Monday's Religion News Roundup: Romney & Obama at church; Eid al-Fitr; GOP skinny dip in Galilee

President Obama and Mitt Romney both went to church yesterday.

Obama went to St. John's Episcopal Church on Lafayette Square, again. 

Romney finally let reporters tag along as he went to a Mormon sacrament meeting in New Hampshire. 

Saith the NYT: 

After a year of studiously avoiding all but the most oblique references to Mr. Romney’s faith on the campaign trail, his advisers said they believe it is time for him to publicly embrace it. They reason that his religious devotion, as well as his leadership within the church, convey qualities that voters will warm to — and outweigh any squeamishness among those who are unfamiliar with or suspicious of Mormonism.

WaPo has two long stories on Romney's rise as a Mormon leader in Massachusetts, and his “handling of the keys” to the priesthood passed down by Joseph Smith. 

First lady Michelle Obama will travel to Wisconsin Thursday to meet with family members of those killed and injured in a Sikh temple shooting earlier this month. 

Muslim Americans concluded Ramadan yesterday with Eid al-Fitr festivals. Many had braced for attacks after a particularly tense month. 

In Yemen, a gunman opened fire Sunday on worshippers marking the end of Ramadan, killing nine.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed a bill spelling out that Muslim university students should be granted time to celebrate religious holidays. 

Pakistani police arrested a Christian girl who reportedly has Down's syndrome for desecrating pages of the Quran and took her parents into protective custody after demonstrators threatened to torch Christian homes. 

The Economist says the Catholic Church in America's finances are a “unholy mess.”

Catholic scholar Mark Gray, who was contacted for the piece, says the magazine doesn't understand how the Catholic Church operates. 

A bunch of GOP lawmakers got drunk and skinny dipped in the Sea of Galilee, Politico reports. Talk about dropping your (fish)nets. 

Russian Orthodox leaders say they forgive the punk band Pussy Riot for its anti-government protest at a Moscow cathedral. Here's video of the protest. 

The band is in some pretty good company. Madonna is being sued in Russia, for, among other things, allegedly stomping on an Orthodox cross. 

A Catholic group in Ukraine says SpongeBob Squarepants is “a large-scale experiment on Ukrainian children” to “create criminals and perverts.”

The Vatican is nudging Mattel to sell bald Barbies to children suffering from cancer and other illnesses. 

The painting is Rembrant's great “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee.” 

Yr hmbl aggrgtr,

Daniel Burke

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