DEATH OF A DIPLOMAT RAISES CONCERNS:

Sarah,

A United States diplomat was killed in Libya after protesters attacked and set fire to the U.S. Embassy.  Our Embassy in Egypt was also attacked.  The attacks raise several more general concerns:

1.  The precipitating event was a video posted on YouTube that insults Islam.  Supposedly the video was posted by people in America and depicts Muhammad and his followers as “child lovers” and questions whether he loves women.  This is concerning because anyone can post videos on YouTube at any time.  Does this mean that anyone in the world can start an anti-American riot by simply posting a YouTube video attacking Islam and claiming to be an American?

2.  Florida preacher Terry Jones promoted the video.  This preacher is famous for publicly burning Korans in 2011, an event that set off riots in Afghanistan.  Now it seems he is able to effectuate riots in Egypt and Libya too.  This guy does not seem to be slowing down.

3.  Both Egypt and Libya recently underwent revolutions and these protests serve as evidence that both countries are still very volatile.

4.  Protesters in Egypt accuse Coptic Christians in America with creating the video.  Coptic Christians follow a branch of Christianity based in Alexandria, Egypt.  Coptic Christians amount to 10% of Egypt’s population.  In recent years, tensions between Muslims and Coptic Christians have risen.  Accusations that Coptic Christians created the video highlights this troubling trend.

PROBLEMS FACING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN AMERICA:

Sarah,

As you may have heard, the Catholic Church in America is facing some problems.  Last week the Economist detailed some of the challenges facing the church.  Here is a quick history and a summary of the church’s problems:

Quick History:

Our founding fathers were Protestant and the Catholic population in revolutionary America was small.  Then it grew:

-In 1803, America executed the Louisiana Purchase and received 828,000 square miles (15 states) from France.  Because France was a Catholic country, many residents of France’s American colonies were Catholic.

-In 1819, America bought/ stole Florida from Spain.  Because Spain was a Catholic country, many residents of Florida were Catholic.

- In 1845, America demolished Mexico in a war and scooped up all of the Western United States for a paltry $18 million.  Because Mexico was a Catholic country, many of the area’s residents were Catholic.

-In the late-1800’s a wave of European migration brought hundreds of thousands of Catholics into America from places like Ireland and Italy.

-Since then, a solid stream of migrants from Latin America has held the proportion of Catholics in America steady.

Background:

The first thing to know about the Catholic Church in America is that it’s enormous.  Over 74 million Americans identify themselves at Catholics, making America’s Catholic Church the fourth biggest behind Mexico, the Philippines, and Brazil.  That also means about one in four Americans are Catholic. 

If you add up all the Catholic institutions in our country, they employ around one million people.  This makes the Church one of the largest employers in the country.  11 percent of America’s hospitals are Catholic and 5 percent of all private schools are Catholic.  Further, 25 out of the 100 top ranked American hospitals are Catholic. 

The church is also one of the country’s largest landowners.  Even in a secular and expensive place like Manhattan, the church is thought to own more property than any other entity in the city.

The church is also the country’s largest charity and disbursed more than $4.7 billion last year.

Lastly, the American Catholic Church is the biggest source of income for the Catholic Church internationally.  About 60% of all the Catholic Church’s funds are from America.  Therefore, when the church pays money to touch up the Sistine Chapel, there is a decent chance that money originated in Cincinnati or St. Louis.

Problems:

The Church has a lot of problems.

First, there are lawsuits and there a lot of them.  In recent years, the Catholic Church has spent over $3 billion defending against sexual abuse cases.  The average case costs the church $1 million.  With more states considering dropping the statute of limitations on sex abuse cases, this problem will not be going away.

These lawsuits contribute to the Church’s second problem: it’s broke.  Here are the other reasons the Church is in a financial mess:

-Donations have fallen 20%.  Many people are hesitant to contribute because of recent scandals and competition amongst charities has become increasingly intense. 

-With donations lagging, the church has relied on bond sales to raise money.  This has increased their debt.

-Americans have become less religious in general and this affects donations.

 -The struggling economy has affected charitable contributions generally. 

- The Church faces a labor shortage because fewer Americans are interested in becoming priests or nuns.  This drives up the price of labor because the church has to outsource jobs that were traditionally performed by clergy.

-The finances of the church are mismanaged.  Often clergy, and not trained accountants, handle funds.  Additionally, some creditors claim that the church moves money around it to shield it from litigation costs. 

-There have been several instances of fraud on the part of the clergy.  One priest in Philadelphia embezzled over $900,000.

All this has led to relative chaos in the church’s finances.  8 dioceses have gone bankrupt, including San Diego, Milwaukee, and Tucson.

Bottom Line: I am not religious, but I sincerely hope the church can recover and figure out a way to stop abuse.  Some of America’s best institutions are Catholic and the church provides critical services for thousands of Americans.  I’m hoping that things get better. 

 

Source: The Economist, “Briefing The Catholic Church in America” 8/18/2012

PAKISTAN’S ANTI-BLASPHEMY LAWS ARE REALLY INTENSE:

Sarah,

Many Muslim countries have laws prohibiting insults against the prophet Muhammad, the Koran or Islam.  Pakistan is really taking this law to another level.  This is bad news for the country’s 1.6 million Christians.

This month, an 11 year old girl who may be disabled was imprisoned by Pakistani authorities for alleging burning pages of the Koran.  She is a Christian living in a Christian neighborhood in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.  The police arrested her after an angry mob had gathered outside her house.  Now it seems that the charges may have been fabricated and there is no hard evidence that a Koran was burned.

This is not an isolated incident:

- In July, an angry mob beat a man to death for allegedly insulting the Koran.

- Right now, a 45 year old Christian mother sits on death row for insulting the Koran.  She denies the charges.

-In March 2011, gunmen killed the only Christian member of Pakistan’s cabinet.

-In January 2011, a politician was killed by his bodyguard after he criticized the anti-blasphemy law.

Bottom line: Don’t insult Islam while in Pakistan.

THE POPE’S BUTLER IS ABOUT TO STAND TRIAL FOR LEAKING CONFIDENTIAL CHURCH DOCUMENTS

Sarah,

Oh man, this butler is bold.  Stealing from the Pope?  It just sounds so risky.

While under the Pope’s employ, this butler stole hundreds of confidential Church documents and gave them to a journalist.  He is also accused of stealing a check made out to the Pope, a gold nugget, and 16^th century translation of Virgil’s “Aenied”. 

The documents allegedly reveal that the church is really corrupt and routinely silences any internal voices that push reform.  I couldn’t find many specifics in the news, but one central allegation is that people bribed the Church in order to gain an audience with the Pope.

Some think the Butler is merely caught up in a bigger power struggle between powerful factions of the Church.

Bottom line: The Catholic Church is really struggling.