Pope Benedict XVI met with Germany’s top Roman Catholic bishop this morning to discuss the growing sex abuse scandal; our Vatican correspondent Francis X. Rocca will wrap it all together later today on these pages. Meanwhile, former members of the (not church-affiliated) Vienna Boys Choir are alleging abuse by former supervisors.

Here at home, a federal appeals court, in a flipflop of a 2002 decision, has decided that the words “one nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and “In God We Trust” on coins and currency don’t violate the Constitution after all.

As Congress continues the long slog toward health care reform, NPR talks to Christian health-sharing ministries that split health care costs among members, and moderate-to-progress faith groups say abortion restrictions are actually tighter than many anti-abortion activists want to admit. The LA Times explores the growing synergy (or not)between veteran religious political activists and the Tea Party movement (Rick Santorum‘s already jumped on that bandwagon), and that Mississippi school that canceled prom rather than allow a lesbian student to attend with her girlfriend is now facing a lawsuit from the ACLU, which seeks to turn the music back on. Haven’t these people ever seen Footloose?

Christian groups — and not just lefties — are firing back at Fox News’ Glenn Beck for his call to parishioners to flee their churches at the first sign of “social justice” teaching, and also appearing to link “social justice” with Naziism and communism. President Obama has announced the charitable recipients of his $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize money, including $200,000 to the Clinton-Bush Haiti fund.

Morocco is defending its decision to expel 20 Christian missionaries. Convicts in Georgia (the former Soviet satellite, not the land of shrimp and grits) can serve time in monasteries working for the Georgian Orthodox Church. Gay couples in Mexico City tied the knot on Thursday, becoming the first same-sex couples to wed in Mexico under a new policy that is being challenged by the federal government, not to mention the Catholic Church (Danes don’t seem to have a problem with it). Some at the Vatican are ticked that a Rome high school has installed condom machines, saying it will lead students to have pre-marital sex.

The State Department is out with its annual human rights report for 194 countries around the world; it includes sections on religious freedom violations in China, Cuba, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and all the usual suspects (search for the term “religious” to see the highlights)

In Texas, Republicans on the state Board of Education shot down a Democratic move to teach children about why the Founding Fathers banned government support of religion; GOP members said the proposal downplayed the Founders’ religious faith. In a sign that high school graduation season is just around the corner, there’s already a lawsuit: A suburban Indianapolis valedictorian thinks its a bad idea to have students vote on whether to have a prayer at graduation.

A year after the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Maryville, Ill., was shot dead in the pulpit, our pal Tim Townsend finds the church is thriving. Rabbi Harold Kushner is still trying to answer the question of why bad things happen to good people, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu is pondering what it means to be “Made for Goodness,” the title of his new book, and speaking out against a gay rights crackdown in Africa.

Now serving illegal escargot: Devotees of a Florida man who practiced a traditional African religion said they were sickened after being told to ingest the mucus of a Giant African Snail. Tasty.