Commentary and more links return Tuesday. We’re taking Monday off for U.S. Memorial Day.
Court allows assisted suicide:
- Court rules on aided suicide | Appeals panel says Ashcroft overstepped bounds in Oregon (The Washington Post)
- Ore. right-to-die law wins second battle | The state’s landmark right-to-die law has survived a second challenge in federal court by the Bush administration and supporters hope that means the 10-year battle over the law has finally been settled (Associated Press)
- Court defends Oregon euthanasia | A US appeals court has blocked attempts by the Bush administration to stop Oregon doctors helping terminally ill patients commit suicide (BBC)
- Court upholds assisted suicide | A federal appeals court yesterday upheld Oregon’s assisted-suicide law, saying U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft’s bid to outlaw it “far exceeds the scope of his authority under federal law.” (The Washington Times)
- Court upholds assisted suicide | A federal appeals court yesterday upheld Oregon’s assisted-suicide law, saying U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft’s bid to outlaw it “far exceeds the scope of his authority under federal law” (The Washington Times)
Life ethics:
- Schiavo’s struggle | Let her loving parents care for their living daughter (Delroy Murdock, National Review Online)
- Inflated promise, distorted facts | As senators make moves, a walk through the stem-cell fray (Eric Cohen, National Review Online)
- Bioethics bestseller | A government council revives the humanities (Claire Burgess, National Review Online)
Catholicism & politics:
- Group asks IRS to probe Colo. diocese | Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, said the church should lose its tax-exempt status because it used church resources for political purposes (Associated Press)
- A political sacrament | The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops and the Democratic Party are headed for a politically charged collision over abortion (Kenneth L. Woodward, The New York Times)
- No communion for contrary Catholics: a good idea? | For practicing Roman Catholics, to be denied communion is the most grievous punishment possible short of excommunication from the church (The Christian Science Monitor)
- Man objects to Communion for gay group | This Sunday at the Cathedral of St. Paul, a 1960s liberal anti-war activist turned orthodox church layman plans to stand — literally — in the way of gay Catholics and their supporters to prevent them from taking Holy Communion (Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.)
- Protester plans to prevent gays from receiving Communion | Gay Roman Catholics and their supporters will have to get past David Pence on Sunday if they want to take Holy Communion on Pentecost at the Cathedral of St. Paul (Associated Press)
- Playing politics at the altar | Much is fueled by right-wing Catholics hoping to bolster Republicans in the elections and to distract attention from the church’s sex-abuse crisis (Albert Hunt, The Wall Street Journal)
- Cardinal Keeler calls for keeping politics out of Communion | Issue is between Catholic and conscience, he says (The Baltimore Sun)
- Diocese may end donations to group | The Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs is threatening to withdraw its financial support for the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission unless the group takes a stand against abortion and homosexuality (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
- Survey: Bishops shouldn’t pressure voters | About 71 percent of American voters believe U.S. Roman Catholic bishops should not publicly pressure Catholic politicians on abortion, according to a survey released Thursday (Associated Press)
- Catholic voters told abortion stance is key | Roman Catholic voters should consider backing candidates in elections who support church teaching, especially on issues such as abortion, senior bishops said (The Guardian, London)
- Catholic church weighs into polls | The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales is urging voters to judge candidates for the local and European elections on their moral stances (BBC)
- GOP recruiting Catholics to help defeat Democrats | The head of the Republican National Committee huddled with about 100 local Catholic activists yesterday to build support for President George W. Bush’s re-election campaign and for other Republican candidates (Boston Herald)
- Also: Church invites “all” to its Communion | The largest Methodist church in metro Denver is spending thousands of dollars on newspaper ads this week to counter Colorado Springs Roman Catholic Bishop Michael Sheridan’s stance connecting voting to Communion worthiness (The Denver Post)
Catholicism:
- Catholic bishops decry Cuban price hikes | Poor Cuban families will suffer most under new U.S. measures to tighten an economic embargo and price increases imposed by the Cuban government, Cuba’s Roman Catholic bishops said Wednesday (Associated Press)
- Online journal offers forum for Catholic views | Australia’s Catholics awoke yesterday to a new online journal dedicated to restoring liberal debate to the church. The journal plans to open up to debate issues suppressed by the church’s official leadership (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
- Chaput seeks to better serve Hispanics | In a report to Pope John Paul II in the coming days, Denver’s Roman Catholic archbishop will prioritize serving the region’s booming Hispanic population, urging more priestly vocations and “restoring a missionary spirit” in the faithful (The Denver Post)
- Priest considered for administrative job | Former Terre Haute pastor Ashmore charged last year with indecent exposure (Tribune Star, Terre Haute, In.)
- Christian exodus from Israel troubles Vatican | Increasing Christian emigration from the Holy Land in general and Bethlehem in particular is troubling to the Vatican, Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews said in Jerusalem on Thursday (The Jerusalem Post)
- Web-savvy monks | Catholic monastery finds multimillion-dollar dot-com bonanza (ABCNews.com)
- Ahead of visit, most Swiss think Pope should quit | Three out of four people in Switzerland, which is preparing for a visit by Pope John Paul next month, think he should resign due to age and ill-health (Reuters)
Bernard Law named to Vatican post:
- Boston’s ex-cardinal Law gets new job in Rome | A Vatican statement said the pope had appointed Bernard Law to be the archpriest of the Rome Basilica of St Mary Major, one of the most important churches in the Italian capital (Reuters)
- Pope names Law to ceremonial position in Rome | The appointment, which will indefinitely provide Law with a job and an apartment at the heart of Rome, infuriated critics who blame Law for the clergy sexual abuse scandal and believe that the ensuing crisis in the church led to the need for the sweeping parish closings announced this week (The Boston Globe)
- Cardinal Law given post at Vatican | Cardinal Bernard F. Law was forced to resign in 2002 as leader of the Archdiocese of Boston after a long and painful sexual abuse scandal involving clergy members (The New York Times)
Abuse:
- Franciscan pleads guilty in sex assaults | Fidelis DeBerardinis, 76, has been sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to charges that he sexually assaulted eight altar boys at a Boston church in the 1960s and 1970s (Associated Press)
- Youth minister sued for sexual abuse | Youth for Christ also named in suit (Chicago Tribune)
- Pastor charged with sex abuse | Mark John Hogan was a missionary with Sports Ambassadors, worked with many local churches (Canton Repository, Oh.)
- Diocese cuts off funds to ex-priest | The Roman Catholic diocese of Springfield said yesterday it will end all financial support to Richard R. Lavigne, a defrocked priest who was convicted of molesting children and is the prime suspect in the 1972 slaying of a Springfield altar boy (The Boston Globe)
Crime:
- Theft scandal rocks Christian Vocational Institute | Reports reaching Standard Times is pointing fingers at Pastor Samuel Bobor of the ‘Freedom in Christ Ministry’ for misplaced tools and equipment meant for the Christian Vocational Institute in Kenema (Standard Times, Freetown, Sierra Leone)
- Lauderdale Lakes Middle principal accused of faking enrollment figures | Also under fire for hiring evangelistic musician, referring to his doctorate of divinity as a doctorate, and accusations of sexual misconduct (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
- Pastor convicted in $1.2 million scam | Pentecostal pastor who bilked $1.2 million out of people who thought they were giving the money to someone who needed their help in Trinidad has been convicted in federal court (Associated Press)
- Also: Springfield Pentecostal pastor convicted in million dollar wire fraud scheme, reports U.S. Attorney (Press release)
Nigeria violence:
- Plateau crisis cattle thieves to be shot – Alli | Administrator of Plateau State says rustling responsible for crises (Daily Champion, Nigeria)
- Alli vows to crush reprisal moves | Bishop Tasks Obasanjo (Daily Champion, Nigeria)
- 5 killed as Plateau boils again | 36 speakers back emergency rule (Daily Champion, Nigeria)
- Igbo won’t revenge, says S.east monarchs | SOUTH-East traditional rulers yesterday said they will not avenge the killings of their kinsmen in the recent religious mayhem in the Northern parts of the country, especially in Kano (Daily Champion, Nigeria)
- Christians urged to pray for divine intervention in religious, ethnic crises | Christians have been urged to pray for divine intervention in the on-going religious and ethnic crises in some parts of the country (Daily Champion, Nigeria)
- Cleric proposes referendum for Nigeria | Anglican Bishop of Egbu Diocese, Professor Emmanuel Iheagwam, has prescribed a referendum in the country which will give Nigerians the opportunity to decide whether or not they truly want a united and indivisible country (Vanguard, Nigeria)
- Christian tribe says Nigerian police protects only Muslims | Christian ethnic community leaders in Nigeria’s violence-torn Plateau state accused police on Thursday of protecting Muslim ethnic groups and allowing them to attack unguarded Christian villages (Reuters)
- Kano riot victims deserve decent burial | Ohaneze Youth Movement yesterday rose from an emergency meeting demanding that the remains of all ndigbo killed in the Kano crisis be returned to enable the victims get decent burial. It also condemned the mass burial given the victims as an affront on Igbo custom and values (This Day,. Nigeria)
- Religious unrest in Nigeria | The following is an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government (Voice of America)
Sudan:
- Sudan threatens to be the next Rwanda | As more of Africa turns to desert, there are fears that one civil war over land and water is turning into genocide (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
- A partial peace | Western and African governments should now exert all the pressure they can on Sudan’s leaders to bring the Darfur rebel movements and other marginalised factions into a more inclusive negotiating process on the country’s future (Editorial, Financial Times)
- War that claimed two million lives ends after 50 years | Decades of recrimination were put aside as the two factions inched towards agreement on how to share power in a new transitional government, as well as on the future of three contested regions (The Telegraph, London)
- Sudan government, rebels sign peace pact | Sudan’s government and rebels signed key agreements on Wednesday, resolving the last remaining issues needed to end Africa’s longest-running conflict (Associated Press)
- Rebels sign pact with Sudan’s government to end 21-year war | The accord provides for political power-sharing and a future referendum allowing southerners to decide whether to remain part of Sudan or secede (The New York Times)
- Episcopalians protest Sudanese | More than 100 protesters gathered in front of the Sudanese Embassy yesterday to protest the expulsion of the Episcopal Church from its Khartoum headquarters and human rights abuses in the African nation (The Washington Times)
- Sudan: Another step towards lasting peace | Sudan has edged closer to a final peace deal after the government and rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army signed three protocols Wednesday night (May 26) that are crucial to ending Africa’s longest-running civil war (Inter Press Service, South Africa)
- World hails Sudan peace deal | The world is hailing the peace deal in Sudan between the government and a southern rebel movement to end a war that has claimed two million lives. But observers say fighting is still going on in Sudan and much needs to be done to revive a country devastated by years of war (Voice of America)
- Sudan priest is tortured | A Sudanese Catholic priest serving in the Diocese of El Obeid in Kauda, Nuba Mountain, was on April 16, 2004 picked up by heavily armed men under tight security, following the alleged discovery of a human body nearby (Catholic Information Service for Africa)
- Documenting ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Sudan | Human Rights Watch has released a major study on the growing humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan, charging that Janjaweed militiamen, armed and backed by the Sudanese army, had mounted attacks against African tribal villages in a war of “ethnic cleansing” (The Washington Post)
- Sudan accused of blocking Darfur relief | Less than a week after the Sudanese government agreed to allow U.N. relief agencies into Darfur province to care for more than a million homeless civilians, Khartoum has raised new obstacles that could delay the delivery of lifesaving supplies to the area for months, according to a senior U.N. official (The Washington Post)
War & terrorism:
- Plane turned around after 9/11 discussion | Evangelical pastors were praying, talking about heaven (Associated Press)
- A torturous history | Abu Ghraib has roots in Communist Europe (Frederica Mathewes-Green, The Dallas Morning News)
- Web reveals much, government little | Who is Adam Gadahn, the latest American citizen named by the government as a terrorist suspect feared to be plotting an al-Qaida attack? (Michael Mayo, South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
- Who do you love? How do you love? | We find ourselves now in a strange period of what might be called attempted Christian Fascism (Joyce Marcel, CommonDreams.org)
- Chaplain reminds Christians to avoid attacks on Islam | Tony Campolo reminded Christians not to pick out isolated passages from the Quran and use them to “prove” that Islam is a religion that perpetrates evil (The Star, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
Gen. Boykin investigation concluding:
- Pentagon wrapping up probe of Lt. Gen. Boykin | Rumsfeld spokesman did not disclose the preliminary findings or say when he expected the final results (Associated Press)
- Pentagon says probe of Gen. Boykin nearing its end (Reuters)
American sought by F.B.I. found Islam:
- Winding spiritual path for suspect | Faiths are integral to the family of a former O.C. man now wanted in the war on terror (Los Angeles Times)
- American being sought by the F.B.I. found his place in Islam, relatives say | Adam Yahiye Gadahn, a young man from Southern California, is being sought by the F.B.I. for questioning in a global terrorism investigation (The New York Times)
- American terror suspect had 1997 arrest | Adam Yahiye Gadahn’s devotion eventually spiraled into trouble — and an arrest (Associated Press)
Call to prayer in Hamtramck, Mich.:
- Hamtramck immigrants create messy democracy | Today’s broadcasts deepen rift (The Detroit News)
- Call to prayer spurs angry noise | Protest precedes 1st speaker address today (Detroit Free Press)
- Hamtramck mosques to air calls to prayer | Council rejects drive to stop broadcasts; now, voters to decide (The Detroit News)
- Call to prayer, noise ordinance, to go before Hamtramck voters | The decision that has split Hamtramck — City Council approval of a noise ordinance that would have allowed the Muslim call to prayer to be broadcast on loudspeakers from the Al-Islah Islamic Center — was affirmed by a 5-0 vote Tuesday night (Detroit Free Press)
Church & state:
- Carole’s lips to God’s ear | On second thought—or maybe it was on first thought, second reflex—the office of Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn has decided that Unitarian Universalism is a religion after all (Austin Chronicle, Tex.)
- Texas, taxes, and churches | That thump! … whew! you heard was the sound of a dropped ball, followed by a sigh of relief, as the office of state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn recovered from a policy fumble (Editorial, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
- Politics and religion start to mix | A coalition of churches in West Yorkshire is calling on voters to shun the BNP in the June elections (BBC)
- ACLU may sue L.A. County over seal | County officials say the cross represents the Spanish missions , which are part of California’s history (Fox News)
- Indiana high school drops graduation prayer | ICLU had threatened to sue if Avon officials included invocation in upcoming ceremony (Associated Press)
- Silence speaks far better than any partisan political prayers | Downingtown council was right to reject using a meeting ritual as a platform (Tom Krattenmaker, The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Education:
- School pulls the plug on Christian concert | Students in a Christian club at Juneau-Douglas High School are upset that the school administration abruptly shut down a lunchtime concert Wednesday (Juneau Empire, Alaska)
- A blend of sacred, secular | Theology college has home in local church and will have 15 students graduate tonight (News-Press, Glendale, Ca.)
- A religious high school is high school just the same | This teen satire set in a Christian high school is an admirable attempt to acknowledge the powerful influence of religion in contemporary American youth culture (The New York Times)
Indecency:
- Examples of indecency are legion on air | Some television evangelists top any list of indecent performances (Steve Gushee, Palm Beach Post)
- Add ‘cut’ and ‘bleep’ to a DVD’s options | A new DVD player from RCA can be programmed to skip objectionable content of various sorts. What is cut — and what isn’t? (The New York Times)
- Idaho justices reject free-speech challenge to child-porn law | High court unanimously rules that ban is specific enough in what kind of material it restricts (Associated Press)
Film:
- After the Passion | For many people, the experience is lasting long after the credits have run (WTOC, Savannah, Ga.)
- The Passion’s passionate despisers | What are we to make of l’affaire Gibson now that his film has turned out to be a huge box-office success? Those who, like me, were deeply moved by The Passion of the Christ and judged it to be not anti-Semitic have no reason to gloat (Kenneth L. Woodward, First Things)
- Silence of the flock | From liberal Catholics, a strange silence on Mel Gibson’s Passion (Mary Gordon, The American Prospect)
- Chick flick flirts with faith | Religion meets romance in Raising Helen (Steve Beard, National Review Online)
Saved!:
- ‘Saved!’: A divine comedy | In religious school, Queen Bees find lots to pray on (The Washington Post)
- ‘Saved!’: Beyond redemption | To the list of exclamatory adjectives that are being applied to the religious satire “Saved!” (including “wicked,” “irreverent” and “subversive”) allow me to add another: condescending (The Washington Post)
- In ‘Saved,’ satire’s divine | As an answer to the spreading cultural virus of evangelical conformity, Brian Dannelly’s teen farce “Saved!” is about three teeth short of a full bite (New York Daily News)
- Thou shalt find controversy | On the surface of it, “Saved” looks like something that’s more likely to outrage fundamentalists than entertain them. But the filmmakers insist that they don’t see it that way. (San Bernardino County Sun, Ca.)
- ‘Saved’ by satire? | Questions to mull this weekend: Is it safe to satirize Christianity when Christians have proven such a formidable market force? (The Washington Times)
- Stars show faith in film | Attending a Christian rock concert proved an eye-opener for the stars of the new Christian school satire, “Saved!” (The Washington Times)
- ‘Saved!’ by redeeming virtues | Saved! is the antidote to the lugubrious and savage piety of The Passion of the Christ. It also is a departure from the insipid teen comedies that Hollywood routinely churns out (USA Today)
- ‘Saved!’ offers message of tolerance amid satire | “Saved!” puts a new spin on two fashionable movie genres (The Christian Science Monitor)
- ‘Saved!’ skewers teen movie conventions | Mandy Moore stars in this tale of a Christian high school (MSNBC)
- Satire can’t be ‘Saved’ | For a film that is supposed to be so clever and self-knowing, “Saved!” is unaware of its own pervasive lack of cool (The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.)
Monty Python’s Life of Brian:
- ‘Brian’: A blast from the past | Python classic gets a timely reissue (The Washington Post)
- Monty Python’s ‘Brian’ gets new life (The Washington Post)
Spirituality:
- New theory suggests people are attracted to religion for 16 reasons | People are not drawn to religion just because of a fear of death or any other single reason, according to a new comprehensive, psychological theory of religion (Press release, Ohio State University)
- Small Bible groups increase in popularity | Format adds intimacy to Bible studies (The News Leader, Staunton, Va.)
- Many turn to prayer for healing | Prayer is the most commonly used “alternative medicine,” according to a survey of more than 31,000 adults released by the National Institutes of Health yesterday — more popular than acupuncture, chiropractic care, yoga, vitamins and other complementary medical therapies (The Washington Times)
- Religious questions fascinate pollster | Gallup Jr. retiring, but work will go on (Religion News Service)
- What’s with Jesus tees? | What’s unclear is whether the wearers are professing their faith, following a fad or putting on what an overpaid stylist handed them (The Charlotte Observer, N.C.)
Mission & ministry:
- ‘On a wing and prayer’ | Allison Smith-Nowlin’s path to the ministry was one that led her to the depths of heroin addiction, crime and jail before the comforting words of the Lord’s Prayer gave her something to cling to. Now, almost two decades later, this high-school dropout has earned advanced degrees and has committed herself to being what she describes as a “radical community activist.” (Daily Press, Hampton Roads, Va.)
- Testing her faith | Julianne Smartt, who will graduate from Dayspring Christian Academy on Saturday, is ready for the challenges ahead (The Roanoke Times, Va.)
- The satirist is sincere | Tony Hendra talks about the monk who saved his soul (Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal)
- Drug lord credits God for new life | Jorge Valdes agrees that the skills needed to run a ministry and an international drug trafficking ring are strikingly similar (Rubén Rosario, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.)
- Students offer up global help | Trinity Lutheran makes missions a priority (The Times, Munster, Ind.)
- Church members take message to the street | Truth Temple Holiness Church members walk for two hours on a warm Saturday in May to evangelize and invite people to visit their church (The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.)
- Closing sin’s doors | Addictions can be overcome (The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.)
Church life:
- A neighborly heads-up would have been nice | As a longtime neighbor of St. Andrew’s, I respectfully suggest to Pastor Huffman that they’re still not “doing it right” (Terry Botros, Daily Pilot, Newport Beach, Ca.)
- Rural, old churches losing congregations | Across the country, rural churches are struggling to maintain their congregations while facing a tough fact — it’s hard to get new members in old churches (Associated Press)
- Movement away from church | As Barbados moves on economically and people get more money and build houses they are moving away from the church (The Barbados Advocate)
Church strife:
- Father, Son and duelling bishops | Sydney’s Anglicans are accustomed to internal conflict, but now – with cries of heresy – it’s getting personal (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Trinity at the centre of a divide | Theological niceties are stopping women’s ordination (Kevin Giles, The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Bishop is a sinner, says RDC | Jinja resident district commissioner Mugisha Muhwezi has irked Christians by saying Jinja Diocese Bishop Joseph Willigers is a sinner (New Vision, Kampala, Uganda)
Homosexuality & religion:
- Gay rights group: Church broke law | Gay rights advocates filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Political Practices against the Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church Wednesday, saying the church inappropriately held an event to support a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage (Billings Gazette, Mont.)
- Anglican leaders tackle same-sex unions | General synod to chart course of Church this week (National Post, Canada)
Out-of-state gay weddings banned in Mass:
- Provincetown won’t let out-of-staters wed | Under pressure from Gov. Mitt Romney, Provincetown officials backed down Wednesday and said they will stop issuing marriage licenses to out-of-state gay couples (Associated Press)
- Governor’s office seeks records from two additional cities | Gov. Mitt Romney’s legal office has requested marriage documents from Attleboro and Fall River after clerks there acknowledged issuing licenses to out-of-state gay couples in defiance of the governor’s residency requirement, the clerks said Thursday (Associated Press)
Gay marriage in Australia:
- PM targets gays in marriage law | Gay couples will be banned from marrying or adopting children from overseas but will be allowed to inherit their partner’s superannuation under proposed changes to marriage laws announced today. (The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia)
- Australia bans same-sex marriages, gay adoptions | Same-sex marriages in Australia will be outlawed and gay couples blocked from adopting children from overseas under laws proposed by the conservative government on Thursday that are likely to be approved by parliament (Reuters)
- Australian government moves to ban gay marriages (AFP)
- Australia to prevent gay marriage | Prime Minister John Howard wants Australia’s marriage law clarified to stop homosexual couples marrying (BBC, video)
- Labor backs gay marriage ban | Labor today backed the Federal Government’s plans to ban gay couples from marrying but allow them to inherit their partner’s superannuation. However, Labor frontbencher Nicola Roxon said the ALP had not yet made up its mind on the Government’s plan to ban gay couples adopting children born overseas (The Australian)
International gay marriage:
- French move to ban gay marriage | Authorities in south-west France have told a mayor not to go ahead with plans for the country’s first gay marriage (BBC)
- Gays in Brazilian state quietly tie knot | Unlike the controversy raging in the United States over gay marriages, a landmark judicial decision two months ago allowing civil unions in Brazil’s southernmost state has generated little tension in Porto Alegre (Associated Press)
Marriage:
- Wife more often ends marriage in midlife | Women older than 40 ask for divorces more often than men, according to a survey published yesterday by the AARP (The Washington Times)
- ‘Technically, I suppose, I’m a sinner’ | Religion is broadcaster Edward Stourton’s speciality but, he tells Elizabeth Grice, after remarrying, he now feels excluded by the Church (The Telegraph, London)
- EHarmony.com patents matchmaking formula | Can the elusive art of matchmaking be reduced to equations and databases? (Associated Press)
- State of the unions | Government-funded programs across nation support healthy marriages (ABCNews.com)
Boston parish closings:
- Parish properties seen worth $400m |The dozens of parishes closing in the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston could sell for more than $400 million on the open market (The Boston Globe)
- Parishes react to school closings | Parents, pastors take various tacks (The Boston Globe)
- Church offers guidance on closings | No one was singled out, archbishop says (The Boston Globe)
- Galvin urges disclosure on church deals | Angered by what he called the lack of public disclosure by the Boston Archdiocese on its plan to close 65 churches and sell property for what could be hundreds of millions of dollars, Secretary of State William F. Galvin said yesterday that he will file legislation that would require religious organizations to report to the state details of large-scale financial transactions (The Boston Globe)
- Amidst prayers, vows to appeal parish closures | Some say they accept the actions (The Boston Globe)
- Clergy, employees ponder next steps | The archdiocese said yesterday that the parishes that are closing employ about 194 full-time lay people and about 75 priests (The Boston Globe)
- Don’t snuff out our parish | We offer hope in a neighborhood that desperately needs hope. (Tom MacDonald, The Boston Globe)
More articles:
- Vietnam’s Montagnards in fear of torture, arrest: rights group | Human Rights Watch says hundreds of ethnic minority Christians in Vietnam’s Central Highlands have gone into hiding fearing torture and arrest by authorities (Voice of America)
- Nothing neutral in the music | Don’t take modern rhythms like gangsta rap, hip hop, rock and hardcore dub in Gospel music lightly, since they are geared towards certain moods and mindsets—at this particular time (Ricky Jordan, Daily Nation, Barbados)
- Religion news in brief | Woman withdraws candidacy for primate of Canadian Anglicans; Catholic, Jewish leaders discuss impact of Gibson movie; Home to Army unit in prisoner abuse scandal holds prayer service; Texas reverses tax decision on Unitarians based on church beliefs (Associated Press)
- When Europe fought over the nature of God | Protestant militants failed to win all of Europe, but their spirit still reigns in America (The Christian Science Monitor)
- Tiny Azusa Pacific has big-time talent in African shot-putter | Vivian Chukwuemeka holds four NAIA records and is seeking to repeat as the Outstanding Female Performer in the outdoors competition (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
- Ban on religious broadcast, move to Islamize Nigeria—PFN | The National Broadcasting Commission’s blanket ban on airing of religious programs having to do with miracles by broadcast media houses is a practical step towards the complete Islamization of the country, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria has said (Daily Times, Nigeria)
- New York City’s Metropolitan Museum hosts show of late-Byzantine art | Byzantium: Faith and Power is on view through July 4 (Voice of America)
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