This coming Easter is filled with anxiety and uncertainty for Palestinian Christians, reports Michele Chabin from Bethlehem in Thursday’s RNS report: Riham Salsaa, a 21-year-old English-language student at Bethlehem University, remembers the day, several years ago, that she and other members of her Palestinian-Christian youth group visited Jerusalem during Holy Week. “It was before the second intifada,” Salsaa, a Catholic, said of the Palestinian uprising that began in late 2000 and lasted four years. “We walked in a parade tracing the path Jesus took. It’s an ancient tradition and I loved taking part in it.” Sitting in a flowering campus courtyard on a warm afternoon, Salsaa said she has not visited Jerusalem since, and will not be able to see the sites of Christ’s life and death this Easter, either. Salsaa is part of a Christian minority of about 2 percent living in this city, the birthplace of Christ, now under the governance of the Palestinian Authority. As Palestinian Christians prepare for this Easter, a holiday of hope and new birth, their future appears as anxious and uncertain as ever, thanks to the dramatic political events of this year.

Taiwan is criticizing the Vatican’s talks with China, writes Stacy Meichtry: Taiwan is urging the Vatican to rethink its proposal to cut diplomatic ties in order to reestablish formal relations with China, arguing that such a move could compromise the Holy See’s credibility as a global advocate for human rights. A decision to switch Holy See allegiances from the democratic island nation to the communist mainland could undercut the Vatican’s status as a symbol of “democracy, liberty and justice,” said Ambassador Chou-seng Tou in a Wednesday (April 5) interview at the Taiwan Embassy to the Holy See, just outside Vatican City territory. The Vatican, which is a sovereign state, is the only country in Europe that maintains diplomatic ties with Taiwan instead of China. Most of Europe recognizes China’s “One China” policy, which considers Taiwan Chinese territory.

And Piet Levy reports that a TV anchor in Detroit is accusing his station of religious discrimination after becoming a born-again Christian evangelist: Frank Turner had it all-a great salary, a swanky lifestyle, a successful job as a TV anchor. But when he was outed as a cocaine and phone sex addict, Turner lost it all. That’s when his “miracle” happened: Turner became a born-again Christian evangelist, cleaned up his act, and returned to his job at WXYZ-TV, a Detroit-based ABC affiliate. But now Turner is at odds with his employer again, this time over a proposed daily radio show on Detroit Christian station WEXL. When his employers refused to let him host the show, Turner filed a March 17 complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging discrimination for the station’s denial of what he called “a reasonable accommodation for religious practice.” Turner contends his employers are violating his civil rights. “I can no more stop being an evangelist than I can change the color of my skin,” Turner said in an interview. “I’m doing what the Lord is calling me to do.”