Hope everyone had a nice St. Valentine’s day. Even if you were alone, your V day was probably better than the 80 poor Malaysian Muslims who were rounded up in a police crackdown to prevent pre-marital sex. If found guilty (of what, Reuters does not say) they could face two years in jail.
If you ate too many chocolates and candy hearts yesterday, an evangelical church in New York can help you work off those extra lbs.
In more important news, a high-profile attorney for victims of sexual abuse is accusing New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan of moving $75 million off the books in his former post at the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to shield the money from lawsuits. Dolan calls the accusation “groundless gossip.”
The same attorney, Jeff Anderson of Minnesota, sued the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on Monday, citing a scathing grand jury report that led to criminal charges against four priests – including the former vicar for clergy. The AP says the suit may signal a “new era” in church-abuse litigation in PA because the plaintiff had more time, under a 2002 law, to file his complaint.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, one of several senior officials leading a probe of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, will reportedly tell the pope that the church in the Emerald Isle is “on the edge” of collapse. The Irish church has a decade, at most, to avoid the fate of Catholicism in other Western European countries, O’Malley told an association of priests, according to Catholic News Service.
Egypt’s long-banned Muslim Brotherhood intends to form a political party, according to reports, but will not run a candidate for president. The role of Islam in the party continues to be debated.
The Greek Orthodox Church sued the public agency that owned the World Trade Center, saying it reneged on a deal to help rebuild a church destroyed on 9/11.
The Dalai Lama’s nephew was killed yesterday while walking along a Florida highway in a march to draw attention to the plight of Tibet. A Latino activist wants Mexican President Calderon to suspend visas for Mormon missionaries until the LDS church takes a more pro-immigration stance.
Churches are getting caught in the crossfire as state legislatures debate laws that would allow guns in houses of worship. Religious conservatives in Georgia are trying to kill a bill that would allow local votes on whether to sell liquor on Sundays. A bill in Michigan would increase penalties for disturbing religious services. The bill calls for imprisonment of up to 93 days.
Based on a local radio report, the AP is reporting that “the Vatican” named a shrine in Wisconsin a “holy site.” It didn’t. Green Bay Bishop David Ricken said last December that Marian apparitions on the site were “worthy of belief,” but he’s not the Vatican. The Vatican *is* concerned about pirates, though.
