Wednesday's Religion News Roundup: Rick rolls; Prop 8; Obama's "Komen moment"?

Never gonna give you up/Never gonna let you down/Never gonna run around and desert you …

Ladies and germs, the 2012 GOP primary field has officially been rickrolled. 

Left for dead after poor showings in South Carolina and Florida, Rick Santorum surged to life on Tuesday, winning Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri.

For all that work, Santorum actually won not a single delegate. (Colorado's and Minnesota's will be awarded this spring; Missouri was a “beauty contest” with no delegates at stake.)

I couldn't find exit polls this a.m., but a PPP poll released Monday showed Santorum winning evangelicals, Tea Partiers and the “very conservative” in all three states. 

Our own Mark Silk suspects that the chickens hatched by the evangelical leaders who met in Texas are beginning to roost.  

In other big news, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that California's gay marriage ban (aka Prop 8) is unconstitutional.  An appeal is expected, and the case may be headed for the Supremes. 

Also big news: The White House, under withering attack from religious conservatives, Mitt Romney and Catholic bishops, signaled that it's willing to compromise on the highly unpopular HHS contraception mandate. 

Could the contraception compromise become Obama's “Komen moment”?

Meanwhile in Rome, Catholic bishops held an unprecedented service of repentance, seeking atonement for lapses in church management that led to the abuse of thousands of children by predatory priests.

The Vatican's top sex abuse prosecutor said that bishops must be held accountable for crimes committed on their watch.

On cue, retired Cardinal Edward Egan has recanted his apology for mishandling abuse cases while he was a bishop in Connecticut. “I'm sorry, but I don't think we did anything wrong,” said Egan.  

A Hasidic Jewish man from New York pleaded guilty to setting a neighbor on fire because he wasn't praying with the rest of the community.

On his 200th birthday, Charles Dickens is remember as a Christian whose pen skewered hypocrites prone to theological bullying and self-righteousness.

The AP reports that South Carolina motorists can now purchase “I Believe” license tags. 

A lesbian couple has put the birth-home of the late LDS President Gordon Hinckley up for sale.  

While struggling to submerge his flock during baptismal ceremonies, Rick Warren realized that he and his congregation are perhaps living too fatly off the land.  

Maybe they should try mindful eating. 

Yr hmbl aggregator,

Daniel Burke