Synod: “All good!” * Bible Quiz! * Sermon Subpoenas: Wednesday’s Roundup

Houston wants homilies, and that's not a good thing. The latest from that wild and crazy Vatican summit. Did Archbishop Chaput really tell a Catholic pol he could support the death penalty? Mental illness and houses of worship.

(1953) Television stars Lucille Ball and husband, Desi Arnaz, hold 10-week-old Desiderio Alberto Arnaz, after he was baptized by Father John Hurley of Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church near Hollywood, Calif. The infant attracted nation-wide interest when he was born on the same day that
(1953) Television stars Lucille Ball and husband, Desi Arnaz, hold 10-week-old Desiderio Alberto Arnaz, after he was baptized by Father John Hurley of Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church near Hollywood, Calif. The infant attracted nation-wide interest when he was born on the same day that "I Love Lucy" depicted the birth of a son to Ball. Religion News Service file photo

(1953) Television stars Lucille Ball and husband, Desi Arnaz, hold 10-week-old Desiderio Alberto Arnaz, after he was baptized by Father John Hurley of Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church near Hollywood, Calif. The infant attracted nation-wide interest when he was born on the same day that “I Love Lucy” depicted the birth of a son to Ball. Religion News Service file photo

“I Love Lucy” premiered on this day in 1951 on CBS with the episode, “The Girls Want to Go to the Nightclub.” That has nothing to do with religion news, or maybe everything. Either way, I could think of no better segue to today’s Roundup, which sort of feels like this when you’re writing it.

Sermons Subpoenaed

Normally pastors would be happy that folks would be keen to get their hands on their sermons. But maybe not when city attorneys in Houston are demanding them to see if the pastors preached against an equal rights ordinance designed in part to protect gay rights. The SBC’s Russell Moore is “simply stunned by the sheer audacity of this.”


But on the other hand … Uh, wait, is there another hand here?

The next gay marriage fight: religious exemptions

The AP’s Rachel Zoll has the story here, and she says it’s an uphill battle for religious groups.

What the heck is that wild and crazy Vatican synod doing today?

“Everything is awesome.” That’s the message Grant Gallicho storified from today’s press briefing, which featured USCCB president, Archbishop Kurtz, as one of the presenters. Seems like the 190 or so cardinals and bishops didn’t want to throw any more gas on the fire in the wake of the conservative outrage over proposals to maybe, just maybe, say something nice about gay people.

Will that be enough to get Maggie Gallagher out of the corner at the Corner?

“I hope to respond intellectually to the synod report. Tears right now are streaming from my face, and it is not about objections to welcoming gay people. There is something more profoundly at stake for me.”

She then links to this R.E.M. video. Hmmm…

Evangelicals weigh in on the Vatican summit

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council endorses Cardinal Raymond Burke’s demand that Pope Francis issue a statement clarifying that church teaching hasn’t changed, and won’t. Alan Rudnick, on the other hand, says Evangelicals can learn a thing or two from the discussions in Rome.

“But Archbishop Chaput said it was OK”

The Republican nominee for governor in Colorado, Bob Beauprez, is criticizing his Democratic rival, incumbent John Hickenlooper, for granting a reprieve to a man on death row. Beauprez is a Catholic and supports the death penalty, and he claims that the former archbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput — now in Philly — once told him it’s OK for a Catholic to support capital punishment. Will Saletan fisks that claim, and elucidates Catholic teaching in the process.

Your Daily Police Blotter

  • Televangelist Ernest Angley is now 93. Wow, Hard to believe he’s been around that long. But he’s also in hot water, as former members of his Grace Cathedral Church in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, have accused him of performing genital “examinations,” encouraging abortions and vasectomies, and even arranging a marriage between a congregant and a convicted child molester. The Akron Beacon Journal is running a week-long investigation.
  • Meanwhile in Washington, a prominent Orthodox rabbi, Barry Freundel, 62, of the Kesher Israel Congregation, has been arrested an charges of alleged voyeurism that may involve a hidden camera and a mikveh, where ritual bathing takes place.

“Nigeria’s megachurches: a hidden pillar of Africa’s top economy”

Fascinating story from Reuters on these houses of worship modeled on their counterparts in the U.S. — a Western import Nigerians don’t mind so much.


Mental illness: What is the role of the church, temple, mosque?

Heads up, Religion Writers — and anyone else interested in the topic. The latest issue of ReligionLink is out, and it covers a sensitive topic too often overlooked in houses of worship.

Factoid of the Day:

However tough things are, think of this:

“A person needs just $3,650 – including the value of equity in their home – to be among the wealthiest half of world citizens.”

The rest of a new report on the global economy here.

The Best of the Rest from RNS:

Finally, take the Buzzfeed Bible Quiz!

“Test your knowledge of disquieting Bible facts and find out what you are: Skeptical, Faithful, or Scoundrel.”

Check it out here. No need to tell us how you scored. God will know, and that’s enough.

David Gibson

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