Not quite the “Vatileaks” scandal, but documents show Cardinal Dolan tried to pay off abusers so they would leave the priesthood. The New York Times and other outlets report that the $20,000 payments were authorized while Dolan was archbishop of Milwaukee.

At the time Dolan called reports of such payments “false, preposterous and unjust.” He hasn't responded to media requests so far. Stay tuned.

The Holy Spirit? Smart PR? Or karmic blowback from the Vatican's curial disasters? The Vatican ambassador to the U.S., exiled from Rome for allegedly trying to clean up the Vatican, opens his doors to pro-nun protesters.

The author of the Vatican tell-all said it was more than the butler – Gianluigi Nuzzi had up to 20 informants inside.

Mitt Romney clinches the nomination? Not news? Will he be the first Mormon president? That would be news.

A Democratic official in Pennsy bolts the party saying Obama’s embrace of gay marriage was the last straw.

So who’s a culture warrior now? Ross Douthat says it’s Obama.

Is Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng pro-life? Pro-lifers might be surprised at the answer.

Does Tim Tebow have a girlfriend? Fellow virgin Lolo Jones says he does, and it's not her.

Why do people still believe in those Bible codes?

Can New Age spiritualists have a schism? The travails of the Esalen Institute and it tree-hugging adherents (above) indicate the answer is “yes.”

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, members of the Apostolic Truth Tabernacle Church in Greensburg, Indiana tell TMZ that the church and its pastor have been receiving harassing calls and even death threats since they posted on the Internet a video of a 3-year-old member proudly singing a song, "Ain't no homos gonna make it to heaven.”

"Of course we applauded a child who is singing a song about God,” one church member said. Yep, that’ll get ‘em every time.

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David Gibson

Photo credit: Esalen treehugger via RNS.