Connecticut

Two Enfield, Conn., schools have been prohibited by a federal judge from holding their 2010 graduations inside a church.

U.S. District Court Judge Janet C. Hall ruled on Monday that holding the ceremonies at First Cathedral, a megachurch, is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.

"We are pleased that the court has found that holding a public high school graduation ceremony in an overtly religious setting is inappropriate when comparable secular facilities are available," said Andrew Schneider, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, which filed the suit against Enfield Public Schools together with the national ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church. more >>

The American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State have threatened to sue Enfield Public Schools if their graduation ceremonies are not moved out of a church.

"Students and their families should not have to choose between attending graduation and being subjected to proselytizing religious messages," said Alex Luchenitser, senior litigation counsel for Americans United, in a statement Wednesday. "Yet that is exactly the choice that the Enfield Schools impose on students and their families."

According to the two civil liberties groups, Enrico Fermi High School and Enfield High have been holding graduations at The First Cathedral in Bloomfield, Conn., since 2007 and 2008, respectively. The venue was chosen as work was being done on the schools' football fields. more >>

A controversial bill that would allow Connecticut lawmakers to reconfigure the governing structure of the Catholic Church was pulled Tuesday.

A public meeting on the proposal scheduled Wednesday was canceled by the legislature's judiciary committee.

The legislation, Connecticut Bill 1098, would have essentially taken power away from Catholic priests and bishops and place it in the hands of lay members of a separate board that would oversee church finances in local parishes. The measure would give an archbishop or bishop an ex-officio position on the board without the right to vote. more >>

Yale Divinity School is expanding its international student exchange program to Asia, partnering with theological schools in Hong Kong and Singapore.

In addition to ongoing programs in Germany and England, YDS will now offer student exchange opportunities at the Divinity School of Chung Chi College in Hong Kong and Trinity Theological College in Singapore. The new programs will take place during the 2009-2010 academic year and will be open to Master of Arts in Religion and Master of Divinity students.

Dean Harold Attridge made the announcement in a Feb. 5 open letter to students, calling the new partnerships in Asia "a step toward a new and more dynamic program to engage the world." more >>

Globalization needs a “solid basis of values” to succeed, contended former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in a major address this past week.

Faith is one way to provide a values system for globalization, but not the only way, he told hundreds of students and professors at Yale University after completing his first semester as a visiting professor.

Blair’s hour-long speech on Thursday was focused on whether or not a value system could be introduced to globalization and how, according to the Yale Daily News. more >>

Pro-family activists in Connecticut are urging the people of the state to vote “yes” for a constitution convention when they head for the polls on Nov. 4.

Though the 4-3 split decision by the Connecticut Supreme Court on Friday effectively redefined marriage in the state, Connecticuters will have the opportunity to have the final say if enough voters rally behind a call for the state legislature to convene a state constitution convention.

Every twenty years, under the state constitution, the ballot question "Shall there be a Constitutional Convention to amend or revise the Constitution of the state?" is placed on the ballot for consideration. This year marks Connecticut’s 220th since its admission to the Union in 1788. more >>