I can reveal that Dr Jeffrey John, the openly gay but celibate Dean of St Albans, has been blocked from becoming a bishop once again. He has not been chosen as the next Bishop of Southwark. Liberals will be dismayed that the Church has lost its nerve – but there is no reason for evangelicals to celebrate, either. This is bad news whichever way you look at it:

1) The Church has missed an opportunity to show that it is inclusive of homosexuals.

2) Jeffrey John has gained a reputation as a gifted preacher and effective pastor at St Albans cathedral and would have been a popular bishop.

3) It indicates that the Crown Nominations Commission is afraid of appointing any bishops who might bring a bit of colour.

4) A dignified and talented cleric has been embarrassed again.

5) The row over homosexual clergy could have been brought to a head, but will now fester until a gay priest is finally made a bishop.

It is also bad news for Rowan Williams. Although he is only one of 14 members of the Commission, liberals will be perplexed as to why he allowed John’s name to be included on the shortlist if it was only to be rejected at the last minute. To be fair, he didn’t know that this fact would be leaked to me, and he is said to have been livid with the Commission that it was. But, given what happened in 2003 and his apparent distress at forcing his old friend to stand down from becoming Bishop of Reading, it will surprise many that he didn’t use his influence to try and sway the few undecided members who could have secured his selection.

- Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Sunday Telegraph

The Israeli military cancelled a planned raid on a Palestinian village after one of its soldiers posted details of the operation on Facebook.

The unnamed soldier revealed the time and place of the raid and the name of his unit on the social networking site. He said on his status update that his unit planned a “clean up” raid.

The soldier was court-martialled and sentenced to 10 days in prison. He was also ousted from his battalion and relieved of combat duties.

“On Wednesday we clean up Qatanah, and on Thursday, God willing, we come home,” the soldier wrote on his Facebook page. Qatanah is a village in the West Bank near Ramallah.

His Facebook friends and fellow soldiers reported the post to the authorities.

The decision to cancel the raid was made by commanders after it was feared the leak would put the unit in danger. The operation went ahead several days later.

- BBC News

The Pope will spend the next five days visiting various holy sites in Israel and the West Bank. See the link below for details on their location and his itinerary.

- BBC News