Students from a strict Mormon college that prohibits “homosexual behavior” have launched a web video aimed at reassuring other gay and lesbian youth struggling with their faith and sexual orientation. The video recently posted to YouTube by 22 Brigham Young University students is the first of its kind with ties to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which forbids gay sex and marriage. By posting the video, the students could face excommunication from the church and expulsion at... Read more

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Residents in Mali attempting to flee the northern city of Gao, occupied for the past week by rival rebel factions, said they saw Islamist fighters cut the throat of a gunman, who is assumed to belong to the secular rebel group. The incident appears to show that the Islamists are asserting their control in Gao, the largest city in the north, a region as large as France that fell to the Tuareg rebels a week ago... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — A day before Easter, the head of New York’s Roman Catholic archdiocese faced a challenge to his stance on gay rights: the resignation of a church charity board member who says he’s “had enough” of the cardinal’s attitude. Joseph Amodeo told The Associated Press on Saturday that he quit the junior board of the city’s Catholic Charities after Cardinal Timothy Dolan failed to respond to a “call for help” for homeless youths who are not heterosexual.... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s most powerful political group, the Muslim Brotherhood, announced Saturday it is nominating the head of its party as a back-up candidate for president in the face of attempts to disqualify their primary nominee. The decision to put forth a second candidate was spurred by fears that the ruling military council may use Egypt’s election committee to disqualify Islamist presidential hopefuls in order to make room for former regime officials to win. The upcoming election, slated for... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — An ultraconservative Islamist party in Egypt has put forward a leading Muslim cleric recently banned from entering France as its presidential candidate. The Gamaa Islamiya, or Islamic Group, said Saturday that it has chosen Safwat Hegazy, a prominent imam who took part in last year’s protests that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. France barred Hegazy last month from entering the country along with a number of other high-profile Muslim clerics on the grounds that they “call for hatred... Read more

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI, holding a tall, lit, white candle, has entered a hushed and darkened St. Peter’s Basilica to begin the Vatican’s Easter vigil service. Except for the twinkle of camera flashes, the basilica was almost pitch-black as the thousands of faithful in pews awaited Benedict’s arrival through the rear entrance Saturday night. After aides lit the candle, Benedict climbed aboard a raised platform that was wheeled up the long main aisle to the central altar.... Read more

Gay students from a strict Mormon college that prohibits sexual activity are coming out in a series of web videos aimed at reassuring other young gay and lesbian students. The video recently posted to YouTube by several Brigham Young University students features young people discussing the conflict they felt about being gay and Mormon. It’s part of columnist Dan Savage’s “It Gets Better” project, which seeks to give voices and hope to bullied gay and lesbian teenagers In the video,... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — The head of New York City’s Roman Catholic archdiocese faces a challenge to his stance on gay rights: the resignation of a church official who says he’s “had enough” of the cardinal’s attitude. Joseph Amodeo told The Associated Press on Saturday that he quit the junior board of Catholic Charities after the cardinal, Timothy Dolan, failed to respond to a “call for help” for homeless young people who are not heterosexual. The conflict began when the... Read more

JERUSALEM (AP) — Thousands of Christians have gathered in Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher for Easter Saturday. It is a day of reflection and waiting for many Christians, who believe Jesus was crucified on Friday. They believe he rose from the dead on Sunday. Thousands marched through Jerusalem’s cobbled old city in a procession led by guards in black costumes, followed by Franciscan monks in plain brown robes, clerics, and then believers. They congregated in the Holy Sepulcher for... Read more

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The last thing Filipino performer Carlos Celdran expected at the largest art fair in the Middle East was to be picked up by security officials, questioned, and ordered to remove political and religious references from his show. “It never occurred to me this would be sensitive,” Celdran said of his act about former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos, which was performed in Dubai to a backdrop of paintings and sculptures. Celdran’s story takes place in the... Read more