The Christian Century

Continuing to preview his renamed The Passion of the Christ movie to people expected to praise it, actor-producer Mel Gibson got plaudits from Billy Graham, who was moved to tears, and reportedly secured favor from Pope John Paul II.

Retrospective challenge: Joanna Jepson, an Anglican priest in Britain, is legally challenging an abortion that took place in 2001. The fetus, which had a cleft palate, was beyond the legal limit of 24 weeks. However, abortions are allowed in Britain beyond 24 weeks if there is a substantial risk of severe handicap.

A study committee has recommended that the Southern Baptist Convention withdraw its membership and funding from the Baptist World Alliance. Its report cited the alliance’s “leftward drift” and concluded that “it is no longer wise stewardship to lend monetary support to an entity whose participants openly oppose many of our most cherished beliefs.”

The State Department’s annual report on the status of religious freedom worldwide is out, and its chief villains have familiar faces. The report says China, Burma and North Korea remain among the world’s most egregious and systematic violators of religious liberty.

The Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta has been put on probation by its accrediting agency for employing two professors who had not completed their doctoral degrees.

The consortium of six African-American theological schools learned December 8 of its status from the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.