GAY MARRIAGE-KENTUCKY
Clerk jailed over gay marriage says pope encouraged her
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) β Kentucky clerk Kim Davis says a private meeting she had with Pope Francis in Washington last week validates her refusal to license same-sex marriages.
The Vatican essentially confirmed the meeting, which her attorney, Mat Staver, says took place last Thursday at the Vatican embassy during the pope’s U.S. visit. Staver says Francis thanked Davis for her courage, hugged her and told her to “stay strong.” He says they also agreed to pray for each other.
The pope has strongly upheld church teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman, and has affirmed the rights of conscientious objectors.
Davis, who spent five days in jail for her resistance and could be sent back to jail, told ABC that she has weighed the cost and is prepared to do “whatever it takes.”
238-w-32-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Mat Staver, attorney for Kentucky clerk Kim Davis)–Kentucky clerk Kim Davis’ conscientious objection to licensing same-sex marriages has been bolstered by her private meeting with the pope last week. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (30 Sep 2015)
< 211-a-14-(Mat Staver, attorney for Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, in AP interview)-“her as well”-Mat Staver, attorney for Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, says the pope met with Davis last Thursday at the Vatican Embassy in Washington. (30 Sep 2015) < 213-a-11-(Paddy Agnew, Vatican correspondent for the Irish Times, in AP interview)-“and a woman”-Paddy Agnew, Vatican correspondent for the Irish Times, says Pope Francis’ support for Kim Davis shouldn’t be a surprise. (30 Sep 2015) < 212-a-07-(Mat Staver, attorney for Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, in AP interview)-“with the pope”-Mat Staver, attorney for Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, says the meeting blessed and encouraged her. (30 Sep 2015) < VATICAN-POPE-TRIP Pope: Cuba-US flight symbolic of bridge being built VATICAN CITY (AP) β Pope Francis has said his recent flight from Cuba to the United States was symbolic of the connection being re-established between the two countries. Reflecting on his just-ended 10-day pilgrimage, Francis told his weekly general audience yesterday that “God always wants to build bridges. It is we who build walls. And walls fall down, always!” Francis said his flight from Havana to Washington was “an emblematic passage, a bridge which, thanks be to God, is being rebuilt.” He praised the U.S. as having never renounced its religious roots despite its economic development. He said, “These same roots require us to go back to the family to think about and change our model of development for the good of the entire human family.” BILLY GRAHAM-CURRENT EVENTS Elderly evangelist concerned about changes at home, abroad NEW YORK (AP) β A few weeks shy of his 97th birthday, evangelist Billy Graham is alarmed at how the world has changed. The Rev. Franklin Graham says his father is doing reasonably well, but is disturbed by “the moral decline of this nation, and the embracing of sin.” Particularly distressing, in his view, was the Supreme Court’s legalization of gay marriage. Franklin Graham says his father also is concerned about the plight of Christians in the Middle East and has watched the Republican presidential debates with interest. But Franklin Graham says his father recently observed that the world he was born into in 1918 is hardly recognizable now. Billy Graham’s latest book, “Where I Am,” was released this week. The family says he doesn’t plan to write any more. 267-a-06-(The Reverend Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, in AP interview)-“embracing of sin”-The Reverend Franklin Graham says his father is concerned about how much the U.S. has changed in recent years. (30 Sep 2015) < 266-a-09-(The Reverend Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, in AP interview)-“recognize it anymore”-The Reverend Franklin Graham says his father recently observed how much things have changed in his lifetime. (30 Sep 2015) < 265-w-31-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with the Reverend Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham)–A few weeks shy of his 97th birthday, evangelist Billy Graham is alarmed at how the world has changed. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (30 Sep 2015) < 268-a-08-(The Reverend Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, in AP interview)-“interested in those”-The Reverend Franklin Graham says his father is concerned about world events, including the plight of Christians in the Middle East. (30 Sep 2015) < TEN COMMANDMENTS MONUMENT Appeal heard in dispute over Ten Commandments monument DENVER (AP) β A New Mexico municipality that wants to keep a 6-foot-tall Ten Commandments monument outside city hall has told a federal appeals court that the monument is not government speech because it was privately funded. Attorneys for the city of Bloomfield made their case yesterday before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. They’re trying to overturn a 2014 federal judge’s order to remove the monument on grounds it violates separation of church and state. Two Bloomfield residents who practice the Wiccan religion say the monument offends them. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on their behalf, calling the monument government speech. In Oklahoma, a Ten Commandments monument outside the state Capitol is being removed after Oklahoma’s high court ruled it violates the state Constitution. TEN COMMANDMENTS-OKLAHOMA Oklahoma GOP offers home for Ten Commandments monument OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) β The Oklahoma Republican Party is offering to provide a home for a Ten Commandments monument that has been ordered removed from the state Capitol grounds. In a statement Wednesday, interim party chairwoman Estela Hernandez offered to have the monument placed at the Dewey Bartlett Center, the home of the Oklahoma Republican Party. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the monument violated a state constitutional provision that prohibits the use of state property to support a religion and must be removed. On Tuesday, a state panel that oversees artwork at the Capitol authorized the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to remove it. Hernandez says she would work with donors to ensure no taxpayer funds are used to move the monument. DECAL DISPUTE Biblical decals removed from Alabama sheriff’s vehicles DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) β Officials in Alabama’s Houston County say decals that refer to words of Jesus in the Bible have been removed from the county’s patrol vehicles. County Administrator Bill Dempsey told the Dothan Eagle Wednesday that decals reading “Blessed are the peacemakers” have been removed from the sheriff’s department’s patrol vehicles. The decals also include a reference to the full quote from Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount.” In late August, the Freedom From Religion Foundation threatened to file a civil lawsuit if the decals weren’t removed. Dempsey says he and Sheriff Donald Valenza also received letters from Americans United for Separation of Church and State threatening legal action. Dempsey says Sheriff Valenza wasn’t told to remove the decals, but did so because a recommendation was made to him after meeting with a local attorney and the county’s insurance carrier. SCHOOL SERVICE-COMPLAINT Complaint over service for graduating seniors resolved BYRON CENTER, Mich. (AP) β Officials say a complaint that a public school district in western Michigan helped plan and promote a religious service for graduating seniors has been resolved. Mitch Kahle, a representative for the Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists, tells The Grand Rapids Press that the involvement of a public district in a baccalaureate service gives the impression the district is endorsing the event. Kahle says the issue involving Byron Center Public Schools came after a student’s family complained. He says “even though it is a tradition that schools have been doing for many years, it does not make it right.” The newspaper says about 80 of 250 graduates attended the May ceremony. Superintendent Dan Takens says students or groups may hold the service, but the district can’t promote or plan it. RABBIS-NON-JEWISH PARTNERS Reconstructionists to ordain rabbis with non-Jewish partners PHILADELPHIA (AP) β Judaism’s Reconstructionist movement has decided to ordain rabbis with non-Jewish partners. The announcement yesterday by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in suburban Philadelphia comes after years of debate. Faculty voted last week to revoke a ban on admitting or graduating students with a non-Jewish partner. The college graduates eight to 10 rabbis per year. College President Deborah Waxman says the move ultimately will help promote and preserve the faith. She says the old policy forced out students who would have made “wonderful rabbis.” About 60 percent of Jews who married between 2000 and 2013 had a non-Jewish spouse, according to the Pew Research Center. Reconstructionism is the fourth-largest movement in American Judaism. It has more than 100 congregations in the U.S. and Canada. ISLAMIC CENTER-FEDERAL LAWSUIT US alleges Chicago suburb discriminated against Muslim group CHICAGO (AP) β The Justice Department is suing a Chicago suburb that denied a Muslim group permission to open a place of worship in a vacant office building. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago yesterday says the city of Des Plaines violated a 2000 law prohibiting the use of zoning and other ordinances to thwart the practice of someone’s religion. The city had previously cited traffic and parking concerns for not approving the American Islamic Center’s plans. City spokeswoman Linda DeTomasi declined immediate comment on the lawsuit. The lawsuit says the city imposed parking and other zoning criteria that had never been imposed on non-Islamic groups. Most of the center’s 180 members are Bosnian Muslims who fled Yugoslavia amid war in the 1990s. DALAI LAMA Dalai Lama blesses followers after release from clinic ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) β The Dalai Lama has greeted dozens of followers who waited outside a civic center in Minnesota for a chance to see the Tibetan Buddhist leader after his recent release from the Mayo Clinic. Security guards surrounded the Dalai Lama as he emerged from his vehicle and called the group over to him, touching their hands and blessing them. The appearance by the 80-year-old Dalai Lama in Rochester followed his stay at the Mayo Clinic, where doctors had instructed him to rest. He canceled his October appearances in the U.S. as a result. Dorjee Damdul of Minneapolis said the Dalai Lama looked happy and healthy. He said he was grateful for a chance to meet him. The Dalai Lama has made regular visits to the Mayo Clinic in past years for routine checkups.
