Senate connects trade, religion
WASHINGTON — The Senate has voted unanimously to require U.S. negotiators to take religious freedom into account in any country taking part in trade talks.
The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Jim Lankford, was added Monday to objectives outlined in major trade legislation sought by President Barack Obama. The Oklahoma Republican said the United States should “lead with our values and not sell out for a dollar the people who have been in bondage as a prisoner of conscience for years.”
The trade bill sets parameters under which the administration could negotiate trade deals that Congress could then approve or reject, but not change. Obama is seeking the “fast-track” authority to complete a Trans-Pacific trade deal with 11 other countries along the Pacific rim.
Church salvages cornerstone
DELMONT, S.D. — Members of a South Dakota church that was destroyed by a tornado this month have removed the century-old building’s cornerstone, which they hope to incorporate in a new church building.
Zion Lutheran Church was among 84 structures in and around Delmont that were damaged or destroyed by the May 10 tornado that injured nine people. The Lutheran church’s congregants scheduled a short Monday morning service to officially decommission the building, and then burn the wreckage.
But Jim Kaufman told KELO-TV that he’s storing the cornerstone at his farm, for use in the future to remember the old church.
Pope to bishops: Be like Christ
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis had strong words for members of the Italian bishops’ conference, which opened its annual meeting at the Vatican on Monday. Francis, who is also the bishop of Rome, urged bishops to be more like Christ in showing humility, compassion, mercy and wisdom.
He also complained that the Catholic Church often organizes conferences where “the same voices” are heard over and over, an apparent reference to the practice of hosting only like-minded speakers.
Francis said such a practice “drugs the community, homogenizing choices, opinions and people.” He urged bishops to instead go “where the Holy Spirit asks them to go.”
Israel has plans at Western Wall
JERUSALEM — Israel’s new Cabinet has approved a plan for development at the Western Wall, a key Jewish holy site next to Jerusalem’s most combustible area.
Past development projects in the area have sparked tensions with Palestinians, who accused Israel of threatening a compound that is holy to Muslims and Jews.
The five-year plan, beginning next year, will include upgraded infrastructures, archaeological activity and development of the Western Wall site and underground tunnels that follow the length of the wall, a remnant of the ancient Jewish Temple complex.
In 1996, the opening of an exit from the tunnels into a Muslim area of the city sparked bloody riots.
The prime minister’s office announced the plan Tuesday.