Daily Links, July 3: Fortnight winds down, nuns park their ride, and a miraculous health care solution

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, which also marks the end of the bishops' Fortnight for Freedom campaign. Rallies are continuing around the country, including a big event at the Kansas statehouse. Critics of the campaign, however, are still wondering if the whole thing was really necessary, or even appropriate

The other big campaign that's been taking place is the Nuns on the Bus roadtrip to call attention to the needs of the poor and vulnerable, which wrapped up yesterday in Washington, D.C. The nuns got plenty of press, including this recap of their trip in The Atlantic. For a different view of religious life, take a look at this story about the life of a nun in India.

Pope Benedict XVI announced yesterday the appointment of German Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller to head the CDF, replacing the retiring Cardinal William Levada, but not everyone is happy with the pope's choice. The Vatican also announced the appointment of Msgr. Marc Jeffrey Monforton, a Michigan priest, to head the Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio.

There's an argument in North Carolina over a law that could limit the ability of death row inmates to challenge their sentences on the grounds of racial bias. Meanwhile in South Carolina, a woman received a sentence that included reading the Book of Job and writing a report on it.

Finally, India may have found a solution to both our health care crisis and our shrinking Catholic population. The Vatican Insider reports on strange, unexplained healings taking place through prayer. That's good news for the church, which has seen a 40 percent increase in Catholics in the last 35 years.

About the author

Scott Alessi

Scott Alessi is a former managing editor of U.S. Catholic.