BP says it doesn’t yet know what to do with claims by religious groups and charities that are endangered because locals can no longer afford to contribute. An ecumenical mix of pastors, rabbis, and clerics in Houston used their July 4 sermons to advocate for immigration reform, according to the NYT.

U.S. Roman Catholic dioceses ousted sexually abusive clergy from the priesthood rather than watch over them, as bishops had pledged to do, according to the AP. Pope Benedict XVI said that, for all their weaknesses, priest have an important role the world. He also honored over the weekend Pope Celestine V, a 13th-Century monk who resigned the papacy to live a life of simplicity.

Conservative bloggers and pundits are wondering why a NASA official said outreach to Muslims is one of his priorities. A Yemen-based glossy magazine published by al-Qaida is aimed at radicalizing English-speaking Muslims. Indonesian clerics called for young Muslims to form a moral police and stop Christian conversions. Christian missionaries in North Korea walk a dangerous path, which led to torture and death for one man last year.

The movement to ban burqas and niqabs is growing across Europe and igniting a debate over religious freedom and other cultural values, the AP reports. The French Parliament begins debate on its burqa-banning bill today.

Britain is considering allowing same-sex weddings to use religion in civil ceremonies. British wags are speculating that an openly gay priest will be named a bishop in England. After the Archbishop of Canterbury’s smackdown of Episcopalians for electing their secondly openly gay bishop, it’s hard to envision him appointing a gay bishop, however.

Thousands of Shiites in Lebanon are flocking to the funeral of the country’s top clerics and religious authorities. Muslims in India allegedly cut off the hand of a Christian teacher who profaned the Prophet Muhammad. The Roman Catholic Church in Chile is petitioning for prisoner pardons, angering some human rights activists.

The Mormon who painted the famous image of George Washington praying in the snow at Valley Forge (see top left) died Thursday. A troop of itinerant monks may be con men, the AP reports.

The Dalai Lama turns 75 today, a bittersweet birthday for Tibetans, many of whom are exiled from their native country and worry that his successor will be handpicked by China. His special envoy says it makes more sense for people to prepare for their “death day,” rather than their birthday, a sentiment that reminds me of a poem by our newly minted Poet Laureate, W.S. Merwin, who is a Buddhist, by the way.

For the Anniversary of My Death

by W. S. Merwin

Every year without knowing it I have passed the day

When the last fires will wave to me

And the silence will set out

Tireless traveler

Like the beam of a lightless star

Then I will no longer

Find myself in life as in a strange garment

Surprised at the earth

And the love of one woman

And the shamelessness of men

As today writing after three days of rain

Hearing the wren sing and the falling cease

And bowing not knowing to what