Tuesday’s Religion News Roundup

Thousands of angry rioters in Egypt beat police with makeshift wooden crosses in the third day of unrest sparked by the bombing of a New Year’s Mass that killed 21 and wounded about 100, according to the NYT. The head of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church called on the government to address Christian discrimination and urged […]

Thousands of angry rioters in Egypt beat police with makeshift wooden crosses in the third day of unrest sparked by the bombing of a New Year’s Mass that killed 21 and wounded about 100, according to the NYT.

The head of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church called on the government to address Christian discrimination and urged his flock to quell the violent rioting. President Hosni Mubarak blamed “foreign hands” for the bombing, officials hinted at al-Qaida involvement, and hundreds of Muslims joined demonstrations to condemn the attack.

A Pakistani governor was murdered Tuesday by one of his guards, who told interrogators that he was angry about the politician’s opposition to the country’s blasphemy law.


The leading Belgian archbishop said he fears the consequences of compensating victims of clergy sexual abuse because payments could also be demanded for children born via artificial insemination or raised by same-sex couples.

A miracle attributed to Pope John Paul II has been approved by consultants to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, potentially clearing the way for the late pontiff’s beatification this year, according to a veteran Vatican reporter.

College students, atheists and agnostics reported more anger at God during their lifetimes than believers, according to a study.

An influential congressional staffer is under fire for refusing to grant his wife a Jewish divorce decree, known as a get. Jewish leaders are lobbying new N.Y. Gov. Cuomo to restore the staff of the state’s Division of Kosher Law Enforcement.

A former Catholic priest from Miami who left the church after photos surfaced of him canoodling on the beach criticizes church leaders in a new book and calls their stance on priests’ romantic relationships hypocritical, according to the AP. Two prominent Episcopal clerics married in Boston in the first same-sex wedding celebrated by Massachusetts Bishop Thomas Shaw.

Health officials say hundreds of people may have been exposed to hepatitis A while receiving communion on Christmas Day at a church on Long Island, according to the AP. Southern Baptists are battling about booze. A Pennsylvania minister is hoping to start a church in his garage to stop a strip club from opening next door.


Cuba’s Santeria priests say 2011 will be characterized by growing economic openness, threats of war, and coups d’etat.

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