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Local/National Faith Briefs

Pancake fundraiser is Sunday

Scout Troop 238 invites the public to its pancake breakfast fundraiser from 8 a.m.-noon Sunday at Holy Redeemer Church, Carlin Hall. Adults and youth age 13 and older are $7. Children 5-12 — $4. Proceeds go to help support the Scouts’ many activities and camps.

Sweetheart Dessert Social is Feb. 10 at Holy Redeemer

Holy Redeemer youth invite the public to an evening of music and desserts from 7-8:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10, at Holy Redeemer Church Basement (Carlin Hall). Desserts include a selection of cheesecake, chocolate cake or white cake. Piano music by Dana Funk and vocalist Anna DeGraff will sing love songs from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s. All are welcome. Tickets can be purchased at the Holy Redeemer Parish center or by calling 507-532-3602. Cost of a ticket is $20.

Police: Kentucky Hindu temple vandalized in hate crime

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Police in Kentucky say a Hindu temple in Louisville has been vandalized in a hate crime, its windows broken and walls covered in hateful messages.

Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad told The Courier Journal that “repugnant messages of hate” were spray-painted on its walls during a break-in this week.

He said xenophobic and sexist messages were scrawled along with images of crosses and phrases such as “Jesus Is The Only God.” Someone spray-painted the eyes of a Hindu religious figure, with black paint dripping down the image’s face.

Swaminarayan Temple officials said there is no video recording of the crime. The chief says an investigation is ongoing and officers will be at the temple on Sunday to ensure the community’s safety.

Catholic high school in the works in Upper Peninsula

ESCANABA, Mich. (AP) — Fifty years later, a Catholic high school that closed in 1971 could reopen in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Officials said Holy Name Catholic High School in Escanaba is expected to welcome freshmen and sophomores in 2021. The Daily Press reported there are no Catholic high schools in the Upper Peninsula.

Supporters are launching a $10.7 million two-step fundraising campaign. The goal of the first phase is to raise $6.5 million to get the school off the ground. The second phase would pay for an expansion of the current Holy Name school, which offers preschool through eighth grade.

A seventh-grader, Natalie Williams, is excited, saying she doesn’t want her Catholic education to end before high school.

The Catholic Diocese of Marquette is pledging at least $100,000.

Tucson monastery accepts asylum seekers sooner than planned

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — The Benedictine Monastery in Tucson is welcoming asylum seekers from Central America ahead of schedule because of larger numbers of families arriving at the border and being released by immigration officials.

Catholic Community Services, which is running the shelter inside the monastery, received the keys on Friday, according to a report by the Arizona Daily Star. But Director of Operations Teresa Cavendish said Immigration and Customs Enforcement called organization Saturday to ask how many people it could take.

Catholic Community Services wasn’t planning to open for another two weeks.

“They had 130 who needed to be released,” said Cavendish. The Inn Project, run by the United Methodist Church, could take between 40 and 50, so she told the officials the Casa Alitas network of shelters could take the rest.

Within six hours, Cavendish said they had the monastery ready and started to receive families vetted by ICE. And it hasn’t stopped.

The owner of the Benedictine Monastery offered to let asylum seekers and migrants stay at the facility while their final destinations are arranged. Those are usually places where they have a close friend or relative who can sponsor them while their immigration cases are processed.

Developer Ross Rulney plans to build apartments around the monastery and has a few more months of rezoning hearings before construction can begin. He offered its use for housing refugees through the end of May because it was empty.

Catholic Community Services is the tenant and Rulney is not involved with the operations, nor is he charging rent or receiving any government reimbursement.

Catholic Community Services on Saturday quickly helped put together the rooms with cots and blankets, and sorted donated food and clothing in time to receive the first 57 families, mostly from Guatemala, Cavendish said.

Between Sunday and Monday, they received another 50.

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