LAWSUIT OVER CALIFORNIA MISSIONS

Mission Basilica San Diego, the first of twenty one mission in the California mission chain is pictured, December 3, 2004, after a lawsuit filed December 2, in Washington, D.C aimed at keeping California's 21 deteriorating missions from receiving a $10 million repairs grant that President Bush approved. Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on grounds that spending federal funds on buildings that hold religious services violates the doctrine of separation of church and state. (UPI Photo / Earl S. Cryer)