February 18, 2008

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Former President Bush endorses McCain
Associated Press (02/18/2008: msnbc.msn.com)
HOUSTON - Former President George H.W. Bush endorsed John McCain on Monday, a nod of approval from the Republican political dynasty's patriarch that sends a strong signal to a GOP establishment wary of the Arizona senator.

Obama says he should have given Patrick credit
John McCormick/baltimoresun.com (02/18/2008)
NILES, Ohio – Sen. Barack Obama said today that he should have given credit to his friend, Deval Patrick, when he used language very similar to some previously spoken by the Massachusetts governor in 2006.

DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE
Southern Baptists Diversifying to Survive
Jacqueline L. Salmon/Washington Post (02/16/2008)
Faced with a crisis of aging and departing members, the nation's largest non-Catholic Christian bodies -- Southern Baptists, United Methodists, Lutherans and Presbyterians -- are reaching out to minorities in ways they never have before. Yet, while local churches often remain predominately black or white, the outreach does result in a more diverse national organization.

Presbyterian ruling disappoints gay candidates for clergy
Rebecca Rosen Lum/Contra Costa Times (02/16/2008)
Three rulings by the Presbyterian church's high court have delivered a stunning defeat for actively gay and lesbian candidates for the ministry, including a San Francisco woman who just won the right to be considered for ordination. At issue in all three is the practice of "scrupling," which allows a candidate to deviate from church doctrine.

FAITH LEADERS
Vatican says Pius XII sainthood process not stalled
Phil Stewart/Reuters (02/18/2008)
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican's top saint-maker said on Monday he was moving ahead with the cause of wartime Pope Pius XII, and defended him against accusations he was silent about the Holocaust.