Some interesting law & religion stories from around the web this week:
- The U.S. Department of Defense has released new regulations allowing service members to display religious beliefs by wearing, for example, a turban, scarf, or beard, as long as there is no interference with military readiness, discipline, or order.
- Some Sikh American organizations are criticizing the new regulations for not going far enough, since requests for religious accommodation will still be decided on a case-by-case basis.
- President Obama will meet with Pope Francis for the first time on March 27 at the Vatican to discuss their shared commitment to fighting poverty and growing inequality.
- Funding for the relocation of the U.S. embassy to the Holy See from its current location near the Circus Maximus to the grounds of the US embassy to Italy, is included in the spending bill passed by the Senate last Thursday.
- From self-imposed exile in the Poconos, Islamist Fethullah Gulen is leading a movement aimed at unraveling the coalition that has governed Turkey since 2002. Gulen recently accused Prime Minister Erdogan, also an Islamist, of abandoning the path of reform.
- As one of 45 religious groups fighting the ACA’s contraception mandate, the Little Sisters of the Poor have stepped into the spotlight.
- The ACLU is suing a school board in Louisiana, alleging officials at one of its schools harassed a sixth-grader because of his Buddhist faith.
- Plans are underway for an interfaith prayer building near Berlin’s Alexanderplatz. The building will combine a church, a synagogue, and a mosque under one roof.
- The UN AIDS taskforce and human rights groups will launch a battle in local courts against Malawi’s laws criminalizing homosexuality
- A former Vatican prelate was charged with laundering millions through the Vatican bank.
- The Mormon Church has issued a sweeping defense of Utah’s liquor laws, saying the rules are closely tied to the the state’s moral culture.