Friday’s roundup

As Haiti continues to dig through the earthquake’s destruction, it seems as if every major church/relief group is searching for news of their local agents, or mourning their death. Catholic News Service has an obit on Haitian Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot, who died Tuesday. Catholic Charities and other organizations say they plan to airlift thousands […]

As Haiti continues to dig through the earthquake’s destruction, it seems as if every major church/relief group is searching for news of their local agents, or mourning their death. Catholic News Service has an obit on Haitian Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot, who died Tuesday. Catholic Charities and other organizations say they plan to airlift thousands of Haitian children who are now orphans as the lack of infrastructure in the Caribbean island is hampering relief efforts. Progressive religious groups are petitioning the White House to grant Haitian immigrants Temporary Protected Status, which would prevent their being sent back to Haiti.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs did not have nice things to say about Pat Robertson, who on Wednesday blamed the earthquake on Haiti’s supposed pack with the devil. “It never ceases to amaze me that in times of amazing human suffering somebody says something that can be so utterly stupid,” Gibbs said.

The Army officers who failed to issue warnings about Maj. Nidal M. Hasan’s erractic behavior could be punished, the AP reports. A Seattle judge sentenced the man who shot up a Jewish center in 2006, killing one woman and injuring five others, to life in prison without release. Internal memos suggest that two now-dismissed leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference may have diverted more than $500,000 to bank accounts they controlled.


A D.C. Superior Court judge ruled that same-sex marriage opponents to not have the right to call for a referendum on whether such marriages should be legal in the district. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals said a county courthouse in Kentucky can keep its Ten Commandments display. A Pennsylvania appeals court said the state’s Department of Welfare can regulate religious child-care facilities. Catholics in Massachusetts are appealing to the Vatican to keep their parish open.

France is considering a law that would ban Islamic dress in public and the AP moved a helpful sidebar on the status of the veil debate in several countries. China has appointed a hardline governor for Tibet. As Pope Benedict XVI plans to visit a synagogue on Sunday, Jews are still angry that he has advanced the cause of WWII Pope Pius XII towards sainthood. The pope also defended his hearty invitation to disaffected Anglicans to join the Catholic Church.

A genius in Malaysia posted comments on Facebook about firebombing a church and was arrested by authorities. The coach of Eypt’s national soccer team said he only wants pious Muslims on his team. They haven’t qualified for the World Cup in 20 years, the AP reports.

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