FRIENDSWOOD, Texas (AP) – Parents of some junior high students are upset they weren’t notified about a school presentation on Islamic culture, an omission that violated school district policy.

The parents’ letter-writing campaign stems from a May 22 presentation at Friendswood Junior High, where two Muslim women gave a 30-minute presentation about Islamic life as part of a yearlong study of respect, tolerance and culture. The school is on Texas’ Gulf Coast between Houston and Galveston.

The guest speakers discussed Muslim culture, including topics such as beliefs, food, dress, and famous Muslims.

Nation’s youngest bishop ordained

SAN ANTONIO (AP) – In a sign of the changing face of American Catholicism, a 41-year-old of Mexican descent who is from Houston has been ordained the nation’s youngest Roman Catholic bishop.

More than 1,000 people inside St. Mark’s the Evangelist Catholic Church applauded the promotion of the Rev. Oscar Cantu as an auxiliary bishop of San Antonio, the equivalent of an assistant.

“This is our holy calling, my brother,” Archbishop Jose Gomez said during his homily. “Are we worthy of it? Hardly. How could anyone be? And yet still he calls us.”

Cantu grew up at Holy Name Church in Houston, where he returned as pastor to help run the school he once attended. He speaks four languages and taught at a Houston-area Catholic university.

Like the U.S. church as a whole, the 700,000-member San Antonio Archdiocese has been growing thanks largely to an influx of Mexican and other Hispanic immigrants. The shifting demographics make Hispanic candidates for bishop much sought-after.

Before his ordination, Cantu described himself as “a moderate conservative” – moderate on social issues, conservative on doctrinal issues.

“Above all, I call myself Catholic,” he said. “I believe what the Catholic Church teaches.”

Group sues Ariz. city for denying church use permit

YUMA, Ariz. (AP) – The city of Yuma is being sued by a church that was denied a permit to turn an old J.C. Penney Co. department store building downtown into a worship center.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court by the Alliance Defense Fund and the Center for Arizona Policy, acting on behalf of the Centro Familiar Cristiano Buenos Nuevas Christian Church.

The suit accuses the city of discrimination by enforcing a zoning code they say allows membership groups and theaters to locate in city’s historic district while excluding religious organizations.

“Churches should not be singled out for discrimination by a city’s zoning restrictions,” said Byron Babione, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund. “Prohibiting a church from occupying its own building simply because a city favors nonreligious assemblies over religious assemblies is not allowed under the Constitution or federal law.”

The church bought the former store on Main Street to use for its services. But a city use permit was needed because it is within Yuma’s Old Town/Historic Zoning District.

The city Planning and Zoning Commission voted to deny the permit in July 2007, siding with a staff report that said it conflicted with uses planned for the area.

City Attorney Steve Moore said the city has been expecting the lawsuit and has been providing information to attorneys for the church. The U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating the city to see if the denial violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.

Mormons dedicate fifth temple in Brazil

CURITIBA, Brazil (AP) – Mormon church president Thomas Monson dedicated the church’s fifth temple in Brazil, a nation where Mormons have both experienced growth and struggled with retention.

Monson and two other church elders used mortar to lay a symbolic cornerstone of the building, the 125th temple dedicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worldwide. It was the first visit outside North American for Monson since he became president of the Mormon church in February.

Temple-building was a major focus of Monson’s predecessor, Gordon Hinckley. Temples are considered sacred to Mormons and can be entered only by members in good standing.

The church’s growth worldwide is expected to be a major concern of Monson’s presidency. The Mormon church now boasts more members abroad than in the U.S., where the church has its origins. About 55 percent of the world’s 13 million Mormons live outside the U.S., according to church figures.

Brazil factors large in that trend. As of 2006, the last year for which statistics are available, the church reported more than 970,000 church members in Brazil. A sixth Brazil temple is planned, as well.

At the same time, keeping members in Brazil has proved challenging. A Brigham Young University sociologist used census data from Mexico, Brazil and Chile to show the number of citizens who claim Mormonism as their religion was only 20 to 25 percent of the church-reported membership figures, suggesting low retention.

ACLU says Bibles shouldn’t be handed out at Ohio school

FINDLAY, Ohio (AP) – The American Civil Liberties Union has told a school district it will take legal action if administrators don’t stop a group from handing out Bibles to students during class time.

Fifth grade students at the city’s five elementary schools in March were allowed to leave class and escorted to sidewalks along the schools where they were given a Gideon Bible.

“The school crossed the line,” said Carrie Davis, an ACLU attorney.

The district’s school board is now reviewing its policies on the distribution of materials from community groups, said Findlay Superintendent Dean Wittwer. The Bible handout has been going on for years, he said.

Gideons International is a group of Christian men who give out Bibles to students, prisoners, soldiers and others. It says it has distributed 1.3 billion Scriptures worldwide since 1908.

Christine Link, executive director of the ACLU of Ohio, said that students and parents who want information about a particular religion should do it outside of school time.

“The school cannot be involved in sacrificing classroom time to help them hand out the Bibles,” she said.

Chris Brooks, principal of Bigelow Hill Elementary School in Findlay, said the Gideons have distributed a palm-sized booklet that contains the New Testament, Proverbs, and Psalms.

“You’ve got to look at the context of the community,” Brooks said. “This is a Christian community. I’m not saying everybody is, but that’s where Findlay is.”

Students at the school are told it is up to them whether they want a Bible.