March for Life Marks Shift on Roe

Shift on Roe:

1. Abortion opponents rally, saying the end of Roe is near | As they have every year since 1973 when the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade, abortion opponents flooded the capital today with an energetic rally featuring speeches, prayers and signs that urged an end to abortions across the country. (The New York Times)
2. Protesters see mood shift against ‘Roe’ | Court nominees, young activists cited at annual antiabortion march (Washington Post)
3. Marchers’ renewed hope | Supreme Court changes give anti-abortion activists more optimism of a Roe v. Wade reversal (Newsday)

Roe v. Wade:

1. Bush to anti-abortion activists: ‘We will prevail’ | President George W. Bush on Monday told opponents of abortion their views would eventually prevail and urged them to work to convince more Americans of “the rightness of our cause.” (Reuters)
2. Bush lends abortion opponents his support | President Bush told abortion opponents Monday that they are pursuing “a noble cause” and predicted that their views would prevail eventually. (Associated Press)
3. Demonstrators mark Roe V. Wade anniversary | Thousands of abortion opponents massed outside Minnesota’s Capitol on Sunday in one of several protests nationwide on the 33rd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling, amid heightened hopes and fears over what a new face on the Supreme Court will mean for the decision establishing abortion rights. (Associated Press)
4. Marching to overturn Roe | Thousands of pro-life protesters commemorating the 33rd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade court decision marched to the U.S. Capitol and the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday to urge lawmakers to overturn the ruling that legalized abortion. (The Washington Times)
5. Marking 33 years of opposition | On the 33rd anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision, abortion opponents rallied at a downtown park to oppose the procedure and human embryonic stem cell research. (San Antonio Express)
6. Faithful gather in Sayre to support pro-life movement | Between 150 and 200 people marched from the Epiphany Cemetery on Keystone Avenue to the Epiphany Catholic Church in observance of the 33rd anniversary of the day the Roe vs. Wade court decision made abortion legal in the United States. (Sayre Evening Times, Pa.)
7. Life march to shut roads | Roads surrounding the U.S. Capitol and the U.S. Supreme Court will be closed for much of today as thousands of protesters converge on the Mall to mark the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. (The Washington Times)
8. Rallies mark Roe V. Wade anniversary | Thousands of abortion opponents shouldering signs with slogans such as “Peace Begins in the Womb” marched in protest of the 33-year-old Roe v. Wade decision, while abortion rights supporters along the march route waved clothes hangers and shouted “Bigots go home.” (Associated Press)
9. Abortion foes protest on Roe anniversary | Thousands march on Minnesota’s Capitol. A huge rally is expected today in Washington. (Los Angeles Times)
10. Bishop takes seat on anti-abortion bus | This year, more Lexington activists going to D.C. March For Life (Centre Daily Times, Pa.)
11. New generation ponders debate | Princeton University student Christian Sahner yesterday stood next to a black and orange pro-life banner on the Mall, a striking symbol of what some say is a growing gap between the Roe v. Wade generation and today’s young adults. (The Washington Times)

Opinion & editorial:

1. Looking ahead to a post-Roe world | Even if Alito proves, as his critics fear, to be a reliable vote against Roe v. Wade, we are still likely one vote short of overturning that Supreme Court decision creating a constitutional right to abortion. But Alito’s confirmation in itself proves that Roe is anything but “settled” law. (Maggie Gallagher)
2. How Roe destroyed privacy | The great deal of concern about abortion rights in many ways dominates our debate over Supreme Court nominees. Unfortunately, the shadow dance about a nominee’s view regarding the abortion issue blurs our focus on the real issues. Instead of wasting time and energy trying to figure out how to interpret the lines and form of the shadows, we should focus directly on the privacy question. (J. Bradley Jansen, The Washington Times)
3. As Roe turns 33 | Tomorrow the most inflammatory decision in judicial history turns 33 years old. Americans still batter each other over Roe v. Wade: Supporters fret the U.S. Supreme Court may renege on a constitutional right to abort a pregnancy. Opponents are eager to make those frets come true. (William Murchison, The Washington Times)
4. The marchers state their case: Alito v. ‘Roe’ | Ray Nagin and Franklin Graham have recently propounded that foul weather is a sign of God’s wrath, so the cold rain and dark clouds over the annual March for Life yesterday might have been cause for concern. (Dana Milbank, Washington Post)
5. Right-to-lifers on the rise | As pro-lifers hit Constitution Avenue yesterday for the 33rd annual March for Life, there were — and are — reasons for optimism. In time, President Bush’s prediction “We will prevail” from Manhattan, Kan., yesterday could be right, if current political winds are any indication. (Editorial, Washington Times)

More on abortion:

1. Majority leader hopefuls pushing pro-life records | Two of the candidates for House majority leader have been touting their commitment to pro-life issues to advance their campaigns against front-runner Rep. Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican. (Washington Times)
2. Abortion and mental health | A new study from New Zealand, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, raises important questions about the effect of abortion on women’s mental health. (Warren Throckmorton, The Washington Times)
3. In abortion ruling, high court finds middle path | The Supreme Court, in a rare unanimous decision on abortion, said Wednesday that states may require girls under age 18 to tell a parent at least two days before having an abortion so long as the law also permits doctors to act quickly in medical emergencies. (Los Angeles Times)
4. Michael Marcavage’s mouth has gotten him in trouble with the law again | According to the affidavit of probable cause, Marcavage, a ministry director of the Christian evangelical organization Repent America, was demonstrating on the corner of West Rosedale Avenue and South Church Street in West Chester on the university campus, and was asked to leave the premises. Marcavage was standing on the sidewalk, holding a sign on which there was an image of an aborted fetus. (Chester Daily Local, Pa.)
5. Free speech comes after a 2-hour wait at West Chester U. | We cringe if someone walks past us on the street yelling “Osama bin Laden is king!” If we’re downtown and see someone reciting passages from the Bible or Koran at the top of their lungs, we may cross the street to avoid them. So we understand what West Chester University officials felt on Oct. 13 when several members of a Christian evangelical organization stood at a busy college intersection railing against abortion and carrying large pictures of an aborted fetus. (Chester Daily Local, Pa.)
6. Abortion debate shifts when it’s close to home | Jim was conservative—fiscally, militarily, and socially—and he liked to make his opinions known. Certainly, he opposed abortion. Well, he opposed it until the day his college-age daughter arrived home to say that she was pregnant. (Jane Ahlin, The Forum, N.D.)

Mom loses ‘right to know’ case:

1. Parents don’t know best, rules High Court | The view that parents know what is best for their children is old-fashioned and out of date. (Telegraph, UK)
2. Mother loses ‘right to know’ case | A mother has lost her court battle for a parent’s “right to know” if girls are being advised on abortion. (BBC)
3. Mother loses test case on under-16 abortions | Girls under the age of 16 can have an abortion without their parents’ consent, the High Court ruled on Monday after a test case by a mother of two teenagers. (Reuters)

Abortion in the states:

1. States step up fight on abortion | Anticipating a more conservative Supreme Court, lawmakers are proposing bans in hope of forcing the justices to revisit Roe vs. Wade. (Los Angeles Times)
2. Some states getting ready to revisit Roe v. Wade | Taking direct aim at Roe v. Wade, lawmakers from several states are proposing broad restrictions on abortion with the goal of forcing the US Supreme Court — soon to include two new justices — to revisit the landmark ruling issued 33 years ago yesterday. (Boston Globe, via Los Angeles Times)
3. Push in Nebraska highlights new abortion dynamic | Opponents flex growing influence (Boston Globe)
4. Where the real action is … | For all the debate in Washington, the battle over abortion is actually in the states, which are imposing more limits than ever. Missouri is a case study (Time)

Samuel Alito:

1. Alito would create Catholic majority on top court | For some people, it’s such a sensitive topic they would prefer no one discussed it at all. But if Samuel Alito is confirmed to the Supreme Court, it will be the first time in American history that five sitting justices will be Catholic: Alito, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy. (ABC News)
2. Alito gives Senate committee more answers | Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito told senators Friday that he sees protection in the Constitution for privacy, but he refused anew to divulge his thoughts on the Supreme Court’s landmark abortion rights decisions. (Associated Press)
3. At march on the mall, abortion foes rally behind a new theme: Alito | As they have every year since the Supreme Court first ruled in Roe v. Wade, abortion opponents flooded the capital on Monday with an energetic rally featuring speeches, prayers and signs that urged an end to abortions across the country. (The New York Times)

Life ethics:

1. Drug maker Barr’s Plan B efforts blocked | For years, Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. has been trying to get its controversial contraceptive approved for sale without a prescription. Named for its purpose — to prevent pregnancy after contraceptive failure or unprotected intercourse — Plan B reduces chances of pregnancy 89 percent if taken within 72 hours after sex. (Associated Press)
2. Schiavo’s sister: U.S. doesn’t value life | The sister of Terri Schiavo said Saturday that her family’s failed court struggle to keep the brain-damaged woman alive shows a society that has “lost sight of the value” of human life. (Associated Press)
3. South Korean cloning expert’s stem cells do not exist: prosecutor | Prosecutors confirmed that cloning expert Hwang Woo-Suk had fabricated key research, raising the likelihood that criminal charges could be filed against the disgraced South Korea scientist. (AFP)
4. At Harvard’s stem cell center, the barriers run deep and wide | Even before President Bush barred federal financing for most human embryonic stem cell research in August 2001, the work of Dr. Melton was mired in controversy.
5. Faith, science coexist for biochemist | In an era when some accuse the Bush administration of limiting federal money for stem cell research on inappropriate religious grounds, some might shudder at a scientist admitting to religious beliefs. But when South Korean researcher Hwang Woo Suk admits to fabricating what was billed as groundbreaking research on cloning human cells, we’re reminded that science always needs some ethical referee, religious or otherwise. (The Boston Globe)

Religion & politics:

1. Humble church is at center of debate on eminent domain | With bulldozers churning up the earth at the front door, the small Centennial Baptist Church in this struggling industrial hub west of Tulsa seems about to fall to the wrecker. (The New York Times)
2. Methodist group calls Iraq war ‘unjust, immoral | Religious divide over war: Many churches say White House won’t listen (Reuters)
3. Some US church leaders step up anti-war moves | Some U.S. religious leaders are stepping up pressure on Washington to end the nearly 3-year-old Iraq war. But the influence of those who oppose the conflict has been weak so far and the faith community, like U.S. public opinion, is divided. (Reuters)
4. This isn’t your father’s Moral Majority | New Socialists: Evangelicals have risen as a political force, with the savvy to shape American public policy (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
5. Pastors warm to environmentalism | Can a group of religious leaders do anything about global warming? David Thompson thinks they can. (Sacramento Bee)
6. A star rises in Bethlehem | This time, Hamas’s. (National Review Online)
7. Christian groups take on popular culture | Only a small segment of conservative Christians may be vocal in the public forum, but that segment’s ability to find platforms to transmit its views and translate them into action has never been greater. (NorthJersey.com)
8. Zapatero angers Spaniards with plan to reduce church subsidies | Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s plan to reduce financial aid to the church is roiling a country where 80 percent of the population is Catholic. (Bloomberg)

Same-sex marriage:

1. Md. judge strikes down gay-marriage ban | A Baltimore judge struck down a 33-year-old state law against gay marriage Friday, declaring it violates the Maryland Constitution’s guarantee of equal rights. (Associated Press)
2. Moore taking leadership role in asking voters to ban gay marriages | Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is not just asking voters to support him for governor in the Republican primary June 6. The Ten Commandments judge also wants them to cast ballots that day in support of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages. (The Associated Press)
3. Report: $13M spent on gay marriage fight | The 2004 election campaigns that ultimately banned same-sex marriages in 13 states were funded by a mix of national groups, churches and individuals, with ban supporters narrowly outraising opponents and total contributions breaking $13 million, according to a new analysis of state-level fundraising. (Washington Post)
4. Gay ‘marriage’ ban struck | A Circuit Court judge yesterday ruled that Maryland’s 33-year-old ban on same-sex “marriage” is unconstitutional. (The Washington Times)
5. Many Md. Democrats seek quick end to gay marriage debate | The issue of same-sex marriage arrived Friday like an unwelcome houseguest for many Maryland Democrats, who say only a quick reversal from the state’s highest court can keep the divisive issue from reshaping the 2006 campaign season. (Washington Post)
6. Judge strikes down Md. ban on gay marriage | Ruling is stayed as Constitutional fight ignites (Washington Post)
7. Senator feels heat on gay rights | Bill could come down to one vote (The News Tribune, Wa.)

Religion & homosexuality:

1. Virginia parish demands leader ‘repent’ | Virginia’s largest Episcopal parish, in a letter to the church’s 2,200 members, yesterday called on Virginia’s the Rt. Rev. Peter J. Lee to “repent and return to the truth” over supporting the ordination of the openly homosexual bishop of New Hampshire. (The Washington Times)
2. Pastor critical of Microsoft gay rights support urges followers to buy stock, then dump it | A pastor who threatened a national boycott against Microsoft and other major corporations for endorsing a gay rights bill urged supporters Tuesday to buy up the companies’ stock and dump it to drive prices down. (Associated Press)
3. Black church conference spawns new network | Clergy, activists will work together to fight anti-gay bias (San Francisco Chronicle)
4. Leaders talk about split from church | Consecration of gay bishop at issue (Tallahassee Democrat)
5. Black churches’ attitudes toward gay parishioners is discussed at conference | About 150 African-American ministers and gay activists from around the country gathered here Friday to begin a two-day conference to combat what they assert is widespread prejudice against gay men and lesbians within black churches. (The New York Times)
6. Church ceremony celebrates gay pairs | Straight couples join in vows of commitment at protest event in Arlington. (Washington Post)
7. Pastor splits with religious community over issue of gay unions | With an ongoing push to enact a constitutional amendment to outlaw gay marriage within Florida, Sosbe and other progressive ministers are in an interesting position: Much of the push for the amendment is coming from the religious community. But Sosbe is not standing with most churches on this issue. (Naples Daily News, Fla.)
8. Gay families plan Easter at White House | Three months before the annual Easter egg roll at the White House, the usually festive event is already taking on a divisive edge because of plans by gay- and lesbian-led families to turn out en masse in hopes of raising their public profile. (Associated Press)
9. Wash. House passes gay civil rights bill | The state House on Friday passed a bill banning discrimination based on sexual orientation, sending the measure to the Senate, where it failed last year by a single vote. (Associated Press)
10. Black gay rights group turns to clergy | Churches have an obligation to help end the “poisoned atmosphere” surrounding the acceptance of homosexuals, the Rev. Al Sharpton said at a weekend summit organized by a national black gay rights group. (Associated Press)

Canada’s conservative takeover:

1. Conservative party wins in Canada election | Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party won national elections Monday and ended 13 years of Liberal rule, a victory expected to move Canada rightward on social and economic issues and lead to improved ties with the United States. (Associated Press)
2. Canada’s next PM: moderate or conservative? | Country waits to see direction Stephen Harper will lead government (Associated Press)
3. Take a deep breath, you Chicken Littles! | My liberal friends don’t understand why a nice, progressive, Jewish girl like me isn’t filled with fear and loathing because our new prime minister is an evangelical Christian. (Mindelle Jacobs, Edmonton Sun)

Church & state:

1. Town votes for marker used by Jews | After five years of legal battles, the leaders of this Bergen County borough approved an agreement on Tuesday night that enables an eruv, a symbolic boundary for Orthodox Jews that allows them to do some work on the Sabbath, to remain in place. (The New York Times)
2. Sacred cow or pest? village waits for appeals court to resolve a seven-year fight | Stephen and Linda Voith, followers of the Hindu-based Krishna Consciousness movement, bought a house on a two-and-a-half acre property on Main Street in 1999. Their beliefs include a concept called cow protection, in which cattle are revered. Cows are also used in the padayatra, a type of religious procession. (The New York Times)
3. Inmate programs raise questions | Some see official boost to religion (Boston Globe)
4. Chaplains to be allowed Jesus prayer | The White House has agreed to pressure the Pentagon to put an end to discrimination against chaplains who pray in the name of Jesus Christ. (UPI)
5. A matter of public prayer | The York County Council will discuss the issue of referring to God in prayers at the start of public meetings. This comes months after the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a case involving prayer at public meetings and the battle over keeping those prayers continues. (WCNC, N.C.)

Education:

1. Gay-straight club belongs in school | Republican opponents are wrong in trying to prevent a group of students, who meet the school criteria, from forming a club. Individuals who would hold the spring levy election hostage in protest are doubly wrong. School policy is solidly on the side of the newly formed Gay-Straight Alliance. (The Spokesman Review, Wa.)
2. Bible class textbook debated | High schools in Alabama and across the nation are considering a new elective course in Bible literacy, an effort that pits church-state separatists against proponents who say their mission is purely scholarly (Montgomery Advertiser)
3. Public schools looking at Bible literacy class | High schools across the nation are considering an elective course in Bible literacy. That’s pitting advocates of church-state separation against proponents of the class who say their mission is purely scholarly. (USA Today)
4. Scripture in schools? | Elective courses at public schools could reveal the Bible’s influence and importance on culture. (Editorial, Atlanta Journal Constitution)
5. Teaching of Bible in public schools risks conflict, confusion | Last week’s proposal floated by Democrats in the state Senate to allow Bible classes in public schools should raise concerns for those on both sides of the debate on religion in the classroom. (Editorial, Gainesville Times, Ga.)

I.D. & evolution:

1. When science and religion converge | The Bible, Alloway explained, is not a book of science. Rather, it was written to inspire people to have faith in God and understand his purposes for human life. By contrast, scientists use experimentation and observation to understand the physical or material world. (Lincoln Journal Star, Ne.)
2. It’s possible for Christians to render unto God and unto Darwin | My guess is that the recent forum on intelligent design at Broadway Baptist Church did not satisfy William Dembski’s preference for a “vise strategy,” in which the apostates who believe in evolution are hauled before tribunals to answer. (David Hawpe, Courier-Journal, Louisville)
3. ‘Intelligent design’ debate goes to kids’ TV | The debate over whether children should be taught “intelligent design” in U.S. public schools as an alternative to evolution is moving to children’s television. (Reuters)
4. When cosmologies collide | In the merely controversial part of his decision last month banning “intelligent design” from biology classes in Dover, Pa., Judge John E. Jones III ruled that intelligent design, a theory that attributes the complexity of life to supernatural causes, amounts to religion, not science. (The New York Times)
5. Evolution debate heats up in state | A Greenville senator says that if South Carolina’s schools are teaching evolution, they need to teach the whole story. That includes the theory that organisms change over time, creating new species, like humans. But it should also include questions surrounding evolution. (The Times and Democrat, S.C.)

Higher ed.:

1. Students ban Christians in row over gays | A University Christian Union has been suspended and had its bank account frozen after refusing to open its membership to people of all religions. (Times, London)
2. Popular pastor headed to seminary | White plans to continue in Charlotte at Mass. school’s local campus (Charlotte Observer)
3. Ban for exclusive Christian body | A Christian group at the University of Birmingham says it has been banned from using facilities after refusing to open membership to those of other faiths. (BBC)
4. Plagiarism question prompts Notre Dame to review article | Theologian says group targets him (Associated Press)

Catholicism:

1. Priest offers ‘no handshake option’ | A Londonderry priest has given parishioners the choice of whether or not to shake hands with others at Mass. (BBC)
2. Manhattan church sues insurance co. over thefts blamed on priest | A Roman Catholic church in Manhattan has sued the Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. charging breach of contract, claiming the insurance carrier has improperly refused to pay $1.22 million stolen by a priest. (Associated Press)
3. With elite backing, Catholic order has pull in Mexico | Two years ago, a handful of Latin American billionaires and some of the world’s top financiers gathered at New York’s Plaza Hotel. They were honoring Mexican plutocrat Carlos Slim and raising money for schools for poor children run by the Legion of Christ, a fast-growing conservative Roman Catholic order. (The Wall Street Journal via Pittsburgh Post Gazette)
4. Archdiocese denies priest’s request to continue at St. Albert | The Archdiocese of Boston denied a priest’s request to continue his part-time ministry at a Roman Catholic parish that held round-the-clock vigils in a successful campaign to reverse an archdiocese decision to close the parish. (The Boston Globe)
5. Weymouth parish rocked by another priest’s departure | Life at St. Albert the Great had just started to feel normal again, parishioners said. (The Boston Globe)
6. Priest suspended over sex claims | A priest who is chairman of governors at a primary school has been suspended from church duties amid allegations of sexual offences, it emerged last night. (The Times, London)

Irish church:

1. Attitudes toward priests change in Ireland | Bishop Eamonn Casey fled Ireland 14 years ago in shame for having secretly fathered a son. But he is coming back to a dramatically changed, forgiving Ireland that appears willing to accept Roman Catholic priests who are not celibate. (Associated Press)
2. Scandal? For an Irish parish, it’s just a priest with a child | The affair had all the makings of a first-class scandal: in a quiet corner of rural Ireland, a 73-year-old Roman Catholic priest admitted to fathering a child last year with a local schoolteacher. Smelling a good story, television crews rolled into the village of Woodford, 30 miles southeast of Galway, and tabloid newspapers gleefully denounced “Father Romeo.” (The New York Times)
3. About 500 Irish priests having sex | Some 500 women in Ireland are having affairs with Roman Catholic priests, said a support group that helps those in forbidden relationships. (UPI)
4. Irish support end to churchmen celibacy | Irish people overwhelmingly rejected enforced celibacy for Roman Catholic priests as support grew for a 73-year-old cleric who has fathered a child with a 31-year-old teacher. (The Times, London)

Pope copyright:

1. Vatican ‘cashes in’ by putting price on the Pope’s copyright | The Vatican has been accused of trying to cash in on the Pope’s words after it decided to impose strict copyright on all papal pronouncements. (The Times, London)
2. Vatican invokes papal copyright | A row has broken out in Rome about whether the speeches and writings of Pope Benedict should be freely available to everyone or subject to copyright. (The Guardian, UK)

Swiss guards:

1. Vatican honors 500 years of Swiss guards | Pope Benedict XVI thanked the Swiss Guards on Sunday for their 500 years of service protecting the popes, as the Vatican opened its official commemorations of the anniversary of the first mercenaries’ arrival from Switzerland. (Associated Press)
2. Pope thanks world’s smallest army for 500 yrs help | The Swiss Guard, the world’s smallest army, celebrated its 500th anniversary as protectors of the world’s smallest state on Sunday with a regal Vatican City celebration blessed by the Pope. (Reuters)
3. Swiss Guards celebrate 500 years of protecting popes | Pope Benedict XVI blessed the Swiss Guards yesterday as the Vatican celebrated the 500th anniversary of its private army with a mass in St Peter’s Basilica. (The Telegraph, UK)

Benedict’s first encyclical:

1. Pope encyclical to praise ‘eros’, not bury it | Pope Benedict’s first encyclical will praise the positive aspects of erotic love and human desire within the context of a greater spiritual love, officials familiar with the document said on Monday. (Reuters)
2. Excerpts from Pope Benedict’s first encyclical | Following are some excerpts from the Vatican’s official English version of Pope Benedict’s first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love). (Reuters)
3. Pope gives views on modern love | Pope Benedict XVI has published his first encyclical, or letter to the whole Catholic Church, devoted to the meaning of love and charity. (BBC)
4. Pope Benedict XVI talks about love | Pope Benedict XVI elaborates on the distinction between erotic love and God’s love in his first encyclical to the Roman Catholic Church, a report said. (UPI)
5. Pope releases his first encyclical | Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday in his first encyclical that the Roman Catholic Church has no desire to govern states or set public policy, but can’t remain silent when its charity is needed to ease suffering around the world. (Associated Press)
6. Have courage to tell truth, Pope tells world media | Pope Benedict, in the first formal message to the media of his pontificate, said on Tuesday the media cannot be self-serving or profit-driven but must be accountable for the common good and promote human values. (Reuters)
7. Pope talks of love and charity in first encyclical | In his first encyclical sounding the keynote for his papacy, Pope Benedict on Wednesday told Catholics love and charity must have a primary role in their lives in a world where religion is at times linked with calls for hatred and violence. (Reuters)
8. Shamed priest who made cousin pregnant faces defrocking | A priest who made his first cousin pregnant during the course of an affair has been told he is unlikely ever to be allowed to return to his parish. (The Scotsman, UK)

Mass. Catholics, Protestants fight bill on financial disclosure:

1. O’Malley resists bill on financial disclosure | Encourages Catholics to lobby against measure (Boston Globe)
2. Mass. Gov. Romney may veto disclosure bill | Gov. Mitt Romney signaled he may veto a bill strongly opposed by religious organizations that would require religious groups to disclose their finances. (Associated Press)
3. Faith leaders ally against financial disclosure bill | But acknowledge Catholics’ frustration (Boston Globe)
4. Follow the money | If merely feeling burdened were reason enough to avoid paying taxes, state and federal coffers would be empty.But that is the argument of religious organizations trying to kill legislation that would require churches in Massachusetts to do what every other tax-exempt charity in the state is already obliged to do: open their financial books to the public. (Eileen McNamara, Boston Globe)

Church life:

1. Churches offering multimedia worship are growing | Pastor Buddy doesn’t put himself on a pedestal. That’s one of the things Meaghan McDermott loves about him. He did put himself on a Harley-Davidson once, though. Right on stage. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
2. James Island Presbyterian marks 300 years | This year, the congregation and staff of James Island Presbyterian Church have far more to celebrate than the strength of the church’s growing membership, the successes of their worldwide outreach efforts and the ongoing renovations of the church. (Charleston Post Courier)
3. Church fighting to build in Greenburgh | For the past eight years, the 175-member evangelical Christian congregation has wanted to build a new school and church in Greenburgh. But it’s been locked in a bureaucratic battle with the town, which has cited traffic and safety concerns in rejecting building plans. (The Journal News, N.Y.)
4. Answering a prayer: On the Web, church services now just a click away | Chad Dunham worked two years with the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia — yet he “attended” worship each week in South Florida. (Orlando Sentinel)
5. Picture this: Saturday Night Live | The Liberty Worship Center is a storefront church located in the heart of Hackensack’s black community on Central Avenue. A relatively new congregation, Liberty offers a new twist on Sunday services. They’re held on Saturday night in an intimate 45-seat church, converted from a street-level apartment. (NorthJersey.com)
6. PETA Demonstrates Outside EVV Church | Bethel Temple Community Church members received an unusual greeting on Sunday. A demonstration by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was held outside the church. (WFIE, Ind.)
7. Bishop: Church welcomes dialogue | The Rt. Rev. Thomas C. Ely, the Episcopal Church’s bishop of Vermont, brought a message of community involvement to St. Peter’s Church on Sunday. (Bennington Banner, Vt.)
8. Crystal Cathedral enters new era | The stalwart Crystal Cathedral entered a new era of leadership Sunday when Robert A. Schuller succeeded his father, Robert H. Schuller, as senior pastor of the church. (Associated Press)
9. In birthplace of Baptist church, strains show among followers | First Baptist’s historic congregation planted the faith in America, where 30 million people now call themselves Baptist. But in the movement’s birthplace of Rhode Island, just over two percent of people are Baptist and some of its earliest churches have struggled to maintain their memberships. Meanwhile, Southern Baptist churches like Grace Harbor are the dominant face of the faith — which has evolved to become far more conservative than the church’s roots in liberal Rhode Island would suggest. (Associated Press)
10. Southern Baptist conservatives attack each other | After purging liberals from their ranks, Southern Baptist conservatives who won control of their denomination are taking aim at each other. The Rev. Wade Burleson, a Baptist leader from Oklahoma, says fellow conservatives who crusaded to elect only leaders who believe the Bible is literally true are carrying their campaign too far, targeting Southern Baptists who disagree with them on other issues. (The Washington Times)
11. Face to faith | If Anglicanism can learn to live in humility and grace with its differences, there may be hope for Christian unity, writes Martyn Percy (The Guardian, UK)
12. Parish unites to back priest and teacher’s love affair | The Galway scandal is not an isolated incident, says a rebel cleric who claims that hundreds of churchmen are involved in sexual relationships (The Guardian, UK)

• The presence of God | Within a Rogue River farm shed, the beauty of the temporary chapel of St. Innocent’s Russian Orthodox Church has brought some of those who enter to tears (Mail Tribune, Ore.)

Bishop gone for Easter:

1. Clerics back bishop taking Easter cruise | Senior clerics rallied behind the Bishop of London last night after it emerged that he plans to spend Easter on a luxury Mediterranean cruise rather than ministering to his flock at St Paul’s Cathedral. (The Guardian, UK)
2. The bishop will be away this Easter … | The Bishop of London is to abandon his pulpit in St Paul’s Cathedral at Easter in favour of a free cruise around the Mediterranean. (The Times, London)

Immigrant churches:

1. Koreans find new houses of worship | Korean automaker Hyundai did more than help the economy when it put a plant in Montgomery. It helped the Christian community. (Montgomery Advertiser)
2. Finding God in their adopted homeland | At churches across area, Central Americans develop a devotion they never had. (Washington Post)

Missions & ministry:

1. Evangelical missionaries in Morocco back in the limelight | The Marrakech police department has recently seized documents which confirm the existence of a secret evangelical group in the southern city, who has been trying to convert many Moroccans to Christianity (Morocco Times, Morocco)
2. In Sudan, faith guides their work | State missionaries offer aid for body, soul (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
3. Christians come together for unity week | This year’s observance, which began Wednesday, calls various denominations in a quest for common ground. (The Los Angeles Times)
4. A global ministry of ‘muscular Christianity’ | ‘Purpose Driven Life’ author taking on poverty, disease. (Washington Post)
5. Gathering of faith groups encourages unity | Regardless of someone’s birthplace or birthright, despite the difference in culture or creed, everyone must be welcome at the table, said the Right Rev. Jim Waggoner, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane. (The Spokesman Review)
6. Area Christians gather for unity prayer | Members of four Protestant and two Roman Catholic churches prayed in unison yesterday at Trinitarian Congregational Church in Wayland. (MetroWest Daily News, Ma.)
7. Bristol service offers prayers for Christian | The voices that rang Sunday evening at St. Anne Catholic Church were as varied as the beliefs they represented. (Bristol Herald Courier, Tenn.)

Theology:

1. Paul – saint or sinner? | The Catholic Church yesterday celebrated his conversion to Christianity. He takes centre-stage in a controversial new play at the National Theatre. Yet some condemn him as a homophobic, anti-Semitic misogynist. Paul Vallely reports on a man who has been stirring up trouble for 2,000 years. (The Independent, UK)
2. Christ resurrected as black revolutionary | He is not meek, he is not blond and he most definitely is not white. A new interpretation of the Bible has cast Jesus Christ as a revolutionary fighting oppression in contemporary Africa. (The Guardian, UK)
3. Davos devils stalk Buffett, Gates over the seven deadly sins | It’s shaping up to be one hell of a week in Davos, where the attendees, including 23 theologians and 15 heads of state, kick off the 35th annual powwow with an opening night supper panel that confronts the issue of Today’s Sinners and the Seven Deadly Sins. (Bloomberg)
4. Latest question in culture wars: What is truth? | “What is truth?” Pontius Pilate raised this famous biblical query when Jesus was on trial. (Associated Press)
5. Debate over childlessness rages anew | Does God care whether couples have kids? (Associated Press)
6. Do you really think God’s out to get us? | Now here are some strange bedfellows, friends: Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, TV preachers Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, and Billy Graham’s evangelist lad, Franklin. Orley Hood (Jackson Clarion Ledger, Miss.)

Spirituality:

1. How do non-Christians live in a country whose population is mostly Christians? | How do non-Christians deal with living in a country whose population is mostly Christians? (Knight Ridder Newspapers)
2. College students find hope in faith | College is often a time that challenges student`s morals and values. For support, some of them look to faith. (KFYR)
3. On common ground | Neighboring mosque, synagogue reach out to close cultural gap (The Boston Globe)
4. Om is where the hearth is | From personal mementos to a who’s who of gods, home altars provide personal moments of inspiration and serenity (Los Angeles Times)
5. Psalms seen as models for prayer | Rev. Roberts to teach seminar in Sylvania (Toledo Blade)
6. Displaced Christian conference finds site | A Christian conference that was disinvited from the Roman Catholic cathedral in Los Angeles because it was to feature a self-proclaimed mystic will be held Saturday at the Alex Theater in Glendale, organizers said. (Los Angeles Times)
7. Balancing faith challenge in workplace | The American workplace reflects a rich diversity of religious faith and observance, religious doubt and nonbelief among employees. For some, the role that religion plays in their life is not apparent at work. For others, it is — by necessity or by choice. (Pittsburg Business Times)

Interfaith:

1. ‘Emergent Jews’ consult evangelicals on staying relevant | Every time Rabbi Dov Gartenberg led the Shabbat service at Congregation Beth Shalom, he would see bored faces among the worshipers and wonder how long he could hold their interest. (Associated Press)
2. Prayers rose, a ceiling fell, and a rabbi’s hope endures | On Sunday afternoon, in an old Lower East Side synagogue whose threshold is inscribed with the Hebrew words for Gates of Heaven, the ceiling of heaven fell. After receiving the prayers and songs of generations, the thankful whispers and atoning mutters, the ceiling just collapsed, as if from exhaustion. (The New York Times)
3. Christian-Muslim forum launched | A forum promoting better understanding between Christians and Muslims is due to be launched by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams. (BBC)
4. Building hopes abroad as faiths unite | A Christian church is teaming up with a city mosque for a house-building mercy mission to an impoverished Asian country. (Edinburgh Evening News)

Books:

1. Book scrutinizes Pastor Jakes’ meteoric rise | T.D. Jakes’ famous pulpit refrain is “Get Ready!” But whether Bishop Jakes is ready for the first scholarly book about him is unclear. (WTOP, D.C.)
2. How the West won | Our culture rests on a religion that promoted reason from the start (Rodney Stark, The Dallas Morning News)
3. How she got her start in Fla. Fundamentalism | Author Christine Rosen, now a professor and nonreligious, fondly recalls a childhood of Sunshine State “exotica” and Christian education. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
4. Knights of Columbus | The Road to Sainthood? (Washington Post)
5. The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism and Western Success | Rodney Stark comes out swinging right from the bell in “The Victory of Reason,” his fiercely polemical account of the rise of capitalism. (International Herald Tribune)
6. ‘Christ the Lord’ follows Jesus’ path through childhood | Anne Rice, a born-again Roman Catholic, has departed from the environs of her earlier work to commit years to scholarship into the life of Christ, digesting not only the orthodox dogma but also apocryphal sources. (Flint Journal Review, Mich.)
7. C.S. Lewis’ life told in pictures | Breathtaking photographs accompany a well-written narrative about the life of the author of the “Narnia” books and other works. The book begins with his conversion from atheism to Christianity. (Charleston Post Courier)

Music:

1. Harvesting Korn | Dramatic changes push band into new sound, new label (Associated Press)
2. Get behind me Jesus | I don’t know why hipsters hate Jesus. I’m not here to explain how the guy behind the Sermon on the Mount turned into a symbol of our blue- and red-state divide, or to narrow down why it’s desperately unhip to admit you’re a Christian and then get on stage at a rock club. (Pitchfork)
3. Kanye’s new controversy | Controversial rap/hip-hop artist KANYE WEST is at it again. This time, the Grammy-nominated artist is gracing the cover of the new Rolling Stone — dressed as Jesus Christ (ETonline)
4. Christian rockers P.O.D. ready to ‘Testify’ | After tussling with Christian retailers over the cover of its last studio album, 2003’s “Payable on Death,” the hard rock band will try once again to appeal to its mainstream and Christian fans with its fourth full-length Atlantic effort, out January 24. (Reuters)

Film:

1. Lost in the credits | “Narnia” is a huge hit, so why isn’t Andrew Adamson better known? (Orlando Sentinel)
2. With only God left as a witness | In public relations terms, this is not the easiest time to have the words “Latter,” “Day” and “Saints” anywhere close together in your name. And the going may get rougher after the filmmaker Christopher Cain finishes his new movie about one of the darkest moments in Mormon history, the Mountain Meadows massacre of 1857, in which 137 pioneers from Arkansas were killed in Utah by a raiding party whose ties to the Mormon church are still in dispute. (The New York Times)
3. Coming to a screen nowhere near you | Inuit filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk has followed up his acclaimed debut, The Fast Runner, with an epic tragedy about the clash between the nomadic world and Christianity. Residents of Igloolik, his hometown, will get the first peek (Globe and Mail, Canada)
4. Film being made here focuses on Christian market | With the phenomenal success of films like “The Passion of The Christ”, more and more movie makers are focusing on the Christian market. One of those films is being shot Tuesday night in the Heights. (KHOU, Texas)

End of the Spear:

1. In film, missionaries define role turning evil into good | Sylvia Jefferies had never played a missionary before. Not that missionary was that big of a stretch, though. Jefferies attends Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in West Ashley, she graduated from Bishop England High School and her mother now spends much of her time on medical mission trips in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. (Charleston Post Courier)
2. From a massacre of missionaries in Ecuador comes a film about forgiveness | When Christian missionary Nate Saint was speared to death by tribesmen in the wilds of Ecuador, his sister retraced his steps into the jungle with a message for his killers: Love. (Sun-Sentinel, Fla.)
3. Brother shares message of forgiveness | Movie depicts legacy of five slain missionaries (The Tennessean)
4. Christian movie is No. 8 on opening weekend | More than industry expected, but less than producer hoped (San Francisco Chronicle)
5. Film tells missionaries’ story of martyrdom, forgiveness | Far from home, five American missionaries died in brutal fashion: speared and hacked to death by tribesmen in the dense jungles of Ecuador. (Washington Post)
6. Triumph from tragedy | Five missionaries’ murders were not the end of the story. (David M. Howard Jr., Wall Street Journal)

Da Vinci Code movie:

1. The coming storm over the ‘Da Vinci’ movie | We’re going to have ourselves a devil of a culture war this spring over the film version of “The Da Vinci Code” – perhaps the worst written book ever so widely read. I predict the battle lines will be different than anyone expects. (Mark Alan Hughes, Philadelphia Daily News)
2. ‘Da Vinci’ set to open Cannes fest | Ron Howard’s “The Da Vinci Code” will open the 59th Cannes Film Festival on May 17, two days before the film is released worldwide. (Hollywood Reporter)
3. Da Vinci movie will open Cannes | The Da Vinci Code movie will open this year’s Cannes film festival, two days before it is released worldwide. (BBC)
4. Catholic group: ‘Da Vinci’ not for kids | The Roman Catholic organization Opus Dei wants children “protected” from seeing director Ron Howard’s film “The Da Vinci Code.” (UPI)

TV:

1. In TV’s classics, God does cameos | My family doesn’t watch much television. No reality shows, no sitcoms, no “buzz” programs. It’s not a hard-and-fast rule. It’s just that not much on television grabs us. But my wife and I do love to expose our kids to to the “classic” shows available on such cable channels as TV Land. We loved the shows as kids, and our kids, ages 12 and 9, seem to appreciate them too. We’ve all noticed something common to several of these classic shows: They acknowledge God. (Chris Epting, The Los Angeles Times)
2. Family values on Fox | People devote untold hours to worrying about the sexual orientation of cartoon characters, but nobody seems disturbed that more than 30 million American households watch a “family” show that picks out hapless, and frequently helpless, contestants solely for famous and powerful judges to make fun of them on national television. (The New York Times)
3. NBC scraps show pairing pill-popping priest, Jesus | A new television show about a pill-popping priest who talks to Jesus has been pulled from the NBC schedule for igniting little faith from viewers after just three weeks on the air, network sources said on Tuesday. (Reuters)
4. NBC drops ‘Book of Daniel’ from schedule | The last chapter of the controversial religious drama “The Book of Daniel” has been written at NBC. Although the network stopped short of saying the low-rated show was canceled, a spokeswoman said Tuesday it has been dropped from the schedule. (Associated Press)
5. Shall we open ‘Book of Daniel’? | Controversial show couldn’t be less like famed Bible story (The Huntsville Times, Ala.)
6. Nashville station pulls plug on ‘Book of Daniel’ after complaints | Several television stations in the Bible Belt, including the Nashville NBC affiliate, recently gave the boot to “The Book of Daniel,” a controversial new NBC prime-time program touted as a “provocative” drama. (Jackson Sun, Tenn.)

People:

1. President of Mormon Church hospitalized | The 95-year-old president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints underwent surgery at a Salt Lake City hospital to remove a cancerous portion of his colon, church officials said. (Associated Press)
2. Episcopalians seek sainthood for Marshall | Episcopalians from a church where the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall worshipped are asking their denomination to name him a saint. (Associated Press)
3. Terri Schiavo’s husband remarries | Michael Schiavo, whose brain-damaged wife was at the center of a contentious end-of-life battle that played out on a worldwide media stage, has remarried, family members said. (Associated Press)
4. Brother of man who shot pope protests | The man who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981 was back in an Istanbul prison Saturday, and his brother demonstrated outside to accuse judicial authorities of bowing to government pressure. (Associated Press)
5. Pope gunman jailed ‘until 2010’ | The gunman who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981 will remain in jail until 2010, Turkish prosecutors quoted by the state-owned Anatolia news agency say. (BBC)
6. The Very Rev Professor John McIntyre | John McIntyre was one of the most distinguished Scottish theologians and churchmen of his generation. For 30 years, from 1956 until 1986, he was Professor of Divinity at Edinburgh University, acting as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1982. (The Independent, UK)
7. Through it all, he bore his cross | It all happened during the more than 3½ years that Fort Wright, Ky., resident Ken Neuhaus carried an 8-foot cross through 54 Northern Kentucky and southwestern Ohio cities. But more important for Neuhaus, his walks reminded people of Jesus Christ, the original cross-walker. (Cincinnati Post)
8. Christian author mixes spirituality, reason in speech | Saturday night La Croix United Methodist Church played host to Zacharias for the first of three speaking engagements over two days. A near capacity crowd filled the church’s 940 seats to hear his message. (Southeast Missourian)

Pat Robertson:

1. Pat Robertson and revelation | Recent headlines reported that Pat Robertson apologized for suggesting that the stroke that struck down Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was divine punishmentfor Israel’s pulling out of the Gaza Strip. It wasn’t much of an apology. (Editorial, Star-Telegram)
2. Speech to NRB session canceled | The Rev. Pat Robertson has canceled a speech scheduled for next month at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Dallas after NRB officials expressed doubts about the effect his appearance might have. (The Washington Times)
3. The price of being accepted by the world | At one level, Israelis’ angry reaction to the Rev. Pat Robertson’s suggestion that the stroke which felled Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was Divine retribution for the Gaza withdrawal is completely understandable. But to Jewish ears, the attempt to offer a Divine calculus for tragedy also sounded strange. According to our sages, when Moses asked God to reveal His ways, God replied that no man may know His ways and live. (Mendel Zilberberg, Jerusalem Post)

Haiti priest jailed; fears for life:

1. Haiti priest to remain jailed; fears for his life | A jailed Haitian priest and former adviser to ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide says he was cleared of murder but indicted on weapons charges in a bid to keep him in prison and out of politics. (Reuters)
2. Haiti judge drops charges against priest | A judge dropped charges against a politically influential Catholic priest in the death of a journalist, but indicted him on two lesser counts, the cleric’s lawyer said Friday. (Associated Press)

John Geoghan:

1. Inmate says arrogant Geoghan angered him | The inmate who strangled child-molesting priest John Geoghan behind bars testified Monday that he resolved to kill the clergyman after Geoghan arrogantly brushed off criticism that he had “destroyed all kinds of lives.” (Associated Press)
2. Deliberations in slain priest case begins | The fate of an inmate charged with the jailhouse strangling of John Geoghan, the child-molesting priest at the center of Boston’s Roman Catholic sex scandal, now rests with the jury. (Associated Press)
3. Inmate accused in Geoghan slaying tells of abuse | Contends trauma led to uncontrollable rage (Associated Press)
4. Former priest’s alleged killer testifies | The inmate accused of killing pedophile priest John Geoghan took the witness stand Friday, describing years of childhood sexual and physical abuse that his attorneys said helped drive an uncontrollable rage that led to the slaying. (Associated Press)

Abuse:

1. Victim testifies at priest’s trial | ‘I feel disgusted,’ the ex-altar boy said. Michael Edwin Wempe, who admitted molesting 13 boys, is charged with abusing another at a hospital. (Los Angeles Times)
2. Priest accused of sexual abuse gets probation | A retired priest accused of molesting an Eagle Rock youth pleaded no contest Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. (Los Angeles Times)
3. Priest victim keeps tabs on molester | A woman abused by a Catholic priest wants to keep him from returning to Illinois when he is released from a Maryland jail. (UPI)
4. Ex-priest’s trial marks new offensive | Michael Wempe’s attorney doesn’t deny his client was a child molester in the 1970s and ’80s, but he insists the once-revered priest never committed the alleged crime for which he is going on trial — molesting a boy in the 1990s. (Associated Press)
5. Bail set at $800,000 for former priest | Michael Stephen Baker, a former Catholic priest in the Los Angeles Archdiocese, appeared in court Monday and was ordered held on $800,000 bail on charges that he molested a boy in the 1990s. (Los Angeles Times)

Crime:

1. Jan. 27 marks decade since attacks on nuns at convent | A January downpour a decade ago washed away the snow in this central Maine city but time has yet to erase the memories of the brutal attack that Saturday night at a Roman Catholic convent that shocked the nation. (Associated Press)
2. Priest who saved porn stars’ souls held over rape of nuns | A priest whose devotion to saving the souls of prostitutes and porn stars has earned him celebrity status in Italy has been arrested on charges of sexual violence and group rape. (The Australian)
3. Priest raped us in an orgy, says nun | A priest whose devotion to saving the souls of prostitutes and porn stars has earned him celebrity status in Italy has been arrested on charges of sexual violence and group rape. (Times, London)
4. Priest taken to court for saying Jesus existed | Lawyers for a small-town parish priest have been ordered to appear in court this week after the Roman Catholic cleric was accused of unlawfully asserting what many people take for granted: that Jesus Christ existed. (Associated Press)
5. Vandals strike Kingston church | Brazilian service said to be target (Boston Globe)

History:

1. Bible’s history tied to advancement of written word | Exhibit at Florida International Museum (Associated Press)
2. Church may force move of Israeli prison | Israel’s Antiquities Authority has recommended moving Megiddo Prison because the remains of an ancient Christian church have been found on the grounds. (UPI)
3. Oldest Christian chapel in Holy Land may cause prison relocation | In an unprecedented move, Israel’s top archaeological body is recommending that the Megiddo Prison be relocated due to the recent discovery of the most ancient Christian place of worship ever found in Israel on the grounds of the prison. (Jerusalem Post)
4. Remains of Henry VIII’s wedding chapel dug up | Remains of the chapel that stood on the site where Henry VIII married the first and fourth of his six wives have been unearthed in Greenwich. (Times, London)
5. Henry VII’s chapel found at Greenwich | As muddy holes go, they don’t get much more romantic. Beneath four feet of heavy south London clay, archaeologists have uncovered the remains of Henry VII’s lost chapel at Greenwich. (Telegraph, UK)

Jerry Springer Opera:

1. BNP members join Christians to halt ‘Jerry’ | The protest group Christian Voice is being helped by members of the BNP in its campaign against Jerry Springer The Opera, which begins its national tour at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth on Friday. (The Guardian, UK)
2. Springer tour faces new protests | Theatres across the UK are preparing for protests as the national tour of controversial stage show Jerry Springer – The Opera begins this week.(BBC)

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