i'm bob abernethy. it's good to have you with us. as health care reform faced a crucial vote in washington, new divisions among religious groups. catholic leaders are among those at odds and, this week, displayed a rare public split. the u.s. conference of catholic bishops opposes the plan, saying it does not go far enough in restricting abortion. but, the catholic health association, which represents most catholic hospitals, is supporting it. and, nuns who lead groups that represent many women religious sent a letter to congress, urging lawmakers to support the bill. they said it would extend needed care to millions of americans. meanwhile, the vatican faces growing anger over a burgeoning sex abuse scandal in europe. new allegations of abuse by priests in ireland and germany are raising questions about the culpability of church leaders, including pope benedict. joining us to talk about this is david gibson. he is a vatican expert who writes a column for the online newspaper "politics daily." he is also the author of a biography of

i'm bob abernethy. it's good to have you with us. malaria is adding to the misery in haiti after last month's earthquake. health workers say the disease is sweeping through the encampments of the homeless in and around port-au-prince. more than a million haitians lost their homes in the quake. also this week, the haitian government said the death toll could reach 300,000. meanwle, haitian and u.s. officials are debating recent cases of americans adopting haitian children. it is unclear how many children were orphaned, but unicef says that even before the earthquake, 380,000 haitian children were either orphans or had been abandoned. new clashes this week between israeli soldiers and palestinians after israel added religious sites in the west bank to its list of national heritage sites. the most controversial addition is known to jews and christians as the cave of the patriarchs-- the traditional burial site of abraham, isaac, and jacob in hebron. but the site is also revered by muslims who call it the al- ibrahimi mosque. israel's ac