UNITED STATES-CUBA-ALAN GROSS
Freed Jewish American thanks supporters for their prayers
WASHINGTON (AP) β The Jewish American freed after five years in a Cuban prison says this is the best Hanukkah of his life.
Arriving in Washington after his release in Cuba, Gross thanked his Jewish congregation in Maryland and other Jews, Christians and Muslims who campaigned for his release. He said, “Your prayers and your actions have been comforting, reassuring and sustaining.”
Gross’s wife and officials said he went to Cuba to set up Internet access for the communist island’s Jewish community. But an investigation by The Associated Press found he was using technology typically available only to governments, and the Internet connections Gross was establishing were meant to bypass local restrictions and be hard for the government to trace. Cuba considers programs like the one Gross was working on illegal attempts by the U.S. to undermine its government.
Cuba released Gross Wednesday as part of an agreement to re-establish diplomatic relations with the U.S.
American religious leaders said they hope Cuba will now show greater respect its people’s religious rights.
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UNITED STATES-CUBA-HANUKKAH
Obama celebrates captive’s release at Hanukkah reception
WASHINGTON (AP) β Cuba’s release of Jewish American Alan Gross has energized a Hanukkah celebration at the White House.
President Obama said Gross was freed with the help of “Jewish and other faith leaders across the country and around the world including his Holiness, Pope Francis.”
Obama reflected on the meaning of Hanukkah during the annual White House observance of the eight-day Jewish holiday also known as the Festival of Lights. As celebrants prepared to light the holiday’s candles, he said the light of hope must outlast the fires of hate.
The president also noted that in Jewish tradition, the redemption or freeing of captives is a Mitzvah, or good deed.
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VATICAN-PAPAL DIPLOMACY
Pope played crucial role in US-Cuba rapprochement
VATICAN CITY (AP) β The crucial role played by the Vatican in bringing Cuba and the United States together suggests that history’s first Latin American pope is willing to put the Holy See on the front lines of diplomacy.
The Vatican, which has long championed the cause, said Wednesday that Francis wrote to President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro in recent months and invited them to resolve their differences over humanitarian issues, including prisoners.
In addition, the Vatican hosted U.S. and Cuban delegations in October. In a statement, the Vatican says it “provided its good offices to facilitate a constructive dialogue on delicate matters, resulting in solutions acceptable to both parties.”
VATICAN-POPE’S BIRTHDAY
Pope gets cake, tango and chicken for birthday
VATICAN CITY (AP) β Pope Francis has been treated to a cake, cards and a tango demonstration for his 78th birthday β and almost a ton of chicken meat for the poor.
The Vatican said Wednesday that the meat, provided by a Spanish producer, would be distributed to soup kitchens.
Francis also greeted eight homeless people bearing sunflowers during his Wednesday general audience, held under brilliantly sunny skies in St. Peter’s Square.
As he drove around in an open-air jeep to greet the crowds, children handed up birthday cards they had made for him. Francis asked one: “Did you make this? It’s good!” Others held up signs saying “Happy Birthday” in Spanish.
Outside the square, dozens of couples danced the tango, the Argentine pope’s favorite.
VATICAN-SEX ABUSE
A 2nd victim added to pope’s sex abuse commission
VATICAN CITY (AP) β A second survivor of sexual abuse has been appointed to Pope Francis’ sex abuse commission.
The Vatican on Wednesday released the names of the final nine members of the commission, which is expected to hold its first full meeting at the Vatican in February.
Among the new appointees is Peter Saunders, who founded the Britain-based National Association for People Abused in Childhood, or NAPAC, which is run by survivors of all kinds of childhood abuse to help other survivors.
Saunders was abused throughout his childhood by both family members and members of the clergy, and was one of the six people who met Francis last summer at the Vatican to tell their stories.
BRITAIN-FEMALE BISHOP
Church of England appoints first female bishop
LONDON (AP) β The Church of England has named its first female bishop, promoting Libby Lane, a vicar in northwest England, to be the bishop of Stockport.
The announcement came five months after the church ended a long and divisive dispute by voting to allow women to serve as bishops.
Lane’s first act after Wednesday’s announcement was to lead a prayer for victims of the Taliban school massacre in Pakistan. She said her promotion to bishop was “an unexpected joy.”
The 80 million-strong global Anglican Communion, whose members range from conservative evangelicals to supporters of gay marriage, has long been divided on the role of women in church leadership.
The Episcopal Church in the United States was the first Anglican church to have a woman serve as bishop and is now led by a woman.
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BIRTH CONTROL-WISCONSIN
Foundation sues state over contraception records
MADISON, Wis. (AP) β The Freedom From Religion Foundation is suing the state of Wisconsin to obtain records related to a decision not to enforce the state’s contraceptive coverage requirement.
Gov. Scott Walker’s administration announced in July that it would no longer enforce the law against employers with religious objections after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that companies with religious objections such as Hobby Lobby can avoid the contraceptive coverage requirement in the federal health care law.
According to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Madison, the foundation filed two open record requests with the state Office of the Commissioner of Insurance for records related to the non-enforcement decision. The lawsuit alleges the office didn’t produce all the records in its possession and asks a judge to force the release.
PITTSYLVANIA PRAYER
Appeals court tosses Va. county board prayer case
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) β A federal court in Virginia has dismissed an appeal over the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors’ practice of opening meetings with prayer.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled Wednesday that it did not have jurisdiction because the county didn’t file its appeal within the appropriate timeframe.
The county had been appealing a judge’s ruling last year barring the board from opening meetings with prayers associated with a specific religion.
Pittsylvania resident Barbara Hudson filed suit in 2011, claiming the Christian invocations violate the Constitution’s prohibition against government establishment of religion.
The county argued that the Supreme Court has upheld traditions of members opening meetings with prayers as long as they don’t proselytize or disparage any faith.
