In Brief

According to a statement released by the Archdiocese of Westminster, Protestants have held the post of ambassador to the Holy See, with a Catholic serving as deputy, since Britain established full diplomatic relations with the Vatican in 1982.

Campbell's appointment fills a position that had been vacant for months, stirring speculation that Britain's interest in the Vatican was flagging. At one point, the vacant post was advertised in British newspapers -- an unusual form of recruitment for an ambassadorship.

-- Religion News Service

Shiite Muslims in U.S. Stay Silent on Problems

A new survey shows that Shiite Muslims in the United States are unlikely to report anti-Muslim hate crimes or other forms of discrimination.

Nearly 80 percent of American Shiites who were victims of "post 9-11 discrimination" reported the incidents either to family members or no one, according to the nationwide survey. The survey was sponsored by the Qunoot Foundation, a Washington-based nonprofit group that released its findings Nov. 12 at a conference.

The survey found that few American Shiite victims reported such incidents to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national advocacy group that seeks to represent all American Muslims.

While there are an estimated 6 million Muslims in the United States, no one knows how many of them are Shiite. Worldwide, Shiites account for 10 percent to 15 percent of the Muslim population.

The survey also reported that 47 percent of American Shiites said they experienced overt or subtle forms of discrimination when attending Sunni-dominated mosques.

Conference participants -- mostly American Shiites in their twenties and thirties -- debated vigorously about whether to form their own national advocacy organizations or to try to make existing, Sunni-dominated ones, such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations, more responsive to their needs.

-- Religion News Service