A host of religious leaders, including Pope Benedict XVI, are praying and preparing aid for victims of Japan’s earthquake and tsunamis.

Speaking of international aid, celebrity-driven campaigns like Save Darfur and Invisible Children somtimes do more harm than good, according to a Baptist expert.

Looking back at last week’s congressional hearing, WaPo says it was less centered on Islamic radicalism than on empowering Muslim leaders who are viewed by conservatives as more patriotic and cooperative.

Being an American Muslim right now can be downright exhausting, reports the AP. To wit: A day after testifying at the congressional hearing, Rep. Keith Ellison had to defend his Muslim faith on Bill Maher’s TV show, after the host called the Quran a “hate-filled holy book.”

Thousands of Egyptians, both Muslim and Christian, gathered after Friday prayers to call for unity and to condemn an arson attack that killed 13 Christians and ignited sectarian tensions, Reuters reports. Muslim and secular Libyan rebels are fighting cheek by jowl against dictator Col. Gaddafi, according to WaPo.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister said politicians should be able to reach a consensus on preventing abuses of the country’s controversial blasphemy laws. U.S. faith leaders are urging the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to emphasize religious freedom in foreign policy – and maybe, I don’t know, SHOW UP! next time for the confirmation hearing for Obama’s nominee for religious freedom ambassasor.

The pope’s new book dismisses the image of Jesus Christ as a “political revolutionary.” The Catholic diocese of Allentown (Pa.) has appealed a Vatican ruling that several shuttered churches must reopen for worship.

Reviewing the case of a Catholic Alzheimers patient, a trial court judge in N.Y. urged lawmakers to create a “sanctity of life” rather than “quality of life” presumption.

Maryland’s gay marriage bill is essentially dead in the water after black pastors strongly advocated against it.

A retired Air Force general will assess the religious climate at the school, where allegations of improper proseltyzation have been rampant, AP reports.

Pilots on an Alaska Airlines flight locked down the cockpit and alerted authorities after three passengers conducted an Orthodox Jewish prayer ritual during the flight. Jewish humor dates to 1661, according to a scholar.

Muslim exorcisms are growing in Gaza. An Episcopal priest in Missouri has adopted Muslim rituals for Lent, which may get him defrocked. It costs a $1 million to make a saint, according to a journalist.