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The article doesn't mention one important detail: David Vitter is a Roman Catholic. [Update: Newsweek changed the introduction to describe Vitter as a "devout Catholic." Earlier, it identified him only as a devout Christian.] Why interview Cromartie and not, say, George Weigel?

3. Los Angeles diocese abuse cases settled for $660 million
That's "$1.3 million per person involved," The New York Times notes. The Associated Press notes that the payouts for all American dioceses now total more than $2 billion.

4. British court: Church of England must hire gay youth workers
Church of England Bishop of Hereford Anthony Priddis was wrong not to hire John Reaney as a youth worker, an employment tribunal ruled Wednesday. Reaney had stated on his application that he was gay and had been in a homosexual relationship, but that he was not then in a relationship and did not intend to enter one.

After interviewing Reaney for two hours, with several questions about his past relationship and sexuality, Bishop Priddis decided not to hire him. Reaney's behavior, he explained, "had the potential to impact on the spiritual, moral and ethical leadership within the diocese."

Reaney sued, and his lawyers argued that a heterosexual candidate would not have been asked the same questions. The tribunal apparently agreed, and ruled "The respondents discriminated against the claimant on the grounds of sexual orientation." (The full decision has not yet been made public.)

Bishop Priddis stands by his decision. "I regret the polarisation of view that tends to take place when these things happen," he said at a press conference. "I took the decision after a great deal of thought and prayer and anguish. If there had been a stability of life then I would have taken a different view, but there wasn't. I don't normally ask anybody about their sex lives. Mr Reaney raised the issue, not me."

The case is one of several important U.K. court decisions we've been watching this week. In another, a student lost in her effort to wear a chastity ring to school. A judge ruled that the "Silver Ring Thing" ring was not an integral part of her Christian faith, as head scarves are in Islam.

In the other case, the Christian Union at Exeter University lost its case against the school's students' guild, which had suspended the club and froze its back account because the Christian Union required its members to sign a statement of faith. An independent adjudicator said the Christian Union's rights were not violated.

5. WSJ: Why Christianity is making a comeback in Europe
It's not just immigrants, some scholars told The Wall Street Journal in a provocative piece this week. "As centuries-old churches long favored by the state lose their monopoly grip, Europe's highly regulated market for religion is opening up to leaner, more-aggressive religious 'firms.' The result, [the scholars] say, is a supply-side stimulus to faith. … The enemy of faith, say the supply-siders, is not modernity but state-regulated markets that shield big, established churches from competition."

This thesis, like the earlier sociological theses on why Christianity "died" in Europe, leaves little room for the Holy Spirit. But it's definitely worth reading and pondering.

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July (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51