Here's a look back at some of the top religion stories of the year.
...The millennium began with the now-infamous doomsday that fizzled. The day dawned without the computer catastrophes that many had worried about and spent money preparing for. Also in January, conservative Anglican leaders from Africa and Asia, fed up with liberalism in the Anglican-related Episcopal Church in the United States, stepped on ecclesiastical toes by ordaining two American Episcopal priests as bishops and commissioning them as missionaries to the United States.
...Christians in Sudan continued to suffer and die as the government tried to Islamicize the African nation; a Sudanese bishop traveled to the United States in February and pleaded with Americans for help.
...In March, Pope John Paul II fulfilled his dream by making the first official visit by a Roman Catholic pontiff to Israel. He walked in the path of Jesus, prayed at Jerusalem's Western Wall, and visited Israel's memorial to Holocaust victims, stopping short of apologizing for the Vatican's silence about them during World War II. The pontiff issued an unprecedented apology for the past sins of the Roman Catholic Church.
...In April, there were commemorations of the first anniversary of the worst school killing in U.S. history at Columbine High School in Colorado. Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions. The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pressed ahead with their plans for "full communion," which is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2001.
...In May, a former Klansman surrendered to face charges in the 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls and energized the civil rights movement. China, Sudan, and Russia were blamed in a report as among the worst abusers of religious freedom.
...In June, the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, declared that women should no longer serve as pastors; former president Jimmy Cater later renounced his affiliation with the denomination over this and other issues. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Nebraska's ban on partial-birth abortions and made three other historic rulings: that public schools must provide computer equipment and supplies to religious schools, that student-led prayer at public school football games is unconstitutional, and that the Boy Scouts can prohibit homosexuals from leadership and membership. Billy Graham, his body frail but his voice strong, preached to a quarter of a million people in Nashville.
...In July, a ferry loaded with Christians fleeing from fighting with Muslims in Indonesia sank in a storm, and more than 400 drowned. Methodists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians continued to be divided over the role of gays and lesbians in church life. Billy Graham's organization held a world gathering of preachers in the Netherlands.
...In August, Vice President Al Gore selected Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate. He became the first Jew on a major party presidential ticket, marking a breakthrough in American religion and politics. Lieberman called for a greater role for religion in civic life, and the other candidates added their faith stories to the political mix. The pope layed down moral guidelines for medical research in the 21st century, endorsing organ donation and adult stem cell study but condemning human cloning and embryo experiments.
...In September, Dutch lawmakers gave same-sex couples the right to marriage. The Olympic Games took place in Sydney, Australia, with Christians seizing the opportunity to evangelize athletes and fans. After a 12-year battle, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved use of the French abortion pill RU-486. Ariel Sharon, leader of Israel's hard-line opposition, touched off Israeli-Palestinian clashes by going to the Temple Mount. The Vatican soured ecumenical relations by proclaiming that only Catholics have "the fullness of the means of salvation."
...In October, Israeli troops battled Palestinians as riots raged through the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Jean Chretien's Liberal Party won another term in Canada, defeating conservative Christian Stockwell Day. The White House and Congress agreed to help erase the foreign debts of the world's poorest countries. Christians in Ambon, the Philippines, continued to suffer persecution.
...In November, the Dutch parliament approved a bill legalizing euthanasia.
...In December, five weeks after Election Day, Al Gore dropped out of the presidential race, conceding victory to George W. Bush after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to allow further recounting of Florida ballots. Bush, a Christian, promised a larger role for faith-based programs to deliver social services. Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem were largely canceled because of Arab-Israeli tensions, but modern-day Magi arrived on cue at a Christmas pageant, reviving spirits there.
