Thursday’s roundup

Retiring Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony may have dodged a bullet with prosecutors saying there’s a “possibility of criminal culpability” among church leaders but they don’t have enough evidence to bring charges; the LAT says charges against the archbishop seem unlikely. The head of the German bishops conference, however, may not be so lucky; prosecutors […]

Retiring Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony may have dodged a bullet with prosecutors saying there’s a “possibility of criminal culpability” among church leaders but they don’t have enough evidence to bring charges; the LAT says charges against the archbishop seem unlikely.

The head of the German bishops conference, however, may not be so lucky; prosecutors said they want to know whether Archbishop Robert Zollitsch hired a priest with a known history of abuse. A bill to extend the statute of limitations on abuse cases in New York (opposed by the Catholic Church) died its fifth death in Albany.

Conservative media watchdog groups are launching a preemptive strike against “JC,” a maybe/maybe not cartoon about Jesus trying to escape his father’s long shadow in New York City; Comedy Central hasn’t said whether the show will ever air, but conservatives already don’t like it. The GOP operative who helped put Richard Nixon‘s crusade against Jews into motion finds his career is still haunted by the affair more than 35 years later.


One of Christian artist Thomas Kinkade‘s companies has filed for bankruptcy; former gallery owners who claim they were stiffed call the self-described “painter of light” a “deadbeat.” Ouch. Speaking of deadbeats, a California man will spend 12 years in prison for a fraudulent house-buying scheme; he apparently tried to use Voodoo and black magic against the prosecutors, to little avail (at least not yet).

Disgraced evangelical leader and Colorado Springs megachurch pastor Ted Haggard says he’s starting a new church with his wife — after telling us three weeks ago that no plans were in the works. The head of the Catholic Church’s (U.S.) Military Archdiocese takes a dim view of repealing Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell, and a top Southern Baptist official in charge of gender studies says President Obama‘s declaration of June as Gay Pride Month “marginalizes” Christians. Obama also extended some fairly limited rights to same-sex partners of federal employees.

The Des Moines Register finds newly ordained clergy eager to get started, despite the challenges ahead, while the Sacramento Bee says visa regulations and miles of red tape are causing some bishops to stop looking overseas to import priests to the U.S. Meanwhile, in North Carolina, a $12 million seven-year study of clergy health finds that United Methodist clergy in the Tarheel State have an obesity rate of 40 percent — 10 percent higher than the rest of the state.

Former Episcopalians (now part of the Anglican Church of North America) are setting up shop in New England ahead of ACNA’s annual confab in Amesbury, Mass., next week. The Connecticut school district that was told it couldn’t hold graduation ceremonies in a megachurch says it will appeal the ruling. Muslim leaders in Detroit released their own autopsy analysis of an imam who was killed in 2009, saying he was attacked by police dogs and denied immediate medical care.

A Catholic bishop is dead in Turkey after allegedly being attacked in his home — possibly at the hands of his driver. Also in Turkey, mourners buried eight of the nine activists killed in that Israeli raid on the flotilla that was trying to get to Gaza; Israel has rejected calls for an international probe of the incident. Perhaps not surprisingly, former President Jimmy Carter blasted Israel for raiding the flotilla. Russian Orthodox cabbies have set up their own fleet of pious taxis in Moscow.

And finally, a word from our sponsors: Our very own Daniel Burke is taking home the top award from the American Academy of Religion. His wife (some might say better half), Melissa, is also a religion reporter (at the York Daily Record in Pa.) and got 15 minutes of fame over at GetReligion this week.


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