Lord Jesus Christ is back in the news, this time telling our colleagues up at The Republican in Springfield, Mass., that his run-in with a car a few days back was all “part of God’s plan.” Yes, that’s him, at left, with a collage he’s making in his apartment.
Recalling the missionary glory of Portugal’s past, Pope Benedict XVI urged his Portuguese flock to rediscover their Christian roots. At the same time, an Austrian bishop is urging the church to rediscover its own history of married clergy. Following India’s lead, Catholic bishops in Brazil say they’re drafting a binding policy manual on how to handle sexual abuse cases.
Officials at Liberty University have agreed to look into the background of Ergun Caner, president of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, to see if he really comes from the radical Muslim background that he’s been claiming for years in speeches around the country.
The U.S. Justice Department is joining the search for whoever stole the disputed Mojave Desert cross over the weekend. Here’s hoping the guilty party is not a Rastafarian who lands in a Virginia jail, where the AP reports Rastas spend 23 hours a day in solitary confinement because they refuse to cut their hair to confine with grooming rules. A Seventh-day Adventist church in Brooklyn wants an apology from the NYPD after officers pursued a suspect inside a church during Bible study.
City officials in Miami, Okla., taking a page from divine meteorologist Pat Robertson, have activated a clergy-led prayer team to ward off devastating tornadoes. A pair of gospel musicians in Georgia have been charged with theft after they alleged stole music equipment from churches.
Art conservators in Haiti are rushing to try to preserve murals from quake-damaged churches, including Episcopal Holy Trinity Cathedral.
British police now have their own official Pagan Police Association — the Times of London says the recognition will give pagan officers “the right to take days off to dance naked on the solstices, celebrate fertility rituals and burn Yule logs…” France has taken an initial (although nonbinding) step toward banning the burqa or other face-covering veils. Swedish Muhammad cartoonist Lars Vilks was assualted, but uninjured, during a lecture about the limits of free speech.