As tens of thousands of Egyptians pour into the streets for an eighth day of protests, the White House says it has had no contact with the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest opposition group.
For the first time, though, the Obama administration said it supports a role for groups such as the Brotherhood, which has long been committed to turning Egypt into an Islamist state, Tribune reports.
The National Council of Churches has joined the Coptic Orthodox Church in North America in a three-day period of prayer and fasting “to seek God’s presence” amid the upheaval in Egypt.
The European Union could not agree on a statement denouncing the persecution of religious minorities after Italy objected to the omission of references to protecting Christians, Reuters reports. More than 150 Muslim-world dignitaries are paying respect to the millions of Jews killed in the Holocaust by visiting the Auschwitz concentration camp.
A coalition of religious and civil rights organizations is asking members of Congress to object to Rep. Peter King’s planned hearings on the “radicalization” of American Muslims. A group of South Carolina legislators jumped on the anti-Shariah bandwagon, proposing a bill to outlaw Islamic and foreign law from state courts.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, until recently the public face of the mosque proposed near Ground Zero in New York, said he wouldn’t object to moving to a less contentious spot, raising questions about who’s in charge of the project. Meanwhile, the new imam behind Park51 has raised hackles by ascribing same-gender sexual orientation to “some form of violent emotional or sexual abuse.”
Illinois on Monday became the sixth state to recognize civil unions or domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. George W. Bush’s daughter came out in favor of gay marriage. Marriage and church attendance among high school graduates has dropped significantly since the 1970s, according to a report from the University of Virginia’s National Marriage Project.
The repeal of the U.S. military’s ban on openly gay members will not change chaplain policies, the Pentagon said.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation and five Air Force Academy faculty members have filed suit in Colorado seeking to enjoin an upcoming National Prayer Luncheon at the academy.
The attorney for a man who says he was sexually abused by a priest at a Wisconsin school for the deaf says the Vatican has refused to be served with a lawsuit over the matter, according to the AP. The scandal-scarred Legionaries of Christ has established a commission for members with questions about the “implications and consequences” of founder Marcial Maciel’s unscrupulous conduct.
Indian officials are working to trace the source of more than a million dollars found at the headquarters of Tibetan Buddhism’s third most important leader, according to the AP.
Roman Catholic bishops in Canada lamented the “epidemic” of pornography. A Nevada pastor is planning a National Porn Sunday this weekend. Fox rejected a Super Bowl commercial about the Bible verse John: 3:16.
Embattled Bishop Eddie Long made a YouTube appeal on behalf of parish members facing financial hardships because of “sour” investments. Fistfights broke out in a North Carolina church.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans says it will unveil a new online database containing records of baptisms, marriages and deaths in colonial New Orleans – including those of African slaves.
