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Supreme Court won't stop Virginia's moment of silence law
What better timing than this week for the Supreme Court to support Virginia's required moment of silence before every school day? The Supreme Court still hasn't made an official decision on whether the law is constitutional, but writes Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist certainly gave it a boost when he denied the ACLU's request for an injunction. "There is no allegation that Virginia school teachers have used the minute of silence, or any other occasion, to lead students in collective prayer," Rehnquist said.

Ratzinger: Decentralize Vatican hierarchy
Big news in the Roman Catholic Church as well this week. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is seen as the enforcer of orthodoxy, has announced he's planning to retire next year at the age of 75. But before he goes, he's reportedly taking a surprising tack: pushing for less power in the papacy. The Times of London reports that in Ratzinger's upcoming capstone book, titled God and the World, Ratzinger says he agrees "with Catholic reformers that the functions and structure of the Vatican hierarchy should be 'decentralized.'" Does this mean he's pushing for a conciliar future for the Church? The Times doesn't say. But this is certainly a story worth watching.

Fears for Afghanistan aid workers as tensions with U.S. increase
Relatives of the foreign aid workers have pulled out of Kabul—as have diplomats, U.N. aid workers, and even countless Kabul residents—as the country fears U.S. reprisals for this week's terrorist attacks. "In light of what's happened, obviously, we're in a real precarious situation now, on whether diplomats and people will be allowed to stay in the country or not," says Jimmy Seibert, who is senior pastor of Antioch Community Church in Waco, Texas, and has been in contact with two of the detainees' parents. German diplomat Helmut Landes agrees. "We hope that the Taliban government will take care of their personal safety and security," he told Reuters after leaving the country for Pakistan. U.S. Congressmen tell The Tennessean they're working for the aid workers' release. At last report, a the detainees had picked a non-Afghan lawyer to represent them during the trial. But since the terrorist attacks, it's unclear what's going on with the trial, or whether it's continuing at all.

The world joins in prayer
Following the lead of today's Washington National Cathedral's Presidential Prayer Service (video of which is available via C-SPAN if you have the RealPlayer), Americans gathered across the nation in churches, temples, and mosques to pray over the events of the last week. Today's National Day of Prayer and Remembrance, announced yesterday by Bush, called for noontime memorials and candlelight vigils tonight.

The Washington D.C. event featured speakers of Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths. A transcript and video of Billy Graham's message will be available later today. President Bush's remarks at the service explained why he felt support from God was necessary after the Sept. 11 attacks:

Our purpose as a nation is firm. Yet our wounds as a people are recent and unhealed, and lead us to pray. In many of our prayers this week, there is a searching, and an honesty. At St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York on Tuesday, a woman said, "I prayed to God to give us a sign that He is still here." Others have prayed for the same, searching hospital to hospital, carrying pictures of those still missing.

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September (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45