OBAMA-HEALTH OVERHAUL
Obama thanks Catholics who supported health care law
WASHINGTON (AP) β President Barack Obama has thanked Catholics who helped convince Congress to pass his health care law.
In a speech to the Catholic Health Association, Obama said “without your moral force, we would not have succeeded.”
The president was speaking to a friendly audience. The Catholic Health Association split with the U.S. Roman Catholic bishops to support the Obama administration in shaping a disputed compromise over the law’s birth control coverage.
Many Catholic institutions are fighting the contraceptive coverage mandate, and polls show the law remains unpopular with the public. But Obama maintained that even those who already had health insurance “may not know that they’ve got a better deal now than they did, but they do.”
The president said he and Catholics have “a shared belief that every human being made in the image of God deserves to live in dignity.”
Sound:
167-w-32-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with President Barack Obama)–President Barack Obama has thanked Catholics who helped convince Congress to pass his health care law. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (9 Jun 2015)
< 170-a-07-(President Barack Obama, addressing the Catholic Health Association)-“but they do”-President Barack Obama says Americans are better off with the health care law. ((longer version of cut used in wrap)) (9 Jun 2015) < 169-a-03-(President Barack Obama, addressing the Catholic Health Association)-“not have succeeded”-President Barack Obama thanks the Catholic Health Association for helping convince Congress to pass his health care law. ((cut used in wrap)) (9 Jun 2015) < 168-a-08-(President Barack Obama, addressing the Catholic Health Association)-“live in dignity”-President Barack Obama says he was inspired by Catholics he worked with as a community organizer in Chicago. ((longer version of cut used in wrap)) (9 Jun 2015) < 115-a-11-(President Barack Obama, in remarks, at the Catholic Hospital Association Conference)-“Affordable Care Act (applause fades)”-President Obama says critics the health care plan said it would be a job killer. (9 Jun 2015) < 130-a-16-(President Barack Obama, in remarks to the Catholic Hospital Association Conference)-“fabric of America”-President Obama says he doesn’t understand why anyone would want to get rid of something that works so well. (9 Jun 2015) < 114-a-10-(President Barack Obama, in remarks to the Catholic Hospital Association Conference)-“lowest level ever”-President Obama says the Affordable Care Act has worked out even better than anticipated. (9 Jun 2015) < 129-a-16-(President Barack Obama, in remarks to the Catholic Hospital Association Conference)-“did not happen”-President Obama poked fun at the scare tactics that warned awful things would happen under the Affordable Care Act. (9 Jun 2015) < PENTAGON-GAY CHAPLAIN Gay pride ceremony features LGBT military officers, chaplain WASHINGTON (AP) β An Air Force chaplain says coming out as a lesbian hasn’t impeded her ministry to troops. Col. Karis Graham took part in a panel Tuesday at the Pentagon’s celebration of LGBT Pride Month, where Defense Secretary Ash Carter was the keynote speaker. Graham and other military officers, including Army Brig. Gen. Randy Taylor, introduced their same-sex spouses and described how difficult it had been for them to serve in the military before the lifting of the Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell policy. Graham said that once she could be open about being married to another woman without fear of being discharged, she was able to minister more effectively to other married troops, and has also been accepted by her fellow chaplains. Sound: 213-a-04-(Colonel Karis Graham, U.S. Air Force chaplain, at Pentagon gay pride event)-“almost one year”-Colonel Karis Graham, a U.S. Air Force chaplain, says her wife is in the audience. (9 Jun 2015) < 211-a-14-(Colonel Karis Graham, U.S. Air Force chaplain, at Pentagon gay pride event)-“love these airmen”-Colonel Karis Graham, a U.S. Air Force chaplain, recalls when she first could be open about being a lesbian in the military. (9 Jun 2015) < 209-a-10-(Colonel Karis Graham, U.S. Air Force chaplain, at Pentagon gay pride event)-“has frozen over (laughter fades)”-Colonel Karis Graham, a U.S. Air Force chaplain, says it’s amazing to be taking part in a Pentagon gay pride ceremony. (9 Jun 2015) < 212-a-11-(Colonel Karis Graham, U.S. Air Force chaplain, at Pentagon gay pride event)-“I was married”-Colonel Karis Graham, a U.S. Air Force chaplain, says coming out as a lesbian hasn’t impeded her ministry to troops. (9 Jun 2015) < 210-a-12-(Colonel Karis Graham, U.S. Air Force chaplain, at Pentagon gay pride event)-“that represented God”-Colonel Karis Graham, a U.S. Air Force chaplain, says she was raised in a conservative religious home. (9 Jun 2015) < TULSA DIOCESE-PRIDE PARADE Tulsa diocese leaves justice organization after pride parade TULSA, Okla. (AP) β The Catholic Diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has left an organization over its involvement in an LGBT pride parade over the weekend. The Tulsa World reports that Saturday’s Tulsa Pride parade is billed as the longest-running lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender festival in Oklahoma and the first to be held since same-sex marriage became legal in Oklahoma. Tulsa Bishop Edward Slattery said Monday that the diocese had to withdraw from the Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice because of the organization’s involvement in the parade. He said the Catholic Church “has made a very strong statement on the definition of marriage” and the OCCJ “knew the possible reverberations” of participating in the event. Organization board chairman Russ Florence said it has no position on same-sex marriage, but endorses “respect and understanding for all people.” TEXAS OFFICER-POOL INCIDENT Texas officer video-recorded in racially-tinged pool incident resigns MCKINNEY, Texas (AP) β Civil rights and community leaders say the resignation of a white police officer recorded on video pushing a black girl to the ground and brandishing a gun at a suburban Dallas pool party is a step in the right direction. The head of police in McKinney says Officer David Eric Casebolt’s actions were “indefensible.” Chief Greg Conley says the other officers who responded to a report of fights at the pool party performed according to their training. The Rev. Derrick Golden, senior pastor of Amazing Church, says it’s important “that we do keep Officer Casebolt’s family in our prayers as well, because there’s some healing and restoration that needs to go on there, just like with the rest of the community and the individuals involved.” Sound: 198-a-15-(Derrick Golden, senior pastor, Amazing Church, in AP interview)-“of the community”-Pastor Derrick Gordon says the community needs to show compassion for former McKinney police officer Eric Casebolt. (9 Jun 2015) < 200-a-09-(Bruce Miller, senior pastor, Christ Fellowship Church, in AP interview)-“actions were indefensible”-Pastor Bruce Miller says Tuesday’s police news conference helped ease tensions in the community. (9 Jun 2015) < 199-a-14-(Derrick Golden, senior pastor, Amazing Church, in AP interview)-“you’re not heard”-Pastor Derrick Gordon says city officials have responded well following the relaase of the video showing now-resigned police officer Eric Casebolt pinning a teenage girl to the ground and pulling a gun on others. (9 Jun 2015) < 187-a-07-(Chief Greg Conley, McKinney Police, at news conference)-“pool are indefensible”-McKinney Police Chief Greg Conley says Officer David Casebolt, who was seen on video pulling a gun on unarmed teenagers outside a pool party, has resigned from the police department. (9 Jun 2015) < CHURCH ARSON Emmett man gets 85 years to life for arson GEM COUNTY, Idaho (AP) β A man convicted of burning down two churches has been sentenced to 85 years in prison. The Idaho Press-Tribune reports that Bradley Thomasson was sentenced Monday. A jury convicted him in March of the April 2013 arson of the Community Bible Church and First Baptist Church of Emmett. Both churches were significantly damaged by water, smoke and heat. Damage costs totaled more than $2 million. No one was injured in the incidents. Thomasson had spent 22 years in the state prison system for the 1989 murders of his adoptive parents in their Lewiston home in northern Idaho. He was released on parole in January 2012. MLK’S FIRST CHURCH-STATUE King’s first church planning statue to honor leader MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) β In the basement of Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, a photo of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. hangs in the office where he worked from 1954 to 1960. The picture shows King, wearing a black pulpit robe, shaking hands with parishioners as they leave the church on a bright Sunday morning, the Capitol in the background. Years later, the same image is the blueprint for a statue of King the church is raising money for to put in front of the Dexter King Memorial Legacy Center. The church was King’s first full-time pastorate, and it propelled him to national prominence as a leader of the Montgomery bus boycott against racial segregation. On June 2, the Montgomery City Council unanimously passed a resolution approving the church’s campaign to raise a statue of King. The resolution did not grant any funds to the project, but Dexter Avenue Pastor Cromwell Handy said he requested it to show that the city was in favor of it. VILLAGE-DISCRIMINATION SUIT Judge lets discrimination suit vs upstate NY village proceed NEW YORK (AP) β A federal judge says a village in New York’s Sullivan County can face a $25 million lawsuit accusing it of trying to block Hasidic Jews from building housing and opening a religious school. Judge Katherine Forrest ruled Tuesday that discrimination claims can proceed against the village of Bloomingburg and the Town of Mamakating (mah-MUH’-kay-tihng), but she tossed many other claims and said some were premature. Bloomingburg has 420 residents. The area’s Hasidic Jewish population has increased in recent years. The village said it has not violated any rights. Attorney Brian Sokoloff said the town is pleased that the court “gutted” most of the plaintiff’s case and dismissed the town supervisor from it. He said the town’s remaining case amounts to a “run of the mill zoning dispute.” ISLAMIC LEADER-RESIGNATION AP Interview: Top imam sets new course after leaving mosque DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) β One of the top Shiite Muslim leaders in the U.S. says a “clash of ideas” caused his departure from one of North America’s largest mosques. Imam Hassan al-Qazwini says he’s forging ahead with a new congregation and plans for a mosque, media channels and other projects. Al-Qazwini served for 18 years as the imam, or prayer leader, of the Islamic Center of America in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn before resigning last month. Dearborn has one of the largest and oldest Arab-Muslim communities outside the Middle East. His departure capped months of acrimony, including anonymous letters accusing al-Qazwini of mishandling money and using donations from congregants for projects run by his father in Iraq, such as an orphanage and planned hospital for the poor. Leaders of his former mosque wanted to use the funds to cover mosque debt and local work. ITALY-NUNS STUCK Nuns count blessings after being stuck in elevator in Rome ROME (AP) β The nuns at the Marist Sisters religious order are counting their blessings after two sisters were trapped in a hot elevator in Rome for nearly three days before being rescued. A nun who answered the phone Tuesday at the order’s headquarters sighed deeply and said in English: “We are OK, but we are not talking to the press. Thank you for your concern. Goodbye.” News reports say police freed the two sisters, believed to be from Ireland and New Zealand, on Monday after they got stuck in an elevator during a power outage Friday. No one heard their cries for help over the weekend until a cleaner arrived Monday morning. News reports say the sisters prayed to pass the time. The ANSA news agency says they were treated for dehydration. VATICAN-SHRINE As Medjugorje decision nears, pope dismisses visionaries VATICAN CITY (AP) β Pope Francis has given a hint about his take on the reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary at the Medjugorje shrine in southern Bosnia, days after announcing that the Vatican was close to making a decision on their authenticity. Francis made the comments Tuesday during his morning homily, three days after making a daylong trip to Sarajevo. En route home, Francis said the Vatican would soon decide on whether to formally recognize the phenomenon. In his homily, Francis dismissed those “who always need novelty in their Christian identity” and say: “But where are the visionaries who tell us today about ‘The letter that the Madonna will send tomorrow at 4 p.m.?'” The Medjugorje apparition has been disputed since 1981, when six youths said they regularly saw visions of the Virgin.
