EVANGELICALS-NATIONAL ANTHEM
GOP presidential prospects tout faith in the national anthem
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β Two possible Republican presidential candidates are touting the nation’s religious heritage as part of a webcast marking the 200th anniversary of the national anthem.
Before Sunday’s ceremony that was linked to hundreds of churches, former Gov. Mike Huckabee said the complete lyrics of the Star Spangled Banner declare that God’s “providence was at work in the creation of this nation.”
Texas Senator Ted Cruz agreed and urged Christians to pray for America and defend their religious liberty.
Neither was ready to announce presidential ambitions prior to the Star Spangled Sunday webcast from First Baptist Church of Charlotte, North Carolina.
But Cruz denounced what he called “the Obama-Clinton foreign policy,” and Huckabee said he’ll campaign this year to help Republicans take control of the Senate.
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187-a-09-(The Reverend Rick Scarborough, president of Vision America, at news conference)-“preserved this country”-The Reverend Rick Scarborough, president of Vision America, says faith is prominent in a rarely-sung verse of the Star Spangled Banner. (14 Sep 2014)
< 188-a-09-(Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, at news conference)-“East to implode”-Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, says America has lost its Judeo-Christian orientation. (14 Sep 2014) < 185-a-08-(Former Governor Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., at news conference)-“of the room”-Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee says it’s unclear if he’ll seek the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. (14 Sep 2014) < 184-w-36-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with former Governor Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and the Reverend Rick Scarborough, president of Vision America)–Two possible Republican presidential candidates are touting the nation’s religious heritage in a webcast marking the 200th anniversary of the national anthem. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (14 Sep 2014) < 186-a-07-(Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, at news conference)-“fire right now”-Texas Senator Ted Cruz says the current Democratic administration has made the world a more dangerous place. (14 Sep 2014) < BRITAIN-SCOTLAND-QUEEN Queen to Scots: Think carefully about future LONDON (AP) β Queen Elizabeth II has made her first comments about this week’s Scottish independence vote, urging Scots to “think very carefully about the future.” The queen spoke after a Sunday church service near her Balmoral estate in Scotland. She made the comment to a well-wisher in the crowd. The popular British monarch didn’t indicate a preference on how Scots should vote, carefully maintaining the neutrality that is her constitutional obligation. Still, some may interpret her comments as a suggestion that Scots looking to embrace independence should be cautious about severing Scotland’s long ties to the United Kingdom, which date back more than 300 years. Buckingham Palace recently issued a statement indicating her plans to remain neutral before Thursday’s vote. OIL BOOM-SOCK DONATIONS Ministry shipping socks to the Bakken oil patch ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) β Church patrons in Aberdeen, South Dakota, are sending socks to North Dakota to help oilfield workers stay warm this winter. The Bakken Oil Rush Ministry is organized by United Methodist churches in the Dakotas. The Ministry organized the “Run Your Socks Off” 5K on Saturday in Aberdeen. Participants had to donate a pair of work socks as an entry fee. The Rev. Lou Whitmer, a pastor at North Highland church in Aberdeen, says the ministry collected about 100 pairs of socks that will be shipped to the oil-rich Bakken region. CHURCH STEEPLE RESTORATION Historic Detroit church reopens after steeple fix DETROIT (AP) β Detroit’s historic St. Josaphat Roman Catholic Church has reopened 10 months after a storm damaged its 200-foot-tall steeple. Parishioners returned to the church for Sunday Mass following repairs to the steeple and roof, which was partially torn off by 60-70 mph winds during the November storm. The winds knocked off slate shingles, shifted the bricks and left the 113-year-old steeple lopsided. The church joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The Detroit News says about 200 worshippers attended Sunday Mass, among them 84-year-old Christine Avila. She says her parents married at the church, and she had her baptism there. Avila says she didn’t remember how beautiful it was. Parish council President Kevin Piotrowski says repair costs will top $500,000 and says fundraising continues. EXOTIC DANCERS-CHURCH Officials beg pastor, strip club owner to end feud COSHOCTON, Ohio (AP) β Officials in Coshocton, Ohio, are urging a pastor and a strip club owner to stop protesting each other’s establishments. The Coshocton Tribune reports that the letter to New Beginnings Ministries Pastor Bill Dunfee and strip club owner Thomas George was signed by the city law director, the county prosecutor and the sheriff. Dunfee and men from the Warsaw church have protested outside the Foxhole North strip club in New Castle. The business has responded with Sunday morning protests outside the church, including a recent one by topless dancers. The letter says the feud is straining local law enforcement and hurting the community, but acknowledges they can’t legally be stopped from protesting. Each man has made allegations against the other, but authorities haven’t prosecuted those cases. NKOREA-DETAINED AMERICAN US man in North Korea given 6 years of hard labor PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) β North Korea’s Supreme Court has convicted a 24-year-old American man of entering the country illegally to commit espionage and sentenced him to six years of hard labor. The court ruled Sunday that Matthew Miller of Bakersfield, California, tore up his tourist visa at Pyongyang’s airport upon arrival on April 10 and admitted to having the “wild ambition” of experiencing prison life so that he could secretly investigate North Korea’s human rights situation. A trial is expected soon for one of the other two Americans being held, Jeffrey Fowle, who entered the North as a tourist and was arrested in May for leaving a Bible at a sailor’s club in the city of Chongjin. The third American, Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae, is serving out a 15-year sentence for alleged “hostile acts.” Sound: 047-w-34-(Diane Kepley, AP correspondent, with U.S. citizen Matthew Miller)–North Korea has put a detained American on trial. AP correspondent Diane Kepley reports. (14 Sep 2014) < 030-a-12-(Matthew Miller, U.S. citizen, in videotape released by North Korea, August 1, 2014)-“from this situation”-In a videotape released by North Korea in August, 2014, American Matthew Miller appeals to the U.S. government for help in winning his release. (14 Sep 2014) < VATICAN-POPE-MARRIAGES 40 ‘I’do’s’ at Vatican as Pope marries 20 couples VATICAN CITY (AP) β Forty “I do’s” β or “Si” in Italian β have been pronounced in St. Peter’s Basilica as Pope Francis married 20 couples, with one bride already a mother. Francis in his homily Sunday likened families to the “bricks that build society.” Among the couples, all from the Rome area, was one in which the groom’s first marriage was annulled by the church and the bride has a daughter she had while she was an unmarried woman in an earlier relationship. The Vatican views sex outside marriage as a sin, but Francis stresses the church should be forgiving. Francis said marriage was “real life, not some TV show.” He told couples to expect conflicts but that Jesus’ love would help them when love runs out. Church teaching opposes divorce. Sound: 120-r-30-(Sound of Pope Francis, speaking in Italian, during wedding ceremony for twenty couples in St. Peter’s Basilica)–Sound of Pope Francis giving twenty newlywed couples a piece of advice, saying conflicts in marriage are normal but couples should never let the day end without having first made peace. COURTESY: Vatican TV ((mandatory on-air credit)) (14 Sep 2014) < 121-r-12-(Sound of music as brides with their fathers enter St Peter’s Basilica, during wedding ceremony for twenty couples)–Sound of music as brides with their fathers enter St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican at a wedding ceremony for twenty couples celebrated by Pope Francis. (14 Sep 2014) < 122-a-15-(Father Stockman (STOOK’-man), German priest, resident of Rome, in AP interview)-“during the synod”-German priest Father Stockman says a major Vatican meeting next month on family concerns might lead to permission for divorced Catholics who remarry to receive Communion. (14 Sep 2014) < ITALY-POPE-WWI Pope urges world to shed apathy toward new threats REDIPUGLIA, Italy (AP) β Pope Francis has urged the world to shed its apathy in the face of what he sees as a third world war, declaring that “war is madness” during a homily at the foot of a World War I monument near Italy’s border with Slovenia. The pope said the “third war” was being “fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction.” Remembering the victims of World War I, Francis noted that “today, too, the victims are many,” fallen to behind-the-scenes “interests, geopolitical strategies, lust for money and power.” Saturday’s visit was also infused with intensely personal meaning. The pope’s grandfather fought in Italy’s 1915-18 offensive against the Austro-Hungarian empire, surviving to impress upon the future pope the horror of war. VATICAN-TURKEY Vatican confirms pope to visit Turkey in November VATICAN CITY (AP) β The Vatican says Pope Francis will travel to Turkey at the end of November. The trip, confirmed Friday by the Rev. Federico Lombardi, had been rumored for weeks but only became official after the Vatican received an invitation from the Turkish president Friday morning. Francis is expected to mark an important Orthodox feast day Nov. 30 with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians. But perhaps more importantly, the visit will give Francis the chance to visit a Muslim nation at a time when Christians are being targeted by Islamic militants in Iraq. Lombardi said the dates and itinerary haven’t been finalized. Francis had said he had wanted to visit Kurdistan to show solidarity with Christians forced to flee by the Islamic State group. GERMANY-ANTI-SEMITISM Merkel leads Berlin rally against anti-Semitism BERLIN (AP) β German Chancellor Angela Merkel has led a rally against anti-Semitism, telling thousands of people in Berlin that Jewish life is part of Germany’s identity. The German Jewish community organized Sunday’s rally at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate after tensions over the Gaza conflict spilled over into demonstrations in Europe that saw anti-Jewish slogans and violence. Jewish leader Dieter Graumann said the summer saw “the worst anti-Semitic slogans on German streets for many, many decades.” Merkel said it pains her to hear of young Jewish parents asking whether they can raise their children in Germany or older people asking whether it was right to stay. She said: “We want Jews to feel safe in Germany. They should feel that this country is our common home.” Sound: 136-a-12-(Ronald Lauder, president, World Jewish Congress, at rally)-“of anti-semitism”-World Jewish Congress president Ronald Lauder says Jewish leaders have recently seen the worst anti-Semitic slogans on German streets for many, many decades. (14 Sep 2014) < 138-r-13-(German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking in German, at rally)–German Chancellor Angela Merkel says it pains her to hear of young Jewish parents asking whether they can raise their children in Germany or older people asking whether it was right to stay. (14 Sep 2014) < 137-a-07-(Ronald Lauder, president, World Jewish Congress, at rally)-“here in Germany”-World Jewish Congress president Ronald Lauder says says he’s very concerned about Islamic extremist and other anti-Semitic propaganda. (14 Sep 2014) < CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC-COUNTING THE DEAD AP: More than 5,000 dead in C. African Republic GUEN, Central African Republic (AP) β More than 5,000 people have died in sectarian violence in Central African Republic since December, according to an Associated Press tally, suggesting that a U.N. peacekeeping mission approved months ago is coming too late for thousands. The AP found at least 5,186 people were killed in fighting between Muslims and Christians, based on a count of bodies and numbers gathered from survivors, priests, imams and aid workers in more than 50 of the hardest-hit communities. That’s more than double the death toll of at least 2,000 cited by the United Nations in April, when it approved the mission. There has been no official count since. U.N. peacekeepers are taking over from African forces this week, bringing about 2,000 extra troops to the country. That will fall short of the almost 7,000 more that were authorized in April, with the rest expected by early 2015. Yet violence in the Central African Republic has only spread since.
