Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani should not have received communion during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit because the former presidential candidate supports abortion rights, New York Cardinal Edward Egan said Monday.

Who are the Americans advising Pope Benedict XVI about the subtleties of U.S. politics and protocol as he begins his first official visit?

Noting that as he gets older, he gets more tolerant, the once anti-religious Ted Turner has joined two religious organizations to reduce malaria in Africa.

The aptly-named Creflo Dollar Jr. flies a Lear jet between his million-dollar mansion Atlanta and church services in New York City, where he also keeps a $2.5 million apartment.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are only the latest of a long list of Americans who have reached out to besieged Tibetans.

Cascadilla Creek cuts through one of Ithaca, New York’s famously gorgeous gorges and then moseys through residential downtown. On its northern bank, as it passes under North Aurora Street, sits a large, slate-roofed, circa-1913 house. In the 1970s it was Teen Challenge, a faith-based drug treatment center. Then, it passed into the hands of the Sherman family (including this writer), who sold it to an architect, who sold it, indirectly to the Dalai Lama.

As Sen. Barack Obama’s pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. is cast as Public Enemy No. 1 by some commentators for his rants against the white establishment, it’s worth remembering that his congregation belongs to a liberal mainline Protestant denomination in America with a long history of offending people.

Tom Cruise

An unauthorized biography of Tom Cruise, released today, has put the Church of Scientology back in the news.

Andrew Morton, who has made a name for himself writing biographies of Princess Diana, Madonna and Monica Lewinsky, spent two years researching on Cruise. He concluded that Cruise is the second-highest ranking person in the church.

Cruise’s rep has called Morton’s book a “false, vicious and bigoted attack.” In anticipation of Morton’s interview this morning on the Today show, the church issued a press release denying many of the book’s claims.

What do Jack Shephard, Paris Hilton, Robert Levy, Andre Agassi, 50 Cent, “Don’t tase me, bro!”, Robert Chambers, Barry Bonds, Benny Hinn and Northrop Grumman Corp. have in common?

Not much really, except that they were the subjects of some of the most read stories on Muckety during 2007.

Oral Roberts University, reeling from debt and allegations of misspending, announced yesterday that it is separating from the ministries headed by Richard Roberts, who has resigned from the college presidency.

“By unanimous decision of the board, it was decided that the university will take every step necessary to separate ORU and the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association as a legal, financial, accounting and governance matter,” said George Pearsons, the regents’ chairman.

“However, the spiritual connection between the two organizations will remain.”

Unless significant board changes occur, however, the connections between the university and the ministries will go far beyond the spiritual realm.