Friday Religion News Roundup: Supreme reactions; Chief Justice betrays Catholics? Holocaust survivor beauty pageant

Teavangelicals galvanize: Philadelphia Archdiocese selling beachfront property; Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity; Holocaust survivor beauty pageant. 

Lots and lots of responses to the Supreme's decision upholding health care reform.

First reactions suggested the ruling would galvanize the recently quiet Tea Party.

Early indicators suggest that may be the case. The Atlantic reported that Mitt Romney raised $3.2 million since Thursday morning, most of it coming from 30,000 individual donors.


While some Roman Catholics feel betrayed by the ruling, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, who is Catholic, the nuns are overjoyed.

Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby, praised the decision as “pro-life” in The Washington's Post's On-Faith page.

Finally, The New York Times’ David Brooks praised Roberts for not overreaching and trampling over the democratic process.

“Self-restraint. It’s a good thing. More people should try it,” he concluded.

In other news, The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is selling a 19-room beachfront property in Atlantic County used by retired priests. It faces a $17 million budget deficit and millions in legal bills associated with a child sex abuse case.

UNESCO is expected to decide this weekend whether Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity will be granted protected status as an endangered World Heritage site. If so, it would join The Taj Mahal and Easter Island.

A beauty pageant for Holocaust survivors was held in this Roundup writer’s hometown of Haifa, Israel. Fourteen women, aged 74 to 97, participated.

The ousting of the Assad regime is a moral obligation, but so too the duty to ensure that Syria’s future holds a place for minorities, especially Christians, Middle East intelligence analysts opine.

It's getting hot out there. Record high temperatures are possible today in the South, Ohio Valley, and Mid-Atlantic.


The New York Times wonders how Hasidic men wearing dark three-piece suits crowned by black hats made of rabbit fur survive.

Some churches, such as the one pictured above, have one answer.

We have another cool idea. Listen to Leah Libresco talk about her recent conversion from atheism to Catholicism in this week's RNS Godcast.

Yonat Shimron

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