A political tip sheet for the rest of us outside the Washington Beltway, Monday, April 2: WHAT’S HAPPENING: TUESDAY’S PRIMARIES: Two states and the District of Columbia vote, but the marquee contest is in Wisconsin. It’s the kind of big industrial state where a win by Mitt Romney will further solidify his standing as the likely GOP nominee and a Romney loss will infuse Rick Santorum’s campaign with new energy. Both candidates have spent the past several days rallying their... Read more

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jurors in a landmark priest-abuse trial heard Monday about a priest-turned-camp prowler and another who allegedly bragged about having sex with three boys in one week. Also Monday, two jurors were replaced by alternates, but a gag order prevents lawyer from discussing the reasons for the move. Monsignor William Lynn is on trial for child endangerment and conspiracy. Lynn, 61, is the first Roman Catholic church official in the U.S. charged for his handling of priest-abuse complaints.... Read more

DUBLIN (AP) — The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland said Monday it’s investigating how a priest offering a presentation to parents on their children’s upcoming Confessions instead ended up showing them a computer slideshow of gay porn. The leader of Ireland’s 4 million Catholics, Cardinal Sean Brady, said the priest involved insists he didn’t know how the explicit images got on the memory stick he intended to use for his Powerpoint presentation to families at St. Mary’s Primary School in... Read more

DUBLIN (AP) — The Catholic Church in Ireland says it’s investigating how a priest offering a slideshow presentation on schoolchildren’s first Confessions instead showed images of gay porn. Cardinal Sean Brady said Monday that the priest insists he didn’t know how the explicit images got on the memory stick he used for his presentation to parents at St. Mary’s Primary School in the Northern Ireland village of Pomeroy. The parents in a letter are demanding that the priest, the Rev.... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — The Muslim Brotherhood’s surprise decision to field a presidential candidate is stirring fears that the two biggest powers to emerge from the ouster of Hosni Mubarak — the Islamists and the military — are maneuvering to put in place a new rule in Egypt not much different from the old, authoritarian one. If they succeed in divvying up the most important positions in government, the new leadership could be a blow to the hopes for an inclusive... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — The Muslim Brotherhood’s surprise decision to field a presidential candidate is stirring fears that the two biggest powers to emerge from the ouster of Hosni Mubarak — the Islamists and the military — are maneuvering to put in place a new rule in Egypt not much different from the old, authoritarian one. If they succeed in divvying up the most important positions in government, the new leadership could be a blow to the hopes for an inclusive... Read more

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney faced a tough question about his Mormon faith while campaigning for Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary. A Ron Paul supporter asked Romney whether he agreed with a passage from the Book of Mormon that describes a cursing of people with a “skin of blackness.” Romney’s staff took the microphone away from the 28-year-old Green Bay man before he could read the passage. Romney said didn’t want to discuss religion. But he returned... Read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are criticizing New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for what they called his “underhanded and unprofessional” response to criticism of the New York Police Department’s spying programs. The Associated Press has reported that the NYPD spied on Muslims neighborhoods, using informants and undercover officers in mosques and businesses in New York and New Jersey. Police documented details of sermons, even when they were innocuous, and infiltrated Muslim college groups. NYPD officers catalogued where Muslims ate and... Read more

VIENNA (AP) — Austria’s cardinal has overruled one of his priests and is allowing a gay Catholic to serve on a parish council. Florian Stangl lives in a registered domestic partnership. The 26-year-old was overwhelmingly elected to the council recently, but it was overruled by the priest — a decision initially backed by the archdiocese. Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn changed his mind over the weekend after hosting Stangl and his partner for lunch, declaring Stangl to be “at the right place.”... Read more

Two jurors have been dismissed just one week into the landmark priest-abuse trial under way in Philadelphia. It’s not clear why the pair were removed before the trial resumed Monday, but two of eight alternates replaced them. Monsignor William Lynn’s child endangerment and conspiracy trial could last three months or more. The 61-year-old Lynn is the first Roman Catholic church official in the U.S. charged for his handling of priest-abuse complaints. Prosecutors say he helped the church bury them in... Read more