADUATION-RELIGIOUS SPEECH Winfield High ends religious speech at graduation WINFIELD, W.Va. (AP) β Retired Winfield High School football coach Leon McCoy will no longer give a religiously themed speech at the West Virginia school’s graduation. Principal Bruce McGrew says he and McCoy agreed that the longtime coach won’t speak at this year’s graduation after the Putnam County school system received complaints. McGrew says he’s a Christian and doesn’t agree with the law, but as principal he has to comply with it. McCoy has given a speech at Winfield High School’s graduation for at least the past 10 years. McGrew says McCoy typically includes prayer and scripture as part of his speech. McCoy says Christians shouldn’t break the law. He tells media outlets that the focus should be on the students who are graduating. Winfield High’s graduation will be held June 5. SHIELD ACTOR-WIFE KILLING Family of actor’s slain wife focusing on her sons LOS ANGELES (AP) β The family of a woman whose actor husband has been charged with her killing said in a statement Thursday that she was an exceptional mother and their focus is on adequately providing for her three children. April Jace’s family thanks supporters for their prayers and donations and calls her shooting death May 19 “a senseless act of domestic violence.” The statement was released by Biola University, the Christian school where April Jace worked as a financial aid counselor. The family says, “She touched many lives through her example of Christ’s love β serving, ministering and helping others. “ Jace’s husband Michael Jace, who played a police officer on the hit TV series “The Shield,” has been charged with murder. Police say he shot his wife to death during an argument but have not released details on his motive. The actor is due back in court for arraignment on June 18. April Jace was 40. She had two sons with the actor, ages 5 and 8, and an 18-year-old son from a previous marriage. SUDAN Sudan woman on death row for apostasy gives birth KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) β A Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death earlier this month after refusing to renounce her Christian faith has given birth in prison. Sudanese newspapers report that 27-year-old Meriam Ibrahim gave birth to a girl at the prison clinic in Omdurman, near Khartoum, on Tuesday. Ibrahim, who is married to a Christian man, was sentenced to death by hanging for apostasy. In light of her pregnancy, the judge allowed her two months for delivery and two years for breast-feeding before the execution order would be carried out. Ibrahim, whose father was Muslim, was raised by her Christian mother. Sudan’s penal code criminalizes the conversion of Muslims to other religions, which is punishable by death. Anyone born to a Muslim father is automatically a Muslim. A Khartoum court also ordered that Ibrahim be given 100 lashes for having what it considers illegal sexual relations with her husband, Daniel Wani, a Christian from southern Sudan who has U.S. citizenship, according to judicial officials. CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC C. African Republic city tense after church attack BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) β Residents of the chaotic Central African Republic’s capital say Christian youth destroyed one of the city’s last mosques, hours after Muslim rebels launched a grenade and gunfire attack on a Catholic church. A spokesman for Bangui’s (ban-GEEZ’) small remaining Muslim community denounced the Wednesday attack on the church and denied that local Muslims were to blame. Tens of thousands of Muslims have fled the capital in a mass exodus this year following scores of attacks by Christian militia fighters who blamed them for supporting a brutal Muslim rebel regime that was ousted from power in January. Wednesday’s attack on the Notre Dame de Fatima church was a rare large-scale assault on a Christian community in Bangui. The Rev. Jonas Bekas says at least 15 people were killed, including a priest at the church. REL-VATICAN-MIDEAST Vatican: Israel, Palestine prayer meeting June 8 VATICAN CITY (AP) β The Vatican says the pope’s prayer meeting at the Vatican with the Israeli and Palestinian presidents will take place a week from Sunday. The Vatican said in a statement Thursday that both sides accepted the date. It said the meeting would take place on the afternoon of June 8. Pope Francis invited Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to join him for a day of prayer during his recent trip to the Middle East. Both men immediately accepted the offer. Francis has stressed that he is not seeking to jumpstart peace negotiations, but merely bring the two sides together to pray. He said he had arranged for a rabbi and a Muslim cleric to lead the prayers, along with him. NORTHERN IRELAND-MUSLIM REMARKS NIreland leader retreats from anti-Muslim remarks BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) β Northern Ireland’s Protestant leader has retreated from anti-Muslim comments he made when defending a Belfast evangelist’s right to denounce Islam. First Minister Peter Robinson offered no apology Thursday in his statement emphasizing that he did not “want to insult or cause distress to local Muslims.” He said James McConnell, one of Northern Ireland’s most prominent preachers, should enjoy freedom of speech from his pulpit to describe Islam as evil. Robinson’s retreat came the day after he told a reporter that he supported the preacher and also distrusted Muslims “if they are fully devoted to Sharia law” β but would trust them to collect his groceries or hand him the correct change in a shop. Many Protestant and Catholic church and political officials joined Belfast Muslim leaders in criticizing Robinson’s remarks.
