The BBC reports on the Church of England’s “prayer for the current financial situation” published online six months ago and which 40,000 have visited. It begins:
“Lord God, we live in disturbing days: across the world prices rise, debts increase, banks collapse, jobs are taken away, and fragile security is under threat.”
To reduce the decline in [...]

Reuters reports lawmakers killed bill 1098 that would have taken financial oversight of Connecticut’s Catholic churches away from priests and bishops, handing that power to lay officials. Thousands of Catholics demonstrated on Wednesday against the proposal, opposing what they called a threat to the separation of church and state.
“Religious freedom holds a privileged place in American society,” said the [...]

Survey finds more Americans have no religion.
Fifteen percent of respondents said they had no religion, an increase from 14.2 percent in 2001 and 8.2 percent in 1990, according to the American Religious Identification Survey.

As if the sheer loss of their donor’s wealth weren’t enough concern for non-profit groups, here’s a good explanation of why 501(c)(3)’s, including religious charities, are worried about new limitations on charitable donation tax deductions.
Sheldon Steinbach, a DC-lawyer who represents colleges and universities says the proposal could have drastic consequences for many groups:
“Any disincentive to [...]

Zenit reports Pope Benedict XVI in a Feb. 26 meeting with parish priests of Rome, urged them to speak out “against avarice on a large scale, and forming justice in the hearts of all people.”
He addressed a pastor’s question about how to help people deal with the present economic crisis. On the level of macroeconomics, [...]

As we see new examples daily of government involvement in privately-held businesses, here’s a take on the Vatican’s historical position on socialism in the American Chronicle.
“…no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist”
Pius XI, Quadragesimo Anno (120), May 15, 1931
The comment was controversial at the time and still is. Lots of people think [...]

CNN Money talks to those tapping into fellow worshipers to find jobs.

Catholic News Service reports the global economic crisis has contributed to a delay in Pope Benedict XVI’s new social encyclical, “not for financial reasons, but because the crisis has demonstrated how important and how complicated the topic is.”
If the encyclical “does not deal competently with the economic reality, it cannot be credible,” Pope Benedict said Feb. [...]

A modern-day demonstration that faith is a gift that keeps on giving, the Omaha World-Herald reports annual fish fries “flourish in economic chill.”
Aiming to feed multitudes, organizers hope to raise money for charitable projects. The paper said: 
Good food gets ‘em in the door,and a good cause doesn’t hurt.

Catholic News Service reports that during his annual message marking Lent, Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony “told Catholics that the country’s economic downturn has caused many people to already experience the season of Lent,” having begun in 2007 when people began losing their jobs.
In previous years, “when life and our financial security were far more predictable,” [...]