The Vatican filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit in Kentucky that blamed the pope for allowing bishops to cover up clergy sexual abuse. Bishops are not Vatican employees, the church argued, therefore Rome is not responsible for their actions. A second motion to dismiss argues that the statute of limitations has passed.

An Australian cardinal rumored to be named head of the Vatican’s powerful Congregation for Bishops says the church needs to take tougher action against pedophile priests after two were caught working despite being told to retire. The Vatican rejected appeals by parishes closed by the Archdiocese of Boston in the wake of the sex abuse scandal, and extended Vesakh Day salutations to its Theravadan Buddhist friends.

President Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, said in a letter obtained by the AP that the president “threw me under the bus” because the preacher was “toxic.” Obama is meeting with Jewish Dems in Congress today to discuss U.S.-Israeli relations. On Monday, Obama signed a bill passed in honor of slain journalist Daniel Pearl that requires the State Department to compile a public list of governments that violate press freedoms. That’s Pearl at top left.

The last of the 10 American missionaries was released from a Haitian jail on Monday after a judge convicted her of arranging illegal travel but sentenced her to time already served.

Arab-Americans are pretty psyched (some are, at least) that one of their own won Miss USA. (More on her in yesterday’s roundup.) But nothing has been done about complaints that Muslim soldiers are harassed at Fort Hood, according to WaPo. Churches are laying off clergy, according to the WSJ. A D.C. Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against the National Baptist Convention USA by its former president.

British authorities dropped the charges against a street preacher who condemned homosexuality, drunkeness, and adultery. And if you are a gay, drunk adulterer, oh boy are you in trouble.