Har Shalom to host Kabbalat Shabbat
Congregation Har Shalom, 2537 County Road 203, will host a Kabbalat Shabbat, Torah study and a free catered dinner from 9:30 a.m. to noon today.
For more information, visit www.harshalomdurango.org.
San Ignacio Fiesta Mass to be held
San Ignacio Fiesta Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at the St. Ignatius Church in Ignacio.
An enchilada dinner will be held after Mass, along with music, bingo, a bazaar and the annual raffle at 2 p.m.
For more information, call 563-4241 or visit www.stignatiuschurch-ignacio.com.
U.S. condemns exile of Christians from Mosul
WASHINGTON – The U.S. is condemning the Islamic State group that has made thousands of Christians flee for their lives from Iraq’s second-largest city.
Last week, the message played over loudspeakers gave the Christians of Mosul until midday July 19 to make a choice: convert to Islam, pay a tax or face death. By the time the deadline expired, the vast majority of them had fled to the largely autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq or other areas protected by Kurdish security forces.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Monday the U.S. condemns the Islamic State group’s persecution of religious minorities but is “particularly outraged” at the ultimatum it delivered to Mosul’s Christians.
Their departure marks the latest – and perhaps final – exodus of Christians from the city, emptying out communities that date back to the first centuries of Christianity – including Chaldean, Assyrian and Armenian churches.
Israeli leader thanks Christian supporters
WASHINGTON – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel appreciates Christian support as it fights to stop rocket attacks from Gaza.
The Israeli leader spoke by video link to thousands of members of Christians United for Israel at their annual conference in Washington.
Netanyahu said, “You don’t fall into the trap of saying, ‘Well of course we recognize Israel’s right of self-defense,’ as long as we don’t exercise it.”
Netanyahu said Hamas and other Islamic groups hate both Jews and Christians, and he told the group that Israel is the only place in the Middle East where Christians are free to practice their faith.
The founder of Christians United for Israel, the Rev. John Hagee, said they’ll support the people of Israel “now and forever.”
Nonprofit loses grant over gay-marriage stance
PORTLAND, Ore. – A Catholic organization has decided to cut off long-standing funding to a Portland immigrant-rights group that works with day laborers over its affiliation with an organization that supports same-sex marriage.
Voz Workers’ Rights Education lost a $75,000 grant in June from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, which is the national anti-poverty, social-justice program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Catholic Campaign director Ralph McCloud said the group asked Voz to cut ties with the National Council of La Raza – a large Latino civil-rights organization that endorses marriage equality – to be considered for the grant.
After Voz refused to cut its ties, the organization “self-disqualified” itself from the funding process, McCloud said.
Group meets opposition in secular Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. – The arrival of an evangelical Christian group in heavily-secular Portland, Oregon, has raised the ire of some residents.
Child Evangelism Fellowship is hosting child-oriented gatherings called Good News Clubs throughout the city this week. The organizers hope to bring in children between the ages of 5 and 12.
Opponents of the group say it presents a fundamentalist view of Christianity that should be rejected. Protect Portland Children took out a full-page newspaper ad to oppose the outreach.
Child Evangelism Fellowship vice president Moises Esteves says the group is trying to engage with a younger audience that may not have heard the gospel message. He says opponents are part of an atheist effort to dismantle Christian outreach.
Maryland church built in 1773 ravaged by fire
HEBRON, Md. – A 241-year-old church on the National Register of Historic Places has been ravaged by fire in Hebron, Maryland.
The state fire marshal’s office says the fire was reported at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church just before midday Tuesday. Officials say nearly 100 firefighters from Maryland and Delaware fought the flames.
No injuries were reported.
The Rev. Ronald Knapp, St. Paul’s pastor, told The Daily Times of Salisbury the wood-frame building that burned had been in place since 1773.
A church website says it has been used as a place of worship since before American independence.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Herald Staff & Associated Press
