The Vatican announced the resignation of an Irish bishop accused of mishandling abuse cases; Bishop John Magee had been a secretary to Popes Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II. A German bishop, meanwhile, who compared a smear campaign against the church to Nazi propaganda is showing symptoms of foot-in-mouth disease. Here in the U.S., Catholic priests in Charlotte, N.C., say they need reinforcements: one priest was in charge of a parish with 13,000 members.

The Wall Street Journal mourns what it calls the end of pro-life Democrats, while the Washington Times reports that the health care debate has been a financial boon to anti-abortion groups, and that President Obama will sign his executive order on abortion funding “behind closed doors” with no public hoopla. David Gibson, meanwhile, has a post-mortem on the Catholic bishops’ (unsuccessful) efforts to kill the health care bill. Bart Stupak calls the bishops “hypocrites.” Ouch.

From the Dept. of There They Go Again, for the second time in a month Israel announced new settlement construction in disputed East Jerusalem in the midst of high-level talks with a U.S. leader (first it was when VPOTUS was in Israel, now it’s when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting with POTUS).

Religious groups from around the world pledged to the U.N. that they’ll fight to end the stigma of HIV/AIDS. Amnesty International has taken up the case of a Lebanese man accused by Saudi authorities of practicing “sorcery.” Anglican leaders are denouncing the attempted assasination of the bishop of El Salvador.

WaPo has a riveting and compelling profile of what it’s like to be a Muslim soldier at Ft. Hood in the wake of Maj. Nidal Hasan’s shooting spree. Take the time to read it; it’s worth it. Meanwhile, north of the border, the University of Ottawa canceled a speech by right-wing loon Ann Coulter when it looked like 2,000 student demonstrators might break out into a riot. Coulter is under fire for saying Muslims shouldn’t be allowed on airplanes and should take a “flying carpet” instead. When one audience member in London said he didn’t own a flying carpet, Coulter suggested a camel.

USA Today takes a trip into the great outdoors with the “Adventure Rabbi” just in time for Passover. Goshen College played (an instrumental version of) The Star Spangled Banner for the first time at a baseball game; no protests were reported, despite the school’s pacifist leanings.

CatholicTV is going 3-D and Christian Scientists are warming to conventional medicine. A man whose company was bought for $2.9 billion is using the windfall to help atheist groups. United Methodists are mulling whether to end the promise of guaranteed “appointments” (pulpits) for clergy, which some say has led to mediocrity. Never one to be satisfied with mediocrity, Rick Warren is hosting the Jonas Brothers at his massive Easter service at Angel Stadium.