New Episcopal bishop in S.C. to be consecrated in January

CHARLESTON (AP) -- A bishop whose election to the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina was invalidated by the national church has gained approval a second time and will be consecrated, officials said.

The Very Rev. Mark Lawrence, a self-described traditionalist, will be consecrated Jan. 26.

Lawrence, who was a priest in the conservative Diocese of San Joaquin, based in Fresno, Calif., was first elected bishop in September of last year. But the national church's Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori took the unusual step of invalidating the election in South Carolina.

Jefferts Schori said the standing committees of several dioceses had failed to submit proper written consent as required by church law. The diocese received 57 consents -- one more than required -- from dioceses nationwide, but some came by e-mail and were not considered valid.

The South Carolina diocese held a second vote on Lawrence in August. He received 128 "yes" votes from local clergy, parishes and missions. Only two clergy and three parishes dissented.

His second election was earlier approved by the national Episcopal House of Bishops and by the end of last week, more than enough standing committees nationwide had approved, said the Rev. J. Haden McCormick, who heads the standing committee of the South Carolina diocese.

The 2.3 million-member Episcopal church is the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion.

Muslim author sues over unflattering depiction in punk song

DENVER (AP) -- A Denver-based Muslim writer and lawyer whose family is active in Republican politics has sued an East Coast Muslim writer and a Muslim punk band, charging they defamed her in a song.

Asma Gull Hasan claims Michael Muhammad Knight wrote an unflattering portrayal of her in his book "Blue-Eyed Devil" and influenced a band called The Kominas to write defamatory lyrics describing her performing a sex act.

"The purpose ... of these highly offensive, denigrating and defamatory lyrics (written and performed by The Kominas with Knight's knowledge, encouragement and support) was to mock, deride and ridicule Hasan," Hasan's attorney wrote in the lawsuit.

Knight, who met Hasan while interviewing other Muslims across the United States, denied the claim.

"You can't defeat writers by censoring or punishing them, you only defeat writers by outwriting them," Knight wrote in an e-mail to The Denver Post. "And she can't do that, so she has to resort to this."

Hasan, who has supported the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, is the author of "American Muslims: The New Generation" and "Why I Am a Muslim: An American Odyssey." She claims Knight's book portrays her falsely as "wealthy, self-absorbed, insensitive and acutely uninformed."

Hasan and her family have drawn criticism from other U.S. Muslims for their support of President Bush. Her brother, Muhammad Ali Hasan, and mother, Seeme Hasan, created a group called Muslims for Bush. Seeme Hasan has said that she and her husband, Malik, a physician, have donated more than $1 million to Bush and Republican causes since the 2000 campaign.

Priest who ministered at Hawaiian leper colony one step closer to sainthood

HONOLULU (AP) -- A Roman Catholic priest who ministered to lepers banished to the island of Molokai in the 19th century has cleared another hurdle on the path to sainthood.

A Vatican medical commission has determined that a Honolulu woman's cure of lung cancer a decade ago can be attributed to the intercession of Belgian priest Damien DeVeuster.

The five-doctor commission reported the woman's healing was dramatic and defied medical explanation, said Patrick Downes, a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.

The Honolulu woman said she was cured after she made a pilgrimage to Kalaupapa, where Damien took care of banished and quarantined leprosy patients, and prayed to the priest. The case was written in the Hawaii Medical Journal in 2000 in an article titled "Complete spontaneous regression of cancer."

Church authorities already credited Damien for another miracle, leading to his be.jpgication, the step before sainthood. In that case, officials determined a French nun dying of a gastrointestinal illness miraculously recovered after praying to Damien.

An individual has to be found responsible for two miracles to become a saint. Downes said a commission of theologians must now review the case.

More than 8,000 people were banished to the remote Kalaupapa peninsula on Molokai after leprosy, or Hansen's disease, became epidemic in Hawaii in the 1850s. Damien came to Hawaii from Belgium in 1864, and went to Kalaupapa nine years later, ministering to patients until he contracted Hansen's disease himself and died in 1889 at the age of 49.

Iowa churches prominent in gay marriage debate

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- From prayer rallies to political advocacy, Iowa churches are at the forefront of an escalating fight over a county judge's ruling that overturned the state's same-sex marriage ban.

About 1,200 people from local churches joined hands and sang the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome" at a recent rally urging the Iowa Supreme Court to reverse the judge's decision.

"This is more than a political battle," said the Rev. Keith A. Ratliff Sr. of the Maple Street Missionary Baptist Church. "This is a spiritual battle."

Polk County District Judge Robert Hanson ruled on Aug. 31 that a state law defining marriage as only between a man and woman was unconstitutional and ordered the Polk County recorder to allow same-sex couples to marry.

The next day, Hanson stayed his ruling while the case is appealed to the state Supreme Court, which could take two years. Only one couple was able to marry -- the ceremony was performed in a Unitarian pastor's front yard -- before Hanson suspended his ruling.

The state's four Roman Catholic dioceses, meantime, are calling for a different fix -- a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as solely between a man and a woman.

"Marriage between a man and a woman is good from the perspectives of both natural law and our Catholic faith," according to a statement from the Iowa Catholic Conference. "Society has chosen to protect and promote marriage because of its unique contribution to the common good."

Republican lawmakers have renewed their call for a marriage amendment. Gov. Chet Culver and other Democrats say the state should wait for the Iowa Supreme Court to rule.

Journalist who exposed abuse allegations in Catholic order dies of cancer

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Gerald Renner, a veteran religion writer and editor who helped expose child sexual abuse allegations against the founder of a powerful Roman Catholic religious order, has died of cancer. He was 75.

Renner, who retired from The Hartford Courant in 2000, was recognized internationally for his pioneering reporting on allegations of sexual abuse within the Legionaries of Christ, a Roman Catholic religious order whose U.S. headquarters were in Connecticut.

He co-wrote a 2004 book with freelancer writer Jason Berry titled, "Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II." The book argued that the pope protected the Legionaries founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado. The Vatican removed Maciel from the active priesthood two years after the book was published.

A Philadelphia native, Renner had earlier worked as a reporter in the U.S. Navy, at a newspaper in Pennsylvania and for United Press in Washington, D.C. He later became editor and director of Religion News Service in New York and vice president of the National Conference of Christians and Jews before joining the Courant in 1985.

Renner lived in Norwalk, Conn. He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline, four daughters, a son and 10 grandchildren.

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