Weekly roundup: Marriage march, nuclear weapons, and Saint Roberto

Tomorrow is the official beginning of summer, so get out your sunscreen and beach towels. It’s also the beginning of the summer news slump. But you can still check back here for what news there is. This is your weekly roundup.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) voted at their General Assembly to allow pastors of the PC(USA) can licitly perform same-sex marriages. They also approved a change to the Book of Order that refers to “two persons” instead of “one man and one woman.”

Meanwhile in Washington, D.C., a couple thousand people gathered on the Capitol lawn to march for “traditional marriage.” Among the speakers at the event were former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.

In world peace news, religious leaders in Iran and the USCCB issued a joint statement condemning the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other “weapons of mass destruction.” “As religious leaders, we condemn all forms of disrespect for the religious traditions of others,” said the joint declaration. “Just as importantly, we commit ourselves to active inter-religious dialogue that transcends governments and national boundaries and serves the common good of the whole human family.”

In really bizarre news, two Catholic priests have been charged in the murder of a seminary rector. the reasons behind the killing are apparently complicated, but it is alleged that the two accused priests thought the murdered rector was preventing them from progressing within the Church.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby made it known that he is not a great fan of social media this week, when he “The best answer to a complex issue on which one has heard a soundbite from a sophisticated argument is not always given in 140 characters.” Of course, Kevin Eckstrom of Religion News Service pointed out that this little kernel of wisdom is exactly 138 characters in length.

In baseball news, there is an apparent effort underway to canonize Roberto Clemente, the Pittsburgh Pirate who died in a plane crash in 1972. He was attempting to bring relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.