American cardinals named; Abortion opponents encouraged; and a new handwritten Bible in the works

The pope has named two American cardinals, reports Kristine Crane from the Vatican City in Wednesday's RNS report: Pope Benedict XVI elevated two Americans to the status of cardinal Wednesday (Feb. 22), sending a message of encouragement and approval to U.S. bishops struggling to deal with an ongoing sex abuse crisis. In all, 15 new cardinals were named. The two in the United States were William J. Levada, 69, who has served as an archbishop in San Francisco and Portland, Ore., and Sean P. O'Malley, 61, archbishop of Boston, the epicenter of the sex abuse crisis. The selections bump the number of American cardinals to 13, more than any country except Italy and the most ever for the United States. The appointments come amid rumors that advisers within the Curia have been calling for a cap on the number of American cardinals, says church historian Alberto Melloni of the University of Modena. "This sends support to Boston, the most suffering church in the Catholic communion," Melloni said.

Abortion opponents are predicting a Supreme Court shift when the new roster of justices considers partial birth abortion. Adelle M. Banks and Robert Cohen report: After years of frustration with the Supreme Court over abortion, religious conservatives see a new day dawning after the high court agreed Tuesday (Feb. 21) to consider the constitutionality of a federal law banning a controversial type of late-term abortion. Conservatives say they are encouraged that a realigned court could approve bans on what opponents call partial-birth abortion. The case, Gonzales v. Carhart, is considered a key test of whether a Supreme Court with two new members will shift direction on one of the nation's most hotly debated social issues. The dispute involves a law approved by Congress and signed by President Bush in 2003 making it a crime for doctors to perform a procedure Bush calls "abhorrent." Nancy Keenan, president of Washington-based NARAL Pro-Choice America, said the court's willingness to take the federal case "means the core principle of protecting women's health by Roe v. Wade is in clear and present danger."

Jason Kane writes about the Saint John Bible, the first handwritten Bible to be commissioned by a religious institution in 500 years: With the help of computers, calf skins and turkey feathers, Donald Jackson is reviving a lost art form by creating a Bible by hand, at a cost of $4 million. The Saint John's Bible, a seven-volume, illustrated endeavor slated for completion in 2007, is the first handwritten Bible to be commissioned by a major religious institution in 500 years. According to a group of more than 200 modern Minnesota monks at Saint John's Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minn., five centuries was too long to wait for an artistic reinterpretation of the Bible. All faiths, particularly Catholics, lost something in the lapse, says the Rev. Eric Hollas, director of the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library at Saint John's.