Priest, two others killed in DRC church grenade attack
An unknown attacker in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly ZaÏre), threw a grenade into a church service Sunday morning, killing a priest and two young girls and wounding 10 others, including another priest. The national government blamed an unnamed Rwandan soldier, but the Rwandan-backed rebels who control Goma blame the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda, which is backed by the Congolese government. An estimated 2.5 million people have died in Democratic Republic of Congo territory conflicts over the past three years. The violence has become such a part of the landscape that even after such a tragedy, reports the BBC, the bombed Roman Catholic congregation continued celebrating its open-air Mass after the wounded were taken to the hospital.

Gotta love the Internet
One of the reasons newspapers may have a hard time charging Web site visitors to read their articles is because the particularly good articles wind up being free anyway. On March 15, Weblog noted a Wall Street Journal article about churches radically changing their Holy Week schedules, including moving Maundy Thursday to Tuesday. The article is now available for free, courtesy The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Holy Week:

• Easter bunnies populate U.S. malls | Some say it's commercialization of Christian holiday (Associated Press)
  
  
• With Easter so festive, who needs Christmas? | You can adorn your house now with strings of Easter lights and an abundance of egg and bunny ornaments, as seasonal decor expands beyond December and into the rest of the year. (The Baltimore Sun)
  
  
• Pilgrims mark Palm Sunday in Israel | But only a small fraction of the number in previous years (Associated Press)
  
  
• Holiday week arrives amid scandal, violence | Christians and Jews begin what is supposed to be a week of celebration today against a backdrop of scandal in the Roman Catholic Church and escalating violence in the Middle East. (Boston Herald)