NEWS BRIEFS

Mass held along Mexico border

NOGALES, Ariz. - A delegation of Roman Catholic leaders celebrated Mass on Arizona’s border with Mexico to mourn those who have died trying to enter the United States and to pray for immigration reform.

Several hundred people attended the ceremony Tuesday and a few dozen people peered through the border fence from Mexico to watch the Mass. Catholic clergymen offered Holy Communion through the fence to people in Mexico.

The Catholic leaders earlier did a tour of Nogales to see spots where immigrants come into the country. The church leaders on Monday walked along a notorious section of border, an area that once was one of the most popular crossing points for drug and immigrant smugglers.

  • The Associated Press

Scouts remove gay troop leader

SEATTLE - The Boys Scouts of America has removed an openly gay troop leader in Seattle, saying he made an issue out of his sexual orientation.

The organization told Geoff McGrath in a letter Monday that it “has no choice” but to revoke his registration after he said he was gay while being profiled by NBC News.

McGrath, who is married to another man, has been leading Seattle Troop 98 since its formation was approved last fall. He said the pastor of Rainier Beach United Methodist Church, the chartering organization, asked him to lead the troop.

The Boy Scouts began accepting openly gay members for the first time this year, over the objections of some participants who eventually left the organization. Gay-rights groups applauded the move, but it angered people who consider homosexuality a sin and a violation of Scouting values.

  • The Associated Press

Christian rocker’s ’72 album lauded

WASHINGTON - A 1972 album by Christian rock pioneer Larry Norman has been added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.

Only Visiting This Planet included two of the singer’s best known songs. “I Wish We’d All Been Ready” was about someone who missed the Rapture, while “The Great American Novel” harshly critiqued modern culture.

A statement by the Library calls the album “the key work in the early history of Christian rock.” It says Norman, who died in 2008 at the age of 60, “commented on the world as he saw it from his position as a passionate, idiosyncratic outsider to mainstream churches.”

  • The Associated Press

Dallas to display Islamic treasures

DALLAS - A new exhibit in Dallas showcases 150 rare Islamic works of art and scientific objects that explore the use and meaning of light.

The exhibit titled “Nur: Light in Art and Science From the Islamic World” opened last week at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Nur is the Arabic word for light.

The Dallas Museum of Art will be the only venue outside of Europe to host the exhibit, which premiered in Spain in October. It runs in Dallas through June 29.

The works on display come from public and private collections around the world. Objects on display include manuscripts illuminated with gold and color pigments and objects made from precious and semi-precious stones in addition to scientific objects including sundials and astrolabes.

Religion, Pages 12 on 04/05/2014

Upcoming Events