Most ministries submit materials to Grassley. Two-thirds of the prominent ministries Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is investigating are cooperating with requests to provide financial information. Bishop Eddie Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., said it will provide information April 15, Grassley's staff announced. A lawyer for Randy and Paula White, who led Without Walls International Church in Tampa, Fla., told Grassley's office materials had been sent. The senator's office already had received materials from Joyce Meyer Ministries in Fenton, Mo., and Benny Hinn Ministries of Grapevine. Creflo Dollar Ministries in College Park, Ga., has refused to submit financial records, and Kenneth Copeland Ministries near Fort Worth responded to the request but hasn't provided sufficient materials. Grassley, top-ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, plans to “continue dialogue” with those two ministries, his office said.
Ten percent of voters wrong about Obama's religion. One American voter in 10 believes believes Sen. Barack Obama is Muslim, despite the presidential candidate's frequent descriptions of his Christian faith and a high-profile flap over his former pastor. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, a majority of voters — 53 percent — correctly identify Obama as a Christian. But 16 percent of conservative Republicans, 16 percent of white evangelical Protestants, 19 percent of rural Americans and 10 percent of voters overall believe the Illinois senator is Muslim. Confusion over the candidate's religion crosses party lines. Fourteen percent of all Republicans, 10 percent of Democrats and 8 percent of independents think he's Muslim, according to the survey.
Gorbachev denies conversion. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev debunked reports, based on his recent visit to the shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, that he had become a Roman Catholic. “Some media have been disseminating fantasies — I can't use any other word — about my secret Catholicism,” Gorbachev told the Catholic Church's AsiaNews agency. “To avoid misunderstandings I would like to say: I was atheist, and I stay atheist.” Gorbachev visited the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy, with his daughter Irina in mid-March. A subsequent report in Italy's La Stampa newspaper called the event a “spiritual perestroika,” and the international press promptly spread news of the supposed conversion.
By 2020, more practicing Muslims than Catholics in U.K. New research indicates that within the next 12 years, the number of Muslims worshipping at mosques in Britain will outstrip that of Roman Catholics attending traditional church services. According to a report by London's Daily Telegraph newspaper, the study by Britain's Christian Research organization estimates, based on present trends, the number of Catholics attending Sunday Mass will have dropped to 679,000 by 2020. At the same time, the report's statisticians say, the number of Muslims in attendance at mosques will have climbed to 683,000.
Compiled from Religion News Service