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This year’s college graduates owe their success to many factors, from hectoring parents to cherished remedies for hangovers. But one of the most remarkable of the new graduates, Beatrice Biira, credits something utterly improbable: a goat.Read more of this story.

MADISON — Paving the way toward a future of better helping more of the poor and those in need in Dane County, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul officially broke ground at the site of its new Food Pantry and Service Center recently."Poverty in Madison and Dane County is real," said Ralph Middlecamp, executive director of the society’s District Council of Madison. "The need we are working to meet is growing. The larger, better equipped center we are building will serve our clients more efficiently, more effectively, more compassionately, and with due respect for their dignity and privacy."Read more…

COMMENTARYI noticed that the Times of London newspaper yesterday reported on the 100th anniversary of SOS, the universal distress signal. In 1908, when radio communication was new and primarily by Morse Code, the international community decided the three dot, three dash, three dot message was the clearest way to communicate the need for quick action to save a foundering ship. It took a few years to catch on, and a really big disaster involving the Titanic ocean liner. But now everyone knows what SOS means.In 1994 I was reporting from the North American Conference for Itinerant Evangelists, in Louisville, Kentucky, sponsored…

COMMENTARYIt was one of the more awkward moments in the presidential campaign. Senator John McCain was appearing on the ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW, and she was asking why McCain did not support same-sex "marriage." A well-prepared DeGeneres made the usual arguments about inclusiveness, and compared those who reject same-sex "marriage" to those who once refused to allow women or blacks to vote. It was all about fairness, she said.McCain’s response? "I just believe in the status of a marriage between a man and a woman . . . We just have a disagreement."Read more of this commentary. Today’s Follow-up commentary: How…

Record gasoline prices have been painful, but now they have begun to test the limits of faith.In houses of worship nationwide, preachers are railing against the forces of energy evil, and congregations are praying for lower fuel prices.Read more of this story.

With 77 diocesan priests reaching the optional retirement age of 68 within the next five years, change isn’t just in the wind for more Catholics in southeastern Wisconsin.It’s percolating in parish offices as the region’s largest denomination strives to invigorate its flock while creatively countering the priest shortage, declining Mass attendance counts, the impact of the sexual abuse crisis and the deficit-driven downsizing of its central offices.Read more of this story.

COMMENTARY“Survey Shows U.S. Religious Tolerance” was the headline of a New York Times article about the Pew Forum’s survey of America’s religious landscape. It found that Americans have a “non-dogmatic approach to faith.” In fact, 70 percent of Americans who claim affiliation to a religious body—including Christians—agreed that “many religions can lead to eternal life.” Nearly the same percentage said that “there’s more than one true way to interpret the teachings of my religion.”Read more of this commentary.Questions about the questions on the Pew surveyPew Report Shows Americans Are Religious in Unpredictable Ways

REEDSBURG, Wis.(BP)–Disaster relief chaplain Doug Davis opened an image on his cell phone of a house he’d seen along Granite Avenue, a main street running through Reedsburg, Wis., alongside the Baraboo River.Reedsburg officials condemned a number of homes along this stretch after the river swelled into a destructive force, sweeping into homes and destroying foundations.Read more of this story.

When most Americans think of megachurches and missions, they think of us reaching overseas populations. But when large churches in other countries look at the United States, some are seeing us as a mission field with significant spiritual needs. Churches from Asia, South America, Europe and Africa all have planted mission churches in the United States and other countries around the world:Read more of this story.

"Author Unknown" once asked Jesus why there was only one set of footprints in the sand during life’s most perilous moments.Now a federal court on Long Island is trying to decide just whose footprints were next to Jesus’ during the better times.Read more of this story. Alternative reading