U.S. Catholic bishops open their annual meeting in Baltimore today, and topping the agenda is the election of a new president, likely Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tuscon. Kicanas answers his critics here, and Jesuit Tom Reese breaks it all down here; victims’ advocates, perhaps not surprisingly, are opposed. The Detroit Free Press reports on the church’s struggle with the legacy of problem priests, and keeping tabs on their whereabouts.
Over the weekend, the bishops held a conference on how to recruit more exorcists, and the outgoing head of the bishops’ conference says the U.S. is morally obligated to protect Iraqis, especially Christians. Catholics United head Chris Korzen wants a few bishops to stand up for the Democrats.
Members of Fred “Thank God for Dead Soldiers” Phelps‘ church found their tires slashed after a military funeral protest in Oklahoma. The road to hell, apparently, is paved with flat tires. And you may have heard about Bishop Jim Swilley, who recently told his Georgia megachurch that he’s gay: NPR talks to him here, as does CNN, and HuffPo does the same here.
Tea Party darling Marco Rubio, the new senator-elect from Florida, is trying to explain whether he’s actually a Catholic, and if so why he worships at a church with ties to the Southern Baptists.
A San Francisco man is trying to collect signatures for a ballot measure that would ban male circumcisions — including religious ones. The LA Times talks with Jesus Seminar founder John Dominic Crossan about his new book on the Lord’s Prayer. Focus on the Family’s decision to take over management of the anti-homosexuality Day of Truth (now the Day of Dialogue) is dividing some conservatives.
You’ve certainly heard of guide dogs for the disabled — but what about a guide pony (left), for Muslims who see dogs as haram? The NYT breaks down the Oklahoma fight over Shariah law, and profiles Daisy Khan, the wife of Park51 imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. A former Muslim corrections officer in New Jersey has reached a settlement after she was told she couldn’t wear a hijab at work.
Fox is reporting that a Muslim staffers’ association on Capitol Hill has ties to terrorists; Pat Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice is demanding an investigation, and Politics Daily points out the group is headed by a staffer for Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell.
CNN reports on the $4.5 million hand-embroidered covering for the Kabaa, the holiest site in Islam, and the construction boom in Mecca, as millions of pilgrims make the hajj. Indicted war criminal President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan is apparently among the pilgrims this year. Saudia Arabia’s top court has nixed the execution of a Lebanese psychic accused of “sorcery” and recommended the charges be dropped.
Israel continues to wrestle with a debate over marriage and conversion, and one rabbi doesn’t want locals to rent apartments to Muslim college students in a bid to preserve his town’s Jewish character. The Catholic Church in the UK is poised to announce that 50 Anglican priests will cross the Tiber to Rome over disaffection over women bishops. The French national railroad apologized for its role in deporting Jews to Nazi death camps.
