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By PEGGY FLETCHER STACK c. 2011 Salt Lake Tribune SALT LAKE CITY (RNS) The Rev. France Davis doesn’t want any nude Adam-and-Eve figures at his Calvary Baptist Church — even if they were painted by the famed Michelangelo himself. Davis is unequivocal in his view that there is nothing inspiring or redeeming about naked figures…

By RAMON ANTONIO VARGAS c. 2011 Religion News Service NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Wearing a monk’s robe, Abbot Justin Brown climbed into the witness box on Monday (June 6) and said the only people who ever opposed his abbey’s bid to sell handmade caskets were funeral insiders who stood to lose their statewide monopoly. “To my…

By HISASHI YUKIMOTO c. 2011 Religion News Service TOKYO (RNS/ENInews) Roman Catholic bishops from across Asia will hold a summit on “The Impact of Pedophilia” in the Catholic Church, saying abusive priests are not simply “a problem of the West.” The Federation of Roman Catholic Asian Bishops’ Conferences will host a seminar for bishops and…

By DANIEL BURKE c. 2011 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS) Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour warned several hundred Christian conservatives gathered here last week (June 3-4) not to expect a “perfect candidate” to emerge from the field of Republican presidential contenders. “There’s only been one perfect person that ever walked on this earth,” Barbour said, sounding…

By MORGAN JAREMA c. 2011 Religion News Service GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) The doors of The Motion Initiative have just opened along a stretch of industrial buildings and already Thomas Fish can’t walk more than a few steps without being stopped. “Mr. Thomas, are you busy?” “Um, we lost a bolt.” “Can I get assigned?”…

By FRANCIS X. ROCCA c. 2011 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY (RNS) A Vatican investigation of clerical sex abuse in Ireland has finished its “first phase,” the Vatican announced on Monday (June 6), but a published report of its findings may not appear until next year. The announcement came four days after Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid…

By SUZANNE McGEE c. 2011 Religion News Service (RNS/ENInews) A new book on post-war Japan says Gen. Douglas MacArthur sought to fill the country’s “spiritual vacuum” with religious and quasi-religious beliefs, from Christianity to Freemasonry, as an antidote to communism. In 1945 Under the Shadow of the Occupation: The Ashlar and The Cross, Japanese investigative…

By BRUCE NOLAN c. 2011 Religion News Service NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Archbishop Gregory Aymond says he has firsthand accounts from students who said they were injured by paddling at a Catholic high school, challenging school supporters who have filed suit over the claims. Aymond’s disclosure came as parents and alumni of St. Augustine High School…

By CATHY LYNN GROSSMAN and SEAN LEAHY c. 2011 USA TODAY (RNS) Tim Tebow is a 23-year-old second-year, second-string quarterback on a so-so NFL team. So who’s going to buy his memoirs? What’s to remember? Only … — The play-by-play of his life from conception (his missionary dad, Bob, prayed for a son and promised…

By ADELLE M. BANKS c. 2011 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS) Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton defended her new ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom on Thursday (June 2), calling the Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook a bridge-builder who is right for the job. Speaking at Cook’s ceremonial swearing-in, Clinton cited Cook’s firsts as an African-American…

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