Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela

The demon-busting move is described here as “a precedent for the whole of Spain” – something the country had not seen before in its history.

The cardinal was apparently forced to take drastic steps to meet an increased demand in the the Madrid archdiocese, but also other dioceses in the region that have no exorcists.

The number of victims of esoteric and occult ritual practices has grown significantly as a result of “de-Christianisation” which has resulted in “demonic contagion”. Although not mentioned, Spain’s approval of gay marriage – something the Catholic Church here is still grumbling about – is probably seen as a contributory factor to the “contagion”.

The eight exorcists already are in the introductory phases of training to prepare them for the new task.

Shortly after his appointment as Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Angelo Scola, the former Patriarch of Venice, doubled the number of exorcists for his diocese from six to twelve.

Terri Hall of San Antonio, Texas, stands with her son Nathaniel Hall, 8, as they rally near where the Boy Scouts of America are holding their annual meeting.

But the BSA, under considerable pressure to allow gay members, went ahead anyway, and yesterday decided to lift the ban.

In launching a petition against the lifting of the ban TFP Student Action – “founded in 1973 to resist, in the realm of ideas, the liberal, socialist and communist trends of the times” – claimed that:

Two national BSA board members are pressuring the organization to abandon its morally sound membership policy which bars open homosexuals from holding leadership positions.   Groups and advocates who promote ‘tolerance have also collected over 300,000 online petitions (sic) – aided by liberal media publicity – to force the Scouts to accept unnatural vice in their ranks.

It pointed out that:

In fact, the Scouts’ right to uphold moral standards was confirmed by a Supreme Court ruling in 2000.  Shortly before that decision, the Boy Scouts issued this statement:  ‘We believe that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the requirement in the Scout Oath that a Scout be morally straight and in the Scout Law that a Scout be clean in word and deed, and that homosexuals do not provide a desirable role model for Scouts’.

It added:

Parents understand how public acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle would not only undermine the moral atmosphere of the Scouts, but also increase the risk of sexual abuse.

Gay pride: Among the thousand of LGBT Americans who rejoiced over the vote were gay brothers Pascal Tessier, 16, (left) and Lucien, 20. Lucien, an Eagle Scout, started an on-line petition to get the scouts to make the change. In the background are their proud parents.

But not always.

Following Monday’s horrific tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, a young mum with a toddler in her arms had a CNN camera trained on her. After the woman recounted the last-minute escape that saved her family’s life, interviewer Wolf Blitzer stupidly asked:

I guess you got to thank the Lord, right?

The woman, according to this report, hedged, looked down at her baby, and replied:

I’m actually an atheist.

There was a moment of silence, then the two laughed awkwardly. Said Blitzer, clearly taken aback:

You are? Oh, all right. But you made the right call.

Commenting on the question, and the response it elicted, Mark Joseph Stern, writing for Slate, said:

Blitzer’s behaviour may seem startlingly condescending, insensitive, and mawkish. But in fact, mentions of God, miracles, and prayer have become the argot of post-disaster reportage. They shouldn’t be. If you want to pray for Oklahoma or thank God it didn’t kill more people, go ahead. But please, especially if you’re a journalist, keep it to yourself.

He added:

Thanking the Lord for deliverance just doesn’t make any sense. Any God powerful and attentive enough to save survivors’ lives should also be powerful and attentive enough to stop the catastrophe in the first place. It’s insulting, futile, and distracting from the reality of natural disasters to inject your god into a calamity like Oklahoma’s.

Hat tip: Rik

Assisted by her dad, Ahlquist brought a lawsuit against the school, and a judge agreed that its presence was in clear violation of church-state separation. He ordered its immediate removal.

Jessica Ahlquist

Branded by one outraged Christian as “a horrible little monster”, Ahlquist has since been giving talks all over America about her lawsuit, and yesterday she was among several winners of the Hugh M Hefner First Amendment Awards. She won in the education category for her “courageous and successful lawsuit.” Her prize was $5,000 and  – erm – a plaque.

Ahead of the ceremony at the Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills, CA, Jessica told The Friendly Atheist:

I was so shocked when I heard that I was going to be honored with this award. At first, my activism doesn’t seem like it could possibly be connected to Hugh Hefner or Playboy, but when you think about it, we both advocate for the First Amendment. That’s what the award is really about. I’m so flattered and I’m definitely looking forward to the ceremony and meeting all of the other amazing awardees.

The awards were established in 1979 to honor individuals’ contributions to protecting First Amendment rights.

Witnesses, according to this report, told of a gruesome scene in which the man was hit by a car, then hacked with cleavers and his body dumped in the middle of the road in Woolwich, southeast London.

The two suspects in the killing were injured in a confrontation with police and have been taken to two hospitals, where they are being treated.

CNN affiliate ITN aired a video showing a man with bloody hands and holding a meat cleaver, who says:

We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you.

The man adds:

The only reasons we killed this man this is because Muslims are dying daily. This British soldier is an eye for an eye a tooth for tooth.

We apologize that women had to see this today but in our lands our women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government. They don’t care about you.

One of the two alleged killers, pictured with a knife and cleaver on one hand

The victim is believed to be a serving soldier who was based at a nearby barracks, Nick Raynsford, a member of Parliament, told CNN.

The soldier had apparently been on duty in central London and was returning to the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich when he was attacked, Raynsford said.

One eye witness posted the following Tweet, reproduced in this report:

And George Galloway, Respect Member of Parliament (MP) for Bradford West, added this Tweet:

Speaking in Paris, Prime Minister David Cameron said there were “strong indications” that the man’s killing was a terrorist incident.

He said he would be returning early from the official trip to handle the situation and will be back in London tonight

“It is the most appalling crime,” he said, speaking alongside French President Francois Hollande, who pledged solidarity with Britain in the face of terrorist threats.

The Muslim Council of Britain issued the following statement:

This is a truly barbaric act that has no basis in Islam and we condemn this unreservedly. Our thoughts are with the victim and his family. We understand the victim is a serving member of the Armed Forces. Muslims have long served in this country’s Armed Forces, proudly and with honour. This attack on a member of the Armed Forces is dishonourable, and no cause justifies this murder.

This action will no doubt heighten tensions on the streets of the United Kingdom. We call on all our communities, Muslim and non-Muslim, to come together in solidarity to ensure the forces of hatred do not prevail. It is important we allow our police authorities to do their job without speculation. We also urge the utmost vigilance and ask the police authorities to calm tensions.

A very graphic account of the killing appears here (thanks BarrieJohn).

Given the extreme sensitivity of this incident, I would ask readers PLEASE not to post racist or hateful comments. They will be removed.

Biggest bouquet, though, must go to David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, who is quoted here as saying:

The Hon Member for Gainsborough [Edward Leigh, Con] should also recall that this House deliberated for 20 years – he will know the name of William Wilberforce – on the abolition of the slave trade. Conservative Members may tut, but they know that this House was split for 20 years on the issue of whether black human beings were human or chattel. There were Christians in this House who sought to suggest that black human beings were chattel, and that somehow it was a matter of conscience and we should not end the slave trade. That is why this is a noble fight.

And the biggest brickbat? That, naturally, goes to Leigh, who said after the vote:

Army and NHS chaplains who preach in favour of traditional marriage in their own churches on Sunday could find themselves in trouble for it at work on Monday. Tens of thousands of teachers are at risk of disciplinary action for expressing traditional views.

And for those of you who might have been counting the minutes to see who would be the first to blame The Gays for Oklahoma’s devastating tornado, here’s this from the Westboro Baptist Church, which claimed that God had blown off in rage because basketball player Jason Collins came out as gay in April.

Collins, who played with the NBA’s Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards this season, became the first openly gay male athlete in US professional team sports after a very high-profile coming out.

A gang of 17 ministers and one archbishop expressed their concern about the consequences if the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill is passed in its current state.

The letter said:

If the Bill passes into law without much clearer protections for freedom of speech and freedom of belief, teachers and public-sector workers will have to choose between their conscience and their career, as many will be deterred from a public-service career or from charity involvement.

The church leaders said there are 150,000 in their combined congregations, 50,000 of whom are aged between 13 and 30.

For many in this rising generation, marriage is the union of sexual opposites, and the thread that binds generations.

The letter was signed by The Rt Revd Peter Smith, Archbishop of Southwark, Revd Vaughan Roberts rector of St Ebbe’s Oxford, and Revd John Stevens the National Director of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches among others.

Ministry of Silly Hats: the Rt Rev Peter Smith is the berk in the centre

The Bill will cause “pain for many, without tackling prejudice against the few”, the letter said.

Meanwhile, it is reported here that MPs voted 339 votes to 148 to reject the amendment to the Equality Act 2010 to include a person’s “conscientious beliefs” about the definition of marriage as a protected characteristic. Current protected characteristics include age, race, disability, gender reassignment and sexuality.

The amendment was tabled by David Burrowes and defended today by Conservative MP Edward Leigh, a staunch equal marriage opponent, who represents Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. He remains unconvinced by the government’s position on religious safeguards and claims pending legislation offers no security to people opposed to the change.

Leigh said today that the amendment was necessary because:

When there is a clash between gay rights and religious freedom, gay rights, I’m afraid, in our case law, comes first.

His argument was opposed by MP Chris Bryant, who pointed out that no other religious beliefs – such as believing in transubstantiation or the virgin birth –  are protected characteristics.

Leigh told the Commons:

They are entitled to protection not just in their churches, they are entitled to protection in the workplace, on Facebook, at home and when they are teaching in the classroom. They are entitled to speak about their beliefs on merit.

 

According to this report, the faithful queued at a Singapore court overnight and packed the public gallery to show support for the accused who prosecutors say diverted the congregation’s funds into “sham” investments to advance the career of aspiring star Ho Yeow Sun, popularly known as Sun Ho, who was voted Singapore’s “least admired personality” in 2012.

City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee, right, and his pop singer wife Ho Yeow Sun, also known as Sun Ho, at a preliminary court hearing last year. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

The church with affiliates in neighboring Malaysia and other countries is one of Singapore’s richest and biggest, with membership of more than 30,000. It is known in the region for staging large-scale, elaborate services resembling pop concerts which are conducted by Ho’s husband, Kong Hee.

Ho is not on trial but turned up in court Wednesday dressed in a black leather jacket, skinny pants, stiletto boots and sporting streaky blonde hair and grey contact lenses. Her husband chatted confidently with his lawyers. Kong is charged with conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust.

Also charged are church pastor Tan Ye Peng, church members Chew Eng Han and Lam Leng Hung, and accountants Serina Wee Gek Yin and Sharon Tan Shao Yuen. The six, who have yet to say how they will plea, could face prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years.

The prosecution’s opening statement ridiculed the contention of church leaders that pop music was a tool of evangelism that would help spread God’s message. It said Ho recorded and launched secular music albums to influence people:

Who would never choose to step foot into a church to listen to a preacher.

Investments by the church in two companies, Xtron Productions and Firna, were in substance fake transactions that were orchestrated by the accused who were all involved in the planning and financing of Ho’s music career, according to prosecutors.

State media reported that 24 million Singapore dollars ($19 million) was channeled through Xtron and Firna and another S$26 million was misappropriated to cover up the initial sum.

Prosecutors allege that the falsification of church accounts occurred in 2009.

Singapore’s media have painted Ho, who is in her early 40s, as an aspiring superstar who hoped for international fame to help spread her church’s influence. She collaborated on a song and raunchy music video China Wine with rapper Wyclef Jean in 2007 – you can see it here – and attended the 46th annual Grammy Awards ceremony in 2004. But accusations of impropriety and public disdain have since rained down on Ho, her ambitions and the church.

Ho was reinstated as executive director of City Harvest Church on Monday by the Commissioner of Charities after a review found she had not contributed to mismanagement of the church.

A former church accountant testified Wednesday how she had been instructed to take care of Xtron’s accounts because it didn’t have its own accounting department

According to this report, the cost of the royal commission investigating abuse claims could reach $500-million.

The figure was revealed by barrister and lobbyist Bryan Keon-Cohen at a legal conference in Victoria, where – in an “explosive” speech –  he likened the Catholic Church a gang of common criminals.

Barrister Bryan Keon-Cohen

He said the Church saw itself as above the law and resisted governmental responses to child sex abuse.

Dr Keon-Cohen, the president of community lobby group COIN (Commission of Inquiry Now), said the church’s own mechanisms for investigating abuse, such as Towards Healing and the Melbourne Response, were insufficient and objectionable.

They seek to replace due process of civil and criminal law, while not being open for public scrutiny and accountability.

Dr Keon-Cohen said the church’s refusal to recognise assault as a crime first and not merely a sin amounted to it putting Catholic doctrine before the law of the land.

(This) places these officials … in the same smelly bed as outlaw motorcycle gangs, the mafia, drug cartels and people smugglers..

In the speech at the Australian Lawyers Alliance Victorian State Conference yesterday, Dr Keon-Cohen also said wealthy organisations should help pay for the royal commission where it could be proven they were responsible for offences.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse had already cost $22 million by April and was expected to run long past its current deadline of December 2015, Dr Keon-Cohen said.

He estimated it could cost “in the order of $500 million” based on the reported $50 million bill for the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission.

In budget papers delivered earlier this week, the Victorian government allocated $434.1 million over four years for the wide-reaching inquiry.

The royal commission should explore whether organisations it was investigating could help cover the cost, Dr Keon-Cohen said.

I suggest that the [inquiry] be required to examine a further source of funds, ie wealthy organisations found, on the evidence, to have substantially contributed, due to their derelict practices, to the sexual abuse scandal.

Such contributions should reflect their assets and “degree of culpability”, he said.

Institutional cover-ups of the primary crime, the criminal assault, constituted a second level of abuse, Dr Keon-Cohen said.

Such callous disregard for the victim’s plight …amounts to not merely rank hypocrisy, but a second round of abuse.

Chief executive officer of the Church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council Francis Sullivan said the Church had put in place procedures in the mid-1990s designed to prevent sexual abuse and to ensure past victims and survivors were treated with dignity and respect.

These improvements and procedures will be built upon as we learn more from victims and survivors who come forward to the Royal Commission and as the Council undertakes its own research and policy development.

Meanwhile, it is reported here that the Catholic Church in the UK will benefit massively from a tax break granted by the Government. The move will give it an extra £3-million a year.

Christians in the Quiverfull movement believe in giving up all forms of contraception and accepting as many children as God gives, both as a sign of obedience to God and in a bid to ensure the future of the faith.

Quiverfull ideology also advocates a return to “traditional” roles in the home, where women are wife and mother first of all. They are their husband’s “helpmeet”, designed to support him as head of the household and primary breadwinner.

The programme features one woman who tested her faith in Quiverfull to the limit  – Vyckie Garrison, a mother of seven. Once a cornerstone of the Quiverfull movement in the US, she left in 2008. Her No Longer Quivering is described as a “place for women escaping and recovering from spiritual abuse”.

Garrison suffers from a rare bone condition that made pregnancy dangerous. Her husband had a vasectomy after baby number three. But after reading several Quiverfull authors, her ideas and the vasectomy were reversed.

Garrison continued to get pregnant against all medical advice, almost dying with the birth of her last – and seventh – child. But for a true believer, dying in childbirth is supposedly a noble act, she says.

I really believed that I wouldn’t die unless God willed that I die, and if he did then I would accept that, because obviously he’s the smart one, and has the big picture and knows the whole plan.

The programme appears to omit the tragic case of Andrea Yates.

Andrea Yates pictured with her husband Rusty and four of their five chiildren that she drowned in 2001

Yates , A Texas mum suffering from a severe untreated psychosis and post partum depression, was drawn into the Quiverfull movement at the insistence of her husband Rusty, who in turn was under the spell of a fire and brimstone preacher named Michael Woroniecki. In 2001 Andrea Yates drowned all five of her children in a bathtub, and to this day remains in a mental hospital.

Woroniecki, according to this report, was a sharp-witted, sharp-tongued, self-proclaimed “prophet” who preached a simple message about following Jesus but who was so belligerent in public about sinners going to hell (which included most people) that he was often in trouble. He even left Michigan, to avoid prosecution.

He denounced Catholicism, the religion with which Andrea had grown up, and stressed the sinful state of her soul.

He also preached austerity, and his ideas were probably instrumental in the way the Yateses decided to live. As Andrea had one child after another, she took on the task of home-schooling them with Christian-only texts and trying to do what the Woroniecki and his wife, Rachel, told her.

In one letter to Yates, Woroniecki said:

You are evil. You are wicked. You are a daughter of Eve, who is a wicked witch. The window of opportunity for us to minister to you is closing. You have to repent now!

Later, Yates stated she had considered killing the children for two years, adding that they [Woroniecki and her husband] thought she was not a good mother and claimed her sons were developing improperly. She told her psychiatrist:

It was the seventh deadly sin. My children weren’t righteous. They stumbled because I was evil. The way I was raising them, they could never be saved. They were doomed to perish in the fires of hell.

She also told her psychiatrist that Satan influenced her children and made them more disobedient.

The Womb as a Weapon will be broadcast on the BBC World Service on 18 May at 19:32 GMT. Listen back via BBC iPlayer radio or download a podcast.

Hat tip: Agent Cormac