As the world dons some green and hoists a green brew, NPR measures the impact of the growing clergy molestation scandal on the church in the Emerald Isle. Pope Benedict XVI hopes his upcoming letter on the scandal can foster “repentance, healing and renewal.” A British bishop says the church’s current ills are its own fault, and “deserves to be attacked and criticized.” Buckingham Palace confirmed Benedict’s four-day visit to England and Scotland in September.
In the pope’s German homeland, Chancellor Angela Merkel calls the erupting sex scandal “despicable.” This scandal seems to know no borders, authorities in Brazil are investigating allegations of abuse of altar boys at the hands of Catholic priests.
For those of you who prefer the fruit of the vine over a bottle of distilled hops and barley, WaPo surveys bottles of kosher wine, just in time for Passover.
On the heels of Jihad Jane, the LA Times looks at the challenges of homegrown extremism. Meanwhile, a Muslim civil liberties group is raising concerns about a series of new textbooks that they say cast Muslims in a negative light. Christian-Muslim tensions are running high in Nigeria, and ordinary citizens on both sides are being caught up in the violence. A video circulating around the Intertubes is urging Muslims there to rise up with “sword and spear” against their Christian neighbors.
London’s newly expanded Jewish Museum probes the sometimes awkward embrace between Jews and the UK. And speaking of awkward, the newly rebuilt Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem is become a flashpoint of tensions between Israel’s plan to expand settlements and Palestinian (and U.S.) resistance.
Nancy Pelosi is still hunting for enough votes to pass the Senate’s health care bill by week’s end, but one anti-abortion Democrat (and a leader of the Democrat’s “common good” faith-based politics), Virginia’s Tom Perriello, says he’s sufficiently satisfied that the Senate’s abortion language is strict enough that he’ll probably support it. U.S. Catholic bishops? Not so much.
A federal appeals court has ruled that seminarians are not covered by overtime pay laws. The Senate has rejected a proposal to extend private-school vouchers for students in Washington, D.C.
In a move that is certain to cause indigestion among creationists, the Smithsonian unveils its $21 million (permanent) evolution hall. And speaking of conservative indigestion, Gen. David Petraeus says he’s open to a review of the Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy that keeps gays out of the military.
