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Sect children will stay in state custody, judge rules

SAN ANGELO, Texas (CNN) — Hundreds of children who were taken from a polygamist ranch by Texas child welfare authorities will remain in state custody, a judge ruled Friday night.

Judge Barbara Walther also ordered court DNA testing for all 416 children who lived at the YFZ (Yearning For Zion) Ranch in Eldorado to determine their biological parents.

The compound is run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — a Mormon offshoot that practices polygamy.

Walther made her ruling after two days of testimony at a hearing to determine whether the children were properly removed by child welfare authorities.

Walther said she found sufficient evidence for Texas Child Protective Services to keep custody of the children.

Officials are now looking for the very best temporary placements for these children, said Marleigh Meisner, CPS spokeswoman.

This is not about religion — this is about keeping children safe from abuse, she added.

An attorney representing some of the children said he planned to appeal the ruling.

We’re a little disappointed in what the process turned out to be, said Cody Towns.

The ranch raid stemmed from a series of phone calls in late March from a 16-year-old officials referred to as Sarah, who said she had been beaten and forced to become the spiritual wife to an adult man.

FLDS members have denied that the girl, supposedly named Sarah Jessop Barlow, exists. Authorities have been trying to locate her, but have been unable to identify the girl.

Texas Rangers said Friday they are pursuing a Colorado woman as a person of interest regarding the phone calls that touched off the raid. Authorities said a search of the home of Rozita Swinton, 33, resulted in evidence that may link her to phone calls made about the YFZ ranch.

Earlier in the day, a defense witness testified that it is uncommon for a polygamist sect to force girls as young as 13 into marriage, as the state alleged.

Religious scholar John Walsh also addressed a particularly damning piece of evidence: At least one bed found inside a temple that was allegedly used to consummate such marriages immediately after the ceremony.

Historically, the only use of a bed in a temple is for temple worship itself, said Walsh, who said he has studied the FLDS practices for 18 years. The worship lasts a couple of hours, so all the temples will have a place where someone can lie down.

But, he said, To my knowledge, there has never been any sexual activity in a Mormon temple.

Walsh said he also studies the mainstream Mormon church, which renounced polygamy a century ago and has no ties to the FLDS. He said without the polygamy aspect, the FLDS would resemble the Baptist or Catholic religions.

Walsh was followed to the stand by FLDS member Marilyn Jeffs, who said she was not forced into marriage before age 18. It wasn’t clear whether Jeffs is related to jailed FLDS leader Warren Steed Jeffs.

Another FLDS woman, Maureen Jessop, said she was a mother of two toddlers and an infant, but also was trained as an emergency medical technician — despite her husband’s wishes. Jessop said she is a stay-at-home mother by choice. I have a wonderful life in Eldorado, she testified.

Also testifying Friday was child psychiatrist and state witness Bruce Perry, who said FLDS children are taught that disobeying orders leads to eternal damnation and have little opportunity to learn how to make independent choices.

Young children are not mature enough to enter into a sexual relationship or a marriage, he added.

Perry, who has worked with families in groups such as the Branch Davidian sect near Waco, Texas, said that if the children are allowed to remain in state custody, There have to be exceptional elements in place for these children and their families. The traditional foster care would not be good for these children.

The state had the burden of demonstrating to Walther why removing the children was necessary.

In court Thursday, Texas state officials presented records they said show 10 women were either married or pregnant as minors. The list was found during the raid, locked in a safe at a main ranch office building, the officials said.
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Crude hits record $117 per barrel

NEW YORK (AP) — Crude oil futures surged to a new trading record of $117 a barrel on Friday following an attack on a key pipeline in Nigeria. The rally capped a week of record highs fueled by supply woes and the dollar’s weakness relative to other major currencies. Gasoline futures also reached new record highs.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery spiked to a new trading record of $117 in after-hours electronic trading Friday after settling at $116.69 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1.83 over Thursday’s settlement. It was the fifth day in a row crude prices set new records.

The run-up came after the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta — the main militant group in Nigeria’s restive south — said it had sabotaged a major oil pipeline operated by a Royal Dutch Shell PLC joint venture. The group promised further attacks on the petroleum industry in Africa’s largest producer of crude oil.

A spokeswoman for Shell confirmed that the pipeline was leaking, and said the damage appeared to have been caused by explosives.

The contract had fallen to close to $113 per barrel in overnight electronic trading, as the dollar strengthened against the euro and other currencies, encouraging some traders to lock in profits from crude’s recent record run.

In London, Brent crude futures rose $1.49 to settle at $113.92 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

A host of supply and demand concerns in the U.S. and abroad, along with the dollar’s weakness, have served to support prices, even as record retail gasoline prices in the U.S. appear to be dampening demand. Crude prices have risen as much as 4 percent this week.

Any kind of geopolitical tension is going to pump up the market, Mark Waggoner, president of Excel Futures in Huntington Beach, California, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Attacks since early 2006 on Nigerian oil infrastructure by the group have cut nearly one-quarter of the country’s normal petroleum output, boosting oil prices. Nigeria is a major supplier of oil to the U.S.

Earlier in the trading session Friday, oil’s gains on Friday were limited by the dollar, which strengthened against the euro.

A stronger dollar makes commodities such as oil less attractive to investors as a hedge against inflation, and it makes oil more expensive to investors overseas. Analysts believe the weaker dollar is the primary reason oil has soared well past $100 a barrel this year. But the effect tends to reverse when the greenback gains ground.

Analysts expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates several more times this year — moves that tend to further weaken the dollar — and reason that those cuts will help propel oil to new records.

Surging crude prices have also boosted retail gasoline prices in the U.S. ahead of the Northern Hemisphere’s summer driving season when prices — and demand — typically increase.

The national average price of regular gas rose 2.7 cents overnight to a record $3.445 a gallon, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

May gasoline futures rose 3.15 cents to settle at a record $2.9893 a gallon after earlier rising to a new trading record of $2.9934 a gallon.

Diesel prices are also at record levels, and the spike in fuel costs in hurting U.S. consumers already feeling the effects of a slowing economy, a sluggish job market and falling home values.

I would say that energy prices are having the most profound effect on the economy in recent memory, said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp., in Chicago, in a research note.

In other NYMEX trading Friday, May heating oil futures rose 2.49 cents to settle at $3.2923 a gallon. May natural gas futures rose 20.4 cents to settle at $10.587 per 1,000 cubic feet. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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At synagogue, pope seeks ‘bridges of friendship’

NEW YORK (CNN) — The sight was jarring Friday: Pope Benedict XVI at the Park East Synagogue just before the start of the Jewish Sabbath.

It was the first time a pope had set foot inside a Jewish house of worship in the United States, a visit made at the invitation of Rabbi Arthur Schneier, who broke the silence in the synagogue by saying, Your Holiness, a heartfelt shalom … warm, warm welcome.

Benedict encouraged worshippers to continue building bridges of friendship with different ethnic and religious groups in their neighborhoods.

The invitation carried a significance rooted in the Holocaust, which affected both men profoundly. After his 14th birthday in 1941, Benedict — then called Joseph Ratzinger — was forced to join the Hitler Youth.

Schneier is a Holocaust survivor who was born in Vienna, Austria, and lived under the Nazis in Budapest, Hungary, during World War II. He came with his mother to the United States in 1947, determined to keep a promise he had made to his grandfather, also a rabbi, who did not escape the Nazis.

He was always worried who’s going to succeed him in his work, so I made a promise, which I’ve kept, to be ordained and devote my life to rabbinic service, Schneier said.

For more than 40 years, he has served as senior rabbi at the synagogue, where he has devoted his energies to fighting for religious freedom. In 2001, he was awarded the U.S. Presidential Citizens Medal.

Benedict has made other strides toward reaching out to Jewish leaders. As theological adviser to Pope John Paul II, he is credited with playing a key role in John Paul’s decision to apologize to Jews for the role Catholics played in the Holocaust.

But Benedict has also angered Jews by reviving a controversial Latin prayer calling for their conversion, a move that did not please Schneier. Would I wish that this prayer would not exist? he asked. Of course.

But the rabbi said he does not want to be paralyzed by the past and feels that it is his calling to do what he can to heal.

The pope’s visit here basically says to me, ‘You know, you’ve embarked on the right road,’ the rabbi said. ‘Go forward; don’t stop; continue.’

The 78-year-old Holocaust survivor wished the pontiff mazel tov on his 81st birthday, which occurred two days ago. The sun is shining, and the heavens are rejoicing on this day, Schneier said.

I find it moving to recall that Jesus as a young boy heard the words of scripture and prayed in a place such as this, Benedict said. I encourage all of you to continue building bridges of friendship. Watch the pope address Jewish worshippers

Congregation members presented the pope with a Passover Seder plate, placed at the center of the dinner table during the holiday feast marking the occasion when Jews were led out of slavery in Egypt. He was also given a box of matzo and a Haggadah, the prayer book used during Passover.

In turn, the pope presented Schneier with a Jewish manuscript.

As the pope shook hands with invited congregation members, they sang Oseh Shalom, a song and prayer for peace.

Friday’s event took place a day after Benedict met in Washington with religious leaders from different faiths, stood on a temple stage and watched as the ark was opened to reveal the Torah scrolls, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.

The event symbolized the Catholic church’s efforts to improve interfaith relations.

Benedict’s three-day visit to New York is the second leg of his six-day trip to the United States, his first since he was elected to the papacy.

After Park East Synagogue, he traveled to St. Joseph’s Parish for a prayer service.

On Saturday he is to celebrate Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue and visit the World Trade Center ground zero ahead of celebrating Mass at Yankee Stadium.

On Friday morning, the pope addressed the U.N. General Assembly and urged the members to intervene in nations unable to protect their populations from human rights violations.

Every state has the primary duty to protect its own population from grave and sustained violations of human rights, as well as from the consequences of humanitarian crises, whether natural or man-made, he said.

If states are unable to guarantee such protection, the international community must intervene, he said in French, citing the United Nations Charter and in other international instruments.

Later, switching to English, he said, The promotion of human rights remains the most effective strategy for eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups, and for increasing security.

He was referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United Nations adopted December 10, 1948.

As history proceeds, new situations arise, and the attempt is made to link them to new rights, he said.

Discernment — that is, the capacity to distinguish good from evil — becomes even more essential in the context of demands that concern the very lives and conduct of persons, communities and peoples.

Benedict was the third pope to address the General Assembly. Pope Paul VI visited in 1965, and Pope John Paul II visited in 1979 and 1995.

Ahead of the pope’s speech, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told him, In so many ways, our mission unites us with yours. Watch the secretary-general welcome the pope

The pope expressed admiration for the U.N.’s mission, saying its founding principles — the desire for peace, the sense of justice, respect for the dignity of the person, humanitarian cooperation and assistance — express the just aspirations of the human spirit and constitute the ideals which should underpin international relations.

However, he conveyed concern that the international body’s decisions were made by only a small number of nations.

Multilateral consensus … continues to be in crisis because it is still subordinated to the decisions of a few, whereas the world’s problems call for interventions in the form of collective action by the international community, he said.
found here.

At synagogue, pope seeks ‘bridges of friendship’

NEW YORK (CNN) — The sight was jarring Friday: Pope Benedict XVI at the Park East Synagogue just before the start of the Jewish Sabbath.

It was the first time a pope had set foot inside a Jewish house of worship in the United States, a visit made at the invitation of Rabbi Arthur Schneier, who broke the silence in the synagogue by saying, Your Holiness, a heartfelt shalom … warm, warm welcome.

Benedict encouraged worshippers to continue building bridges of friendship with different ethnic and religious groups in their neighborhoods.

The invitation carried a significance rooted in the Holocaust, which affected both men profoundly. After his 14th birthday in 1941, Benedict — then called Joseph Ratzinger — was forced to join the Hitler Youth.

Schneier is a Holocaust survivor who was born in Vienna, Austria, and lived under the Nazis in Budapest, Hungary, during World War II. He came with his mother to the United States in 1947, determined to keep a promise he had made to his grandfather, also a rabbi, who did not escape the Nazis.

He was always worried who’s going to succeed him in his work, so I made a promise, which I’ve kept, to be ordained and devote my life to rabbinic service, Schneier said.

For more than 40 years, he has served as senior rabbi at the synagogue, where he has devoted his energies to fighting for religious freedom. In 2001, he was awarded the U.S. Presidential Citizens Medal.

Benedict has made other strides toward reaching out to Jewish leaders. As theological adviser to Pope John Paul II, he is credited with playing a key role in John Paul’s decision to apologize to Jews for the role Catholics played in the Holocaust.

But Benedict has also angered Jews by reviving a controversial Latin prayer calling for their conversion, a move that did not please Schneier. Would I wish that this prayer would not exist? he asked. Of course.

But the rabbi said he does not want to be paralyzed by the past and feels that it is his calling to do what he can to heal.

The pope’s visit here basically says to me, ‘You know, you’ve embarked on the right road,’ the rabbi said. ‘Go forward; don’t stop; continue.’

The 78-year-old Holocaust survivor wished the pontiff mazel tov on his 81st birthday, which occurred two days ago. The sun is shining, and the heavens are rejoicing on this day, Schneier said.

I find it moving to recall that Jesus as a young boy heard the words of scripture and prayed in a place such as this, Benedict said. I encourage all of you to continue building bridges of friendship. Watch the pope address Jewish worshippers

Congregation members presented the pope with a Passover Seder plate, placed at the center of the dinner table during the holiday feast marking the occasion when Jews were led out of slavery in Egypt. He was also given a box of matzo and a Haggadah, the prayer book used during Passover.

In turn, the pope presented Schneier with a Jewish manuscript.

As the pope shook hands with invited congregation members, they sang Oseh Shalom, a song and prayer for peace.

Friday’s event took place a day after Benedict met in Washington with religious leaders from different faiths, stood on a temple stage and watched as the ark was opened to reveal the Torah scrolls, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.

The event symbolized the Catholic church’s efforts to improve interfaith relations.

Benedict’s three-day visit to New York is the second leg of his six-day trip to the United States, his first since he was elected to the papacy.

After Park East Synagogue, he traveled to St. Joseph’s Parish for a prayer service.

On Saturday he is to celebrate Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue and visit the World Trade Center ground zero ahead of celebrating Mass at Yankee Stadium.

On Friday morning, the pope addressed the U.N. General Assembly and urged the members to intervene in nations unable to protect their populations from human rights violations.

Every state has the primary duty to protect its own population from grave and sustained violations of human rights, as well as from the consequences of humanitarian crises, whether natural or man-made, he said.

If states are unable to guarantee such protection, the international community must intervene, he said in French, citing the United Nations Charter and in other international instruments.

Later, switching to English, he said, The promotion of human rights remains the most effective strategy for eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups, and for increasing security.

He was referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United Nations adopted December 10, 1948.

As history proceeds, new situations arise, and the attempt is made to link them to new rights, he said.

Discernment — that is, the capacity to distinguish good from evil — becomes even more essential in the context of demands that concern the very lives and conduct of persons, communities and peoples.

Benedict was the third pope to address the General Assembly. Pope Paul VI visited in 1965, and Pope John Paul II visited in 1979 and 1995.

Ahead of the pope’s speech, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told him, In so many ways, our mission unites us with yours. Watch the secretary-general welcome the pope

The pope expressed admiration for the U.N.’s mission, saying its founding principles — the desire for peace, the sense of justice, respect for the dignity of the person, humanitarian cooperation and assistance — express the just aspirations of the human spirit and constitute the ideals which should underpin international relations.

However, he conveyed concern that the international body’s decisions were made by only a small number of nations.

Multilateral consensus … continues to be in crisis because it is still subordinated to the decisions of a few, whereas the world’s problems call for interventions in the form of collective action by the international community, he said.
found here.