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BOX OFFICE
'Noah' rises to top of box office with $44M debut
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The biblical epic "Noah" has placed first at the weekend box office, earning an estimated $44 million in its U.S. debut.
The imaginative take on Noah's Ark features such additions to the well-known Bible story as angelic rock creatures and a somewhat different cast of humans on the ark, prompting Paramount to add a disclaimer to its ads noting that "artistic license has been taken."
The film, starring Russell Crowe as Noah, also sailed smoothly in 22 international markets, such as Russia and Australia, earning $33.6 million abroad.
"Noah" is the latest faith-centric film to win over audiences this year. Others include the independently released "God's Not Dead," which earned another $9 million and placed fifth at the box office in its second weekend, and "Son of God," whose domestic total now stands at $57.9 million since opening last month.
"Heaven is for Real" will be in theaters April 16. A new "Left Behind" film starring Nicolas Cage, and "Exodus," starring Christian Bale, are to be released later this year.
Sound:
001-w-34-(Jamie Friar, AP correspondent, with film clips)--A biblical tale opens on top. The AP's Jamie Friar has the weekend box office results. ((opens with sound)) (31 Mar 2014)
<<CUT *001 (03/31/14)££ 00:34
003-r-21-(Sound of Russell Crowe as Noah, in scene from "Noah")--Sound of Russell Crowe as Noah in a scene from "Noah." (31 Mar 2014)
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004-r-35-(Sound of Ray Winstone as Tubal-cain and Russell Crowe as Noah, in scene from "Noah")--Sound of Ray Winstone as Tubal-cain and Russell Crowe as Noah in a scene from "Noah." (31 Mar 2014)
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WASHINGTON MUDSLIDE
Search dogs take break from mudslide recovery
DARRINGTON, Wash. (AP) — Families coping with the loss of friends and neighbors have sought comfort in Sunday church services, while crews searched for more victims of the mudslide that buried the mountainside community of Oso, Wash., more than a week ago.
Late Saturday, authorities revised the number of people believed to be missing from 90 to 30, while the official death toll increased by one, to 18. Authorities have said they recovered more than two dozen bodies, but they won't be added to the official tally until a formal identification is made.
Away from the whirring chain saws and roaring bulldozers, many residents of nearby Darrington sought comfort in church services before another week of recovery efforts.
All week, a steady stream of people has stopped in to pray at the Glad Tidings Assembly of God on the edge of town. The church's senior pastor, the Rev. Lee Hagen, said, "At a time like this, everybody knows they've got to have God's help."
Sound:
022-a-15-(Battalion Chief Steve Mason, Snohomish (snoh-HOH'-mish) County Fire District 1, in interview)-"day or two"-Snohomish County Fire Battalion Chief Steve Mason says rescue workers observed a moment of silence to honor those lost one week after the mudslide that destroyed a neighborhood in Oso, north of Seattle. (30 Mar 2014)
<<CUT *022 (03/30/14)££ 00:15 "day or two"
023-a-15-(Battalion Chief Steve Mason, Snohomish (snoh-HOH'-mish) County Fire District 1, in interview)-"way we can"-Snohomish County Fire Battalion Chief Steve Mason says it was important for the rescue crews to take a moment to honor the lost. (30 Mar 2014)
<<CUT *023 (03/30/14)££ 00:15 "way we can"
144-a-15-(Lieutenant Richard Burke, Bellevue, Washington fire department, in interview)-"support this community"-Fire lieutenant Richard Burke says the community has come together to deal with the mudslide. (30 Mar 2014)
<<CUT *144 (03/30/14)££ 00:15 "support this community"
145-a-14-(Lieutenant Richard Burke, Bellevue, Washington fire department, in interview)-"watch this happen"-Fire lieutenant Richard Burke says this is more than just a search and rescue operation for the people responding to the landslide. (30 Mar 2014)
<<CUT *145 (03/30/14)££ 00:14 "watch this happen"
TOMBOY-CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
Christian school pressures 'tomboy' to transfer
FOREST, Va. (AP) — An 8-year-old Virginia girl who keeps her hair short and wears boys' clothes has left a private Christian academy under pressure from its administration.
Timberlake Christian School's principal recently told the child's great-grandparents, who have custody, that they should find another school unless they understand that "God has made her female and her dress and behavior need to follow suit with her God-ordained identity."
The family transferred the child to public school. Carroll Thompson of Forest, Va., says his great-granddaughter is a tomboy but is being labeled as something else by Timberlake officials. Doris Thompson says her great-granddaughter knows she is a girl and has never, to her knowledge, wished she were a boy.
Representatives of the Christian school say there's more to the story, but they can't be specific because of confidentiality laws.
SUPREME COURT-TOWN PRAYER
New York town awaits ruling on moment of prayer
GREECE, N.Y. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court could rule any day now on whether a town board's prayers before meetings violate the Constitution.
The case, Greece v. Galloway, began in 2008 when Susan Galloway, who is Jewish, and Linda Stephens, an atheist, complained that Christian prayers at the upstate New York town's board meetings made them uncomfortable. Every meeting from 1999 through 2007 had opened with a Christian-oriented invocation.
After the complaints, the town, in 2008, had a Wiccan priestess, the chairman of the local Baha'i congregation and a lay Jewish man deliver four of the prayers.
Town Supervisor William Reilich said the town accepts requests from people of any religion to deliver the prayer.
The two residents lost their suit in U.S. District Court after the judge found that the town did not intentionally exclude non-Christians and that the content of the prayer was not intended to proselytize or demean other faiths. But the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the practice of having one Christian prayer after another amounted to the town's endorsement of Christianity.
TIGERS-PRAYERS
Tigers fans ask God to keep watch on the home team
DETROIT (AP) — Some Detroit Tigers fans have asked for God's blessing on the eve of Monday's opening game.
A prayer service for the Tigers was held Sunday at St. John's Episcopal Church near Comerica Park.
The Rev. Steven Kelly led the service, which included a blessing, prayers and hymns. He asked God to help the players play to the best of their abilities. He says the blessing remains the same every year unless he needs to add the name of a new manager.
The service concluded with "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and an enthusiastic "Play Ball!"
HISTORIC MORMON GATHERING-WOMEN
Female Mormons gather for historic meeting
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Female members of the Mormon church have gathered around the world for what leaders called a historic meeting of the faith.
The church's General Women's Meeting was open for the first time to all female members over the age of 7.
More than 20,000 girls and women gathered in Salt Lake City Saturday evening while millions more watched in Mormon meetinghouses worldwide for the united meeting of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' three female auxiliaries.
They are the Relief Society for adult women, the Young Women group for 12- to 17-year-olds and the Primary organization for younger girls.
HINDU FESTIVAL-UTAH
10s of 1000s attend Utah Holi color festival
SPANISH FORK, Utah (AP) — Tens of thousands of people have attended a weekend religious festival at a Hindu temple in Spanish Fork, Utah.
Revelers danced to rock music, practiced yoga and threw colored corn starch in the air once every hour during the all-day Holi Festival of Colors.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that most of the participants were not Hindus, but Mormons. Thousands of students from nearby Brigham Young University came to take part in a festival that is free of drugs and alcohol.
The event stems from a Hindu tradition celebrating the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil.
Participants gained exposure to Hindu beliefs while plastering others with dust of many vibrant colors.
POPE-PENTECOSTALS
With iPhone, pope starts new era with Pentecostals
NEW YORK (AP) — Religious leaders say Pope Francis has quietly started a new era in relations between the Roman Catholic Church and rival Pentecostals. And he did it with just an iPhone and a video greeting.
Francis recorded the message in January on the phone of a clergy friend with ties to the spirit-filled Pentecostal movement. The pope's friend then played the video for Pentecostal pastors in Texas and the greeting went viral.
Pentecostal movements have for years been draining parishioners from the Catholic Church, especially in Latin America. But in the video, Francis calls the Pentecostal pastors his brothers and says they should work together for Christian unity. One Pentecostal leader says that small gesture did more to heal the rift than the past four decades of dialogue.
Together, Pentecostals and charismatics comprise about one-quarter of the world's 2 billion Christians.
VATICAN-ITALY-BANK-SWINDLERS
Suspected fraud plot foiled at Vatican bank
ROME (AP) — Italian police say two men toting a briefcase stuffed with false bond certificates with a purported worth of trillions of dollars tried to bluff their way into the Vatican's exclusive bank in a foiled fraud plot.
Financial Guard police Lt. Col. Davide Cardia said the would-be swindlers tried to convince Swiss Guards and other security personnel at a Vatican City gate a week ago that "cardinals were expecting them."
Cardia told The Associated Press by telephone Sunday that the men, a middle-aged Dutchman and a U.S. citizen, were detained after checks by Vatican officials found they had no such appointments at the bank, which isn't open to the public.
A 2010 money-laundering probe by Rome prosecutors sparked tougher scrutiny at the bank.
Sound:
111-c-14-(Frances D'Emilio (deh-MIHL'-ee-oh), AP correspondent)-"their own recognizance"-AP correspondent Frances D'Emilio reports the men were released pending further investigation, since Italian law doesn't require arrest for investigation of attempted fraud. (30 Mar 2014)
<<CUT *111 (03/30/14)££ 00:14 "their own recognizance"
110-c-19-(Frances D'Emilio (deh-MIHL'-ee-oh), AP correspondent)-"give a hand"-AP correspondent Frances D'Emilio reports the suspects were detained after rapid checks by officials showed they didn't have an appointment with the Vatican bank. (30 Mar 2014)
<<CUT *110 (03/30/14)££ 00:19 "give a hand"
109-c-19-(Frances D'Emilio (deh-MIHL'-ee-oh), AP correspondent)-"kind of fraud"-AP correspondent Frances D'Emilio reports earlier this month men toting a briefcase stuffed with false bond certificates purportedly worth trillions of dollars tried to bluff their way into the exclusive Vatican bank. (30 Mar 2014)
<<CUT *109 (03/30/14)££ 00:19 "kind of fraud"
VATICAN-VENEZUELA
Vatican says it's willing, able to help Venezuela
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican says it is willing and able to help intervene diplomatically in Venezuela's crisis after weeks of deadly unrest but says it must study expectations and options about what role it could play.
On Thursday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accepted the idea of a good-faith facilitator after coming under mounting pressure to reconcile with opponents who have been protesting for nearly three months. He mentioned Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, until last year the Vatican's ambassador to Caracas.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Friday the Holy See and Parolin were "certainly willing and desirous to do whatever is possible for the good and serenity of the country." But he said the Vatican needed to understand if Vatican intervention would bring about a "desired outcome."
VATICAN-POPE'S CONFESSION
Pope confesses his sins in Vatican basilica
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has knelt before a priest and confessed his sins in a St. Peter's Basilica ceremony he hopes will inspire others to seek forgiveness.
Traditionally, popes have heard confessions of some faithful in the basilica on Good Friday morning. But Francis did so three weeks early. And he surprised many in the packed church Friday by confessing his own sins with his back to cameras. At one point, the priest hearing his confession appeared to chuckle. Francis, solemn-faced, then rose and started hearing confessions himself.
In his homily, Francis tweaked some religious commandments to stress the positive. Building on "don't' steal," Francis suggested, "share what you have with others," especially the needy, and when trying to "not yield to anger," he advised, be "magnanimous and ready to forgive."
VATICAN-ITALY-SEX ABUSE
Italy bishops say they don't have to report abuse
ROME (AP) — Italy's bishops have adopted a Vatican-backed sex abuse policy that says they have no obligation to inform police if they suspect a child has been molested.
The Italian Bishops' Conference said the guidelines published Friday reflected suggestions from the Vatican's office that handles sex abuse investigations.
Victims have long denounced how bishops systematically covered up abuse by shuffling pedophile priests around while keeping prosecutors in the dark. Only in 2010 did the Vatican instruct bishops to report abuse to police — but only where required by law.
The Italian guidelines cite a 1985 treaty between the Vatican and Italy stipulating that clergy aren't obliged to tell magistrates about information obtained through their religious ministry. The guidelines remind bishops, however, that they have a "moral duty" to contribute to the common good.
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