NEWS BRIEFS

Cuban archbishop Ortega resigns

HAVANA — The Vatican says Cardinal Jaime Ortega, who oversaw a warming of relations with the Communist government and played a role in the secret negotiations that led to U.S.-Cuba detente, has stepped down.

He is being replaced as archbishop of Havana by Juan de la Caridad Garcia Rodriguez, the archbishop of the eastern city of Camaguey. Church statements Tuesday did not say whether Garcia will be appointed cardinal.

The church said Pope Francis accepted Ortega’s resignation, which was presented in 2011 under a church rule requiring archbishops to offer their resignation when they are 75. Ortega was named Archbishop of Havana in 1981 and oversaw three papal trips to Communist Cuba. He was so trusted by Cuba that he ferried messages between Presidents Raul Castro and Barack Obama during detente negotiations.

— The Associated Press

Ruling stands in

cake baking case

DENVER — Colorado’s Supreme Court has refused to take up the case of a suburban Denver baker who would not make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, letting stand a lower court’s ruling that the Masterpiece Cakeshop owner cannot cite his Christian beliefs in refusing service.

The American Civil Liberties Union applauded the development, saying it affirmed that no one should be turned away from a business serving the public because of who they are or who they love.

Baker Jack Phillips has said he has no problem serving gay people at his store, but that making a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding would violate his Christian beliefs.

His attorney, Nicolle Martin, says Phillips should have the same conscience rights as artists like Bruce Springsteen, who has refused to perform in North Carolina to protest a law limiting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

— The Associated Press

Oklahoma priest

ousted from posts

LAWTON, Okla. — A priest who pleaded guilty in 2012 to misdemeanor assault and battery in California has been removed from several Catholic churches in southwest Oklahoma.

Archbishop Paul Coakley of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City says the Rev. Jose Alexis Davila was removed Tuesday.

Davila was hired to assist at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Lawton and had roles at churches in Elgin, Apache and Sterling. He was to become pastor of Blessed Sacrament on June 28.

Parishioners protested after learning of Davila’s conviction for allegedly inappropriately touching a 19-year-old woman. He completed a sentence of probation and community service and the charge was dismissed.

Coakley initially said he believed Davila could return to the ministry, but said new information required his removal.

He did not say what the new information is.

— The Associated Press

Vandals spray

graffiti in church

SEATTLE — Seattle police are investigating after vandals broke into a church and spray-painted racist messages on the walls.

KOMO-TV reports the Curry Temple Christian Methodist Episcopal Church was preparing to celebrate its 66th anniversary when church members discovered the vandalism Sunday morning.

Church members found a swastika and racist insults in black spray paint on the walls inside the church. One message told the congregation to “go back” to Africa.

Church elder Charles Eakers says he doesn’t understand who would want to harm a church.

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