coming up, helping the nation's wounded veterans with their families at their side. and legendary singer-songwriter paul simon on the surprising prevalence of spiritual themes in his music.

welcome, i'm kim lawton, sitting in for bob abernethy. thank you for joining us. the vatican this week pledged to restore trust amid a scandal over leaked documents that led to the arrest of pope benedict the xvi's butler. paolo gabriele was benedict's private assistant who was often seen riding in the front of the popemobile. he was arrested last week after holy see police found confidential papal documents at his home in the vatican city state. gabriele is being detained in the holy see while vatican investigators determine whether he periodically leaked private documents, including some to an italian journalist, who used them in a book. there has been intense speculation over who else may be involved in the so-called "vatileaks" scandal, including possibly high-ranking church

officials. on wednesday, benedict said the events have brought sadness to his heart, adding that he was grateful to those who serve him loyally. he also criticized the media for spreading what he called "exaggerated" and "gratuitous" rumors. here in the u.s., leaders of the umbrella group for the majority of american nuns issued a sharp pushback to a vatican rebuke against them. after a closed-door meeting, the national board of the leadership conference of women religious said the vatican action had caused "scandal and pain throughout the church." in april, the vatican accused the leadership conference of having "serious doctrinal problems" and ordered the group to place itself under the authority of seattle's archbishop. the nuns said that assessment was based on, "unsubstantiated accusations and the result of a flawed process that lacked transparency." leaders of the group will go to the vatican to discuss their concerns on june 12th. the conference claims to represent more than 80% of the leaders of some 57,000 u.s. catholic sisters.

the archdiocese of milwaukee acknowledged wednesday that it had paid some priests accused of sexual abuse $20,000 to voluntarily leave the ministry. the practice occurred when timothy dolan, now the cardinal of new york, was archbishop of milwaukee. the survivors network of those abused by priests characterized it as a payoff for pedophile priests, something dolan denied. a spokeswoman for the archdiocese of milwaukee said the payments were a way to move the men out of the priesthood more quickly. she called it a form of charity as the men transitioned off the payrolls. a federal appeals court in boston ruled thursday that the defense of marriage act, which defines marriage as solely between a man and a woman, unconstitutionally denies benefits to married gay couples. the judges said the 1996 federal law deprives same-sex couples of the rights and privileges granted to heterosexual couples. but the judges said their ruling will not be enforced until the u.s. supreme court takes up the

issue. doma, as the law is known, is being fought over in several lower courts, but it's the supreme court that has final say over whether a law passed by congress is constitutional. american muslims are vowing to step up their efforts against state measures they believe unfairly take aim at shariah or islamic law. the islamic circle of north america has launched a campaign to educate local communities about shariah and how it is used. at the islamic circle's annual convention, thousands of delegates discussed how to fight what they see as growing islamophobia across the country. last week, kansas became the fourth state to pass a law forbidding courts and state agencies from considering foreign laws when making decisions. the measure does not specifically mention shariah, but many muslims believe it was designed to target islamic law. >> obviously, it targets one community. they can say that it is

anti-foreign law, but we know that it is targeting one community, one faith. so people get worried. meanwhile, in a high profile controversy over construction of a new mosque in mufreesboro, tennessee, a judge ruled this week that local officials did not give the public adequate notice prior to the 2010 meeting when the building was approved. mufreesboro is one of several communities where plans to build new islamic centers have been met with fierce opposition. despite some incidents of vandalism, construction of the murfreesboro mosque has been underway since september. international concern for civilians in syria continues to mount after the killing of dozens of women and children. religious groups were among those calling for more protection of noncombatants. the muslim public affairs council said "the international response and assistance to the crisis in syria have been weak." pope benedict offered special prayers for the situation and urged the worldwide community to "spare no efforts to resolve this crisis."

israel has announced that for the first time ever, it will recognize some reform and conservative rabbis as community leaders and pay their salaries. currently, the israeli government only recognizes and pays the salaries of orthodox rabbis. the minority reform and conservative jewish movements have been fighting for equal treatment. the new policy will classify some from those movements as "rabbis of non-orthodox communities," although the policy will not apply in large cities, and the rabbis will be paid by the culture and sports ministry, not the religious services ministry, which pays the orthodox. despite the limited scope, reform and conservative leaders called this a significant breakthrough and said they hope it will lead to even more inclusion. many orthodox leaders oppose the new plan. at memorial day services monday, president obama honored the nation's fallen troops and paid tribute to service members returning home.

>> after a decade under the dark cloud of war, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon. for many severely wounded veterans from iraq and afghanistan, there is no end to the medical and social adjustments they are facing, often alone. but there's a place in texas where these wounded warriors, as they are called, can be treated with their families beside them. lucky severson has our report. >> this is the brooke army medical center in san antonio, the military's largest and most advanced medical facility. it's where doctors send some of the most seriously burned and wounded soldiers to recover, sometimes with artificial limbs. since the beginning of the iraq and afghanistan wars, thousands of soldiers, like private carlos gomez, have suffered injuries like his. he was on a scouting mission and was seriously wounded when his vehicle ran over a roadside bomb in afghanistan earlier this year. well, the blast, it shot us straight up in the air, so the

impact actually broke my left leg. it shattered my heel and my bones down my right, left leg. i mean, and my right leg got crushed. they couldn't save it anymore, so they had to amputate it here at brooke army medical center. >> two other soldiers were wounded in the blast. one was killed. at first, gomez wasn't sure he wanted to live. >> i woke up, you know, not really knowing what happened still. i didn't know that my leg was amputated, and when i was fully, you know, aware of what's going on, i saw my leg -- yeah, i broke down in tears. you know, and i hated my life, and i didn't want nothing to do with it. >> the first battle many seriously wounded soldiers face is whether they want to go on with their lives and then endure the long, painful process of

healing, often alone. doctors have learned that wounded soldiers heal faster and more completely when they have family around them. that's what happens here at the warrior and family support center in san antonio. it is the only one of its kind. it was the dream of judith markelz, and now she's the director. >> we attempt to form a home away from home for wounded warriors and their families to help them feel some kind of connection to each other -- things for them to do every day to take them outside of their own world and help them transition back to active duty or to the civilian community where they're going to have to adjust and make a lot of changes. >> although it's located on an army post, the warrior and family support center is funded entirely from private donations and staffed by about 150 volunteers. families live in apartments close by so they can help soldiers accept what is called "the new normal," which means

their life will never be quite the same again. sometimes, family is as important as the medical care. >> to know that someone is there, that someone that comes from home to take care of you makes a tremendous difference for our warriors. if you believe in the triad of the healing of the mind, body and spirit, then we probably fall in the category of the healing of the spirit. >> bryant casteel is a baptist chaplain at the center. he says the most important part of his job is simply to be there. >> you know, sometimes you want to find the right words. i found many times when dealing with soldiers there's not a right word. there's no right way to tell someone you're going to be okay. and some say, "hey, can you pray for me, chaplain? you know, can you let me know things are going to be all right?" i can't promise you, but i can promise you i'll be here to support you. >> one of the favorite nights around here is bingo night. for a while, they forget that the war for them is not yet over. for those who think this must be

a very sad place, judith markelz says the opposite is true. she says it's a place of hope, which is the name of the sculpture hanging in the center which was created by a staff sergeant who had 29 surgeries while he was at brooke. she says the wounded may cry in their beds at night, but never in public. >> these young men and women do not want your sympathy. they want your support and in the help of their healing, because they're going to be okay. they did what they were commanded to do, and they did it with great integrity and honor. >> and many paid a huge price, like master sergeant doug reed with the ohio national guard, critically wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade in afghanistan in 2010. he's the father of seven kids, here with his wife, jana. >> the angel of death had me in his arms, and jesus said, "no, i'm not done with you." so they fought over me, and my jaw came off. >> he was very close to death,

in the fact that i mean with every surgery, they didn't know if he would ever wake up or ever become independent. and so, that's when i just had to say, "okay, god, i am not in control. the doctors are not in control. but you are in control, and you are going to have to fix this, if this is what you want." >> and when he finally did wake up, for two months, he didn't know his wife. he didn't even know who he was. >> but when our kids walked in the door, he gave them a hug, and he called them all by their pet names, and so the kids began to cry, not because of what they saw, but because it's dad, he does know me, when the doctors were saying we don't think he'll know you. >> i didn't know what i looked like. it couldn't have been good, and they don't see that. they don't care if i have teeth or not or my jaw is out of shape now or anything else. what they cared about is i was

still alive. i was stilwith them. >> judith markelz says the families themselves need support. >> this is not a singular effort. it involved families, children, wives, mothers. an injury or a death is like dropping a rock in the water, and the ripples go forever, and they affect everyone with whom they ever came in contact. >> private gomez has two children, and he says he knows things will get better when he gets his prosthesis, but in the meantime, his 7-year-old son is having a hard time. >> it's affecting him. i know definitely it's affecting him. you know, he has to help out his dad a lot with stuff that i can't do, like picking stuff up for me, you know, putting on my shoes, stuff like that. >> gomez says he's always been religious, but one of the few times he didn't have time to pray was when he rushed out on a mission in the middle of the night, the mission that cost him his leg.

he says the war has not cost him his faith. >> i don't question god, not one day, you know, why this happened to me. i thank him, actually, because it could have been the opposite, you know. i could have paid the ultimate sacrifice and passed away. it was because of him i'm still sitting here talking to you right now. >> jana reed says her faith and her husband's are actually stronger. >> because every day we have a miracle that has been answered, and some people might say, "oh, it's a coincidence," but we've just had too many coincidences in the past 16 months that i do not accept it. it is not a coincidence. >> chaplain casteel says he has seen how the warrior and family support center has helped soldiers get better quicker. but he worries about what happens when the soldiers go home. >> when you walk around here, you don't feel like you're different. you don't feel like, wow, someone's staring at me or looking at me like i'm strange, and so i think here for a

soldier it can be safe. now when they leave this environment, going back to their home of record, then it could be a little more challenging, and i think that anxiety rises again for the soldier -- hey, will i be accepted? >> there was a time when wounded soldiers returning from the vietnam war received more hostility than community support. but times have changed. >> whether you agree with what these young men and women did is of, frankly, no concern to me. if you don't like the war, it is not an issue for me. the issue is that we continue to support these young men and women for the rest of our days and theirs, because this doesn't end tomorrow. >> she says that there are now other warrior and family support centers being built around the country modeled after the one here. for "religion and ethics newsweekly," i'm lucky severson in san antonio, texas. next week, singer-songwriter

paul simon is releasing a special 25th anniversary edition of his grammy-award-winning album "graceland." the anniversary package includes a video documentary about the controversy simon faced for recording graceland in then-apartheid-ruled south africa. last year, to the surprise of many of his fans, simon produced an album called so beautiful or so what that was rich with spiritual and religious themes. i sat down with him for a rare interview about spirituality. >> there are songs about god and his son. angels, creation, pilgrimage, prayer and the afterlife, too. paul simon says there's always been a spiritual dimension to his music, but the overt religious references in his most recent album, "so beautiful or so what," surprised even him. >> there seems to be a theme in the album, not intentional, and it's funny because for somebody

who is not a religious person, god comes up a lot in my songs. >> simon may not describe himself as religious, but he admits he's fascinated by the spiritual realm. >> i think it's a part of my thoughts on a fairly regular basis. i think of it more as spiritual feeling. it's something that i recognize in myself and that i enjoy and i don't quite understand it. >> he may not understand it, but he's been writing and singing a lot about it, and that has generated attention. one irish blogger suggested "so beautiful or so what" could be the best christian album of the year. cathleen falsani, an evangelical who writes frequently about

religion and pop culture, called it one of the most memorable collections of spiritual musical musings in recent memory. >> it's fascinating. it's a stunningly beautiful new album, and he's a great surprise to me, and frankly, a huge blessing. >> simon comes from a jewish background. >> i was raised to a degree, enough to be, you know, bar mitzvahed and have that much jewish education, although i had no interest. none. >> now at 70, he says he's very interested in questions about god. in his song "the afterlife," he speculates about what happens after death. there's a humorous aspect where he imagines waiting in line, like at the department of motor vehicles. but there's a serious aspect, too. >> by the time you get up to speak to god and you actually get there, there's no question that you could possibly have

that could have any relevance. >> one of the most unusual songs on the album, "getting ready for christmas day" includes parts of a sermon preached in 1941 by a prominent african-american pastor, j.m. gates. simon heard the sermon on a set of old recordings. what was it about the sermon that caught you and influenced you? >> i liked the rhythm of the call and response between the pastor and the congregation. what he was saying was very dark. it was a very pessimistic sermon. you don't know where you'll be, you might be in a lonesome grave. here as a songwriter, i'm not only writing words, i'm also writing sounds and music. so to take a modern, digitally

recorded record and combine it with something from 1941 had a very interesting effect for me. i liked it a lot. it might be my favorite track on the record. >> simon says when he's writing a song, he doesn't start out with a theme or a message. he lets the story evolve. >> usually the first sentence is, or the first line is, what i'm interesting in finding, because that will launch me on a trail that often becomes a story. and then i'll find out whatever it is that's on my mind, my subconscious mind. >> the song "love in hard times" begins with god and his son visiting earth. >> to begin with a sentence that is the foundation of christianity is, i said, "this is going to be interesting.

now what am i going to say about a subject that i certainly didn't study?" >> the song ends with a love story, which he says is really about his wife. ♪ thank god i found you >> when you're looking to be thankful at the highest level, you need a specific, and that specific is god. and that's what that song is about. >> he says the beauty of life and of the earth lead him to thoughts about god. >> how was all of this created? if the answer to that question is "god created everything, there was a creator," then i say great. what a great job. and i like the idea.

i find it very, i don't know -- i find it comforting in some way. but if the answer to that is there is no god, i don't feel like, well, what a jerk i've been. i feel, oh, fine, so there's another answer. i don't know the answer. i'm just a speck of dust here for a nanosecond, and i'm very grateful. >> simon says he's fine with not knowing the answers, but he has sought input on his questions. he has spoken with the dalai lama, and he once spent hours talking with british evangelical theologian john stott, who died last year. >> i talked about everything that was on my mind about things that seemed illogical, and he talked about why he had come to his conclusions, and i think

both of us enjoyed the conversation immensely. and i left there feeling that i had a greater understanding of where belief comes from when it doesn't have an agenda. >> many of simon's songs raise universal questions about things like destiny and the meaning of life. >> quite often, people read or hear things in my songs that i think are more true than what i wrote. >> he looks at the world and kind of wonders what the heck is going on, like many of us do. and he asks good questions, and sort of seems to have his finger on the heartbeat spiritually of a culture, then and now. sort of a god chronicler by

accident. >> simon says he's gratified, and somewhat mystified, that some people have told him they believe god has spoken to them through his music. >> is it a profound truth? i don't know. i don't know, but it sounds nice, and the combination with the music and the words and all that produces a certain effect and i feel i'm like a vessel and it passed through me and i was the editor, and i'm glad that people like it and -- yeah, that's it. i'm glad. >> i'm kim lawton reporting. finally, on our calendar -- for eastern orthodox christians, sunday is pentecost, which celebrates the holy spirit descending upon jesus' early

followers. pentecost comes from the greek word for "50." it falls 50 days after the celebration of easter or pascha. western christians, who follow a different calendar, celebrated pentecost last week. for hindus, it's the ten day festival of dussehra, which marks the appearance of the sacred river ganges on the earth. devout hindus believe bathing in the ganges will help wash away their sins. thousands have gathered along the river banks to offer special prayers and to take a holy dip. that's our program for now. i'm kim lawton. you can follow us on twitter and facebook, where i have a fan page, too. find us on youtube, and watch us anytime, anywhere, on smart phones. there's also much more on our website. you can comment on all of our stories and share them. audio and video podcasts are also available. join us at pbs.org. as we leave you, more music from paul simon. ♪