A Catholic nun with a gambling habit (no pun intended) pled not guilty to accusations that she embezzled over $850,000 from New York’s Iona College. She worked in the school’s finance office.
In West Palm Beach, Florida, a camel fell into pews full of spectators during a church nativity play. No people or animals were injured, though the camel will not be part of the Christmas pageant when it opens this weekend. A donkey and sheep will still take part. Elsewhere in Florida, a dispute in Boca Raton is raising questions about whether or not a menorah is a religious symbol. But the Loudon County Courthouse in Virginia stands out as a beacon of winter solstice tolerance. The courthouse grounds features ten different displays ranging from Nativities to atheist displays to Luke Skywalker.
Nothing says Christmas quite like an $11 million Christmas tree.
WikiLeaks is giving the Vatican some problems. Confidential cables released by the website claim that the Vatican pressured Ireland to grant immunity to church officials involved in the clergy abuse investigation and is responsible for hostilities toward Turkey in its bid to join the European Union. The cable states that “allowing a Muslim country into the EU would further weaken [then Cardinal Ratzinger’s] case for Europe’s Christian foundations.” In Ecuador, a Polish Catholic missionary was beaten to death with a crucifix. And in Phoenix, Arizona, the bishop is threatening to strip St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center of its Catholic status over a disputed abortion procedure.
So, apparently, former President George W. Bush was sloshed the first time he met Billy Graham. He had had “about four beers and five wines.” Well done, sir.
A group of US Senators are asking Switzerland to reconsider an immigration policy that puts a de facto ban on Mormon missionaries to the country. Citizens in Sweden say they won’t let the suicide bombing in Stockholm shake their belief in tolerance. In the wake of last month’s Oregon bombing case, Attorney General Eric Holder defended the use of sting operations where undercover agents are sent into US mosques as “an essential law enforcement tool.” In Georgia, the ACLU is suing the City of Douglasville on behalf of a woman who wasn’t allowed to wear her headscarf into a courtroom and was subsequently jailed for contempt.
Fort Worth, Texas is in the midst of a brouhaha over “Good without God” bus ads put out by local atheists. Some local Christians have responded by following the buses around in a truck that says “I still love you. —God.”
Drug cartel violence continues in Mexico, where a gang shootout interrupted a festival for the Virgin of Guadalupe. In other Mexican cartel news, Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, known as “El Mas Loco” and leader of the La Familia cartel, died last Thursday in a gun battle with Mexican police. For many, Moreno was both a folk hero and religious leader, but to others he was a vicious criminal.
Elephant tails, dried hedgehogs, and chicken blood were among the items seized by US Customs and Border Protection at Dulles Airport. The items were seized from a passenger arriving from Ghana who claimed they were for “spiritual purposes.”
Finally, while many Protestant churches are receiving less and less in the offering plates, megachurches are still bringing in the big bucks.
