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Rowan Smith, Dean of Cape Town's St George's Cathedral, appeared in an ad for the area's Gay and Lesbian film festival fully dressed in his vestments—with a devil's tail peeping out beneath his robes. Archbishop Njongonkule Ndungane (one of the archbishops involved in the controversy over the irregular consecrations of two American bishops) issued a stern rebuke and Smith, who is openly homosexual, apologized.

So says a recent survey commissioned by Total Living Network, a religious broadcasting company. Only a third?

"Churches don't get the rap thing," says Eugene Rivers III, the conference's featured speaker. "They still don't get rock 'n' roll 50 years later. They still don't get Elvis Presley."

"When they log on to the internet, users of the free access service are directed to the church's portal, which offers traditional information for the faithful such as mass times and a gospel of the day," reports Financial Times. "As well as links to an insurance company, visitors can also buy a range of Catholic memorabilia, such as a marble bust of … Brazil's patron saint, or a porcelain angel with a bunch of grapes." But more than e-commerce, the site is seen as a new way of evangelizing the country.

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February (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44