An illustrated copy of the four Christian Gospels that belonged to Queen Zewditu, who ruled Ethiopia from 1916 to 1930, will be returned to Ethiopia this fall. Asked to examine the copy, Steve Delamarter, an Old Testament professor who specializes in Ethiopian texts, advised the collector to repatriate it.

Christian leaders met with President Obama this week in an attempt to protect the poor by keeping upcoming budget cuts away from social safety net programs.

Meanwhile, presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty called Jesus his political hero.

The scuffle over circumcision continues in California as two lawmakers introduce a bill that attempts to pre-empt local governments from passing laws banning male circumcision.

Ireland’s Catholics are confronting the Vatican, demanding that church leaders acknowledge their role in the recent sex abuse scandals.

Fresh off his visit to Washington D.C., the Dalai Lama apparently appeared as a surprise judge for contestants of the Australian cooking show “MasterChef.” No word yet on whether anyone attained culinary enlightenment.

Dueling surveys paint slightly different pictures of America’s perception of Muslims: A recent study by Ohio State University says that Americans feel more threatened by American Muslims after Osama bin Laden’s death than they did before, but a new PEW survey finds that western perceptions of Muslims are more positive than in 2006.

Speaking of perception, TLC is “hoping to do for Muslims what it did for polygamists and Sarah Palin” (get shows canceled?) by airing a new reality show that will capture the lives Muslim families in America.

A pair of meandering Muslims are planning to travel to 30 American mosques in 30 days during the month of Ramadan for the second year in a row.

The City of San Leandro, Calif., asked the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday to review a land use case involving a local megachurch that sought to open a new church in an industrial zone.

The monks of St. Joseph Abbey in Covington, La., have won the right to sell caskets after a federal judge in New Orleans declared a state law limiting the sale of caskets to be unconstitutional.

— Jack Jenkins