Religion Roundup from the Eyewitness News Newsroom

LUTHERANS-GAYS New Lutheran body to form after gay pastor vote

NEW BRIGHTON, Minn.
The split over gay clergy within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has prompted a conservative faction to begin forming a new Lutheran church body separate from the ELCA.

Leaders of Lutheran CORE say a working group will start drafting a constitution and taking other steps to form the new denomination, and hope to have it off the ground by next August.

At its annual convention in August, ELCA delegates voted to lift a ban on sexually active gay and lesbian pastors. Opponents say that's in direct contradiction to Scripture.

The Rev. Paull Spring, who chairs Lutheran CORE, says the new church body will welcome Lutherans who oppose what he calls "the ELCA's continued movement away from traditional Christian teachings."

The ELCA announced staff and budget cuts this month after conservative congregations stopped funding the denomination over its acceptance of gay clergy.

CHURCH GRADUATION ACLU demands end to graduations at church

HARTFORD, Conn.
The American Civil Liberties Union has warned public school officials to stop holding graduation ceremonies at a Connecticut church, claiming the graduates and their families are unconstitutionally subjected to religious messages.

The ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State threatened to sue the Enfield school board unless it changes the graduation location.

Enfield's school superintendent says students liked going to The First Cathedral in Bloomfield, which is air-conditioned and can hold about 3,000 people. He said renting the church is thousands of dollars cheaper than holding a graduation in town.

CATHOLIC BISHOPS Bishops discuss authority over Catholic colleges

BALTIMORE
Fallout continues from the University of Notre Dame's honorary degree for President Barack Obama, who supports abortion rights.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops went behind closed doors at their fall meeting Wednesday to discuss how they can increase oversight of more than 200 Roman Catholic colleges and universities.

Chicago Cardinal Francis George revealed this week that he had formed a task force on the issue. The committee's research includes what church law says about bishops' authority over the schools.

George said, "An insistence on complete independence from the bishop renders a person or institution sectarian -- less than fully Catholic."

Notre Dame welcomed Obama in defiance of the local bishop and more than 70 other U.S. bishops.

FORT HOOD-HEARING Hearing to probe possible religious motive in Fort Hood shootings

WASHINGTON
The Senate Homeland Security Committee holds a hearing today into the Fort Hood shootings and its apparent religious motivation.

Witnesses say Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan shouted "Allahu akbar" -- Arabic for "God is great" -- before the massacre that left 13 people dead and dozens wounded.

Sen. Joe Lieberman says the committee he chairs "will investigate how this incident affects our understanding of -- and defenses against -- the threat posed by violent Islamist extremism."

Lieberman says the hearing will look into what the military knew about Maj. Hasan before the shootings, since converts to "homegrown Islamist extremism" have repeatedly targeted U.S. troops.

CASTING CROWNS-NEW CD Christian band keeps its focus in new CD

ATLANTA
The lead singer of Casting Crowns says they're one Christian band that will probably never cross over to the secular market.

Mark Hall says, "I don't think that's going to be in the future for us."

In their new CD -- "Until the Whole World Hears" -- Hall says Casting Crowns is once again encouraging believers in Jesus "to deepen their walk with him, to get out there and live for him and to love people like he does." Hall adds that he can't imagine singing about anything else.

In the liner notes, lyrics to each song on the CD come with references to Bible verses. Hall says that's because he wants all of Casting Crowns' songs to point people to God's truth.

VATICAN-CHILDREN'S RIGHTS Pope urges nations to protect children

VATICAN CITY
Pope Benedict has called for greater international efforts to ensure basic human rights for children, especially those who are victims of "violence, abuses, sickness, war or hunger."

Benedict made the comments during his weekly general audience as he marked the 20th anniversary of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, the first legally binding and most widely ratified international treaty to affirm human rights for all children.

The treaty, which the U.S. Congress has not ratified, says children enjoy a full range of human rights, including civil, cultural, economic, political and social ones.

Religious conservatives have warned that it could undermine parental and home school rights.

CHURCH FIRE Official urges Ga. churches to be on arson watch

ATLANTA
Georgia's top fire official is urging churches to bolster security after two metro Atlanta churches were set ablaze.

Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner John Oxendine says officials are investigating whether the arsons are connected.

Fire consumed the Calvary Church in Morrow when it was set ablaze Sunday. Investigators say they also found evidence of arson at a United Methodist Church in East Point which was set on fire Nov. 6.

Oxendine urged neighborhoods to start church watches to monitor the buildings on days without services. He said church fires are particularly devastating to areas "where churches are the social as well as spiritual heart of the community."

EVANGELIST-CHILD ABUSE-CUSTODY Court upholds seizure of kids from Alamo compound

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.
The Arkansas Court of Appeals has ruled that state child welfare officials properly seized children from the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries after a police raid.

The appeals court issued three opinions Wednesday dealing with the children taken by welfare officials after a September 2008 raid at Alamo's compound.

In one ruling, Judge Robert Gladwin wrote that testimony at closed hearings about the seizures showed "a clear picture of danger to the children in the ministry compound." Gladwin added that the judges had "no hesitation" in affirming a lower court's decision to allow the seizures.

Alamo was sentenced to 175 years in federal prison last week after being convicted of taking young girls across state lines for sex.

VATICAN-RESTORED CROSS Gem in Vatican's art collection gets new look

VATICAN CITY
Experts say one of the gems of the Vatican's priceless religious art collection has gotten a new look after being restored to its appearance from the 6th century.

The Vatican will unveil the restored Crux Vaticana . It's a jewel-encrusted golden cross containing what tradition holds are shards of Jesus' cross inside.

Art experts say the restoration rendered the cross much closer to what it would have looked like at the time the Byzantine Emperor Justin II gave it to the people of Rome.

A circle of 12 pearls now surrounds the relic, and pearls around the cross' edge now alternate with emeralds and sapphires.

While there are purported fragments of Christ's cross in churches around the world, the Crux Vaticana is considered the oldest reliquary of the cross.