The nation’s Catholic bishops are mounting a last minute push to secure an anti-abortion amendment in health care legislation and Christian Scientists say spiritual care should be covered in the bill. Bernice King, the daughter of MLK, was elected president of the SCLC. Federal officials have met with Detroit-area Muslim leaders after the fatal shooting of a local imam.

Lawyers for the man accused of killing a Kansan abortion doctor have asked a judge to prohibit prosecutors from barring religious jurors, and New York passed a law that lengthens prison sentences against people who attack abortion providers or their employees.

The self-help guru involved in the sweat-lodge deaths has canceled his remaining 2009 seminars, a member of a Baltimore religious cult plans to plead guilty as an accessory after the fact in the death of a toddler, and police continue to look for the shooter of two Jewish men at a Los Angeles synagogue.

One of the deceased soldiers saluted by President Obama on Thursday was the son of a Mormon bishop, and a federal judge has asked Russia to turn over historical Jewish documents. The Archdiocese of Miami has banned the Legionaries of Christ, and the ELCA says its harder to leave the denomination than it looks. A witch school is moving to Salem, Mass.

Pope Benedict XVI urged Iran to let Catholics have priests and churches and Saudi Arabia is working with the CDC to prevent swine flu from spreading at the hajj. A Boston boy (and Red Sox fan, no less) has been identified as the leader of a Tibetan Buddhist lineage. The Muslim Brotherhood is trying to soften its fundamentalist image. Italian journalists say the Vatican’s new rules on Anglican converts is being held up because of questions about the clergy celibacy issue.