WASHINGTON (AP) – Representatives of five non-Christian faiths will meet with Pope Benedict XVI during his first U.S. visit as pontiff next month.

The 45-minute event on April 17 at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington will include a papal address, greetings from the faith leaders and a presentation of gifts symbolic of each tradition by young members of the respective communities.

There will be no formal dialogue among participants because of time constraints on the pope’s schedule, said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Religious group sues USC over fees

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – A federal lawsuit alleges that the University of South Carolina discriminates against student religious groups because the school does not give them activity fees available to other student organizations.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled more than a decade ago that universities cannot refuse to give activity fees to religious groups, according to the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom and the Christian Legal Society, who filed the suit.

Russ McKinney, a university spokesman, said he hasn’t seen the lawsuit and can’t comment.

The advocacy groups said they sent a copy of the suit to the university with a letter saying they will drop the legal action if the school changes its policy within two weeks.

The groups are representing the university’s Christian Legal Society chapter, which says it was denied fees in February.

“Christian student groups shouldn’t be discriminated against for their beliefs,” said Casey Mattox, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit.

St. Katharine Drexel shrine given national status

BENSALEM, Pa. (AP) – The Shrine of St. Katharine Drexel in Bucks County has been designated a national shrine by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The Bensalem shrine where St. Katharine is entombed receives about 20,000 visitors annually.

St. Katharine built the shrine in 1893 after founding the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to serve poor and socially oppressed members of the black and American Indian communities.

Mother Drexel, as she was known, was born into a wealthy Philadelphia family in 1858. She was canonized in 2000, 45 years after her death.

Kevin Mulligan, a spokesman for the Philadelphia archdiocese, says the shrine derives no financial gain from its elevated status other than an expected increase in visitors.

There are now seven national shrines in Pennsylvania and 27 in the country.