New York Isn't the Only City with a Last Supper Art Controversy

Last Supper art controversies:

‘Yo Mama’ artist debates with Catholic critic | Renee Cox defended her depiction of Christ as a nude black woman in a debate on Tuesday with William Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. (The New York Times)
‘Last Supper’ with cartoon characters under fire | “What you see in the statement are our recognizable figures,” says director of Chicago Athenaeum, where painting is displayed. “They’re more recognizable (to most people) than the 12 apostles. It’s a statement about our culture. It is a fun painting.” (The Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, Illinois)

Abuse:

Founder of the Oxford Evangelical Theology Society found guilty of sexually assaulting 14-year-old | Anthony Gray, married lecturer with Britain’s Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship, befriended boy through an Internet chatroom (The Times, London)

Faith-based initiatives:

Faith-based initiatives office opens to many calls | “There are a lot of misconceptions out there,” says deputy director Don Eberly. (The Washington Times)
Foreign aid hike pushed | Bush considers Helms’ call for ‘faith-based’ initiative (USA Today)
Religious groups wary of Bush plan | John DiIulio calls concerns of Lutheran, Catholic, and Jewish groups “misplaced” (Associated Press)

Prolife issues:

Abortionist convicted of manslaughter | LouAnne Herron, died when her uterus had been ruptured by a medical instrument during a 1998 abortion. (Associated Press)
Fetus bill moves on | Emotional plea to let families bury fetuses that die in the womb aids Colorado House committee approval (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)

Russia’s Antichrist concerns:

Antichrist fears put church in crisis | Russian Orthodox Church’s Theological Commission warns that Patriarch Alexy II and the Holy Synod will be deemed traitors of Orthodoxy if they give their blessing to Russians to accept the “number of the beast” (The Moscow Times)
Theological commission tackles Individual Taxpayer Numbers (Strana.ru/Russia Religious News)

Pope installs new cardinals:

Pope installs 44 new cardinals (Associated Press)
Four Americans among 44 made cardinal | Only Italy has more cardinals than U.S. (Associated Press)
Pope’s new cardinals leave fresh stamp on church | Chances increasingly great that the next Pope could come from the developing world. (Reuters)
Pope names dozens of cardinals | 44 new ‘princes’ reflect church’s geographical diversity (MSNBC)
Pope inducts ‘princes of the church’ (with audio and video, CNN)
Analysis: Choosing the next pope | The next conclave is unlikely to elect a pope who is prepared to reconsider such controversial issues as contraception, priestly celibacy and the ordination of women. (BBC)

Peru’s voyeuristic videos:

Peru’s Catholic Church volunteers to return spy videos | Tapes, secretly recorded by the country’s ex-spy chief, often show people in sexually compromising situations (Associated Press)
Peru’s bishops to guard ‘sex’ tapes (BBC)

Religious liberty:

Sri Lankan government orders inquiry into prayer-time church attack | Thirty worshippers injured by sword-wielding mob (Associated Press/The Independent)
Ethnic employees to be given time off for prayers | Laws to protect people from religious discrimination are being planned by the Government despite warnings from businessmen that they will create yet more costly red tape. (The Daily Telegraph, London)
New British law will prevent religious discrimination | Planned laws will allow Catholics to attend Mass on holy days of obligation. (Catholic World News)
Colorado children’s deaths rekindle debate on religion | The deaths of three Colorado children whose parents denied them medical treatment on religious grounds have fueled support for legislation that would prevent parents from using their religion as a defense against prosecution. (The New York Times)

Christian Zionists:

Christian Zionists know when Israel needs them | Fourth International Christian Zionist Conference on Biblical Zionism opens in Jerusalem despite security fears (The Jerusalem Post)
Earlier: How Evangelicals Became Israel’s Best Friend (Christianity Today, Oct. 5, 1998)

Other stories of interest:

Oakland-area Lutheran church to ordain openly gay pastor | 28-year-old Craig Minich refuses to remain celibate (KBWB)
Dr. Laura will go to bat for divorce bill | State House bill would require parents to go through a year of counseling before a divorce is final. (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
Reducing the Word of God | Guinness Book of World Records endorses Bible that’s only 1.9 centimeters tall (The Montreal Gazette)
Choir, minister up for Grammy | The Rev. Hezekiah Walker and the choir at Bensalem’s Love Fellowship Tabernacle Church have been nominated for a best contemporary soul gospel album Grammy for “Family Affair.” (Associated Press)
Oregon lawmaker takes aim at violent video games | Proposed legislation would prohibit arcade owners from allowing minors to play gory games. (Associated Press/Freedom Forum)
Idaho library board approves Net filtering plan | East Bonner County library board decides that parents will choose whether to allow their children unrestricted Internet access on library computers (Associated Press/Freedom Forum)
Our new Dark Age | Loss of faith is a danger to us all because it opens the way for a return to paganism and superstition (Ruth Gledhill, The Times)
Boy Scouts’ values worth defending | In shaping the identity of millions of boys over the past 90 years, Scouting has done immeasurable good. If gay activists can succeed in demonizing the Scouts and eventually bending the group to their will, anything is possible. (Don Feder, Boston Herald)
Vatican, Russia discuss return of icon | Sixteenth-century Kazan Mother of God, reputedly famous for miracles (Catholic World News)

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