Monday’s Religion News Roundup: Ryan’s Catholic problem; White House iftar; Nuns reject takeover

Paul Ryan has a Catholic problem. Sikhs hold their first service at a Wisconsin temple since shooting. Americans nuns reject Vatican takeover. 

Hundreds gathered at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin for its first Sunday service since a gunman killed six people before fatally shooting himself.

“I'm smiling and laughing now, but once this group goes away and we're back to our regular schedule, it will be haunting, I'm sure,” said Justice Khalsa, who worships at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin


A Chicago man was arrested for firing air rifle shots at a mosque during Friday prayers.

Sam Freedman of the NYT wants the media to put the Sikh/Muslim mistaken identity “narrative” to bed.

Mitt Romney picked Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan to be his running mate, meaning that, for the first time in U.S. history, there will be a major party ticket without a Protestant

Ryan, a Catholic, is best known for his fiscal policies, but look for his stances on social issues to get a lot of press as well.  

We might also get a repeat of the Ryan hearts Ayn Rand meme

Conservative activist Deal Hudson says Ryan has a “Catholic problem:”  the bishops don't like his budget. 

Neither do the Franciscans, who accuse Romney and Ryan of “demeaning the poor.”

A new Romney ad, meanwhile, accuses President Obama of launching a “war on religion.”

American nuns rejected the Vatican's takeover plan, saying more dialogue is needed to settle their differences with the hierarchy. 

Cardinal Raymond Burke, the American who runs the Vatican's supreme court,  said that the nuns “don't have the right to continue” if they do not reform. (See video above, courtesy of EWTN.)


The Catholic Diocese of Peoria, Illinois joined the ranks of dioceses that have filed lawsuits challenging the contraception mandate issued under the Affordable Care Act.

On Thursday, President Obama hosted his 4th annual Iftar dinner – the evening meal that breaks the Ramadan fast for Muslims. He praised Huma Abedin, a State Department employee whom Rep. Michele Bachmann has accused of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, as an “American patriot.”

If the Mormon church were a business, wealthy adherents like Mitt Romney would count as its dominant revenue stream, Reuters reports. 

Billy Graham is being treated at a North Carolina hospital for bronchitis.

The Cardinal Timothy Dolan/Stephen Colbert “Catholic Comedy Slam” will not be televised or open to the media, David Gibson reports. 

Five Mormon siblings got married in five separate ceremonies on the same day. 

Their poor mother.

The kid photo above has nothing to do with anything. It just made me laugh.

Yr hmbl aggrgtr,

Daniel Burke 

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!