AP religion news in brief
Obama is urged to fill vacant diplomatic post
WASHINGTON — A congressman and a member of the U. S. Commission on International Religious Freedom are urging President Barack Obama to quickly fulfill a pledge he made last week at the National Prayer Breakfast.
Obama said he looked forward to nominating the next U. S. Ambassador at large for International Religious Freedom, a post that has sat vacant since Suzan Johnson Cook resigned last October. Prior to her confirmation, the diplomatic post was vacant for two years.
At a House hearing Tuesday, New Jersey Republican Chris Smith urged the president to quickly name a new ambassador.
Commissioner Elliott Abrams said leaving the seat vacant “sends a message to countries around the world of inattention and lack of concern.”
But State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Secretary of State John Kerry and other administration officials “are dedicated to this issue every day” and are “advocating with governments where needed.”
Catholic archbishop slams UK welfare reform
LONDON — The leader of the Roman Catholic church in England and Wales says government cuts to social welfare are a “disgrace” and have left people facing hunger and destitution.
Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, soon to be made a cardinal by Pope Francis, told the Daily Telegraph that the way social benefits are handed out “has become more and more punitive.”
He said: “For a country of our affluence, that quite frankly is a disgrace.”
The Conservative- led government has slashed billions from public spending in a bid to curb Britain’s deficit. But its critics say cuts to unemployment, housing and disability benefits are disproportionately hitting the poor.
Nichols said a safety net intended to “guarantee that people would not be left in hunger or in destitution has actually been torn apart.”
Crystal Cathedral’s Arvella Schuller dies at 84
ORANGE, Calif. — Arvella Schuller, the wife of the Crystal Cathedral’s founding pastor, has died at the age of 84.
Carol Schuller Milner says her mother passed away unexpectedly and peacefully Tuesday at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center.
Arvella Schuller is survived by her husband, the Rev. Robert H. Schuller, who launched the ministry at an Orange County drivein in 1955. She was the organist there. Together they founded the Crystal Cathedral and the weekly “Hour of Power” broadcast, which she produced and directed.
At its peak, the “Hour of Power” attracted 20 million viewers, but the ministry filed for bankruptcy in 2010.
Francis on Benedict: “Great courage and humility”
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has called his predecessor courageous and humble on the anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s remarkable announcement that he would retire.
In a tweet Tuesday, Francis wrote: “Today I ask you to join me in prayer for His Holiness Benedict XVI, a man of great courage and humility.”
It was the latest in a long line of praises being showered on Benedict, who became the first pope in centuries to retire when he stepped down last year.
His resignation was seen by many in the Vatican as a great act of governance, enabling the reform- minded Francis to clean house in the Vatican and reboot a 2,000 year- old institution hobbled by sex abuse scandals and growing indifference in a secularized world.