They have introduced courses for priests to combat what they call the most extreme form of "Godlessness." Each bishop is to be told to have in his diocese a number of priests trained to fight demonic possession.

"Thanks be to God, we have a Pope who has decided to fight the Devil head-on," he said. "Too many bishops are not taking this seriously and are not delegating their priests in the fight against the Devil. You have to hunt high and low for a properly trained exorcist.

He said the Pope wants to restore a prayer seen as protection against evil that was traditionally recited at the end of Catholic Masses. The prayer, to St Michael the Archangel, was dropped in the 1960s by Pope John XXIII. "The prayer is useful not only for priests but also for lay people in helping to fight demons," he said.

The militant leader also vowed in a recording posted on an Islamist Web site on Saturday to expand jihad to liberate all Palestinian land "from the (Mediterranean) sea to the (Jordan) river" and said his group will never recognize Israel.

"America seeks, alongside its agents in the region, to create an allied government ... that would accept in advance the presence of major U.S. bases in Iraq and give the Americans all they wish of Iraq's oil," he said in the 56-minute recording.

"In my mind they are," Osteen said. "Mitt Romney has said that he believes in Christ as his Savior, and that's what I believe. I'm not the one to judge the little details of [Romney's religion], so I believe [Mormons are Christians] and Mitt Romney seems like a man of character and integrity to me and I don't think anything would stop me from voting for him if that's what I felt like."

When asked about specifics of the Mormon faith, such as the gold tablets allegedly found by Joseph Smith with the so-called "new revelation" from God, and the belief that humans can become gods, Osteen said he did not know enough about the religion's beliefs to comment.

"I certainly can't say that I agree with everything that I've heard about it," the Houston pastor responded. "But from what I've heard from Mitt, when he says that Christ is his Savior, to me that's a common bond."

Osteen also said that he admired former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

Junior to senior high students were treated to a wide range of entertainment including illusionist and escape artist Brock Gill, The Price is Right Game Show, inflatable boxing & jousting, snow board simulator, sumo wrestling, SOAR Dunk Team, an ESPN Zone, movies, and the presentation of the Gospel message.

"In addition to fun, students were educated about the effects of AIDS on children in Africa. Under the theme "My Resolution: Save Africa," students greeted the New Year by joining in the battle against the AIDS crisis.

Three representatives of the Muslim scholars will come to Rome in February or March to prepare for the meeting, the head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano this weekend. He did not give a date for the larger meeting, except to say it would take place in the spring.

Quoting Jordanian sources, the prime minister and the king discussed at length issues relating to a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Apart from the possibility of ceding parts of Jerusalem, the two also addressed the issue of Palestinian refugees.

Reportedly, during the meeting which was aimed at coordinating positions ahead of a visit by US President George W. Bush slated for next week, Abdullah told Olmert that the latter had to stand up to commitments he made in the past, and begin making public statements regarding the division of Jerusalem.

The meeting, in the southern Jordanian seaside resort of Aqaba, went unreported in the press until it was already underway due to security concerns.

"We seem to have continuing challenges to the teaching of evolution in schools. That's something that doesn't seem to go away," Barbara Schaal, an evolutionary biologist at Washington University in St. Louis and vice president of National Academy of Sciences, said in a telephone interview.

The report stated that the idea of evolution can be fully compatible with religious faith. "Science and religion are different ways of understanding the world. Needlessly placing them in opposition reduces the potential of each to contribute to a better future," said the report.