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Anyone who picked up a major newspaper today knows that one of the hot stories on the other side of the Atlantic is the resignation of Bishop Roger Vangheluwe of Brugge, Belgium — the latest star to fall in the current wave of clergy sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church.
It would be an understatement of epic proportions to say that Baltimore is slightly obsessed with the Ravens, its NFL franchise in the tortured era after the sinful betrayal that cost the city the Colts.
Last week, I posted a chunk of what I wrote marking the 22nd birthday of the weekly “On Religion” column for the Scripps Howard News Service.
At the end of the Time cover story about efforts to reopen the Pir Mohammed School in Senjaray, Afghanistan, the commander of the 120 U.S. soldiers located there gets caught up in an all-to-common tragedy.
Now, what happens when you combine the complexities of religious doctrine with the intricate, and at times agonizing, nature of the hair-splitting debates that take place in the U.S. Supreme Court? Only the brave enter that kind of maze.
Most great stories feature a compelling good guy and a nasty bad guy, the kind of villain that likes to tear down good people and places. It also helps if the story includes some giant, transcendent symbol that is in danger of being destroyed.
GetReligion readers, I have a question for you. How many of you are part of religious congregations that have ended up in the news? Perhaps even more than once?
As is often the case, the mainstream press was handed a fascinating church-state separation case today and didn’t seem to realize it. Here’s the top of the A1 report in the Washington Post:
Let me be frank with you: I do not know quite what to make of a recent story in The Oklahoman about a bitter fight in a local Catholic church about — brace yourself — an allegedly obscene crucifix.
