News Briefs

Pope marks feast at shopping area

ROME — Pope Francis has marked the Roman Catholic Feast of the Immaculate Conception by visiting Rome’s swank shopping area near the Spanish Steps.

Shoppers crowded into the square Monday to see Francis keep an annual appointment that marks the Dec. 8 feast day honoring the Virgin Mary and the traditional start of Rome’s holiday shopping season.

Wearing a long white coat in the chilly early evening, Francis prayed that “humanity be freed of all spiritual and material slavery.” He stood before a flower-adorned statue of Mary atop a towering column and expressed hope that in the run-up to Christmas, people would concentrate less on themselves.

Francis wants the church to pay more attention to the poor and others on the margins of society.

— The Associated Press

Israel indicts man in bombing plot

JERUSALEM — Israeli officials say an American Christian who passed himself off as an ex-U.S. Navy SEAL faces charges of trying to blow up Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.

Israeli police and the Justice Ministry identified the man as 30-year-old Adam Everett Livix. The Justice Ministry said Livix underwent a psychiatric evaluation Tuesday after his indictment Monday on charges of illegal weapon possession and overstaying his visa by more than a year.

His indictment comes at a time of rising tensions in Jerusalem, mostly over a disputed holy site known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and Jews as the Temple Mount. It is the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest in Judaism.

— The Associated Press

Obama: Illegals like Joseph, Mary

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — President Barack Obama is comparing people living in the United States illegally to Mary and Joseph on the first Christmas.

The Bible says the couple actually obeyed a Roman decree by traveling to Joseph’s ancestral town for a census.

But at an immigration forum in Nashville, Obama noted that Mary and Joseph were “strangers” in Bethlehem when she was about to give birth to Jesus, and there was “no room at the inn.”

The president said, “If we’re serious about the Christmas season, now is a good time to reflect on those who are strangers.”

Obama defended bypassing Congress to grant deportation relief and work permits to millions living in the country illegally. His action would affect those who have been here more than five years and have children.

Republicans want to use their authority over federal spending to force Obama to roll back his decision.

— The Associated Press

Churches support black men Sunday

WASHINGTON — Many predominantly black churches are holding special services on the theme “black lives matter” on Sunday, asking congregants to wear black and pray for the black men in their community.

The Washington Post says the denominations involved are the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and Church of God in Christ.

The services come on the heels of two different grand jury decisions declining to prosecute white police officers in the deaths of unarmed black men.

— The Associated Press

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