I’m back from my family trip to London, Cyprus and Greece — narrowly missing volcanic ash and British Airways strike delays along the way — and I’ve learned three things that relate to the religion beat: the average Cypriot doesn’t know that Pope Benedict XVI is visiting in a few weeks, the average Greek doesn’t know that Athens (the last European capital to do so) has finally unveiled a Holocaust memorial, and the average Brit is far more concerned about the recent elections, air travel problems and other current events than any hypothetical calls to have the pope arrested during his United Kingdom trip this fall.

(Also on a related religion note: the average baby cries during part of a Greek Orthodox baptism, but a jetlagged baby wails continuously. Sigh.)

While I get my Seattle legs back, here are my picks for the top five religion headlines this past week:

• Pope Benedict visits Portugal, talks about abuse, abortion, same-sex marriage
• Swedish Muhammad cartoonist has gone into hiding after attacks, threats from Muslim extremists
• Controversial Mojave Desert cross stolen, after SCOTUS ruling permits the display
• Questioned raised about Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s beliefs, sexuality
• Rima Fakih: First Arab American woman (from a Muslim Lebanese family) crowned Miss USA

Check back for updates and share your thoughts in the Comments section below.

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