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War with Iraq:

• Churchmen soften opposition to attack | The two most senior leaders of the Church of England conceded yesterday that war with Iraq might become justified, though in highly restricted circumstances. (The Guardian, London)
  
  
• Christmas messages call for peace | Religious leaders have a Christmas message for world leaders: Work for peace rather than war in Iraq. (CNN)
  
  
• Pope denounces war in bid against strike on Iraq | War can and must be avoided even in a world made fearful by terrorism, Pope John Paul II insisted in a Christmas message that stepped up the Vatican's campaign against a war in Iraq. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Also: Pope says shun war, seek peace (New York Daily News)
  
  
• Archbishop's anti-war message | The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams used his Christmas message to urge the government to pull back from the brink of war. (BBC)
  
  
• Also: Controversial start to new archbishop's term (The Scotsman)
  
  
• Church leaders launch unified attack on plans for war on Iraq | Tony Blair and George Bush came under sustained attack from the leaders of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches yesterday over their growing threats to take military action against Iraq. (The Independent, London)
  
  
• Churches urge West to step back from war | Leaders of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches used their Christmas messages yesterday to intensify pressure on the British and American governments. (Daily Telegraph)

Jesus:

• A Stone Box, Christ and History | Science can't ignore Jesus. (Robert L. Bartley, The Wall Street Journal)
  
  
• Reconciling the helplessness and the humanity of the baby Jesus | Christmas Triptych, a 15th-century wood carving, contains within its three panels the entire Christmas story. (The New York Times)
  
  
• Christian or not—Jesus' life is example | It's a time to reflect on the kind of life we are leading and how well it reflects God's commandments and Jesus' example. (Doug Anstaett, The Newton Kansan)
  
  
• From science and computers, a new face of Jesus | The Jesus pictured on the cover of this month's Popular Mechanics has a broad peasant's face, dark olive skin, short curly hair and a prominent nose. (CNN)

Clergy sex abuse scandal:

• Lennon picks sites for sale, eyes court test in abuse cases | Bishop Richard G. Lennon, has selected church properties for sale and directed officials to put them on the market ''as soon as possible.'' (The Boston Globe)
  
  
• The men who disappeared | Today, the public demands openness and accountability from its leaders. Cardinal Law, like many powerbrokers of his generation, failed to realize the rules had changed. (Alan Wolfe, The Boston Globe)
  
  
• After one cardinal resigns, Catholics ask: Who's next? | Other bishops under scrutiny for handling sex abuse cases. (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Women face stigma of clergy abuse | Many are reluctant to come forward (The Boston Globe)

The New York Times Ten Commandments series:

• Chess rivalry becomes a blood sport | The owners of the Chess Shop and the Chess Forum, along with the patrons who will go to one shop and not the other, are bitter rivals.
  
  
• For child of an affair, bitterness lingers | While for some adultery no longer carries the collective moral weight it once did, H.R. Vargas wears the broken commandment like a heavy chain around his neck.
  
  
• Embezzlement conviction burdens a woman of contradictions | In various disparate wants she struggled, stumbled, and fell until she found herself in prison for embezzling city funds.
  
  

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December (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46