STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) – A Swedish Pentecostal pastor charged with hate speech for denouncing homosexuality as a “cancerous tumor” defended his views in the country’s highest court, saying gay sex was as aberrant as pedophilia.

Ake Green, 64, delivered a fiery anti-gay sermon two years ago that triggered a legal battle testing the limits of Sweden’s freedom of speech.

Green told the Supreme Court last week that his sermon was meant to warn gays that their lifestyle will result in an “eternal divorce” from God. “If two men sleep with each other, or if two women do so, it is abnormal, just like pedophilia,” Green said in his testimony.

Green became the first clergyman convicted under Sweden’s hate crimes legislation, which was modified in 2003 to include attacks against homosexuals. An appeals court overturned the ruling earlier this year, but Sweden’s chief prosecutor appealed the acquittal at the Supreme Court.

Book of Mormon rare copies stolen

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Two old and rare copies of the Book of Mormon have been reported stolen at the Institute of Religion at the University of Utah.

In the past two weeks, an 1840 Nauvoo edition and an 1841 Liverpool edition were stolen from the institute, operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The books have an estimated value of $20,000 each.

Institute director Allan Gunnerson said the safe that held the books was discovered missing Tuesday. Police estimate it could have been stolen as far back as Oct. 24.

Congregation defies prohibition

DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (AP) – A Presbyterian church has ordained a gay man who refuses to commit to remaining celibate despite the denomination’s ban on sexually active homosexual ministers.

A complaint over the action is likely to be filed with a regional panel in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which is among several Protestant denominations embroiled in a bitter debate over what role gays should have in their churches.

Raymond Bagnuolo, of White Plains, was ordained last Sunday at South Presbyterian Church and is serving as pastor of the Palisades Presbyterian Church. During the ceremony, when asked if he would abide by the church’s constitution, Bagnuolo said yes, except for a measure that says ministers must practice fidelity if married and chastity if single.

The prohibition has split the denomination, with some churches moving ahead with ordaining gays and other more traditional churches demanding those congregations be disciplined.

The policy will be a focus of a national Presbyterian assembly next June.

Bagnuolo, 54, said: “This is a happy and wonderful indication of what can happen when you don’t give up and when you wait and see what God has in store for you.”

The Rev. Jerry Van Marter, a spokesman for the national church, said the ordination, “raises the heat.”

“This will just heighten the intensity of the debate,” he said.

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