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OBAMA-MINORITY-FAITH
Obama plan aims to improve odds for minority boys
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has launched an initiative to help young minority men overcome social conditions that contribute to poverty and imprisonment.
The initiative is called "My Brother's Keeper," a reference to the scripture in Genesis when Cain asks God if he is his brother Abel's keeper.
Under the president's initiative, businesses, foundations and community and faith groups will coordinate their investments to come up with, or support, programs that keep youths in school and out of the criminal justice system, while improving their access to higher education. Several foundations pledged at least $200 million over five years to promote that goal
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242-w-37-(Mark Smith, AP White House correspondent, with President Barack Obama and Christian Champagne, 18-year-old senior at Hyde Park Career Center in Chicago)--President Obama has launched an initiative to reach out to young minority men -- insisting too many still drop out, get in trouble and go to jail. AP White House Correspondent Mark Smith reports. (27 Feb 2014)
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231-a-12-(Christian Champagne, 18, a senior at Hyde Park Career Center in Chicago and a member of the "Becoming a Man" program, at the launch of President Barack Obama's "My Brother's Keeper" initiative)-"have potential too"-High school senior Christian Champagne from Chicago says meeting President Obama at his school was a turning-point in his life. (27 Feb 2014)
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233-a-14-(Mayor Rahm Emanuel, D-Chicago, at the launch of President Barack Obama's "My Brother's Keeper" initiative)-"has been absent"-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says often the thing inner-city kids need most is a successful adult to talk to. (27 Feb 2014)
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232-a-12-(Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, I-New York, at the launch of President Barack Obama's "My Brother's Keeper" initiative)-"jobs for them"-Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says it's no secret what needs to be done to turn around the lives of young men of color. (27 Feb 2014)
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230-a-11-(Christian Champagne, 18, a senior at Hyde Park Career Center in Chicago and a member of the "Becoming a Man" program, at the launch of President Barack Obama's "My Brother's Keeper" initiative)-"not stopped me"-High school senior Christian Champagne from Chicago says he's determined to make something of his life. (27 Feb 2014)
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227-a-12-(President Barack Obama, speaking at launch of "My Brother's Keeper" initiative)-"I made excuses"-President Obama says he tells young, at-risk men that he grew up without a father -- and knows what they're going through. (27 Feb 2014)
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226-a-11-(President Barack Obama, speaking at launch of "My Brother's Keeper" initiative)-"that it is"-President Obama says the worst part is America has become numb to the awful statics about inner-city youth. (27 Feb 2014)
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229-a-12-(President Barack Obama, speaking at launch of "My Brother's Keeper" initiative)-"critical, life-changing moments"-President Obama says the initiative is aimed at helping young men of color make the right choices in life. (27 Feb 2014)
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225-a-11-(President Barack Obama, speaking at launch of "My Brother's Keeper" initiative)-"and young men"-President Obama says despite the important progress that's been made, too many young blacks and Latinos are dropping out, getting in trouble and going to jail. (27 Feb 2014)
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228-a-14-(President Barack Obama, speaking at launch of "My Brother's Keeper" initiative)-"pathways to success"-President Obama says his initiative isn't a big-government program -- but it will help young black and Hispanic men understand that their nation values them. (27 Feb 2014)
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FAITH-LEGAL HELP
Gathering to connect faith groups, legal help
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Supreme Court's Access to Justice Commission is inviting faith-based organizations and pro bono lawyers to a statewide gathering to discuss helping low-income Tennesseans with civil legal problems.
The Tennessee Faith and Justice Alliance recognizes that many people in need seek help from their religious leaders. Its faith-based initiative works through places of worship to connect those in need to attorneys willing to help, sometimes within the same congregations. It also provides an opportunity for attorneys to serve their churches, synagogues, mosques or temples.
The Faith-Based Initiatives Summit takes place April 7 at Lipscomb University in Nashville.
GAZA-CHURCH ATTACKED
Group says assailants attack Gaza Catholic church
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — A Palestinian rights group says assailants have attacked a Catholic church in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights says an explosive detonated in the church's yard. The group says an "abusive slogan" was written on the church wall. No further damage or injuries were reported.
A Hamas police spokesman says an investigation was opened into the attack, which occurred Wednesday.
Fewer than 3,000 Christians live among 1.7 million Muslim residents in Gaza. Their numbers rapidly have shrunk in recent years because of turmoil in the territory.
JORDAN-RADICAL PREACHER
Syria militants claim Christians agreed to pay tax
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — A radical Jordanian preacher facing terrorism charges -- Abu Qatada -- says militant fighters should not impose an Islamic tax on Christians in Syria.
The statement came days after an al-Qaida breakaway group in Syria claimed Christian leaders under its control agreed to pay the tax in return for protection.
The Islamic State in Iraq says in a document that its first "Aqed al-Thima," Arabic for protection pact, was reached in a meeting last Thursday with 20 Christian leaders in a northern province that is a bastion for the Islamic State.
The statement says the Christian leaders opted for paying the tax when they were asked to choose one of three options: convert to Islam, remain Christian and pay the tax or refuse and be considered enemy warriors.
CAIR-PROFESSOR-ANTI-MUSLIM
Muslim advocacy group calls on university to drop speaker
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations -- CAIR -- has called on Emory-Riddle Aeronautical University to withdraw a speaking invitation to a professor the group considers to be an "anti-Muslim extremist who promotes fear and hatred of an entire religious minority."
Central Florida professor Jonathan Matusitz (mah-TOO'-sihtz) is scheduled to speak at ERAU on Thursday. CAIR-Florida has released a video in which Matusitz says "Coexistence with Islam is not possible." The video also shows Matusitz saying Islam is "a dangerous doctrine."
Executive director Hassan Shibly says CAIR supports free speech but that a public school should not give a platform to advocates of hate.
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313-a-08-(Hassan Shibly, executive director, CAIR-Florida, in AP interview)-"our tax dollars"-CAIR-Florida executive director Hassan Shibly says the state shouldn't provide a platform for hate speech. (27 Feb 2014)
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GAY MARRIAGE-KENTUCKY
Same-sex marriage now legally recognized in Ky.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A federal judge has signed an order directing officials in Kentucky to immediately recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries.
Judge John HeyburnI issued a final order throwing out part of the state's ban on gay marriages. It makes official his Feb. 12 ruling that Kentucky's ban on same-sex marriages treated "gay and lesbian persons differently in a way that demeans them."
Same-sex couples may change their names on official identifications and documents and obtain any other benefits of a married couple in Kentucky. The order doesn't affect a related lawsuit seeking to force the state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The order came just hours after the Kentucky's attorney general asked for a 90-day delay. The two-page filing says the delay is sought to give that office time to decide whether to appeal the Feb. 12 ruling and would give the state an opportunity to prepare to implement the order.
VATICAN-LENT
Pope to leave Vatican for Lenten retreat
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis will leave the Vatican for a weeklong retreat leading up to his busy Easter season.
The Vatican confirms that Francis and the heads of Vatican offices would travel to Ariccia, in the hills south of Rome, for spiritual exercises March 9-14. Jesuits typically to do such Lenten retreats away from home and the Society of St. Paul offered up a retreat house.
The pope's official Easter schedule doesn't include a Holy Thursday foot-washing service, but Vatican officials say Francis would once again re-enact Jesus' washing of his apostles' feet in a "pastoral" setting outside the Vatican.
Francis' decision last year to go to a juvenile detention center to wash the feet of women and Muslims set the tone for his rule-breaking papacy.
PRIEST ABUSE-CHARGES
DA: Philly priest abused boy after mom sought help
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A prosecutor in Philadelphia says a Roman Catholic priest assaulted a 10-year-old altar boy after the boy's mother met with the priest about her son's sexuality.
The Rev. Andrew McCormick is not accused of being a serial abuser. The case involves just one encounter in 1997. However, jurors will hear from a second young man whose family complained to the church that McCormick had grown too close to him.
That 2004 complaint led the Philadelphia archdiocese to suspend McCormick in 2011, along with more than 20 other priests found to be in ministry despite allegations involving children.
The trial accuser came forward in 2012 to say McCormick had sexually assaulted him in 1997. He said news accounts of the child sex-assault cases involving Penn State and the Philadelphia archdiocese prompted him to call police. The young man had told a cousin and a classmate part of the story while growing up; both are expected to testify.
EVANGELIST-CHILD ABUSE
More than $500M awarded to Alamo abuse victims
TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — A judge in Arkansas has awarded more than half a billion dollars in damages to seven women who were physically and sexually abused by Tony Alamo (uh-LAH'-moh) when they belonged to the evangelist's ministry.
The Texarkana Gazette reports a default judgment was entered against Twenty First Century Holiness Tabernacle Church, an arm of Alamo Ministries, after it failed to respond to the civil suit.
Johnson awarded the women a total of $525 million.
Alamo is serving a 175-year prison sentence on sex-related convictions. The victims in the civil case are among the victims from Alamo's criminal case.
MARRIED PRIEST
Married man becomes Maronite priest in US
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A deacon ordained as a Maronite Catholic priest last night in St. Louis had hundreds of supporters present, including his wife and daughter.
Wissam Akiki, at St. Raymonds Cathedral, is among those who, for the first time in nearly a century, are becoming priests in the Maronite Catholic Church in the United States.
Eastern Catholic churches in the Middle East and Europe ordain married men. However, the Vatican banned the practice in America in the 1920s after Latin-rite bishops complained it was confusing for parishioners. Pope Francis gave permission for Akiki to be ordained.
MORMONS-AFTERLIFE PLANETS
Mormons: People don't get own planets in afterlife
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Mormon Church is pushing back against the notion that members of the faith are taught they'll get their own planet, a misconception popularized in pop culture most recently by the Broadway show "The Book of Mormon."
The newly-posted article affirms the faith's belief that humans can become like God in eternity, but explains that the "cartoonish image of people receiving their own planets" is not how the religion envisions it.
The 3,500-word article is part of a series of recent online articles posted on the website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that explain, expand or clarify on some of the more sensitive gospel topics.
Past articles have addressed the faiths' past ban on black men in the lay clergy and the early history of polygamy.
CHURCH THEFT
Woman accused of stealing from NC church
ROCKY POINT, N.C. (AP) — A former employee has been arrested and charged with stealing from a Pender County church.
WWAY-TV reports that 58-year-old Gloria Hardee is accused of taking more than $100,000 from Riley Creek Baptist Church in Rocky Point.
Sheriff's deputies say someone noticed problems with the church's finances last summer and an audit was conducted.
Deputies charged Hardee with felony embezzlement earlier this week. It was not clear if she has an attorney.
Church officials would not talk about the investigation.
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