The Church of England has issued a prayer for the upcoming William-and-Kate nuptials that they’ll be spared from the Windsor family propensity for infidelity.
In California, a Catholic priest has taken a temporary leave from his TV ministry, a la Alberto Cutie, after admitting to a relationship with his, um, second cousin. The archbishop of Santa Fe says couples living in sin are, well, living in sin.
Evangelist Joyce Meyer will testify in a murder trial involving her former top bodyguard. A standing Jesus statue will replace the half-Jesus statue that was destroyed by lightning last June outside an Ohio church.
First there was that Hanukkah song from those crazy kids the Maccabeats at Yeshiva U. Now there’s a Passover version.
The family of a Philadelphia man who committed suicide in 2009 after church officials refused to believe his abuse claim has filed a wrongful death suit against the archdiocese.
From the Story That Will Not Go Away, Gainesville’s Terry Jones say he will now put the Prophet Muhammad on trial for “crimes against humanity.” This should end well. Meanwhile, President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai both condemned Jones’ Quran burning, which set off a round of deadly riots in Afghanistan. The folks at the Poynter Institute probe the media’s responsibility in all this.
Baptist Press says church nurseries will need to replace baby cribs under new consumer-protection rules scheduled to take effect in June.
Joanna Brooks, a Mormon writer over at Religion Dispatches, isn’t sad to see fellow Mormon Glenn Beck leaving Fox News. CNN’s Dan Gilgoff finds the use of a church in the Obama reelection campaign’s first video “telling.” Evangelicals prefer a government shutdown over compromise, according to Pew data.
The Guardian wonders if Sir Martin Rees, the winner of this year’s $1.6 million Templeton Prize, is a better model for unbelieving scientists than the more outspoken Richard Dawkins.
Retired Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen (a frequent thorn in Beijing’s side) is in town this week, and after a meeting House Speaker John Boehner said religious freedom in China should be top priority.
Egypt‘s religious affairs ministry is demanding the army to protect Salafi Muslim shrines from roving bands of attackers. In Syria, the government will allow teachers to wear full-face veils and also closed a casino to appease hard-line conservative Muslims.
Meanwhile, in Belgium, the nation’s top Catholic bishop got hit in the face with a custard pie (video here).