Washington, D.C.

Catholic Church giving on track despite scandal

At the height of the crisis over child molesters in the priesthood, studies of rank-and-file Roman Catholics predicted a donor revolt. But nearly two years into the scandal, surveys suggest that the rebellion bishops feared never fully materialized.

While several U.S. dioceses failed to meet their fund-raising goals, it appears that giving to parishes and the church overall actually rose last year, according to Catholic researchers.

Mary Gautier, a senior researcher at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, released a donations report this month, based on surveys sent to the dioceses.

Joseph Claude Harris, a researcher in Seattle who analyzes Catholic giving, extrapolated from Gautier’s data to estimate that parish collections rose by 4.9 percent last year to $5.8 billion.

Washington, D.C.

President signs military construction bill

President Bush on Saturday signed a $9.3 billion military construction bill.

The amount is $1.4 billion below last year’s level, but $200 million more than Bush’s request. Lawmakers added more than 100 projects for military facilities in their home districts — money that the president had not sought.

One of the final disputes that had delayed passage was resolved earlier this month when congressional bargainers agreed to split earmarks — money directed to specific home-district projects — 53 percent for the Senate and 47 percent for the House.

Washington, D.C.

House compromises on spam protection bill

Congress moved significantly closer to the first-ever federal protections against unwanted commercial e-mails with the House passing a bill Saturday that would impose new limits on sending e-mail offers.

The measure would outlaw the shadiest techniques used by many of the Internet’s most prolific e-mailers and include penalties up to five years in prison in rare circumstances.

Passed on a 392-5 vote, the House bill largely mirrors “Can Spam” legislation the Senate approved last month. Supporters hoped slight differences between the two measures could be resolved before Congress adjourns for the year.