We also have a list of religious tolerance news for this month. 
Sad to say, these are usually much shorter lists.

Bernard Cardinal Law had said on JAN-25: "As I have indicated, there is no priest, or former priest, working in this archdiocese in any assignment whom we know to have been responsible for sexual abuse. I hope you get that straight.'' Tom Fox, editor of the National Catholic Reporter, commented on the Boston situation: "It's just going to go on and on. Because Boston is a major see (archdiocese), and the numbers are so large, coming out piecemeal, it sounds awful. It sounds dispiriting. This is going to linger. It's not going to go away.''

It is important to realize that none of these accusations have been proven in a court of law. It is also important to recall that false memories of abuse by priests have surfaced in the past.

Ongoing: UK: Christian radio station may lose license: Premier Radio is a conservative Christian radio station in London, England. In accepting their license to broadcast, they agreed to avoid all "abusive treatment of the religious views and beliefs of those belonging to a particular religion or religious denomination." The Radio Authority has given the station a "Yellow Card;" this means that it might lose its license if it does not reduce its hate content and denigration of other religions. Volunteers of the Mysticism and Occultism Federation have been monitoring the station and issuing complaints when they detect attacks on other groups -- typically targeting non-Christian religions and homosexuals. According to the Spectator, a UK newspaper, "The Radio Authority’s bulletin shows that of all the stations receiving complaints, Premier Radio had 14 programming complaints and one advertising complaint lodged against it, which is far in excess of any other station listed." Most of the complaints that were upheld by the Authority were based on Premier Radio broadcasts. Some examples of complaints were based on the following statements by conservative Christian tele-ministers:

	A joke: "Hinduism, Buddhism, rheumatism."
	A minister criticized mainline churches because they were following a politically correct agenda and accommodating to secular culture.
	The same minister said it was "crazy" to believe that a person can be a "practicing homosexual... [and a] good Christian" at the same time.
	An American tele-minister recommended that Christians destroy any occult materials in their possession. The Authority noted that divination was part of some religious belief systems, and that this instruction essentially denigrated other people's beliefs.
	Another preacher admitted that he had never studied the sacred texts of other religions, but said that "They are full of superstition and absurdities."

The station's license will expire in 2003. ₁₂

FEB-11: Russia: Potential turf war - Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy: The Vatican announced on FEB-11 that they had created four new dioceses in Russia. This was prompted by "the need to improve the pastoral assistance to the Catholics present in that vast region, as they have insistently requested." The Russian Orthodox Church responded immediately. They have threatened to sever all contacts with the Roman Catholic Church. They see the creation of the four dioceses as part of the Vatican's efforts to expand its influence in Russia and seek converts from the Orthodox Church. ₁₃

FEB-11: Canada: Conflict over water purity in Mennonite and Amish schools: A public hearing in Walkerton, ON held the Government of Ontario largely responsibility for water contamination in that city that caused the illnesses of over 1,000 people and the deaths of about nine during 2000-MAY. Partly in reaction to this tragedy, the government introduced strict new water purification regulations for one-room schools. Schools which use well water must now install chlorinators and monitors to purify and check the quality of their water. An optional method would be to add disinfectant tablets to the drinking water. But the parochial school board that runs about 100 Mennonite and Amish schools in the Grey, Wellington, Perth and Waterloo counties of South-eastern Ontario objects. Electric power would be required both for the chlorinators and the monitors. However, Old Order Mennonite and Amish communities which operate about 40 of the schools do not allow the use of electricity. They are reluctant to add chemicals to their drinking water. Levi Frey, spokesperson for the school board said: "We are farm people used to drinking water as it comes out of the ground."  ₁₄

2002-FEB-23: PA: More allegations of abuse by Roman Catholic priests revealed: According to AANEWS: "Just days after a Boston priest was sentenced in connection with [sexually] abusing a young boy, the Philadelphia, Pa.  Roman Catholic archdiocese is now admitting that it has removed several clerics known to have sexually assaulted children."

"According to spokeswoman Catherine Rossi, officials were aware of 35 pedophile priests who had abused approximately fifty children over the last five decades.  She declined to divulge names or numbers of those who have been dismissed, but an unidentified source told the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper that at least six clerics may have been removed from their posts.  Rossi said that the archdiocese thought retaining the abusive priests 'wasn't worth the risk,' adding 'We can't supervise them 24 hours a day.' " _{15 [Note: The average abusive pedophile has molested many dozens of children by the time that they are detected. We suspect that if any of these priests actually molested children, that their abuse would probably have involved many dozens of chilren each.]}

2002-FEB-27: Pakistan: Attack on Shiite mosque: Unidentified gunmen attacked believers in a Shiite mosque in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Ten people were killed; at least 15 were wounded. It was the second attack on a group of Shiite Muslims over the previous week in the area. Shiite and Sunni Muslims are engaged in a low-key civil war in the country.