IMMIGRANT DETENTION-CATHOLICS
Bishops anticipate message from pope on immigrant detention
WASHINGTON (AP) β The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is calling for the federal government’s immigrant detention system to be dismantled.
The bishops studied immigrant detention centers that they say needlessly house many non-threatening immigrants, including mothers and children, in prison-like conditions.
Their report says many detention facilities are operated by for-profit corporations that perpetuate an immoral system to please shareholders at the expense of taxpayers. It says the detention centers should be replaced by community-based alternatives that are more humane and less expensive.
Bishops who discussed the report with reporters said the issue is of deep concern to Pope Francis and say he’s likely to address it when he visits the U.S. this fall.
Immigrant activists and religious leaders have raised growing alarms about conditions at immigrant detention centers since the Southern border crisis last summer brought tens of thousands of unaccompanied youths and families to the U.S., many of them fleeing gang violence in Central America.
Sound:
246-a-07-(Kevin Appleby, Director of Migration Policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in AP interview)-“children right now”-Kevin Appleby, Director of Migration Policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, says thousands of undocumented immigrants are being detained needlessly. (11 May 2015)
< 248-a-13-(Kevin Appleby, Director of Migration Policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in AP interview)-“or illegal presence”-Kevin Appleby, Director of Migration Policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, says many detention centers are profit-making institutions. (11 May 2015) < 245-v-32-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is calling for the federal government’s immigrant detention system to be dismantled. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (11 May 2015) < 247-a-12-(Kevin Appleby, Director of Migration Policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in AP interview)-“programs for years”-Kevin Appleby, Director of Migration Policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, says immigrants could be housed in community-based programs. (11 May 2015) < 249-a-10-(Kevin Appleby, Director of Migration Policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in AP interview)-“get her out”-Kevin Appleby, Director of Migration Policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, says the church can provide more humane alternatives to detention. (11 May 2015) < RELIGION-SURVEY Study: Americans becoming less Christian, more secular NEW YORK (AP) β The number of Americans who don’t affiliate with a particular religion has grown to 56 million in recent years. That’s according to a Pew Research Center study released Tuesday. According to researchers, the faith group called “nones” are now the second-largest in total numbers behind evangelicals. Christianity is still the dominant faith by far in the U.S.; 7 in 10 Americans identify with the tradition. Pew researchers said Christian losses were driven by decreases among mainline, or liberal, Protestants and Roman Catholics. Regarding other religions, Pew found an increase in membership of non-Christian faiths, driven mainly by growing numbers of Muslims and Hindus. BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING Nun says Boston Marathon bomber feels sorry for the victims BOSTON (AP) β The jury that will consider whether Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) should live or die has heard from a prominent death penalty opponent. Sister Helen Prejean (PRAY’-zhahn) testified Monday that Tsarnaev expressed genuine sorrow for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. Prosecutors and defense lawyers have rested in the trial’s penalty phase, and closing arguments are scheduled for Wednesday. Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun whose story was told in the 1995 movie “Dead Man Walking,” met with Tsarnaev five times since March at the request of the defense. Prejean said she could hear pain in his voice when he said he regretted what happened to the victims in the 2013 attack, which left three people dead and more than 260 wounded, including 17 who lost limbs. Prejean says he told her, “No one deserves to suffer like they did.” Sound: 241-c-11-(Denise Lavoie, AP correspondent)-“about the victims”-AP correspondent Denise Lavoie reports that Sister Helen Prejean’s testimony may help Dzhokhar Tsarnaev escape the death penalty. (11 May 2015) < 239-c-14-(Denise Lavoie, AP correspondent)-“he had done”-AP correspondent Denise Lavoie reports that Sister Helen Prejean testified about her conversations with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. (11 May 2015) < 238-c-12-(Denise Lavoie, AP correspondent)-“way they did”-AP correspondent Denise Lavoie reports that Sister Helen Prejean testified about her meetings with convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. (11 May 2015) < 240-c-07-(Denise Lavoie, AP correspondent)-“her prison ministry”-AP correspondent Denise Lavoie reports that Sister Helen Prejean testified that she met with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev five times since March. (11 May 2015) < RELIGIOUS OBJECTIONS-TEXAS Texas Senate OKs bill allowing clergy to refuse gay marriage AUSTIN, Texas (AP) β The Texas Senate has voted to let clergy members refuse to perform marriages that violate their religious beliefs, as top Republicans move to further shield the nation’s largest conservative state from a possible U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing gay couples to wed. The bill, approved 21-10, requires a final, largely procedural Senate vote before heading to the Texas House. Democrats argued that existing constitutional guarantees allow houses of worship to set their own policies regarding marriage ceremonies and all other aspects of faith. But the bill’s sponsor said he wants to ensure that pastors can’t be sued for refusing to perform weddings they don’t believe in. Gay marriage has been banned in Texas since voters approved a 2005 amendment to the state Constitution. Still, the bill comes after the nation’s high court heard arguments about the constitutionality of gay marriage for couples nationwide, and a ruling allowing same-sex weddings by its justices would supersede the state constitutional prohibition. GOP 2016-WALKER-ISRAEL Walker visits Western Wall in Israel MADISON, Wis. (AP) β Probable presidential candidate Scott Walker is in Israel on a five-day trip paid for by the governor’s political organization and the Republican Jewish Coalition. The coalition’s executive director Matt Brooks tweeted a photo Sunday of Walker in Jerusalem and near the Western Wall wearing a yarmulke, the traditional Jewish head covering for males. The Republican governor was to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and talk with Israeli and Palestinian entrepreneurs as well as tour historic sites during his first trip to Israel. Walker originally said the trip would be funded by taxpayers as a trade mission, but later determined the visit would be primarily political. Walker has not officially declared his candidacy for the 2016 presidential race, saying he will announce his decision after the state budget passes, likely in June. US-RABBI-ARRESTED Lawyer: Rabbi in DC voyeurism case doesn’t deserve prison WASHINGTON (AP) β A lawyer for a once-prominent Orthodox rabbi who pleaded guilty to secretly videotaping scores of women in a changing room of a Jewish ritual bath says he shouldn’t go to prison. Bernard Freundel’s (froyn-DELZ’) lawyer wrote in a court document filed ahead of his May 15 sentencing that putting him behind bars isn’t necessary and that he should instead do community service. Prosecutors have recommended that Freundel spend more than 17 years in prison. Freundel acknowledged as part of a plea agreement in February that he secretly recorded more than 150 women over several years. A statute of limitations would have barred prosecutors from charging Freundel for every recording, however, and he pleaded guilty to 52 counts of voyeurism, each count punishable by up to a year in jail. CHARITY CEO-PROBE Ex- director gets prison for stealing from NYC nonprofit ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) β The former executive director of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty has been sentenced to a year in jail, having pleaded guilty to grand larceny for his part in a kickback scheme among the New York City nonprofit’s executives. Authorities say David Cohen has paid $650,000 in restitution to the council after their investigation showed that he, former chief executive William Rapfogel and others stole about $9 million over 20 years through insurance kickbacks. He is the last of six people sentenced in the scheme, which was investigated by the New York comptroller’s and attorney general’s offices. The Met Council gets city and state grants and provides help to the poor and elderly. MORMON LAWN-DROUGHT Mormon temple’s lawn becomes drought casualty LOS ANGELES (AP) β California’s first Mormon temple is letting its lawn go brown as drought concerns have water users tightening their consumption statewide. The Los Angeles Times reports that church security guard Jarom Ellsworth said gardeners stopped watering the grass about a month ago to save water. The temple is in West LA, one of several affluent California communities to get water use flack over a recent UCLA study that shows poorer communities use roughly three times less water than their wealthier counterparts. SPAIN-SWEDEN-STOLEN ART Man arrested in Spain for stealing art from Swedish churches MADRID (AP) β Police in Spain have arrested a 63-year-old Spaniard for allegedly stealing dozens of artworks from Swedish churches. A Spanish National Police statement Monday said the man was arrested on the Canary island of Tenerife. He had previously served a five-year prison sentence in Sweden for similar offences. Police said they found more than 40 pieces of art including an 18th-century Bible, four 15th-century wood engravings, candelabrums and trays. The statement says the man also had a warehouse in Denmark where he stored other pieces of art allegedly stolen from Swedish churches. It said four engravings that had been auctioned in Madrid were also recovered. Swedish police tipped off Spanish police that the man was a prime suspect in recent investigations of stolen art. He is expected to be handed over to Sweden.
