Buzz Says Anglican Primates Won't Expel Episcopal Church USA

Talk says “consensus,” but announcement won’t come until later todayJournalists aren’t being allowed in the London meeting of worldwide Anglican leaders. Neither are any other outsiders. Still, a few of the Anglican leaders (called primates) have talked about what’s going on. Ireland’s Robin Eames addressed British media outside Lambeth Palace, while Australia’s Peter Carnley talked exclusively to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. They both talked about how each primate was given several minutes yesterday to give an opening statement. Today is the day to come to a consensus action.

That action, says the buzz and analysis of what little has come forth so far, won’t include booting the Episcopal Church USA out of the Anglican Communion, as some orthodox Episcopalians had hoped. The church may still be censured in some form.

But so far, all of this is rumor, conjecture, and speculation—and the tea leaves would certainly be read differently if the primates speaking had been conservatives from Global South rather than liberals from the West. (If you’re into the speculation, though, be sure to check out comments from David Virtue and Christopher Johnson.) The official announcement will come around 9 p.m. GMT today (about 4 p.m. Eastern). Stay tuned. In the meantime, here’s the latest from the mainstream press:

Anglican woes:

Anglicans hopeful that summit has prevented split | One insider said that the conservatives no longer had majority support for their demand that the liberal American Episcopal Church be expelled for appointing Anglicanism’s first openly homosexual bishop (The Daily Telegraph, London)
Anglican leaders work to avoid a split over gay U.S. bishop | Moving toward consensus (The New York Times)
Anglicans seek unity, contend on sexual issues | Upcoming consecration of openly gay bishop has conservatives asking for U.S. church’s expulsion (Los Angeles Times)
Hopes high for Church summit | Anglican church leaders are to conclude their crisis meeting amid hopes an agreement will emerge to avoid a schism over the issue of homosexuality (BBC)
Church leaders in dire debate | Sources close to the church said the 37 primates attending the summit at the 12th-century Lambeth Palace in London were split over the Robinson appointment, with 20 primates opposed to it and 17 accepting it (The Washington Times)
African Christians and gay rights | While many African Christians are opposed to gay rights, many are not. They worry about other, more pressing, issues (Gustav Niebuhr, Beliefnet)
World Anglicans debate over gay clergy | After seven hours of discussion Wednesday, Archbishop Robin Eames, head of the Church of Ireland, emerged to tell reporters that he still wasn’t sure how the issue would be resolved (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Amid talk of rift, Anglicans meet | Leaders hope to prevent split over gay bishop (The Boston Globe)
Gay issue shakes Episcopalians | While primates of the worldwide Anglican Communion meet today in London, Southwest Florida Episcopalians debate whether to redirect financial support for their national church (The News-Press, Fort Meyers, Fla.)
Anglicans try to bridge gay divide | A few primates speak (CNN)
Alabama Episcopalians await decision | Many expect a condemnation of the U.S. Episcopal Church, led by African, Asian and Latin American Anglican archbishops who view homosexual behavior as a sin (The Birmingham News, Ala.)
Defender of the faith | Why all Anglican eyes in London are nervously fixed on a powerful African archbishop (Philip Jenkins, The Atlantic Monthly)
Hardline preaching greets crisis summit on gay clergy | Protesters gather outside Lambeth Palace (The Independent, London)
Protests on streets over gay priest | As the talks began, various groups attempted to sway opinion among the primates (Evening Standard, London)
A protest for the orthodox faith | Last week’s remarkable gathering of Episcopalians in Dallas was unlike anything I have seen in more than 10 years as a bishop (Jack Iker, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
Canadian clerics want U.S. groups to ‘stay home’ | Anglican archbishops angered by interference in same-sex debate (Vancouver Sun)
Nigerians protest gay priests, bishops | Nigeria’s Anglican Church held a day of fasting and prayers Monday (Associated Press)
Anglican Church renounces ordination of gays | The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has renounced in its entirety the declaration by some dioceses in Canada, the United Kingdom and America to ordain and recognise the gays within the priesthood as well as accept homosexuals for marriages, describing the move as not only madness but satanic (This Day, Lagos, Nigeria)
Anglican Church risks fracture over calls for change | Role of gays among issues on agenda for pivotal meeting (The Dallas Morning News)
Head to head: Gay church debate | Two Anglicans face off (BBC)

Other Anglican issues:

Melbourne synod votes to ordain women bishops | The Melbourne synod was expected to await approval of the motion at the national synod next October—a motion the powerful and conservative Sydney diocese is expected to vehemently oppose (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Western Oregon’s Episcopalians have a new leader | The Rt. Rev. Johncy Itty: Bishop will offer guidance to church ‘family’ (The Oregonian)

Global Christianity:

Faith fades where it once burned strong | In much of Europe the ties of Christianity no longer bind the way they once did — and often seem not to bind at all (The New York Times)
Where faith grows, fired by Pentecostalism | Growth in the developing world is changing the Christian faith and other religions in a competition for souls (The New York Times)
Embracing world to save souls now | Assemblies of God members overseas outnumber adherents in U.S. (News-Leader, Springfield, Mo.)

Homosexuality and the church:

Gay couple ejected from Catholic choir | Two gay men from Yonkers who married in Canada two weeks ago have been removed from the choir at a Catholic church in the Bronx after their wedding received broad publicity (The Journal News, Westchester, N.Y.)
Also: Bronx Catholic parish insists wedded gays leave choir (The New York Times)
Earlier: Defining Marriage | Conservatives advocate amendment to preserve traditional matrimony (Christianity Today, Oct. 1, 2001)
Makiki church leaders oust gay pastor | Internal politics and his public activism led to the move, says the Rev. Vaughn Beckman (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
Gay clergy row steels ‘no’ resolve | The Presbyterian Church of Victoria has taken a strong stand against homosexuality and expressed its “deepest regret” that other denominations have approved gay ordination (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
Taking a different path | Princeton United Church of Christ congregation forms own, more accepting church (Peoria Journal Star, Ill.)
Gay Catholics struggle to maintain faith in church | It’s not easy being both gay and Catholic lately (The Boston Globe)

Church life:

Irreverent tones | Nothing rankles clergy like ringing phones (The Dallas Morning News)
Church sues Warrenton over steeple ruling | Recent Town Council decision prevents the church from replacing its damaged,130-year-old wooden steeple with a less expensive fiberglass replica (The Washington Post)
A place to worship, no place to park | Near new convention center, congregants driving from suburbs compete for fewer spaces (The Washington Post)
As famous for the food as for the sermons | The cafeteria at the United House of Prayer for All People, a Pentecostal church at 125th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, has been a well-kept secret for a long time (The New York Times)
Move part of church, panel says | A city commission recommends relocating the facade of the 80-year-old Armenian Evangelical Church, which critics contend stands in the way of downtown Fresno development (The Fresno Bee)
A church brings a community together | 116-year-old nondenominational church in New Brunswick is kept up by those who appreciate its past (The Christian Science Monitor)
How could a vicar do this to our graveyard? | Vicar said he uprooted the memorials and laid them on the ground after the Church in Wales instructed clergy to make cemeteries safer (Daily Post, Wales)
Kirk enters the modern world | It might have John Knox turning in his grave, but 443 years on from the Reformation, the Church of Scotland is about to choose the first female moderator in its history (Edinburgh Evening News)
Also: Stained glass ceiling is shattered | Some critics, though, are unhappy about a process which they feel has been primed to provide a woman moderator (The Herald, Glasgow)

Persecution:

Crisis of Christianity | After a lull, there appears to be a renewed attack on the Christian community from various sections (Editorial, The Times of India)
Colombo urged to act on church attacks | The National Peace Council, a Sri Lankan peace group called on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government Monday to investigate and prevent recent attacks on Christian churches (TamilNet, Sri Lanka)
Residents flee after deadly attack in eastern Indonesia | “Some wanted to flee but security authorities have assured them that they will be protected. Some of them left anyway,” Poso deputy police chief Rudy Trenggono told AFP (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
Many flee after attacks on Indonesian Christians | Officials in Poso said that they were also investigating reports of a bomb blast in a nearby village but that there were no reports of casualties or damage (Reuters)

India missionary murder

Indian appeals against death for missionary murder | Dara Singh says evidence against him was weak (Reuters)
Australian missionary’s killer appeals death penalty | Cites “bias” (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
The Staines case verdict | Some of the observations of the court on the motive of the crime are disappointing (V. Venkatesan, Frontline, India)

Politics and law:

Bishops advise Catholic voters | Catholics need to take the moral absolutes of their religion seriously when they enter the voting booth, says a document prepared for release today by U.S. Catholic bishops (The Washington Times)
Also: Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)
Religious right in America prepares for battle | Evangelical Christians, especially in the Bible Belt states in the Deep South, are flexing political muscle in a bid to stamp their imprimatur on issues that they perceive have been trampled on or ignored by the courts, legislatures and media (Reuters)
How prayers poll | Debunking myths about the religious right (Steven Waldman, Slate)
Washington state Republicans distancing themselves from religious right | Though Republican leaders say they are eager to keep Christian conservative voters in the fold, they are working hard to make sure another candidate like Ellen Craswell does not rise up (Seattle Times)
Congressman’s bill backs meal prayers at academies | Annapolis is the only federal academy where a chaplain leads grace before a meal with mandatory attendance (Associated Press)
Mission files suit to stop investigation | Investigators looking into allegations that Mission pressed Christian beliefs (The Herald-Dispatch, Huntington, W.V.)
Pat Robertson addresses State Department controversy | We’re not going to nuke it, we’re going to gut it (CBN News)
Minnesota churches seek to overturn concealed-carry law | Group contends handgun statute infringes on religious freedoms guaranteed in state, federal constitutions (Associated Press)
Senate blocks genetic discrimination | Lawmakers vote 95 to 0 to prohibit companies from using such test data in job and health coverage decisions, or in assessing premiums (Los Angeles Times)
Also: Senate backs genetic privacy bill | The Senate passed a bill aimed at barring companies from using genetic information to deny health coverage or employment (The New York Times)
Also: Senate sends genetic bias bill to House (Associated Press)
Also: Senate passes genetic nondiscrimination bill (Reuters)

Pledge of Allegiance:

High court to consider pledge in schools | Scalia recuses himself from California case (The Washington Post)
Court to rule on Pledge’s ‘under God’ | Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist released the order accepting that case for review just seconds after the court marshal opened the session with the routine declaration, “God save the United States and this honorable court.” (The Washington Times)
Supreme Court to consider case on ‘under God’ in pledge to flag | The court will hear a case that, like recent affirmative action and gay rights cases, puts it at the center of a controversy (The New York Times)
High court to decide school’s pledge case | Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia has withdrawn from the issue, but the remaining jurists will ponder the meaning of ‘under God’ (Los Angeles Times)
U.S. Supreme Court to hear pledge of allegiance case | Many Court experts had predicted that the Court would summarily reverse the ruling (Legal Times)
Justice Scalia to stay out of pledge case | Scalia did not explain why he will not take part in the most watched case of the term (Associated Press)
Flag pledge to high court | Justices to decide whether ‘under God’ is constitutional (San Jose Mercury News, Calif.)
One nation under justices | The key to affirming the pledge and other such ritualized invocations without disrupting the larger relationship between church and state is for the court to focus on the nondevotional, patriotic context in which the words appear (Editorial, The Washington Post)
Court must buck political pressure in pledge case | It would be wrong to uphold the ‘under God’ clause. It clearly is unconstitutional (Erwin Chemerinsky, Los Angeles Times)
‘Under God’ has a place in our pledge | America’s most powerful judges have decided to give God His day in court (Editorial, The Spectrum, Utah)
Local students recite pledge daily | After 9/11 law mandating recitation in elementary schools was extended to high schools (The Southern Illinoisan)
Pledge of Allegiance revisions | A history (Associated Press)

Ten Commandments:

Intolerance chiseled in stone hits city hard | Casper, Wyo., faces the prospect of having to allow a monument that condemns gay murder victim Matthew Shepard (Los Angeles Times)
Ten Commandments lawyers lose pay bid | “It takes more time and effort to stalk beasts in the backwoods than it does to shoot fish in a barrel. … [For this appeal] not much stalking by plaintiffs’ counsel was required,” the court said in the 2-1 opinion that reads like an ad for Ms. Kahn’s legal talents (The Washington Times)
Christian Coalition hands out Ten Commandments to officials | Framed copies of the Ten Commandments now adorn the offices of several state officials thanks to an effort by the Christian Coalition of Ohio (Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, Pa.)
Houston keeps cool on court hot seat | In less than two months as Alabama’s acting chief justice, Gorman Houston has experienced death threats, been forced to enact record budget cuts and had his morality questioned by strangers (Associated Press)

Gay marriage:

Marriage issue rises in public debate | Conservative and religious groups across the country are campaigning to promote traditional marriage this week, but a California church group has fired back with “Marriage Equality Week,” promoting same-sex “marriage” (The Washington Times)
Survivor in gay union appeals denial of benefits to boy | The two women were not legally married, as New Jersey law does not allow same-sex marriages, and “survivor” was not biological mother (The New York Times)
The marriage buffet | When it comes to commitment, a lot of options is not a good thing. (David Frum, The Wall Street Journal)
A commitment clear as glass | What seems to me so rich about America—this great, open, changing, diverse society—is what frightens and sometimes angers others. They see an assault on family values. We see family. Our family. Our values (Ellen Goodman, The Boston Globe)

AIDS:

Cardinal insists condoms unsafe against AIDS | “Relying on condoms is like betting on your own death,” Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, the president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family, said (Reuters)
Misguided faith on AIDS | Increasingly, the Bush administration makes life or death decisions about sex-related initiatives abroad based on what appeals to conservatives at home (Editorial, The New York Times)

Missions & ministry:

Fijians say sorry to eaten Briton’s family | The family of an English missionary who was eaten by Fijian tribes people 136 years ago are to receive an apology (BBC)
Also: Sorry, we ate your missionary | An apology is to be made by villagers in Fiji 136 years after their ancestors killed and ate a British missionary (The Guardian, London)
School may close Chicago homeless mission | The Pacific Garden Mission has been home to legendary evangelists like Billy Sunday, a famous weekly radio drama and thousands of homeless men who are offered a meal, a bed and a prayer (Associated Press)
Earlier: Trouble in the Garden | Historic Chicago homeless shelter is under siege by City Hall (Christianity Today, July 28)
A lifelong road to missions | Tragedy led Fory Vanden Einde to a stronger faith and an RV ministry building churches across the country (News-Leader, Springfield, Mo.)
No room in the budget for prison chaplains | State aims to save $1.3 million by cutting posts, but some doubt volunteers can take up spiritual slack (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Baseball:

Let there be baseball – but which side is God’s? | Fervent and faithful, baseball fans and theologians duke it out over Almighty picks in the playoffs (The Christian Science Monitor)
The faith of baseball fans | Baseball and religion have much more in common than you might think (Kristen Campbell, Mobile Register, Ala.)
A rivalry of divine proportions | Religious leaders catch the spirit (The Boston Globe)

Television:

Are you there, God? | Where’s the religion in Joan of Arcadia? (Slate)
The rise of Daystar | Marcus and Joni Lamb have built a Christian TV empire. Now they’re feeling the pressures of success (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
A show of faith | Despite criticism, the TV network is confident in its evangelists (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
Glare of TV lights forces country vicar to quit post | Young priest found it difficult to cope as thousands of viewers turned to him for help (The Daily Telegraph, London)
Archbishop meets BBC over ‘bias’ | The Roman Catholic archbishop of Birmingham, who has accused the BBC of anti-Catholic bias, has held talks with a senior BBC executive (BBC)
KOCE group wins right to buy | Trustees vote to negotiate a sale with a foundation dedicated to keeping the Orange County television station public (Los Angeles Times)
Earlier: 2 drop bids for TV station KOCE | Trinity Broadcasting Network and another Christian organization pull out of the contest. Decision on whether to sell is due Wednesday (Los Angeles Times)
Also: KOCE group makes top bid | Two religious broadcasters still in running (Los Angeles Times)

The Passion:

Internet trailers ignite Gibson’s ‘Passion’ | Icon says an official trailer for consumers is due out “by the holidays” (Reuters)
Here’s good news: Gospel accounts are reliable | To assert that the Gospels contradict one another in the essential details of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is unfounded (Michael Dean, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram)

Music:

Christian rockers reunite for U.S. tour | Stryper reunites—again (The Toledo Blade, Oh.)
Crowd flocks to Fort Lauderdale for religious hip-hop concert | Gospel and hip-hop: It’s an idea whose time has come—in a big way (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
Hip-hop musician glorifies Jesus | 28-year-old coach has a positive message for youths (South Bend Tribune, Ind.)
Praise be, gospel music awards set here | Stellar Awards—gospel music’s equivalent of the Grammys—will take place at the convention center Jan. 10 following a week of community events, including a gospel version of Star Search (Houston Chronicle)

Art:

Washout for Rio Christ plans | Freak weather has thwarted plans to give the world-famous statue of Christ in Brazil a unique color change (BBC)
Earlier: Artist to bathe Rio statue in blue light (Associated Press)
Unholier than thou | It is impossible, runs the prevailing orthodoxy, for artistic freedom to coexist with religious piety. And yet music’s great modernists have been deep believers (James MacMillan, The Guardian, London)

Books:

Writer alters landscape of Christian fiction | A coauthor of bestsellers hopes to reach an even wider audience with his first solo effort (Los Angeles Times)
Putting their faith into words | Christian authors to share experiences (The Washington Post)
Scholar’s book sees schism in Gospels | In recent years, books such as Elaine Pagels’ have brought more information about the diversity of early Christianity to the public (The Miami Herald)

Church bus crash:

A crash takes toll on Texas church | Most of the eight victims belonged to First Baptist in Eldorado. They were its ‘backbone,’ a minister says (Los Angeles Times)
Six killed as church bus hits truck in La. | The bus driver survived the wreck and told investigators he may have fallen asleep at the wheel (Associated Press)
Church bus accident leaves 8 dead | The senior citizens from Texas were in Louisiana as part of an annual tour. The driver might have fallen asleep (Los Angeles Times)
Church mourns loss of seniors to crash | They were among the spiritual leaders of their church and the elders of their tiny West Texas town (Associated Press)

Crime:

Terrorists can have serious moral goals, says Williams | He said that while terrorism must always be condemned, it was wrong to assume its perpetrators were devoid of political rationality (The Daily Telegraph, London)
Church buries pastor slain in murder-suicide | ‘Now … he is upstairs’ (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Also: Thousands attend Ga. minister’s funeral (Associated Press)
Also: Mother, daughter laid to rest (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Priest robbed in Baltimore church | A man held a gun to the head of a church secretary and forced a Roman Catholic priest to hand over nearly $8,000 in Sunday collections (Associated Press)
Kind Christians find good deed turns to debt | Christian supporters and associates of a Queensland charity appear to have meekly lost more than $5 million over the past four years through risky offshore investment schemes, including a Nigerian advance-fee fraud (The Courier-Mail, Queensland, Australia)
Ex-priest jailed for child porn | Paul McDaid was arrested last year during a nationwide crackdown on internet porn by Irish police (BBC, video)

Abuse:

Vatican official: U.S. Catholic sex scandal was overstated | “There are thieves in every country, but it’s hard to say that everyone is a thief,” Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano told Reuters in an interview (Reuters)
Ky. Catholic diocese settles 27 cases | In two agreements announced Saturday, the payouts were $4,415,000 to 24 people and $750,000 to three others (Associated Press)
Abuse protesters anger many | A group opposing honors for Msgr. Lawrence J. Baird draws opposition. He is ‘one of the good guys,’ says a supporter (Los Angeles Times)
Archbishop admits Church errors | A leading archbishop has said the Roman Catholic Church in Britain still has a lot to learn about dealing with allegations of child sex abuse (BBC)
Outspoken victim of abuse by priest kills himself | There was no note left, and family and friends of James Thomas Kelly said that they did not know why he might have killed himself (The New York Times)
Suit levels new charges against priest | Suit joins more than two dozen molestation-related cases filed against the Orange diocese that will be the subject of intense negotiations beginning next month (Los Angeles Times)
Conn. diocese will pay to settle claims | The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport will pay millions of dollars to settle more than 30 claims of sexual abuse against priests, a church spokesman said (Associated Press)

Feast of Tabernacles:

At Christian Feast of Tabernacles, evangelicals support Israel | At a time when most tourists and pilgrims continue to avoid Israel due to the ongoing violence between Palestinians and Israelis, more than 3,000 evangelical Christians from 80 countries are expected to arrive in Jerusalem this week for the 24th annual Christian Feast of Tabernacles. They will be joined by 3,000 local Christians and non-Christians (Religious News Service)
Christians’ Sukkot visit is morale booster for Israel | An estimated 4,000 Christians from some 70 nations, including approximately 1,000 local participants, gathered in Jerusalem this week for the annual Feast of Tabernacles Celebration, organized by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (Israel Insider)

Interfaith relations:

Racial vilification test case held | A seminar run by an evangelical Christian movement racially vilified Muslims by describing them as terrorists and rapists, a Melbourne tribunal heard today (The Australian)
Egyptian monks help Muslims banish demons | Muslims and Christians gathered in the underground chamber have come to a festival in honour of a Christian saint to seek his help in banishing demons they believe are afflicting their relatives (Daily Times, Pakistan)
The house that three faiths rebuilt | Here is something unusual, and possibly unique: a single structure that has offered sanctuary to Christians, Jews and Muslims (The Newark Star-Ledger, N.J.)

Islam:

World silence over slain Muslims | The elevation of the Israel-Palestinian issue above all others has several deleterious effects (Paul Marshall, The Boston Globe)
Ministering to the enemy | A writer who met Capt. James J. Yee at Guantánamo this spring wonders if the atmosphere there is bound to turn chaplains and translators into turncoats (Ted Conover, The New York Times Magazine)
Also: U.S. seeks new source of Muslim chaplains | The three Islamic organizations that recommend Muslim chaplains for the armed forces and federal prisons will no longer have that job to themselves (Associated Press)
Bush to meet moderate Muslim leaders | Risky stop on the island of Bali is designed to symbolize Bush’s determination to keep pursuing terrorists (The Washington Post)

Nobel Peace Prize:

A Nobel opportunity missed | With all respect to Shirin Ebadi, the inspiring Iranian defender of women’s rights, the failure to give it to Pope John Paul II this year may eventually reflect badly not on the pope but on the prize (Peter Steinfels, The New York Times)
Bigger than the Nobel | I like to think the members of the committee understood the central truth, that they could not give the prize to John Paul. He is too big and complex for their award. The project he is engaged in — still engaged in — defies their categories (David Brooks, The New York Times)
Nobel Peace Prize and piety | A Muslim woman leads Iran to a ‘reformed’ Islam (Editorial, The Christian Science Monitor)
Prize worthy | The Nobel committee’s selection of Ms. Ebadi was inspired (Editorial, The Washington Post)
Nobels with a message | Between the lines of the Nobel announcement was an implicit argument that human rights activists such as Ebadi represent a better way to change repressive regimes than the U.S. soldiers now hunkered down in Iraq (David Ignatius, The Washington Post)

Pope John Paul II:

Pope John Paul II marks 25 tumultuous years | The pontiff’s role in shaping events is unrivaled by any cleric in modern history. Aides say he now wants to use his illness as inspiration (Los Angeles Times)
A quarter century of John Paul II | Even as they pack sports stadiums by the tens of thousands to see him, Americans are unwilling to obey him (Newsday)
In poll, Pope lauded, views are questioned | U.S. Roman Catholics overwhelmingly approve of the job he has done, even though most fault his handling of sexual abuse by priests, feel the church is out of touch with their views and hope the next pope will bring change (The Washington Post)
Pope loses approval | 50 percent say he should step down (USA Today)
For Pope, a milestone on road of epic events | Whether Pope John Paul II’s papacy is judged by durability or drama, his reign has been a remarkable one (The New York Times)
Pope begins silver jubilee as leader of Catholics | Only three other popes in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church have served for 25 years or longer (The Washington Times)
Non-Catholics express respect for pontiff | The Latin root of the word pontiff means “bridge builder,” which is what Pope John Paul II has tried to do with people of other religions and Christian denominations (The Shreveport Times, La.)
Pope John Paul II marks 25th anniversary | John Paul has continued to defy skeptics by pressing on, insisting on keeping up with his taxing schedule despite his inability to walk or even stand (Associated Press)
Poles honor Pope’s 25 years of leadership | Church leaders, former schoolmates and other well-wishers credited the former Karol Wojtyla with bringing hope to an oppressed Poland with his election to the papacy in Oct. 16, 1978 (Associated Press)
John Paul II: 25 years as Pope | From the beginning Pope John Paul II has been different (CBS News Sunday Morning)
Pope gives thanks for 25-year pontificate | Asked for continued help from God and young people to carry on (Associated Press)
A defining point in uncertain times | Pope John Paul II is the pivotal figure of our era, a point of extreme certainty around which our times have revolved (Stephen V. Sundborg, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Cardinals discuss Pope’s speech woes | Cardinals and Vatican officials have grown more willing to talk about what to do if he becomes incapacitated — although they stressed Tuesday that he is still able to do his work and shows no sign of resigning (Associated Press)
Also: Pope won’t resign, senior cardinal and friend say | John Paul II wants to run the Roman Catholic Church until his dying day (Reuters)
As Pope’s health declines, his inner circle tightens | There has been chatter around the Vatican that there may be a new secretary of state, a man who ranks second only to the pope (The New York Times)
Only God can know pope’s future | As the Catholic world prepares to celebrate John Paul II’s 25 years as pope, his age and increasing infirmity bring growing uncertainty (The Dallas Morning News)
A giant among popes | A new style, healing rift with Jews among accomplishments (Newsday)
Highlights of Pope John Paul II’s papacy (Associated Press)

Mother Teresa’s sainthood:

The fast track to sainthood | How this diminutive nun got beatified a record seven years after her death (Newsweek)
In Rome, a passion for Mother Teresa | City anticipates nun’s beatification Sunday with exhibits—and a musical (The Washington Post)
Confirming miracles is art and science | To judge the works of candidates for sainthood, doctors are enlisted to recognize the unexplainable (Los Angeles Times)
Case of the missing tumor | While thousands of pilgrims are eagerly awaiting the ailing pontiff’s decree in Rome, Indian rationalists have described the process as fraudulent and mischievous (Radio Netherlands)
Mother Teresa’s ancestry creates stir | The world knows her as Albanian. Or should that be Macedonian? Or Vlach? And what about Kosovo? (Associated Press)
Fans flock to Mother Teresa musical | The show looks back at her five decades of helping the poor in Calcutta, set to reggae, funk and pop songs (BBC)
Many saints far from perfect in conduct or disposition | To be a saint is to excel in the giving of oneself for and to others. No limits. No conditions. We need all of them we can get (Tom Harpur, The Toronto Star)

Catholicism:

Pope’s man fights to turn back Brazil’s evangelical tide | Yet behind the mild manners, tall, athletic preacher Marcelo Rossi is arguably one of Brazil’s most influential men (Financial Times, London)
Priests want married clergy discussed | Some in L.A. area want Mahony to raise the idea nationally and with the pope. A spokesman says he does not plan to do so (Los Angeles Times)
New Cardinal ‘welcomes’ debate on celibacy | The Archbishop of Edinburgh’s views on the vows taken by priests put him at odds with traditionalists in the Catholic Church (The Daily Telegraph, London)
Embracing tradition | Denver Catholic group seeks holiness through poverty, prayer (The Denver Post)
Denver home to several Catholic movements | Several “new movements” in Catholicism, most of them conservative in orientation, have migrated to the Denver area in recent years (The Denver Post)
Sharing the law of the church | The Canon Law Society of America is holding its 2003 convention (The Oregonian)

Education:

Football prayer controversy | ACLU chastised the Idalou school district for broadcasting a prayer over the PA system at a football game (KCBD, Lubbock, Tx.)
Bible wars in public schools: No truce in sight | Suggestions to alleviate the plague of lawsuits over Bible courses and clubs (Charles Haynes, First Amendment Center)
Increasing vouchers to religious schools stirs debate | Two-thirds of all private schools are religious, but about three-quarters of all schools taking vouchers are religious (Palm Beach Post, Fla.)
When does a student’s evangelism turn into harassment? | The larger issue, it seems, is this: How should believers – Christian or otherwise – express their faith in a nation that is increasingly diverse? (Kevin Leininger, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind.)
Plan for school confession | Teenagers on Cyprus may soon be able to repent their sins between lessons, after education officials yesterday said they were “seriously considering” a proposal to place confessionals in schools (The Guardian, London)

Academic studies:

Power of prayer found wanting in hospital trial | Earlier, less extensive, research suggested prayer could have a measurably beneficial effect (The Daily Telegraph, London)
Also: ‘No health benefit’ from prayer | The world’s largest study into the effects of prayer on patients undergoing heart surgery has found it appears to make no difference (BBC)
Also: They haven’t got a prayer | There is something richly comic about the spectacle of a group of scientists attempting to measure the power of prayer and, by implication, to monitor the workings of the mind of God (Editorial, The Daily Telegraph, London)
University of Rochester helps in gauging religious attitudes | Among findings :most American Catholics and mainline Protestants don’t believe one of the key tenets of many religious faiths — that their religion is the one true path to God (Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, N.Y.)
Going straight | New research published last week claims that homosexuals and lesbians who undergo psychiatric therapy can change their sexuality (The Daily Telegraph, London)