US-CHINA-REMOVING CROSSES
Chinese cross removal protested outside China embassy
WASHINGTON (AP) β Some Christian activists have demonstrated outside the Chinese embassy in Washington to protest the forced removal of crosses from hundreds of churches in China.
The Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, carried a large wooden cross while he and a few followers used a bullhorn to shout their appeal for religious freedom in China. They broadcast their protest on Twitter.
Officials in China’s Zhejiang (ZHUH’-zhee-ahng) province have toppled crosses from more than 400 churches since early 2014, sometimes resulting in violent clashes with congregation members. They have said the crosses violate building codes, but critics say the growth of Christian groups has made the ruling Communist Party nervous.
Mahoney says Chinese officials emerged from the embassy to photograph the protesters, but didn’t speak with them.
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240-a-06-(Katie Mahoney, Christian protester, in demonstration outside Chinese embassy)-“most fundamental rights”-Christian protester Katie Mahoney urges China to let its people worship freely. (14 May 2015)
< 241-a-09-(Katie Mahoney, Christian protester, in demonstration outside Chinese embassy)-“people without fear”-Christian protester Katie Mahoney says religious freedom is no threat to China. ((longer version of cut used in wrap)) (14 May 2015) < 239-w-32-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Katie Mahoney, Christian protester)–Some Christian activists have demonstrated outside the Chinese embassy in Washington to protest the forced removal of crosses from hundreds of churches in China. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (14 May 2015) < CHURCH CLOSING DISPUTE Judge to protesters: End 11-year vigil inside closed church BOSTON (AP) β A Massachusetts judge has ordered parishioners of the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church to end their 11-year protest vigil and vacate the now-closed Roman Catholic church. Norfolk County Superior Court Judge Edward Leibensperger ruled Thursday that the parishioners are “unlawfully and intentionally” trespassing at the church building in Scituate. He said they will be barred from entering the church effective May 29. The Archdiocese of Boston, which had sued to evict the group, urged protesters to end the vigil and respect the judge’s ruling. But the Friends of St. Frances, the group that has been occupying the former church day and night since 2004, say they’re not going anywhere. They intend to ask the state court to stay the ruling pending an appeal. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church was among dozens closed in a 2004 restructuring to address the Boston Archdiocese’s debt. But a group of parishioners has been holding a nonstop vigil inside the church ever since. VACCINES-CALIFORNIA California Senate approves school vaccine bill SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) β State senators have passed a bill aimed at increasing California’s school immunization rates after a measles outbreak at Disneyland last year. The bill was approved on a 25-10 vote after a series of emotional hearings this year at which opponents called for preserving parental rights on the matter. The measure would prohibit parents from seeking vaccine exemptions for their children because of religious or personal beliefs. The bill, which now goes to the California Assembly, would make medical waivers available only for children who have health problems. Other unvaccinated children would have to be homeschooled. Opponents unsuccessfully sought to add amendments allowing religious exemptions and making other changes. Gov. Jerry Brown has not said if he would sign the bill. BICYCLIST DEATH-SENTENCE Guilty plea in crash that fatally injured pastor on bike TACOMA, Wash. (AP) β A 19-year-old Washington state woman has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in a traffic crash that fatally injured a bicycling pastor last Nov. 24. The News Tribune reports that Kallie James of Buckley entered her plea Wednesday in the death of Pastor Eric Renz of Puyallup. Pierce County Deputy Prosecutor Tim Jones says that as part of her plea, James admitted she was impaired by drugs when she ran a stop sign and hit Renz. Court records show she told police she had taken an anti-depressant and smoked marijuana before the crash. The 66-year-old Renz died about two weeks later. He had served as a pastor in Presbyterian churches throughout the Puget Sound region and was active in the Freezing Nights campaign, which provides shelter and meals to homeless people during the winter. James is to be sentenced June 12. CHILD SUPPORT-SHARIAH Worry over Shariah law in Idaho jeopardizes child support BOISE, Idaho (AP) β The U.S. has spent years negotiating an international treaty that would make it easier for single parents worldwide to collect child-support payments. But families across the country could be stuck with the cumbersome existing system after legislators in a single state rejected the deal because, they said, it could allow Islamic law to influence American courts. The move by Idaho threatens an effort involving dozens of nations to improve procedures that have made it difficult, sometimes impossible, for parents to get the money. Idaho leaders now face pressure to reverse their decision and have called a special legislative session, which begins Monday. Worries about the spread of the Islamic code known as Shariah have surfaced in several states in recent years, often resulting in proposals to restrict the use of foreign law in state courts. Opponents dismiss these bills as anti-Islamic fear-mongering. They say Shariah has never trumped U.S. state or federal law. WEAPONS PLANT INTRUSION Attorneys want Catholic peace activists’ immediate release KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) β An 85-year-old nun and two fellow Catholic peace activists who are in prison for vandalizing a uranium storage bunker should be released immediately, according to their attorneys. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week overturned a sabotage conviction against Sister Megan Rice, Michael Walli and Greg Boertje-Obed for their July 2012 actions at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The court left in place a lesser charge. In a Thursday motion, attorneys say resentencing will take weeks and the activists have already served more time than they are likely to receive. They have been in prison since May 2013. The motion asks the court to either order their immediate release or send the matter to the lower court. The motion says Sister Rice suffers from health problems that are not grave, but are causing her pain. JEWISH SITE SHOOTINGS-HEARING Man accused in Jewish site shootings fires his attorneys OLATHE, Kan. (AP) β A Missouri man charged with killing three people at two Jewish sites in suburban Kansas City will defend himself in his death penalty case. In allowing 74-year-old Frazier Glenn Miller to fire his defense team, Judge Kelly Ryan said the attorneys could still help with him procedural aspects of the case. Miller is accused of fatally shooting William Lewis Corporon, 69, and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City in Overland Park, Kansas, on April 13, 2014. Minutes later, prosecutors say Miller killed Terri LaMano, 53, at a nearby Jewish retirement home where she was visiting her mother. Miller has also told media outlets that he planned to kill Jews and didn’t know none of the victims was Jewish. Miller told The Associated Press last month that he plans to plead guilty to capital murder but he wants to use his sentencing hearing to voice his anti-Semitic beliefs. ISLAMIC STATE IS group releases audio message purportedly from leader BEIRUT (AP) β The Islamic State group has released an audio message purportedly from its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has not been seen or heard from in months. The audio message posted on militant websites features a voice that sounds like al-Baghdadi’s exhorting all Muslims to take up arms and fight on behalf of the group’s self-styled caliphate. The speaker says, “Islam was never a religion of peace. Islam is the religion of fighting.” He also references the Saudi-led air campaign against Shiite rebels in Yemen, which began on March 26, and harshly criticizes the Saudi royal family. It was not immediately possible to verify whether the voice was al-Baghdadi’s. Sound: 230-c-20-(Sagar Meghani (SAH’-gur meh-GAH’-nee), AP national security correspondent)-“once last summer”-AP National Security Correspondent Sagar Meghani reports the message purportedly from the Islamic State group’s leader calls for all Muslims to fight on behalf of the group. (14 May 2015) < 229-v-35-(Sagar Meghani (SAH’-gur meh-GAH’-nee), AP national security correspondent)–The Islamic State group has released an audio message purportedly from its reclusive leader. AP National Security Correspondent Sagar Meghani reports from the Pentagon. (14 May 2015) < BOSNIA-PAPAL VISIT Residents of Bosnian town hope for Vatican recognition MEDJUGORJE, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) β Residents of a small town in Bosnia-Herzegovina remain hopeful that the Vatican will formally recognize apparitions of the Virgin Mary reported at a local shrine. People in Medjugorje (mehd-juh-GOHR’-yah) had hoped Pope Francis might stop in the town when he visits next month to celebrate an outdoor Mass in Sarajevo. More than 50,000 people have already registered to attend. The pope won’t make it to Medjugorje, but pilgrims and residents there are still welcoming his visit. The site has drawn millions of faithful a year since 1981, when six local youths said they regularly saw visions of the Virgin. Medjugorje resident Danijela Susac says it’s important that the Vatican not rush to decide whether to formally recognize the apparitions, which it’s been investigating for five years. An investigation was completed last year, but the results have not been announced. Sound: 219-a-14-(Maria Peebles, Catholic pilgrim from Ireland, in AP interview)-“the people here”-Maria Peebles, a Catholic pilgrim from Ireland, says it’s exciting that the pope will visit Bosnia next month, even though he won’t visit a shrine where the faithful say they’ve seen the Virgin Mary. (14 May 2015) < VATICAN-FILIPINO CARDINAL Filipino Cardinal Tagle gets new high-profile job at Caritas VATICAN CITY (AP) β A Filipino cardinal often mentioned as a possible papal contender has just gotten a new high-profile job heading the Catholic Church’s global charity and development confederation. Caritas Internationalis’ 165 members elected Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle to be their president Thursday. He succeeds Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodridguez Maradiaga, whose two four-year terms have ended. Tagle, who will keep his job as archbishop of Manila, is Asia’s most prominent Catholic leader. He garnered international attention in January when he welcomed Pope Francis to the Philippines, where a record 6 million people attended the final Mass. The 57-year-old Tagle is seen as being in the same vein as Francis in his humble lifestyle and concern for the poor. Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of Catholic charity organizations operating in some 200 countries.
