A Superior Court judge in Canada has ruled that Kofi Martin Danso, a self-styled prophet and leader of the multi-campus Miracle for All Nations church, cannot conceal his identity in a paternity lawsuit simply because he may suffer damage to his reputation and finances.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Fred Myers dismissed a request by Danso Tuesday to extend a publication ban and sealing order on a court file alleging he fathered a child with former congregant Chris-Ann Bartley, The Star said.

In addition to claims that he wanted the case private because “the matter concerns the paternity of a child which is disputed,” Danso argued to the court that making the case public threatened his “significant commercial/financial interests.” A ban on publication is typically used to protect the identities of children in family court matters.

In his request to keep the details of the lawsuit secret, Danso said that Theodora Oprea, Bartley’s attorney, told The Star that a DNA test had confirmed he is the father of Bartley’s now 6-month-old son.

Danso claims he has never been intimate with Bartley but Oprea said he is not being truthful.

The…

A private Catholic high school was within its legal right to terminate an employee who married another woman, a legal expert says.

Roncalli High School in Indianapolis placed guidance counselor Shelly Fitzgerald on paid administrative leave Sunday after officials learned of her relationship, The Indianapolis Star reported. She had worked at the school for 15 years and has been asked either to resign or dissolve her marriage, she told local media. 

Jim Bopp, an attorney and legal expert, said the school legally can require employees to follow a code of conduct because it is a religious organization. The school is exempt from the Indianapolis anti-discrimination ordinance, he said. 

“I don’t think there’s any doubt whatsoever that Roncalli enjoys 100 percent First Amendment protection for making sure in conducting their ministry that the people who are conducting that ministry, i.e. any of the employees, are conducting themselves so that they’re not hypocrites,” he told The Star.

Fitzgerald’s termination has divided the school community and received extensive local media coverage. 

“Shelly Fitzgerald was instrumental in changing so many lives,” Shawn Aldrich, a parent of a high school junior, told the newspaper.

Roncalli board of directors member Daniel Parker resigned to protest the termination. 

But the school says it was following…

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(RNS) — To the World Relief volunteers in a mobile welcome center parked outside the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Wash., it was clear that the woman released from the center moments before had been separated from her children while seeking asylum at the United States border with Mexico.

The woman, called “Karla” to protect her identity, was smiling as she got into a car with Robin Jacobson, a board member with Advocates for Immigrants in Detention Northwest, which runs the welcome center.

But as soon as the car door closed, Karla burst into tears.

In the short drive to Jacobson’s home, it all spilled out, with help from the Google Translate app: how Karla and her family had fled gang violence in El Salvador, how she’d been separated from her two daughters, how the 6-year-old hadn’t wanted to let go, how Karla hadn’t known where her 13-year-old was for 25 days, how the time spent in detention was marked by “unexpected suffering.”

Now Karla had a plane ticket to reunite with her family the next day in California, where she would stay while her case is pending.

Jacobson volunteers with a team from her church, hosting people coming out of detention through World Relief. After Karla had a night’s sleep, Jacobson drove her to the airport,…

A Michigan church pastor has apologized to a mother who was told to cover up for breastfeeding her child in order to prevent “lustfulness” in men.

Ben Walls Sr., lead pastor of the Naz Church in Brighton, told Livingston Daily last week that he has now apologized to 29-year-old Amy Marhant, the mother who was told to cover up by a church leader in mid-June.

“Of all the places, it is most hurtful when it comes from your own church, that you are going to cause guys to lust after you,” Marchant said about her experience.

“I was told it was immodest, that it was not shaming, that (breastfeeding) can cause men to lust and stumble,” she added. “They said as long as they provided places for women to nurse, they didn’t have to allow them to nurse anywhere.”

The pastor argued that the church has three different spaces set aside for “those who want a private space, including a lounge outside the restroom and two other rooms in a children’s area.

“That is what we want to say — we have nothing against breastfeeding and we are in favor,” the pastor stated.

Christians in Chicago are taking part in 40 days of outreach and ministry this summer to help the city recover from a spike in deadly gun violence in Chicago.

“Jesus Summer” started on July 14 after Chicago saw an increase in gun violence. During one weekend in the summer, at least 72 people were shot and 13 were killed in the city.

“Jesus Summer” started with a gathering of pastors, churches and city leaders praying on street corners. Groups then hosted other ministry events, such as a tent revival, meals for the homeless and children’s activities.

“We’re empowering the churches with millions of dollars worth of merchandise to make sure we can try to hit every home in Chicago with the gospel,” said Pastor Dimas Salaberrios, of Concerts of Prayer Greater New York. He helped launch “Jesus Summer.”

“That’s the mission and there are multiple events happening, at last count about 160 events taking place over the course of Jesus Summer, in the streets, in tough neighborhoods to share the love of Christ,” he said.

Salaberrios says he is fasting until Chicago has no shootings for one week.

“When you reach the shooters and the shooting stops, that brings peace right now,” he said. “I mean…no place in the United States has more murders than Chicago. If you add up the Iraqi war and Afghanistan, in the same time-period, Chicago’s homicides are far greater than…