PITTSBURGH — United Methodist bishops opened their denomination’s national meeting Tuesday by protesting a federal immigration agency decision to deny visas for 42 church leaders from Africa and the Philippines.
Some of the overseas bishops had to apply a second time to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service before they were allowed into the country, and some were replaced by alternate delegates who received visas. But 25 other delegates were refused, the American bishops said.
In a few cases, the government expressed concern that the delegates would stay in the United States, but no reason was given for many of the denials, the denomination’s spokesman said.
The bishops blamed tightened immigration laws. They appealed to President Bush, who is a Methodist, to help resolve the visa problems before the meeting ends May 7.
The General Conference is held once every four years and is the top legislative body of the United Methodist Church. Nearly 1,000 delegates have gathered in Pittsburgh for the assembly, where a bitter debate over homosexuality is expected to dominate the agenda.
Noah’s ark search planned: An expedition is being planned for this summer to the upper reaches of Turkey’s Mount Ararat where organizers hope to prove an object nestled amid the snow and ice is Noah’s Ark.
A joint U.S.-Turkish team of 10 explorers plans to make the arduous trek up Turkey’s tallest mountain, at 17,820 feet, from July 15 to Aug. 15, subject to the approval of the Turkish government, said Daniel P. McGivern, president of Shamrock-The Trinity Corp. of Honolulu, Hawaii.
The goal: to enter what they believe to be a mammoth structure some 45 feet high, 75 feet wide and up to 450 feet long that was exposed in part by last summer’s heat wave in Europe.
"We are not excavating it. We are not taking any artifacts. We’re going to photograph it and, God willing, you’re all going to see it," McGivern said.
Explorers have long searched for an ark on the high slopes of Mount Ararat, where the biblical account of the Great Flood places it.
From Herald news services
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