The worst of the Great Recession may be over for some churches, according to a new survey.
Forty-three percent of churches reported a rise in contributions last year; 39 percent saw a decline. Both are improvements over 2009. Someone dropped a $30,000 lottery ticket in the collection plate of a Maryland church.
The House voted to reinstate school vouchers for D.C. students, making the Catholic Church and Speaker Boehner (it’s his pet project) very happy; church-state watchdogs and atheists, not so much. In New York, the proposed budget would cut aid for public colleges and universities but add $18 million in tuition assistance for students who attend religious schools.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia suspended two more priests accused of sexually abusing minors, bringing the total number of suspensions to 29 since a grand jury issued a scathing report Feb. 10. A parliamentary commission in Belgium called for a new panel to handle compensation claims for victims of clergy sex abuse.
The U.S. Catholic bishops conference denounced a popular book by a prominent feminist theologian, saying it is full of “misrepresentations, ambiguities and errors.” The book, called “Quest for the Living God,” includes chapter titles such as “God Acting Womanish” and “Accompanying God of Fiesta.” Not sure what that latter phrase means but it sounds fun.
Mormons are awaiting faxes from God, I mean, umm, anticipating speeches from the nearly infallible LDS president and his 12 apostles this weekend. They are less excited about “The Book of Mormon” on Broadway, but hey, can it really be much more cringe-worthy than “Big Love,” “Sister Wives,” or “South Park”?
Thank you, sir, may I have another!: More than 500 students and parents marched outside a New Orleans Catholic school calling for a reinstatement of corporal punishment.
Facebook shut down a “Third Palestinian Intifida” page after complaints from Jewish groups.
After giving up Catholicism for Lent, Steven Colbert is looking for a new religion. The Discovery Channel is looking for a pregnant pagan. This preacher is telling his congregation to “F” everybody they know.
William Shakespeare’s Globe Theater will mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible by reading it cover to cover between Palm Sunday and Easter Monday. Five thousand Bibles defaced by Malaysian authorities because they refer to God as Allah will be preserved as “museum” pieces, presumably not this one.
A political leader in Lebanon was sued for saying Saudi Arabia makes its women wear “black trash bags.” I don’t think he meant the get-up pictured at top left.