Yesterday marked the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species,” and in the spirit of the holidays, it’s the gift that keeps on giving (kind of like fruitcake, I suppose). And while this is a time of giving thanks and taking stock, there seems to be a lot of downer news out there:

A Georgia church has been robbed for the 4th time in two years; the thief left a note this time: “Sorry but I’m poor. Forgive me Lord” and the president of the Southern Baptist Convention has prostate cancer. A Russian Orthodox priest who was killed in his church (Muslim extremists are the alleged suspects) was laid to rest.

Sex abuse victims say Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin should be focusing more on rooting out abusive priests than going after Rep. Patrick Kennedy on abortion. A group of black nuns is feeling the pinch of the sour economy. The Diocese of Fairbanks will pay $10 million to some 300 abuse victims

A bid to legalize gay marriage appears to have stalled in liberal-leaning New Jersey, and WaPo says pastors’ clout at City Hall is fading, seen most starkly in the lack of clergy input on DC’s pending law to allow same-sex marriage. And in a different city hall spat, officials in Russellville, Ala., are considering a ban on storefront churches in a bid to free up space for a retail facelift.

Britain’s top Catholic prelate has warned disaffected Anglicans who want to come over to Rome that cafeteria-style Catholicism is not on the menu, and Australian Catholic leaders have said a Catholic church is now unavailable for an Anglican ordination ceremony that was to include four female deacons. Meanwhile, a a rabbi, a minister and a Muslim sheik walk into a restaurant …

In Nepal, they’re slaughtering 200,000 animals over the course of two days to honor Gadhimai, a Hindu goddess of power. Over in Malaysia, a woman who was forced to covert to Islam as a child is trying to regain her Hindu status, and brewers are trying to figure out how to sell beer in a majority-Muslim country that frowns on alcohol. The dwindling Jewish community in Yemen — one of the oldest in the Arab world — is down to 350 lonely soul.

We’ll be closed Thursday and Friday for a long holiday weekend. Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving from the RNS staff …