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1. Immaculate Conception insurance

Three British women are going to be pinching their pennies if they have the (un)fortunate surprise of giving birth to the Messiah, the BBC reports.

Uproar from the Catholic church convinced Britishinsurance.com to end an unusual insurance policy—the women, who have each been paying 100 euros a year since 2000, would receive 1,000,000 euros if one of them was to have a virgin birth.

The company matter-of-factly explains: "The people were concerned about having sufficient funds if they immaculately conceived. It was for caring for and bringing up the Christ."

When will Las Vegas start accepting bets on the date of the Second Coming?

2. Bring out your dead

1,000 skeletons were found buried together in one of Rome's oldest catacombs. "Mystery surrounds why so many bodies were neatly piled together in the complex network of underground burial chambers, which stretch for miles under the city," reports the Scotsman.

Raffaella Giuliani, chief inspector of the Vatican's Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, who is overseeing the dig, said: "What we have discovered is very exciting. Usually, two or three bodies were put into holes dug out of the rock in the catacombs. But we have several rooms filled with skeletons." The skeletons were dressed in fine robes, many of which had gold thread in them, and they were wrapped in sheets and covered with lime.

"This was quite common with early Christian burials, as it was a form of hygiene, and the corpses were also anointed with balsamic spices. Again, this all shows a great amount of dignity and respect given to the dead."

There are several catacombs beneath Rome dating back 2,000 years and they were used as burial places by early Christians. They were also used as secret places of worship as the pagan Romans persecuted Christians, famously feeding them to lions in the Colosseum.

3. Vandalism not an act of Episcopal frustration

Police have ruled out Episcopal backlash against the decisions of the recent General Convention as motivation for the twice attempted burning of two crosses on the property of St. Ambrose Episcopal Church. The bases of the crosses were lit twice in the last week, causing one cross to fall over. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports on the religiously astute police department.

Investigators don't think whoever is responsible was motivated by the politics within the religious denomination.

But they noted that the Episcopal House of Deputies, meeting in Ohio, voted down a request Tuesday by international Anglican leaders to temporarily stop electing openly gay bishops. On Wednesday, the Episcopal Church agreed to "exercise restraint by not consenting" to the consecration of openly gay bishops, a move criticized by some as too vague.

Some conservative Episcopalians also are upset that the national church named a woman as presiding bishop. Katharine Jefferts Schori was chosen Sunday.

Wow, those investigators probably know more about Episcopal polity than most Episcopalians!

4. Will pay for parishioners

If you're headed to Chicago and need a little extra spending money, visit the  United Pentecostal Church of Harvey and get 25 bucks. The church "plans to provide the cash to the first 75 people who visit the church for the first time at each of two services, one at 10 a.m. and another at 1 p.m. The only requirements are that the newcomers be 16 or older and that they stay for the entire 90-minute service," writes the Chicago Tribune.

5. The revolution will be blogged

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June (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50