Religion Roundup from the Eyewitness News Newsroom

Peaceful Surrenders Fugitives who surrender at church can avoid jail

COLUMBIA, S.C.
Fugitives who turn themselves in at a South Carolina church this week can talk to an attorney, see a judge and even get job counseling without having to spend time behind bars.

The U.S. Marshal's Service is bringing its Fugitive Safe Surrender program to Columbia's Bible Way Church from Wednesday through Saturday.

State Senator Darrell Jackson says the church, where he's a pastor, decided to host the program after hearing of its success in other cities. South Carolina is the 10th stop for the program, which has encouraged more than 13,000 people to turn themselves in since 2005.

The program brings judges, defense attorneys and prosecutors together so they can all take a look at the case. Most nonviolent offenders should be able to leave the church with a court date and a lawyer. Others may have their charges dropped or a deal worked out after a judge reviews the case.

Church Lawsuit Church serving homeless sues Maryland town

BALTIMORE
A Maryland church whose ministry is focused on serving the homeless has filed a lawsuit accusing town officials of hindering the church's expression of faith.

Carl Mazza, pastor of the Meeting Ground, says the town of Elkton has blocked attempts by the church to open a day center for homeless men and women.

The church already owns property zoned for use by churches and businesses, but Elkton's zoning board required the center to have a special zoning exception.

The American Civil Liberties Union says the zoning board isn't recognizing the center as a religious institution but instead as a social or philanthropic organization.

Helms Funeral Jesse Helms eulogized for serving God and country

RALEIGH, N.C.
Former North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms has been eulogized at his funeral as a colleague who always did his "duty to God, to country, to family."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke from the pulpit at Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh Tuesday, where Helms was a longtime member and deacon. McConnell recalled how Helms once said that after the Senate he was only running for "the kingdom of heaven."

McConnell said he was confident that Helms, who died Friday, had won that last race and had been welcomed with the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share in your master's joy."

Helms' granddaughter, Jennifer Knox, said her grandfather "loved the Lord, he loved his country, he loved North Carolina and he loved his family."

Obit-Templeton Investor who created religion prize dies

NASSAU, Bahamas
John Templeton, an investor who dedicated much of his fortune to promoting religion and reconciling it with science, has died at the age of 95.

Templeton created the $1.4 million Templeton Prize -- billed as the world's richest annual prize -- to honor advances in spiritual knowledge. Winners have included Mother Teresa, Billy Graham and Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

Templeton was a Presbyterian and a board member of Princeton Theological Seminary, but he also was influenced by the Unity School of Christianity, which takes a non-literal view of heaven and hell.

His spokesman says Templeton died Tuesday from pneumonia at a hospital in the Bahamas.

Student Missionary Dies Student missionary dies in Peru

GLEN CARBON, Ill.
Funeral arrangements are pending for a Baptist student missionary who died in a weekend traffic crash in southern Peru.

Gregory Gomez's former pastor at Bethel Baptist Church in Troy, Illinois, says the 22-year-old Gomez died Saturday in a van accident that injured two other people traveling with him.

Gomez was serving in Peru for the summer through the International Mission Board.

Former pastor Tim Lewis says Gomez recently earned an engineering degree from the University of Mississippi and planned to take a job at Nestle Purina after the summer mission.

He says Gomez had been training to run a marathon and had a "deep, sincere faith."

Britain-Women Bishops Church of England split on women bishops

LONDON
The Church of England's move to accept women bishops has infuriated Anglican conservatives and complicated efforts to promote unity with the Roman Catholic Church.

The Church of England's General Synod voted Monday to let women become bishops without giving traditionalist supporters of male-only bishops the concessions they had sought.

At the Vatican, Cardinal Walter Kasper approving women bishops presents "a further obstacle for the reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Church of England."

Conservative Anglican Bishop Tom Wright called the decision muddled and untimely. The Lambeth Conference, a once-a-decade gathering of all Anglican bishops, starts next week.

Traditionalist bishops representing many of the world's Anglicans are boycotting the meeting because American church leaders who consecrated an openly gay Episcopal bishop were invited.

Hawaii Church-Rocks Bishop, 2 others accused of taking rocks for Mormon church

HONOLULU
A Hawaii panel is to hear arguments Friday on whether a Mormon bishop and two other men should be fined thousands of dollars for allegedly stealing rocks from a beach for an underground cooking pit at their church.

The men allegedly tried to haul 943 coconut-sized rocks in pickup trucks on board the Hawaii Superferry from Maui to a Mormon church on Oahu.

One of the men said he has a letter from the landowner giving him permission to take the rocks. But state officials say the men illegally took the rocks from a state conservation area.

The state report says the rocks that were taken are valued for outdoor roasts because they're porous and retain heat.

Amish-Outhouse Dispute Amish in outhouse dispute appeal jail sentence

EBENSBURG, Pa.
Two Amish farmers who said their religious convictions prevented them from disposing of outhouse waste according to state sewage laws have appealed their jail sentences.

Andy Swartzentruber and Sam Yoder were convicted and sentenced last month to three months in jail. They turned down a chance to perform community service or pay a fine to avoid jail time.

An attorney representing Swartzentruber and Yoder said the sentences were excessive and violated the men's constitutional rights to freedom of religion.

The defendants are members of a Pennsylvania Amish sect that's known for severe restrictions on technology and interaction with the outside world. The outhouses were used by children who attended an Amish school on property owned by Swartzentruber. Yoder is a school elder.

Wiesel Accosted Holocaust scholar testifies about hotel attack

SAN FRANCISCO
Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel says he was shocked to learn that a man accused of accosting him was linked to a movement that denies millions of Jews were killed during World War II.

Wiesel testified Tuesday at the trial of Eric Hunt, who is accused of dragging the 79-year-old Nobel laureate off an elevator at San Francisco's Argent Hotel in February 2007.

The 24-year-old Hunt has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of attempted kidnapping, elder abuse, false imprisonment, battery, stalking and hate crimes.

Wiesel testified that a document allegedly written by Hunt called Wiesel the "pope of the Holocaust religion" who should be forced to admit that his Holocaust memoir was "entirely fictitious."

Australia-Clergy Abuse Australian cardinal denies cover-up in clergy abuse case

SYDNEY, Australia
Just days before Pope Benedict arrives for World Youth Day, Australia's Cardinal George Pell has denied trying to cover up a sexual abuse case involving clergy.

Pell was responding to a report that said he gave misleading information to Anthony Jones, who had accused Father Terrence Goodall of sexually assaulting him in 1982, when Jones was 28 years old.

Jones reported his claims to the church in 2003 and the church investigated. But Pell did not follow the investigator's recommendation, and wrote to Jones telling him that the investigator had not been able to prove the complaint of "attempted aggravated sexual assault." Pell said Tuesday that he based his conclusion on Jones' age at the time and Goodall's insistence that the act had been consensual.

Jones, now 54, told Australia's ABC Television, "I now hate Catholicism because of what Cardinal Pell has done to me, more so than what Father Goodall did to me."

Switzerland-Minarets Swiss nationalists force referendum on minaret ban

GENEVA
Swiss nationalists are forcing a popular vote on whether to ban construction of Muslim minarets -- the tall spires next to mosques where religious leaders call the faithful to prayer.

The Swiss Interior Ministry says it has received a petition for a referendum on the issue with more than the required 100,000 signatures.

It was submitted by members of political parties who say they're fighting the spread of political Islam. They argue that the minaret symbolizes a bid for political and religious power.

Opponents of a construction ban say it would violate religious freedom, and Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey warned it would cause a security risk for Switzerland by sparking Muslim anger.

No date has been set for the referendum. If it's approved, the Swiss parliament will have to enact a law enshrining a construction ban in the constitution.