—– Catholic Church Downsizing In Pennsylvania (William Moyer/PressConnects.com; Feb 1)

St. Thomas the Apostle in Little Meadows, Pa., south of Apalachin, will close its doors by July 2010 as will several other Catholic churches in Susquehanna County under a massive downsizing of the Scranton diocese announced at weekend Masses throughout northeast Pennsylvania.

St. Joseph Church, south of Choconut, Pa., will also close, said Bishop Joseph F. Martino, who announced the closings and realignments in a recorded message played to parishioners in the 11-county region….

In his message, Martino echoed a question probably on the minds of most Catholic parishioners. “Why do we need to do this? Can’t we leave well enough alone?”

Martino said many institutions in the widespread diocese are not “well enough” to continue with the status quo.

“Our society and our diocese are experiencing changes,” said Martino. “Populations are shifting. Financial resources are diminishing. Many Catholics are not actively practicing their faith or supporting the Church. Our priests are serving too many parishes at one time.”…

In a previous pastoral letter, Martino said 185 priests serve in the diocese, which has 330,000 members in 172 parishes. By 2012, the priestly ranks are expected to decrease to 147 and to 112 by 2017.

A recent financial statement showed the Scranton Diocese had a $7.1 million decrease in assets in 2007-08 and a $6.7 million decrease in 2006-07.

—– Enrollment In Faith-Based Schools Down Nearly 20% (Leah Fabel/WashingtonExaminer.com; Feb 2)

Urban faith-based schooling options have declined by nearly 20 percent in 20 years, according to a recent report by the White House Domestic Policy Council, and officials warn that poor and minority students are most adversely affected.

Nationwide, the number of students enrolled in urban religious schools declined by 18 percent to about 1.8 million between 1989 and 2006, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, an arm of the Department of Education.

Urban Catholic schools were hardest hit, losing 27 percent of their students since 1989, dropping to an enrollment of just over 1 million overall. The Archdiocese of Washington bowed to that trend last spring with the closure of seven of its schools.…

Of religious institutions, only Islamic and Jewish urban schools saw an increase in enrollment and total number of schools. More than 115,000 students are enrolled in urban Jewish schools, and more than 13,000 students in Islamic schools….

—– Judge Recommends End To School Religious Education Program (Rebecca S. Green/The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette; Feb 3)

A federal magistrate recommended Tuesday the cessation of the Huntington County [Indiana] Community Schools’ religious education program.

The ruling came about two weeks after a hearing in the case of H.S. versus the Huntington County Community Schools over the district’s religious release time education program.

The “By the Book Weekday Religious Instruction” program uses modular trailers plugged into city utilities but parked on the property of Horace Mann Elementary School. It is run by the Associated Churches of Huntington.

The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a parent, identified only by her initials, seeks to shut down the program alleging it violates the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution by allowing religious instruction on school property.

On Jan. 21, the case went before U.S. District Magistrate Roger B. Cosbey for a hearing on whether the program should be temporarily shut down in its current incarnation.

School officials sought the dismissal of the lawsuit, a request Cosbey denied.

In his recommendation, Cosbey wrote that the school district faces minimal harm if the preliminary injunction is granted, while the plaintiff faced irreparable harm with continued violation of her First Amendment rights.

Any inconvenience caused to Associated Churches of Huntington County by the preliminary injunction does not outweigh any harm caused by the constitutional violation, Cosbey wrote in his ruling.

He wrote the case seemed to be about one ultimate question, whether “religious instruction to elementary students on public school property during the school day, in a church-owned mobile classroom (is a violation) of the Establishment Clause.”

Cosbey found that it was, saying that the use of tax-supported property and the utilization of the tax-supported public school system to aid religious groups to spread their faith made the program unconstitutional….

—– Secularism Prevails In Crucial Iraq Vote (Peter Goodspeed/The National Post; Feb 3)

As the interim results from Iraq’s provincial elections trickle in it is becoming obvious the vote has transformed the country and possibly the Middle East.

A new generation of Iraqi politicians appears to be stepping to the forefront, young, secular and rooted in the country – not exiles riding the coattails of a U.S. invasion force.

In a dramatic move away from the sectarian and religious-based politics that traumatized Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, voters appear to have picked Sunni and Shiite secular parties at the expense of their religious competition.

The Iran-backed Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) and supporters of Shiite firebrand Moqtada-al-Sadr were sidelined in southern Iraq as their share of the vote seems to have shrunk dramatically.

Right now, it appears none of the Islamic parties will be able to control any provinces on their own, a dramatic turnaround from the last election, when Shiite parties, backed by Iran, controlled Iraq’s nine southern provinces.

Early results indicate Mr. Sadr’s support may have fallen from 11% in 2005 to about 3%.

In Baghdad, the ISCI used to have 28 of the 57 provincial seats, but now they expect to win only eight or nine.

The big winner appears to be the party of Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, who campaigned on a strong law and order platform….

Overall, the polling was remarkably peaceful, compared to the 2005 election campaign, the first after the fall of Saddam Hussein, during which more than 200 candidates were murdered and many candidates refused to have their pictures displayed in public lest it lead to assassination….

Iraq’s politics may still be fragile, but the success of the latest provincial elections could bode well for parliamentary elections scheduled later this year….

—– Secular Coalition Thanks Senate For Upholding Church-State Separation In Stimulus Bill (The Secular Coalition For America; Feb 6)

While the 111th Congress has only been in session for a month, the Secular Coalition for America and its allies won the first battle to protect church-state separation when an amendment by Religious Right favorite, Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, was defeated yesterday.

On February 5th, the U.S. Senate voted down (43-54) an amendment that would have stripped important church-state constitutional protections in the economic stimulus package. DeMint’s amendment would have allowed taxpayer funds to be used for construction and building rehabilitation for religious facilities at private religious institutions, including divinity schools.

“Yesterday’s vote is a reminder that the Religious Right has no plans of giving up trying to use the federal government, and our tax dollars, to promote their religious beliefs,” said Ron Millar, acting director of the Secular Coalition for America.

This is the first time the Senate has had a direct vote on a church-state issue of this nature in several years and the Secular Coalition is thrilled that 54 Senators opposed permitting federal funds to go towards religious schools and institutions. (To see how your Senators voted, go here.

To see the insightful analysis and praise offered up by Americans United For Separation of Church and State, go here.

To hear some of the anguished squawkings of conservative Christians in response to this vote, go here.