coming up, five years after hurricane katrina, one church's journey from destruction to new life. >> the church is here and the church now has a hope and a future. and when interfaith marri e marriages end in separation or divorce, what happens to the children's religious upbringings? >> the parents need to make the decisions about the religious upbringing, otherwise is child is caught in the middle. lily endowment, dedicated to its founders interest in religion, community development and education. additional funding by mutual of

america, designed and cuss tommized individual and group retirement products, that's why we're your retirement company.com. also by the henry luce foundation and the corporation for public broadcasting. welcome, i'm fred de sam lazaro, sitting in for bob abernethy. thanks for joining us. a federal judge this week dealt a setback to president obama's policy on embryonic stem cell research. the judge said that the current policy violates a law prohibiting federal money for research in which human embryos are destroyed. several conservative evangelicals applauded the decision, and a representative for the u.s. catholic bishops called it a victory for common sense and sound medical ethics. some liberal religious groups argue the latest ruling will hinder what scientists call one of the most promising areas of medical research. the proposed islamic center twolocks from ground zero continueto sr emotionsnd generate headlines. declaring their support for religious freedom, a group

called september 11th families for peaceful tomorrows were among those who came out in favor of the project. that followed dueling rallies last weekend. opponents say the location is insensitive to the memory and families of those who died. they also allege that the imam behind the center has made anti american statements. for his part imam feisal abdul rauf, who has long served as a goodwill ambassador for the u.s government, was on one such visit to the middle east. speaking in bahrai rau criticized the media for perpetuating violent stereotypes about muslims. >> muslims do not appear in the western media to act in a way that let them believe islam is a religion of peace. meanwhile, a new pew center poll shows americans have deeply conflicted and increasingly negative views of islam. by a 38% to 30% margin, the survey found americans had unfavorable views about the

mlim religion -- a dire reversal from a similar poll five years ago. the survey also found 51% of respondents opposed the location of the islamic cultural center, compared to 34% who said it should be permitted. amid the so-called "mosque" furor, supporters and members of the st. nicholas greek orthodox congregation sought to bring attention to the impasse over rebuilding the tiny church, which was destroyed in the 9/11 terrorist attack. former new york governor george pataki accused the port authority of new york and new jersey of failing to "reach out and engage" with the church even as the city clears the way for the islamic center. port authority officials say they fully support the rebuilding, but say negotiations have broken down over the precise siting, size and financing for a new church building. former president jimmy carter successfully negotiated the release an american

christian activist impressed in north korea since january. the man was sentenced to eight years of hard labor for entering north korea illegally. gomes was turned over to jimmy carter on friday and flown to the united states. a federal appeals court has ruled that a christian aid organization has the right to hire or fire employees based on their religion. three former employees of the group world vision sued the organization after being terminated for not sharing the group's christian beliefs. the appeals court said that as a faith-based organization, world vision is allowed, under civil rights law, to discriminate based on religion. >> reporter: about 20 minutes united nations workers said that aid workers will remain in pakistan. meanwhile concerns are growing over water born diseases and although international aid has increased more than 8 million people remain in need of emergency assistance, many are

located in areas so isolated by floodwaters that they are accessible only by air. the u.n. estimates that one-fifth of the country is still under water in what the secretary general hasall a slow ming tsunami. this week marks the fifth anniversary of hurricane katrina, one of the hardest hit areas was st. bernard parish, a county next to new orleans ehloer ninehlo lower ninth ward. >> reporter: about 20 minutes outside new orleans, worshippers gather at first baptist church in chalmette, the largest city in st. bernard parish. it's a pretty typical southern baptist sunday morning service. >> lord, what's going on? lord, why? >> reporter: but that belies the incredible journey this congregation has made since hurricane katrina.

more than half of the churches in st. bernard parish still haven't come back, and most of them probably never will. first baptist is not only back, but reinventing itself to help a community still struggling to recover. >> the church is up. she's not yet standing on her own two feet, if i can say it that way, but the church is here, and the church now has a hope and a future. >> reporter: hours before katrina hit, pastor john dee jeffries and his wife, genny, evacuated to their daughter's home near baton rouge. they expected to be gone a couple of days. >> the hurricane had passed through, all seemed to be well -- the initial reports -- and then suddenly everything turned topsy-turvy. >> reporter: the levees were breached, and within a half-hour st. bernard parish was inundated with water. the damage was incomprehensible, d first baist chchidn' escape the destruction. >> the church -- the church was a heartbreak.

it was as if everything that had substance, value, meaning, purpose, the things that form the backdrop of your life suddenly ripped apart, shredded before your very eyes. >> reporter: the jeffries' home was also among the thousands destroyed. >> that's when i cried. i only cried one time, and that was when i saw my home. >> reporter: they ended up living in a fema trailer near their daughter, 85 miles ay fr chalmette ffries staed tnkinabou rebuilding. >> wasn't a real long time before he decided he was going to come back. >> reporter: did you think he was crazy? >> mm-hmm. i mean, the church was devastated. we were devastated. every house, everything in chalmette was destroyed. everything. >> i certainly have no negative feelings about ministers who felt that they could not come back. but there was something inside of me that could not accept that as my future. >> reporter: and slowly a plan staed coming to fus.

then jeffries connected with a faith-seministry cled builders for christ. >> and the sound of them, their leaders standing and saying, "we have decided to build your church." i can still feel that in here. >> reporter: it was a huge project that still isn't completely finished. more than 3,000 volunteers from 34 states and the district of columbia helped out. flags at the back of their new sanctuary serve as a constant reminder. >> every denomination imaginable, including jewish people, have come and worked on our project -- assembly of god, baptists, presbyterian, methodists, catholics. they've all been here. >> reporter: the outpouring was a huge inspiration to longtime members like michael "slim" gillette, who's the chairman of the deacons. >> the more the church was built, the more healing took place for me.

>> reporter: they held their first service in the new church in september 2009, four years after katrina hit. before the storm, about 400 people attended on a regular basis. now they're averaging about 150, but the numbers are steadily rising, with more than 90 new baptisms in the past year. 97% of the people who came to first baptist prior to katrina haven't returned. there's a new cultural diversity, with growing numbers of african-americans and hispanics attending, and many of the new people didn't previously attend church at all. >> we don't have a church congregion now like we used to have. they don't know the hymns. they don't know the difference between mass and worship service. we're learning together what their needs are, and they're learning what we have to give. >> reporter: one of the new members is leola thomas, who, like most people here, lost everything in katrina.

>> when i came in and saw and heard, you know, how he teaches about jesus and his love, and the love they owedo me, i id, "this thelacehat wantoe in." >> there's something happening inside of the hearts and minds of people that has brought us all together, and it's strange to see how god is making us the one body of christ. there are challenges in that, but it's happening. >> reporter: and it's happening in a community that still hasn't fully recovered from katrina. this neighborhood used to be a pretty typical middle-class subdivision with lots of houses close together. now there are a lot of empty lots where houses have been torn down. some homeowners have returned, but a lot of houses are still standing unrepaired and empty. the financial stresses of katrina, along with the recession and now the gulf oil spill, have generated a severe economic crisis across st. bernard parish. about 40% of the first baptist congregation is unemployed.

first baptist partnered with the nonprofit group second harvest to create a food pantry which distributes almost 20,000 pounds of food every month. >> i'm absolutely astounded at how powerful this ministry is with so few people manning it. >> reporter: first baptist has set up a day care center and after-school program to help working parents, and there's also a christian addiction recovery ministry, which is close to the heart of tina rivera. after katrina, she, like so many, sought to numb the pain. >> a lot of people, we just started drinking, doing drugs. the pain was just too overwhelming, and for me, i got in a car accident, a head-on collision, and two people got killed. >> reporter: she ended up in jail and rehab and turned her life around. now she's helping first baptist

organize ministries for other troubled women. >> i talked to my church family and said, "look, these are mothers and aunts and grandmas that are in our community, come from good families, and we just have to stay on top of them. we've got to get them back to where they were before the storm." >> reporter: another goal of first baptist is to help repair the sense of community that was broken by the storm. a women's group called the "domino divas"eetsveryeek or lch, ble study and, yes, some aggressive domino plang. these women were all displaced from their homes, and not all of them have been able to rebuild. they talked to me about the storm with a touch of humor. >> katrina wasn't totally bad, because she moved us and we didn't have to pack. we didn't have to pack a thing. we just threw it out of the window. >> i told my kids they ought to be thankful for the storm, and they said, "mom, are you crazy?" i said, "well, now when i die

you don't have all that junk to go through." >> reporter: but they're all too aware of the pain that still lingers. >> your house is gone. you didn't get money for your life -- all your stuff is gone. all your people are gone. it's hard. >> reporter: genny jeffries, who is a family therapist, says the emotional and spiritual trauma from the storm is deep-seated. >> katrina will always be in the back of our hearts, but we're getting a little bit past it. but still there's a lot of people, and a lot of circumstances that are there that really cannot -- we can't put it away, just can't put it away yet. >> reporter: first baptist is doing what it can, but there is a shortage of established members who can lead the ministries, and because of the economic situation, there's also a shortage of tithes and offerings. >> in the immediate aftermath of hurricane katrina, the great challenge was to survive. we have survived. the church is here and will continue to be here. five years later, the great challenge is to sustain ourselves.

>> reporter: the jeffries have had personal stresses as well. their home also had to be rebuilt through donations and volunteers, and shortly after katrina, genny suffered a brain aneurysm and then a postsurgical stroke. >> god and i had some rather serious conversations about that. it seemed that in the midst of losing everything else i pleaded with the lord. i pleaded for him to spare my wife. >> reporter: genny did recover, but jeffries admits he wasn't always as strong as he wanted to be in the midst of the crisis. >> i also know what it's like to lay in a dark fema trailer, hugging your pillow, your wife next to you, terribly ill, recovering from traumatic surgery, not knowing if she's going to fully recover, and just ask those questions of god that have no answer -- why, why, why? >> reporter: he may not have

received answers, but he says he did receive assurances about his belief that god is there no matter what." >> the real focus has been that the things that i've preached and that i've taught all of those years are true. you can count on it. >> reporter: he says he'll keep counting on it as first baptist faces all the challenges still ahead. i'm kim lawton in chalmette, louisiana. if you're looking for signs of growing tolerance of religious diversity in america, it may be in the county registrar's office. about one in four marriages are across religious lines -- more than onin tee iyou unt people who marry between different protestant denominations. but surveys show interfaith couples are three times more likely to divorce -- a scenario

that becomes that much more complicated when children are involved. we have a report from betty rollin. >> reporter: when joseph reyes, catholic, and rebecca shapiro, jewish, got married in 2004, they did not think their different religious beliefs would be a problem. they were leaning toward judaism. the wedding ceremony was jewish and later joseph converted. but by this past april, they were divorced, with religion playing a major role. their daughter, ela, now 4, was at the heart of the dispute. >> well, the decision was made that we would expose her to each of our respective faiths, and our daughter ela would make her decisions based on what she saw. >> reporter: but once you had converted, then wouldn't you be educating your child as a jew? >> the whole conversion ceremony was fairly suspect because i was just handed a bunch of books and said, "read these, or not." >> reporter: so you converted, but you didn't really mean it. >> again, it was a cosmetic fix.

my then-wife set this whole thing up and all i really did was show up. >> reporter: it was clear that joseph's conversion had little weight when he had his daughter baptized -- secretly. the priest was unaware of the situation. steven lake is rebecca's attorney. >> mrs. reyes, rebecca, is jewish, always has been. mr. reyes converted to judaism. they got married in a jewish ceremony. their little girl was being raised jewish, and suddenly in the middle of the divorce case on what supposedly was just a normal visitation, he took and had his daughter baptized without any discussion with his wife. she found out by e-mail. >> being christian and having grown up the way i had and experiencing the things i had experienced, certainly i wanted to share many of those things with my daughter. >> reporter: joseph blames the entire conflict, even his

insincere conversionon h in-laws. >> her parents made it clear early on that they had an issue with my being a non-jew, and that was something that i think plagued and burdened the duration of the marriage. >> it was only in the context of the divorce case where he blamed this all on her parents. that he did it because of the pressure of the parents. the parents, of course, denied it. rebecca denied and said nobody pressured him into anything. >> reporter: although when ela visits joseph the court has given him the right to take her to church, the court has given rebecca permission to raise her dahters a jew. >> as custodial parent, the law is that she has the right to raise her little girl in the jewish faith. having said that, again, it's a question of is there going to be a little exposure to catholicism, or is it going to be each a tug of war pulling on a little girl trying to get her to follow one religion or the

other? >> reporter: a greater tolerance of interfaith marriages has led to more of them. they now comprise 25% of american households. but according to the american religious identification survey, interfaith marriers are three times more likely to become divorced or separated than people who marry in the same religion. professor katheryn dutenhaver runs depaul university's interfaith mediation program in chicago, which deals solely with religious conflict with regard to children after divorce. clergy are always included. >> when the couple come in to a mediation and they are with the clrgy of their own faithnd they see the clergy talking with each other and they see the clergy talking with the other parent, it becomes a different conversation than in the

courtroom where you are trying to prove one is better than the other. i think the fear that people have is that if my child is raised in the other parent's religion, then the child will grow closer to the other parent and closer to the other grandparents. >> very often they don't know enough about their own religion, let alone the other person's religion, to understand, what are the implications if my daughter is going to be jewish or our daughter is going to be catholic? what does that mean? >> reporter: all the mediators agree that the best solution for children is to be raised in one religion. >> if there is a divorce, and even if there isn't a divorce, the child is put in the middle between the two parents. and the question becomes one of, if i go to this faith, then am i estranging myself from the other parent or vice a versa? pares are the es w need make the decisions, set the boundaries and the rules for the family. otherwise, the child is caught in the middle, and beyond that it's a lack of clarity for the child. to have a little bit of each is end up having nothing.

>> reporter: bridget jeffries, an evangelical, and paul meyers, a mormon, have a different view. they are raising their daughter harley in both faiths. their marriage is intact now, but they were separated for awhile and they have struggled with the issue of how to religiously raise harley. ♪ i'm living my life for you their religious practices have much in common, but theologically there are major differences. >> the idea of my daughter saying that she has faith in joseph smith as well as jesus and the trinity, the godhead to mormons, that was very difficult for me to process, to think about her going through. i mean, i love my husband. i know that he believes in all that, but i really wanted my daughter to just have my own faith, without joseph smith and the baptismal confession. so that was a big deal to me. >> i still want her to be mormon since i believe that mormon is

more right than evangelical, but then again, anyone who believes one thing has to assume that it's more right than the others. >> reporter: they are certainly tolerant of each other's religion, but like so many interfaith marriers didn't understand their deep feelings about their own religion until they had children. >> i don't think that i realized how badly i was going to want my daughter to grow up in my faith when i had her. >> reporter: what bothers paul the most is that harley might opt out of religion altogether. >> she might become apathetic towards just religion in general. mommy and daddy can't agree, so the idea of believing in something is much more acceptable to me then the idea of believing in nothing. >> reporter: meanwhile, paul brings harley to his church one sunday and bridget brings her to her church the next sunday. in addition, they go to both churches as a family and observe both traditions at home.

>> we celebrate the protestant liturgical calendar, but when we do readings from it, we often do readings from both the bible and the book of mormon. >> reporter: does she show any signs of confusion or do you worry that she will? >> she shows no signs of confusion whatsoever. >> not so far. this has been very difficult, and it's been very hard. we've made a lot of compromises and sacrifices to make it work. so both of our religions say to get married within the faith, and we think that's a very strong counsel that people should follow. we just didn't. >> reporter: and the jeffries-meyers family is not alone. according to the national study of youth and religion, fewer than one-fourth of 18-to-23-year-olds think it's important to marry someone in the same faith. and even the clergy has accepted that in america today interfaith marriages are an increasing reality. >> the days are gone when you go to school with only a jewish community, only a catholic community. to say you can't talk to this one, you can't see this one, you

can't get involved in this one -- that isn't real. it just isn't a reality at all in their life. >> reporter: what bridget and paul have in their favor is that they are deeply aware of the problems they are facing and will continue to face, and of the joys. for "religion & ethics newsweekly," i'm betty rollin in lake geneva, wisconsin. finally, celebrations this week for what would have been the 100th birthday of mother teresa. crowds gathered in india at a mass to honor the late nun who cared for the country's destitute. mother teresa died in 1997. the roman catholic church is in the process of declaring her a saint. that's our program for now. there's much more on our website. as major combat operations in iraq come to an end and the u.s. completes it's troop drawdown next week, we have a special look back at our coverage of the iraq war over the last eight

years, you can revisit interviews about ethics, just war and many of the moral issues that have been raised by the war in iraq. you can comment on all of our stories and share them, audio and video podcasts are also available and you can follow us on our facebook page. join us at pbs.org. as we leave you, music from the children of all souls episcopal church in new orleans along with mayor mitch landrieu. ♪ i'm going to let it shine ♪ let it shine ♪ let it shine ♪ let it shine

major funding for "religion & ethics newsweekly" is provided by the lily endowment, a religious based private foundation with interest in religion, community. individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company.com. also by the henry luce foundation and the corporation for public broadcasting.