US-CHINA-RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION
Chinese leader’s US visit questioned amid religious persecution
WASHINGTON (AP) — Heightened religious persecution in China is casting a cloud over Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (shee jihn-peengz) scheduled U.S. visit in September.
A congressional panel heard testimony yesterday about the crackdown on Chinese believers and the lawyers who defend them.
The Rev. Bob Fu, president of U.S.-based China Aid, said crosses have been demolished from more than 1500 Chinese churches, with pastors and believers being beaten and their lawyers imprisoned.
Miss World Canada Anastasia Lin, who was born in China, testified that tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been killed so that Chinese officials could harvest their organs and sell them for transplants.
New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith said that with Tibetan Buddhists and Chinese Muslims also facing persecution, the issue of religious persecution must be addressed during Xi Jinping’s upcoming U.S. visit. But he added, “We must ask whether this summit should even take place.”
246-w-36-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with the Reverend Bob Fu, president of China Aid, Miss World Canada Anastasia Lin, and Congressman Chris Smith, R-N.J.)–Heightened religious persecution in China is casting a cloud over Chinese President Xi Jinping’s scheduled U.S. visit in September. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports a congressional panel has been told about the crackdown. ((Xi Jinping is pronounced shee jin-PING’)) (23 Jul 2015)
< 249-a-09-(Representative Chris Smith, R-N.J., at congressional hearing)-“even take place”-Congressman Chris Smith says heightened religious persecution in China casts a cloud over the upcoming U.S. visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping. ((cut used in wrap))((Xi Jinping is pronounced shee jin-PING’)) (23 Jul 2015) < 248-a-12-(The Reverend Bob Fu (foo), president of China Aid, at congressional hearing)-“Jinping this September”-The Reverend Bob Fu, president of China Aid, says Chinese lawyers who defend religious believers are being jailed. (23 Jul 2015) < 247-a-13-(The Reverend Bob Fu (foo), president of China Aid, at congressional hearing)-“had been beaten”-The Reverend Bob Fu, president of China Aid, says Chinese authorities are attacking churches. ((longer version of cut used in wrap)) (23 Jul 2015) < 264-a-08-(Actress Anastasia Lin, Miss World Canada, at congressional hearing)-“fear of death”-Actress Anastasia Lin, Miss World Canada, says Chinese believers are clinging to their faith despite vicious persecution. (23 Jul 2015) < 250-a-09-(Anastasia Lin, actress, Miss World Canada, at congressional hearing)-“business in China”-Actress Anastasia Lin, Miss World Canada, describes the fate of Chinese Falun Gong practitioners. (Falun Gong is pronounced FAL’-uhn gahng) ((longer version of cut used in wrap)) (23 Jul 2015) < UNITED STATES-CHINA-MISS WORLD Canadian beauty queen speaks out over persecution in China WASHINGTON (AP) — The cause of human rights in China is attracting glamor to Capitol Hill. Last week, Richard Gere. This week, a contender for Miss World. Actress Anastasia Lin, who made human rights part of her winning bid in May to become Canada’s contestant to this edition of the global beauty pageant, testified yesterday on religious persecution in China. The 25-year old Lin, who was born in China, plays an imprisoned practitioner of the outlawed Falun Gong sect in an upcoming Canadian movie, “The Bleeding Edge.” She said her father in China has been pressured by authorities, but she won’t give up her activism. This year’s Miss World Pageant will be held in China in December. Last week, Hollywood star Gere testified to another congressional panel on repression by Chinese authorities of Buddhists in Tibet. 263-a-11-(Anastasia Lin, actress Miss World Canada, at congressional hearing)-“holding their beliefs”-Actress Anastasia Lin says she’s considering her religious rights activism despite threats to her father in China. (23 Jul 2015) < GAY MARRIAGE-CLERK FIRED Suit: County worker fired for objecting to gay marriage INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A former deputy clerk from Indiana says in a federal lawsuit that she was fired for refusing to process a same-sex couple’s marriage application. Linda G. Summers said in the suit filed last week that her firing by Harrison County Clerk Sally Whitis in December violated her civil and religious rights, and cited Leviticus, a book of the Bible that condemns homosexuality. Summers was fired last year after a federal court overturned Indiana’s gay marriage ban. Summers alleges that Whitis sent an email to employees mandating that same-sex marriage applications be processed “even though it may be against your personal beliefs.” Both Whitis and an attorney for Harrison County declined to comment on the lawsuit. Conservatives have predicted a deluge of cases like Summers’ in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month to legalize gay marriage nationwide. GAY MARRIAGE-ARKANSAS Randolph County to issue same-sex marriage licenses POCAHONTAS, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas’ Randolph County clerk says she’ll issue same-sex marriage licenses after saying before that she was unsure if she would due to conflicts with her religion. County clerk Rhonda Blevins told The Jonesboro Sun that she spoke with an attorney for the Association of Arkansas Counties who advised her to grant the licenses or consider resigning. Blevins says after careful consideration, she decided that she would help the county’s residents more by staying in office. She says her staff has been supportive while she contemplated her decision. She says no same-sex couples have requested a license in the county since last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized the marriages. AUSTRALIA-US-CLERGY ABUSE Cleric suspected of child abuse in US jailed in Australia MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An American clergyman suspected of child sexual abuse in Pennsylvania has been sentenced to an Australian prison for molesting three children in Melbourne more than 30 years ago. Judge James Parrish today sentenced Brother Bernard Hartman to three years, but suspended one year of the term. Hartman is a member of the Roman Catholic Marianist religious order. He had pleaded guilty in a Melbourne court to four counts of indecent assault involving two female students at St. Paul’s College in the late 1970s. A jury found him guilty of one count of indecent assault and two of common law assault for abusing a male student in 1981-82. Officials say the 75-year-old Hartman is one of eight brothers accused of molesting 19 students at Pittsburgh’s North Catholic High School. EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVES Ruling: Washington can require pharmacies to dispense Plan B SEATTLE (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that Washington state can force pharmacies to dispense Plan B or other emergency contraceptives. The unanimous decision yesterday by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals same in a lawsuit brought by pharmacists who said they have religious objections to providing the drugs. Washington adopted rules in 2007 following reports that some women had been denied access to Plan B. The rules said pharmacies must fulfill lawful prescriptions, but allowed individual pharmacists to refer patients to another pharmacist at the same store if they have moral objections to fulfilling certain prescriptions. A Ralph’s Thriftway pharmacy in Olympia and two pharmacists sued, saying the rules required them to violate their religious beliefs, because the drugs can prevent implantation of a fertilized egg, which they consider tantamount to abortion. But the appeals court found that the rules were neutral, rather than targeted at suppressing the religious objections of the pharmacists. HEALTH OVERHAUL-BIRTH CONTROL Colorado nuns appeal birth control ruling to Supreme Court DENVER (AP) — An order of nuns wants the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling letting their employees receive birth control from a third party under the health care law. An appeals court found last week that the law accommodates religious nonprofits by letting them seek an exemption. But attorneys for the Little Sisters of the Poor and four Oklahoma Christian colleges say arranging for someone else to provide contraceptives amounts to a permission slip. A lawyer representing the nuns says they “consider it immoral to help the government distribute these drugs.” If the justices take up the case it would be heard and decided during the 2016 presidential campaign. 259-v-27-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–An order of nuns wants the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling letting their employees receive birth control from a third party under the health care law. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (23 Jul 2015) < 260-a-12-(Hannah Smith, senior counsel with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, in AP interview)-“to distribute contraceptives”-Hannah Smith, senior counsel with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, says the Supreme Court should overturn a ruling that would let employees of an order of nuns get contraceptives. (23 Jul 2015) < 261-a-09-(Hannah Smith, senior counsel with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, in AP interview)-“to distribute contraceptives”-Hannah Smith, senior counsel with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, says the Little Sisters of the Poor believe it would be a sin to accept the government’s accommodation. (23 Jul 2015) < 262-a-10-(Hannah Smith, senior counsel with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, in AP interview)-“Sisters’ religious beliefs”-Hannah Smith, senior counsel with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, says the case should be heard and decided by June of next year. (23 Jul 2015) < NUNCAKES Nuns support themselves baking and selling cheesecakes CAMBRIDGE, N.Y. (AP) — Some nuns in upstate New York have become famous for their desserts The New Skete nuns have sliced out a niche as makers of high-end cheesecakes, many flavored with chocolate, amaretto, key lime or Kahlua. Money from the sales, with larger cakes selling for more than $40, helps the small group of older sisters sustain their contemplative convent life under the aegis of the Orthodox Church in America. They can make 220 cheesecakes a day, with help from a few hired workers. The nuns’ products are sold at local stores, and they also have a bustling online business. Sound: (3:06 a.m. audio feed) PRIVATE SCHOOL GRANTS NC court upholds taxpayer-funded grants for private schools RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A divided North Carolina Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Republican-backed program that spends taxpayer money on tuition for students at private and religious schools. The 4-3 decision reversed a lower court ruling declaring the state’s Opportunity Scholarships unconstitutional. Chief Justice Mark Martin wrote in the majority opinion that taxpayers who challenged the program failed to show they suffered harm, adding that it’s not the court’s responsibility to determine whether such tuition vouchers are a good idea. Last year, the program distributed more than $4.6 million for 1,216 students from low-income families to attend 224 private schools. At least three-quarters of the schools identify a religious creed. Supporters of the program note that almost three-quarters of the students who received scholarships were minorities. CORRECTIONS OFFICER STABBED Guard stabbed at Philadelphia prison where pope plans visit PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An inmate has stabbed a corrections officer with a makeshift nail at a Philadelphia prison where Pope Francis is planning a September visit, but officials say they remain confident in their ability to ensure the pope’s safety. The attack occurred just before 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, where police said 20-year-old Matthew Early stabbed the officer in the face, head, neck, shoulders and arms. The officer was treated and released from Aria-Torresdale Hospital Wednesday evening. Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the prison on Sept. 27 while he’s in Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families. A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia says the pope still plans to visit the facility, which manages 1,000 inmate visits a day. NEIGHBORHOOD OIL FIELD-POPE Angelinos want Pope Francis to help stop oil production LOS ANGELES (AP) — Residents of a Los Angeles neighborhood are asking Pope Francis to intervene with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to prevent an oil company from resuming operations two years after neighbors claimed they were sickened from emissions. The Los Angeles Times reports that residents are sending the pope a video telling stories about foul odors they say led to nosebleeds and respiratory ailments and urging him to help stop AllenCo Energy from resuming operations on two acres it leases from the Roman Catholic archdiocese. The residents say their ailments stopped when AllenCo closed down its operation to fix leaks and improve equipment. AllenCo agreed to spend about $700,000 in upgrades following a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigation. The company says it has made improvements to comply with regulations. TYE TRIBBETT-CHARLESTON BENEFIT Tribbett holds benefit concert after Charleston shootings COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Grammy Award-winning gospel singer Tye Tribbett is organizing a benefit concert to help two charities established in response to the fatal shooting deaths of nine parishioners at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina. Tribbett said in a news release that he will donate a portion of the “Hate Won’t Win” concert’s proceeds to the Mother Emanuel Hope Fund and the Low Country Ministries-Reverend Pinckney Fund. The Rev. Clementa (kleh-MEN’-tay) Pinckney was a state senator and pastor of the Emanuel A.M.E. Church. He was one of the nine slain at the church during a Bible study on June 17. Tribbett said the parents of victim Tywanza Sanders also will attend the concert, which will feature several well-known gospel singers in addition to Tribbett. Tribbett has won two Grammys, including one for best gospel album. CHARLESTON SHOOTING Lawyer for Boston Marathon bomber appointed for accused church shooter WASHINGTON (AP) — The lawyer who represented the Boston Marathon bomber has been assigned to the case of the suspected South Carolina church shooter now facing dozens of new charges, including hate crimes. Court records show David Bruck has been provisionally appointed to defend 21-year-old Dylann Roof on federal charges. Bruck has defended high-profile defendants including Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv), who was sentenced to death, and Susan Smith, the South Carolina mother sentenced to life for drowning her two sons. Roof faces 33 federal charges and is charged with numerous state crimes. Prosecutors haven’t said if they’ll seek the death penalty. The shootings happened June 17 at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.
