Federal agents arrested a 30-year-old Pakistani-American late Monday night in the Times Square bomb scare. No word yet on the man’s faith or motivation for the planned attack, but Ahmadiyya Muslims are holding a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington “to address questions about Islam’s stance on peace and extremism in the context of the NYC attempted bombing.”
President Obama is having lunch today with the Holocaust survivor and writer Elie Wiesel, the second White House confab between the two Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the Boy Scouts, who were challenging a lower court ruling that prevented them from leasing city-owned land in San Diego because they are a religious group. Scout leaders argue that they believe in, and take an oath to do their duty to, God, but are not a religious organization.
More than a decade after it was first introduced, an on-again off-again bill to protect employees‘ religious expression in the workplace is attracting renewed attention that could lead to action on Capitol Hill in coming weeks.
Belgian bishops, who have been stung by recent revelations of clergy sex abuse, are in Rome for talks this week ahead of a planned meeting with Pope Benedict XVI on Friday.
As the United Nations mulls nuclear non-proliferation, the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches told gatherings in New York that nuclear weapons “are a crime against humanity.” Environmental scientists warn that the River Jordan, a site of Christian pilgrimages for centuries, could dry up by 2011. West Virginia’s Catholic bishop is concerned about mine safety, and Newark, N.J.’s is upset about a Catholic university teaching a course on gay marriage.
Some American Catholics are wondering whether America’s first black priest was “black enough.” A pastor convicted for failing to disclose $1.8 million in income called the money “love offerings” from parishioners. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says court house holding cells are not covered by RLIUPA.
A Muslim woman in Italy was fined 400 euros for wearing a burqa. A French judge ordered Facebook to take down an anti-Catholic fan page called “Running naked in a church after a bishop” and said it’s creators must pay 200 euros in damages to a French bishop.
Finally, Happy Star Wars Day to all you Jedi knights out there. May the force (“May the 4th, get it?”) be with you.
