Wednesday’s Religion News Roundup

U.S. Catholic bishops today will unveil the long-awaited “causes and contexts” study on the Catholic sex abuse scandal. Our sneak peak is here (bottom line: can’t blame the gays, or celibacy for the scandal), and NYT has their take here, and the Boston Globe, where it all began, is here. Chewing over what it all […]

U.S. Catholic bishops today will unveil the long-awaited “causes and contexts” study on the Catholic sex abuse scandal. Our sneak peak is here (bottom line: can’t blame the gays, or celibacy for the scandal), and NYT has their take here, and the Boston Globe, where it all began, is here. Chewing over what it all means, our pal Jim Martin says the church needs more, not fewer, (openly) gay priests.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad says his state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses aren’t only for evangelical favorites and doesn’t want any candidate to take a pass (he’s looking at you, Mitt Romney).


After Bishop TD Jakes told Franklin Graham to mind his political p’s and q’s, BU’s Stephen Prothero says the younger Graham is an embarrassment to his father and evangelicalism writ large. Uber-Catholic presidential wannabe Rick Santorum says John McCain (a longtime unwilling guest at the Hanoi Hilton) doesn’t “understand” how valuable torture can be.

Religion Dispatches wants to add Newt Gingrich‘s $250,000-$500,000 Tiffany’s bill to his “multitude of sins.” Total aside: I ran into Callista Gingrich in a D.C. sandwich shop about two weeks ago and let’s just say it looks like Newt got his money’s worth: the diamond rock on her finger could be used as a paperweight.

A New Hampshire man pleaded guilty to raping a 15-year-old girl at his Baptist church, who was later forced to apologize to the congregation for getting pregnant out of wedlock.

As POTUS tries to push the post-bin Laden reset button on relations with the Muslim world, a new Pew poll finds American popularity on a downward slide. The Atlantic has more here. Speaking of OBL, al-Qaida has a new interim leader.

(Maybe) coming soon to a pulpit near you: Muslims and Jews reading their sacred texts in a bid to tamp down Islamophobia.

Remember the guy in South Korea who was found dead, hanging from a cross? Police say the crucifixion seems to have been self-inflicted.

Egyptian Christians‘ fears of life in post-Mubarak Egypt are well known; now you can add Syrian Christians‘ fears to the list if strongman Bashar al-Assad falls from power. B16 is trying to shore up his loyalist flock in China.


— Kevin Eckstrom

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