Palm Sunday Service Bombed, Priest and 2 Girls Killed

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)
In churches across the world, palms are a symbol of reverence | Victory, humility symbolized in Palm Sunday services (The Miami Herald)
Prayer rally ushers in Holy Week | About 800 teen-agers attend annual event in downtown Baltimore; ‘We are celebrating faith’ (The Baltimore Sun)

Politics:

Black clergy courted by GOP | Conservatives hope to make headway among traditionally Democratic African Americans. Many seem willing to listen, but some remain skeptical. (Los Angeles Times)
Religious leaders criticize revamped Pentagon nuclear plan | A group of 23 Protestant, Catholic and Jewish religious officials said the plan does not move the world away from the threat of nuclear destruction. (Religion News Service)
A new general for the armies of compassion | Jim Towey brings faith to job, but marching orders still unclear (The Dallas Morning News)
South is out to deal blow to video poker | Lawmakers and religious groups have teamed up to ban video poker machines in the Bible Belt and eliminate a popular pastime that has been labeled the crack cocaine of gambling (Chicago Tribune)
Debate of hate | Hamilton board’s rejection of pledge causing a stir (The Boston Globe)

Church & state:

Tax breaks for religious groups put on hold | ”This decision represents a victory for the First Amendment that bans state endorsement of religion,’ says Louisiana ACLU executive director. (Associated Press)
Clergy fears being fenced out | Rockville, Md. clergy and other civic leaders are fuming over a city plan to curb encroachment on residential land and limit the ability of churches and other institutions to restore damaged buildings. (The Washington Times)
Popular mentor’s removal a ‘shock’ | Some suspect that the sudden removal of Officer Ronald Williams from a Metropolitan Police Boys and Girls Club was due to the man’s devotion to Christianity (The Washington Times)
Commandments’ foes miss point | In 1927, displaying the Ten Commandments was a liberal initiative. A pacifist one, even. Seventy-five years later, liberals seem to have forgotten the left-leaning implications of the Bible. (Editorial, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Modern-day Moses traverses Tennessee, drumming up support for Commandments in 82 counties | June Griffin has logged more than 7,000 miles in her travels across Tennessee to ask county commissions to adopt her resolution. (The Tennesean)
Bill might allow churches more political voice | Meanwhile, church supports sheriff’s re-election campaign (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)
A good neighbor and an atheist | It’s a paradox: Dick Hogan, Parker County’s best-known atheist, is looked upon as a friendly and good neighbor except for his periodic trips to the Parker County Courthouse to debate religious displays outside and, inside, prayers sprinkled with the word Jesus (Fort Worth [Tex.] Star-Telegram)
State targets Amish for unlicensed feeds | Breaking bread with tourists breaks law (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Lawsuits:

Woman gets $300,000 in exorcism suit | Pastor and some church members were found liable for abusing and falsely imprisoning 17-year-old (Fort Worth [Tex.] Star-Telegram)
Pastor accused of affair in lawsuit | A man whose wife allegedly had an affair with their pastor, who was providing marriage counseling for the couple, is suing the pastor and the church. (The Fresno [Calif.] Bee)
Law limiting Internet in libraries challenged | Children’s Internet Protection Act goes to court (The New York Times)
Church v Google, round 2 | An update on the latest Google and Scientology developments (Microcontent News)

Fallout from abuse scandal:

Can the Church be saved? | As allegations of sex abuse—and official cover-up—mount, outraged Roman Catholics are urging their leaders to redeem and reform the faith (Time)
Catholics in crisis | With continued revelations of sex-abuse scandals and coverups, the faithful look to the church for change (U.S. News & World Report)
The big payoff | Not just morally bankrupt (U.S. News & World Report)
Of rage and revolution | The rage sweeping through the church over stories like these is likely to have a profound impact. (John Leo, U.S. News & World Report)
Religion at risk of losing its moral authority | The moral foundation of the church is cracking, and religious leaders have only themselves to blame. (Philip Gailey, St. Petersburg [Fla.] Times)
For Catholic Church’s future, tradition vs. radical change | Two camps advocate vastly different courses (The Washington Post)
Legislators in no hurry to amend reporting law | While the scandal over pedophile priests has some states pushing for laws that would add clergy to the list of professionals who are required to report abuse, Colorado is moving more slowly. (The Denver Post)
NY mayor raps church’s sex policy | The church is not above the law, says Bloomberg (New York Post)
Crisis of the cloth | Sex-abuse scandal saddens priests; many call for openness, accountability (The Denver Post)
A faith survives a church in crisis | Conversions to Catholicism hold steady (The Boston Globe)
U.S. Catholics, sad and angry, still keeping faith | Many, in fact, see the chance for institutional changes, although there is fierce disagreement on what those changes should be. Many also continue to draw distinctions between their faith and the pronouncements and practices of their church leaders. (The New York Times)

Church abuse news:

More than 200 priests have been removed, survey says | A Post-Dispatch survey of the 178 Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States shows that at least 232 priests have been removed over the past two decades because of sexual misconduct with minors. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Doctors: Church used us | A nationally renowned psychiatric hospital that for years has treated clergy accused of sexual misconduct now says it was deceived by the Roman Catholic Church into providing reports that the church used to keep abusive priests in the ministry. (The Hartford [Conn.] Courant)
Meanwhile, at the Vatican | The Pope breaks his virtual silence. But will he act? (U.S. News & World Report)
Big city and bayou | The geography of perversion (U.S. News & World Report)
Celine Dion’s husband fights Las Vegas sex assault lawsuit | ‘Preposterous plot’, defense lawyer says (The National Post, Canada)
Also: Dion plays allegation low key (Canadian Press)
From pulpits, priests address sex misconduct | Palm Sunday services include pain caused by accusations nationwide (The Washington Post)
Anger over sex abuse emerges on holy day | Allegations against priests cloud Palm Sunday at Roman Catholic churches. (Los Angeles Times)
Church sex scandal taints Holy Week | Around the country, many priests used the themes of suffering, frayed trust and redemption contained in the traditional Palm Sunday readings, to address the crisis (Associated Press)
In court files, how bishop handled a problem priest (The New York Times)

Church abuse analysis and opinion:

Keeping the faith: still doing God’s work | How one typical priest’s world is changing (Time)
First person: The confession of Father X | An ex-priest and child molester speaks (Time)
Let priests marry | And ordain women. This is a time for radical change (Lance Morrow, Time)
A victim’s story (Time)
Sex abuse by clerics–A crisis of many faiths | While sexual misconduct has rocked denominations far and wide, some acted much faster than others (Los Angeles Times)
Bishop rips media on abuse coverage | Palm Sunday sermons address sex scandals (San Francisco Chronicle)
Uncovering a cover-up | A decades-old church scandal is suddenly a front-page story (Newsday)
Confidentiality of clergy | Priest sex scandal shakes church’s veil of secrecy (San Francisco Chronicle)
Due process for priests | The church has gone from hiding priests to booting them. Neither is the right answer. (Walter R. Hampton Jr., The Hartford Courant)
It’s my church; it’s my family | Twelve years of Catholic school and not one priest hit on me. What was wrong with me? (Dan Haley, The Denver Post)
The Vatican rag | The Pope’s few sentences about the pedophilia scandal were more sympathetic to the put-upon priests than the mauled victims (Maureen Dowd, The New York Times)
Cleansing the churches | Rome’s reforms do not go quite far enough (Editorial, The Guardian, London)

Is church abuse scandal about pedophilia or homosexuality?

Media silent on gays in clergy | Issue is homosexuality, not pedophilia, say priests, theologians and others (The Washington Times)
Critics see ‘gay bullying’ at seminaries | A Connecticut priest has claimed a network of gay-leaning bullies exists in some Catholic seminaries, where straight students are ostracized for advocating traditional teaching. (New York Post)
Researchers caution Catholic Church against making molestation a ‘gay’ issue | But issue certainly isn’t one of pedophilia (Associated Press)
The molesters’ mind-set | Pedophilia remains a medical mystery (Time)
Chastity and lust | Is there a psychological link between sexuality, celibacy, and predation? (U.S. News & World Report)