(Image Credit: Pete Muller/AP Photo)

CAIRO – Long lines snaked out of polling stations across Egypt this morning as Egyptians went to cast their ballots in the country’s first free and fair presidential elections, the first in Egypt since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted February 2011.

The sunny day was reflected in the attitudes of the voters who waited happily and calmly, often for hours, to cast their ballots for the 13 candidates. “I think everyone’s upbeat, everyone’s looking forward to the future,” said Mohammed Kamel, the CEO of a real estate development firm who was waiting to vote at a school in Giza. “The country’s sort of been on hold for the past 15 months. Everyone’s looking for stability.”

The faces of the candidates stared out from campaign posters lining Cairo’s congested streets. Voters studied registration lists on walls to figure out where to go as soldiers and police kept the lines at polling stations moving as swiftly as they could. Turnout was expected to top 60 percent among Egypt’s 50 million voters.

Polling here has been inconsistent and is generally unreliable but at least four front-runners have emerged in the race to replace Mubarak and send the military, which has been ruling the country, back to their barracks. They include Mubarak’s former foreign minister, Amr Moussa, a former Muslim Brotherhood official named Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, Mubarak’s last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, and the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohammed Morsi. Many Cairo voters today also expressed support for liberal candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi. If no candidate gets 50 percent in the first round, the top two candidates will face each other in a run-off in mid-June.

“We believe in the change, that’s why all the people here are staying [in line for hours],” said banker Ahmed Morsi, who said he would vote for Sabbahi. “I’m Muslim but I’m not too much into the Islamist [candidates]. I’m trying to choose the one that can make the balance between people. That’s going to be my choice.”

Islamists dominated earlier parliamentary elections, winning around 70 percent of the seats between the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and the ultra-conservative Salafists. But both the Muslim Brotherhood’s first presidential candidate and the Salafist candidate were disqualified from the election and the Muslim Brotherhood’s popularity has waned since the parliamentary elections. That gave a boost to Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, who left the Muslim Brotherhood to run for president and is seen as a moderate, endorsed by Egyptians from Salafists to liberal seculars.

“It’s a long run of struggling against dictatorship,” said professor Ahmad Gamal, voting for Abul Fotouh. “I think today we are divided into two parts: Islamists and liberals. We need Islamists to be moderate and liberals to be moderate.”

“Egyptians feel they need to put an end to this struggle against corruption,” he added. They want “their right to live in a clean country, their rights to live in democracy.”

The turmoil and violence of the past year and a half caused foreign investment to flee the country and tourism to drop precipitously. Unemployment has soared and Egyptians of all stripes complain of skyrocketing crime. That has led to calls for candidates such as Moussa and Shafiq, who many believe can restore stability given their experience in government, even if it was Mubarak’s.

“I think anyone who does not focus on the economy is a president born dead. This is the most significant challenge in the country,” real estate developer Kamel said.

Aside from the big question of who will be president, equally pressing are the questions of what his powers will be, given that a new Constitution has yet to be written, and how prominent the role of the military will be.

But those concerns seemed to take a back seat to the significance of the day as the voters, most reticent to reveal  for whom they were voting, expressed hope for this new chapter in Egyptian history.

“I’m very happy, I feel freedom,” one woman said. “Of course I’m optimistic; a new Egypt and a new era.”

(David Madison/Getty Images)

Italian police are poring over bones found in 200 boxes in a mobster’s crypt, searching for clues to what happened to a 15-year-old girl who disappeared nearly 30 years ago, an unsolved mystery that has haunted Italians ever since.

Italian police forensic experts and coroners Monday swarmed in and around the crypt in the Basilica di Sant’ Apolinare in the historic center of Rome, a few steps away from the famous Piazza Navona square where tourists like to linger. They were exhuming the coffin of a renowned Roman crime clan boss, Enrico De Pedis, who was shot to death in a market square in the center of the city in 1990, in search of bones or clues in the disappearance of 15-year old Emanuela Orlandi.

Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican bank employee who lived with her family inside Vatican city, just across the river from the Basilica, disappeared in 1983, on her way to an afternoon music lesson that was held in a building close to the Basilica.

Since then her family has been determined to find her and has made repeated appeals to the press for help and information.

Numerous conspiracy theories have been built around Orlandi’s disappearance, fueled by rumors and reports of mysterious sightings of her living in various foreign countries.

One such theory was based on the belief that Orlandi’s remains would be found in this Roman crypt where the notorious mobster was buried. The belief was started when leaked reports stated that the mobster’s girlfriend had allegedly accused him of killing the teen. Anonymous calls to the press over the years have called on inspectors to look inside De Pedis’ coffin to see whose body was inside.

With renewed vigor, investigators have resumed their search for clues to Orlandi’s disappearance and are determined to ascertain all possible leads have been followed and checked. Giuseepe Pignatore, the city’s chief prosecutor said this latest search was just part of the ongoing investigation into the girl’s disappearance.

The investigators worked fast, and with the help of a make-shift lab set up in the courtyard of the church, were able to quickly identify that it was indeed the Magliana clan boss De Pedis’ body in the coffin in the church’s crypt.  His body was in relatively good condition, dressed in a dark suit and black tie and there was no trace of anyone else in the coffin, police said.

But investigators also found about 200 boxes of unidentified bones in the crypt, which they are now working on dating. Investigators spent today checking the walls behind the boxes where the bones were kept, in case it hid secret vaults.

Vittorio Rizzo, head of the Rome crime squad told Italian TV today that the old bones found in the crypt all seem to date from pre-Napoleonic times, but it will take forensic experts a number of days to establish this. He said any more recent bones found would be taken away for DNA testing.

Since Orlandi’s disappearance, the theories about what happened to her have been entwined with numerous murky stories involving the Vatican — like the attempted assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II and his would-be assassin, Ali Agca — along with a variety of other unsolved mysteries that allegedly link the church with shady financial dealings and organized crime.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told reporters the Vatican had no objection to the opening of the tomb.

“All possible steps must be taken to reach a conclusion in the investigation,” he said, and he called the inspection of the crypt “a positive move.”

De Pedis’ body, which just a few years after his death, rather mysteriously and discreetly ended up buried next to a cardinal’s tomb in this historic and prestigious church, will now be transferred to a public cemetery. The Vatican has said this will be done in “agreement with his family members.”

Orlandi’s family, who have been stubbornly insistent that the search must continue, said they are eager to hear what investigators have found in the crypt.

“Yesterday was an important day, at least to remove any doubts we had,” Orlandi’s brother, Pietro Orlandi, said today. “It was right that an inspection was carried out so as to follow all leads. I never believed Emanuela could be there and I don’t believe it now. If more recent bones are found, they will be analyzed, but only to remove our doubt.”

He said he was pleased that the Vatican was willing to help and support the investigation.

“One thing is certain: there is a link between Pope John Paul II’s assassination attempt, the death of Calvi [Italian banker dubbed 'God's banker' who was found hanging in 1982 from Blackfriars Bridge in London, another murky Vatican mystery] and the disappearance of Emanuela,” he said. “There has never been any proof of Emanuela’s death, so we have to continue to search for her alive. Over these last 29 years, this is the first lead that has been fully followed, so we are glad whatever the results.”

All the family have been stubbornly insistent that the search must continue. Her family hope that if no trace of Orlandi is found in the crypt they can keep on searching and hoping to find her alive. Her brother has said he plans to lead a march to the Vatican later this month in the hope that he can get the pope to mention his sister in a public statement.

The Vatican also hopes that this latest church search will dispel all theories of Vatican involvement, and Lombardi reiterated that the prosecutors investigating this case could “continue to count on the full support of the church authorities.”

Prosecutors have said that the investigation will probably be formally closed by the Fall. So far five people are suspected of being involved in Orlandi’s death, all linked to De Pedis’ vicious clan, which was active in Rome in the 1970s and ’80s.

At the close of the investigation the prosecutors will have to determine whether to formally accuse them or drop the case.

The Church of Scientology and a former high-ranking church official have settled their disputing lawsuits out of court.

Debbie Cook, who ran the Scientology church’s spiritual mecca, the so-called Flag Base in Clearwater, Fla., for 17 years, said in an email to “Nightline,” “I can only confirm that we did settle and otherwise make no comment.”

Court documents show the settlement terms were filed on Monday and say that the church will drop its demand for damages against Cook and her husband Wayne Baumgarten. One provision in the settlement said Cook and Baumgarten are permanently and forever enjoined from “printing, posting, disseminating, circulating, quoting publicly, uttering or publishing any kind of statement in any form which is critical of, defamatory or disparaging against any of the Church Parties, either directly or indirectly.”

No money was involved in the settlement.

Cook created a firestorm earlier this year, first with an email to church members and then when she testified in a Texas state court alleging she saw the church’s leader punch another executive in the face, and that at his direction she, herself, was slapped.

Cook also testified that in 2007, while doing work at the Scientology International Base in Southern California, she was taken to a pair of double-wide trailers she called “The Hole.” She testified that she was held in “The Hole” for seven weeks, that there were bars on the windows and security guards posted at the door, and that the food ”was like leftovers, slop, bits of meat, soupy kind of leftovers thrown into a pot and cooked and barely edible.”

In a letter to ABC News in February, a lawyer for the Church of Scientology flat-out denied that “The Hole” exists, or that there was ever a place known as “The Hole.”

The letter stated that Cook and certain other Scientology executives and staff members “did participate in religious discipline, a program of ethics and correction entered into voluntarily as part of their religious observances,” but insisted, “the idea that the church held her or anyone else against their will [is] denied.”

In an ABC News interview in February, Cook was asked about the church’s claim that she and her husband are bitter “defrocked apostates” who are spreading lies and fictions about the church.

“I have never lost my passion or love for the church and all that it stands for, and all that it does to help others,” Cook said at the time. “That is my life and I loved doing it, so I’m not bitter. It’s really out of that passion and love and care that I am doing this to rid it of a situation that has grown out of control … it needs to get confronted and it needs to get handled. It can’t go on. You know, I know that L. Ron Hubbard would never approve of it.”

Read the Church of Scientology International’s Statement to ABC News

ABC News’ Lauren Effron contributed to this report.

Based on the reflection in the table, it is clear a watch on Patriarch Kirill’s wrist was photoshopped out of the image. Image credit: patriarchia.ru

The Russian Orthodox Church issued an official apology for digitally removing a luxury watch from an image of Patriarch Kirill.

He was pictured in a meeting with Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov.

The original photo, dated July 3, 2009, showed Kirill, 65, wearing the expensive watch, according to the BBC. In the edited version, which appeared this month, the Patriarch is seen without the watch.

The deception might have gone unnoticed if not for one slight oversight: the reflection of the watch in the polished, shiny tabletop.

The attempt didn’t fool bloggers, who latched on, prompting the church to issue an official apology.

The original image of Patriarch Kirill, released in July 2009, showing a watch that was later photoshopped out of the image. Image credit: patriarchia.ru

“There will be a thorough investigation to determine why in this instance there was a crude violation of our internal ethical code,” the patriarch’s press team said in a statement. “The guilty ones will be punished severely.”

The watch was a gold Breguet, with an estimated value of more than $30,000, the BBC reported.

The patriarch’s press service responded, saying, “The person simply showed stupid initiative, not justified by anything and not agreed with superiors. It is clear that it is a mistake. We do not want to hide anything, we have nothing to be ashamed of,” according to the Moscow News.

The Moscow News also said that Vsevolod Chaplin, the church’s head spokesman, told the Russian blog Slon.ru, ”I do not care what watch he has; moreover, I do not remember what watch I have on my wrist, I would have to look. I am not interested in this side of life.”

In a statement, the archdiocese said Father Marcel Guarnizo was placed on administrative leave because of “credible allegation that Father Guarnizo had engaged in intimidating behavior toward parish staff and others.”

The statement did not elaborate on what that behavior might have been.

Guarnizo, a suburban Maryland priest, had been criticized by Barbara Johnson and her family for his behavior at the funeral of Johnson’s mother. Johnson, who is a lesbian, said Guarnizo denied her communion at her mother’s funeral mass.

“He covered the bowl with the Eucharist with his hand and looked at me, and said I cannot give you communion because you live with a woman and that is a sin in the eyes of the church,” Johnson told ABC News affiliate WLJA in Washington.

“She was clearly distraught,”  her older brother Larry Johnson told ABC News.

Both Barbara and Larry Johnson wrote letters to the Archdiocese of Washington, saying they believe that Guarnizo’s actions then and during the rest of the funeral were unacceptable. The Johnsons say the priest walked out of the service while Barbara Johnson was delivering her eulogy.

Family member also say the priest failed to come to the grave site, and the burial was attended by a substitute priest found by the funeral director.

As for the decision to suspend Guarnizo, Larry Johnson told ABC News: “I think the actions of the diocese speak for themselves. Whatever the ultimate reasons were, as far as I’m concerned, this individual, for the time being, will not be in parish life.

“I think this is a pretty significant action that they took,” he said. “I don’t think they would have taken it lightly.”

Johnson and his sister had wanted Guarnizo removed from dealings with parishioners.

“This isn’t about gay rights and it isn’t about Catholic bashing, it is simply about the conduct of a reprehensible priest,” he said.

The Johnson family issued a statement today saying that they “pray for the Archdiocese of Washington, Father Guarnizo, and all Catholics during this time of upheaval.”

“While we understand this letter does not pertain to the events that occurred at our mother’s funeral, we are hopeful that Bishop Knestout’s decision will ensure that no others will have to undergo the traumatic experiences brought upon our family,” the statement said. “We urge all Catholics to put aside political points of view, and pray that our Church will remain in Christ’s love.

But the head of DignityUSA, a group that focuses on gay and lesbian rights and the Catholic Church, said the incident as part of a wider problem.

“The reality is in some ways it is very emblematic of the hierarchy’s approach to gay people, transgender people,” Marianne Duddy-Burke said. “There are little messages of rejection that happen all the time.”

Guarnizo did not return an email asking for a comment about the communion incident.

The Archdiocese of Washington issued a statement that indicated Guarnizo should have taken up the matter of whether Johnson could receive communion in private.

“When questions arise about whether or not an individual should present themselves for communion it is not the policy of the Archdiocese to Washington to publicly reprimand the person,”  the statement said.

Duddy-Burke said the archdiocese’s response misses the point.

“I would hope that it provides a wake-up call to church leaders to make them see where the extremes of their policy are leading,” she said. “My concern is they will just see this as an isolated incident and fail to see the context.”

Larry and Barbara Johnson both received letters from the archdiocese apologizing “that what should have been a celebration of your mother’s life … was overshadowed by a lack of pastoral sensitivity.”

Guarnizo has been in the Washington area for a year, after serving as a priest in Russia. The Archdiocese of Washington has launched an inquiry into his alleged intimidating behavior toward staff and others. In its statement, the archdiocese said, Guarnizo will remain on leave “until all matters can be appropriately resolved with the hope that he might return to the priestly ministry.

Credit: Lawson Bates

Kelly Bates doesn’t look like she gave birth to her 19th baby five short weeks ago.  Then again she always says she’s been pregnant more often than not during her adulthood.   She’s never had a C-section or twins.  She gave birth to 14 of her kids at home without so much as an aspirin.

The newest baby, Jeb Colton, was born in a hospital weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces.  He has the same chubby cheeks and light blue eyes that many of his 18 older brothers and sisters did as babies.

As you might have guessed, the Bates are evangelical Christians who decided in their words, “to let the Lord decide how many children we would have.”

Gil says, “if the Lord were to give us more children, me and my wife would both be excited.  It would be like saying more blessings.”

They made a faith-based decision not to use birth control early in their marriage.  And yet, at 45, Kelly is reaching the outer reaches of her fertility.  She began using hormones to strengthen her uterine wall after she miscarried more than once.  They feel strongly that while they would never take fertility medicine, once there is conception, they feel morally obligated to treat an embryo medically as if it were one of their full-grown children.  “If my son fell overboard on a boat, we would do everything we could to save him” Gil says. And that’s how they feel about helping a pregnancy remain viable.  For the Bates life very much begins at conception.

Watch the full story on “Nightline” TOMORROW  at 11:35 p.m. ET

The 19 Bates children whose ages range from 23 to 6 weeks old –  all live with their parents under one rambling roof in their five bedroom home in Lake City, Tenn. The family lives modestly, buying most things — like bikes and shoes and clothes — second hand.  Dad and the older brothers run a tree-cutting business.  But they have to stretch to make their weekly grocery bills which includes seven gallons of milk and nine loaves of bread.

Credit: ABC News

They say they’re not trying to catch up to the Duggars, the TLC stars of “19 Kids and Counting”.  The two families have been close friends since their adult children were very young.

Both families now have 19 kids and counting.  And since appearing in ABC’s “Primetime Nightline: (Extra)Ordinary Family” hour last summer, the Bates have signed on for their own TLC reality show called “The Bates Family: Baby Makes 19,” debuting Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

But I asked the Bates if they are worried that celebrity might spoil their kids?  And I don’t mean spoil like indulge, but spoil like milk.  And they said no.  They are convinced that their family will be able to hold onto their conservative values and lifestyle even with camera crews following them around.

Their kids are home schooled by Kelly with a big dose of Bible study.  They dress modestly (long shirts, no pants for the girls.  No shorts for the boys).  They aren’t allowed to watch regular TV.  Their idea of a good show is a 1950′s character study like “Roy Rogers”.

I asked Lawson, the square-jawed, clean cut second son if he’d ever heard of Snooki — the crass, hard-partying star of “Jersey Shore”?   and  he looked at me and said sincerely, “is that a dog’?”

“How about Kim Kardashian, ever heard of her?”  I asked.  “Uh,”  you could see him racking his brain and then replied trying to be nice, “uh, No.”

Lawson, 19, and has been the family grocer for years.  How many teenage boys do you know how can tell you the price of a pound of cold cuts and whether it’s gone up in the past few weeks.  He also runs his own successful lawn care business, when he’s not taking college courses.

The oldest son Zach was elected the youngest county commissioner in Tennessee.   The entire family campaigns on behalf of Rick Santorum.

“We like his consistency”, says Zach who praised his values and his staunchly pro-life stance.

All their kids play either guitar or piano or fiddle or all three.  They often sing at elder care facilities or at church. Several of their kids are volunteer EMT’s.  Some of the older girls are on a mission helping street children in Peru.

They contribute to their community, but they also all chip in at home.  The kids help around the house in a way that makes visitors marvel.  Michaela, the oldest daughter organizes the nearly four hours of laundry that’s needed every day. Erin is a concert pianist with 2 DVD’s, but she also teaches her younger siblings.

The house is run like a mess hall for kids… with a long cafeteria style picnic table and lots of pitching in.   Alyssa has been cooking meals for 20 people since she was 12 years old.

“I don’t want them to see it as a chore” says mom Kelly who somehow manages to keep the house running while tending to yet another newborn.

Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post/Getty Images

As her elderly mother was dying, Barbara Johnson lay next to her on the hospital bed, reciting the “Hail Mary.” Loetta Johnson, 85, had been a devout Catholic, raising her four children in the church and sending them to Catholic schools.

At her mother’s funeral mass at the St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Gaithersburg, Md., a grieving Barbara Johnson was the first in line to receive communion.

What happened next stunned her. The priest refused Johnson, who is gay, the sacramental bread and wine.

“He covered the bowl with the Eucharist with his hand and looked at me, and said I cannot give you communion because you live with a woman and that is a sin in the eyes of the church,” Johnson told ABC News affiliate WJLA.

Her older brother, Larry Johnson, couldn’t believe what he had seen.

“I walked to the side of the church to console her, because she was clearly distraught,” Johnson told ABC News.

Larry Johnson said his sister, who has been in a committed gay relationship for 19 years, composed herself enough to give her mother’s eulogy, but then he was shocked at what happened next. The priest left the altar, Johnson said, and didn’t return until his sister was nearly finished speaking.

Family members added that the priest failed to come to the grave site, and the burial was attended by a substitute priest found by the funeral director.

Larry Johnson and his sister were outraged at what occurred on “what would already have been the worst day of my life,” he said.

They want the priest, the Rev. Marcel Guarnizo, removed from dealings with parishioners. They also believe he owes them an apology.

“This isn’t about gay rights and it isn’t about Catholic bashing, it is simply about the conduct of a reprehensible priest,” said Johnson.

But the head of DignityUSA, a group that focuses on gay and lesbian rights and the Catholic Church, sees the incident as part of a wider problem.

“The reality is, in some ways, it is very emblematic of the hierarchy’s approach to gay people, transgender people,” said Marianne Duddy-Burke. “There are little messages of rejection that happen all the time.”

Guarnizo did not return an email asking for a comment about the incident.

The Archdiocese of Washington had no public comment about the priest’s behavior, but issued a statement that indicated Guarnizo should have taken up the matter of whether Johnson could receive communion in private.

“When questions arise about whether or not an individual should present themselves for communion,” the statement said, “it is not the policy of the Archdiocese to Washington to publicly reprimand the person.”

The archdiocese said it is looking into the incident and that it would handle it as a personnel issue.

Duddy-Burke of DignityUSA believes the response misses the point.

“I would hope that it provides a wake-up call to church leaders to make them see where the extremes of their policy are leading,” she said. “My concern is they will just see this as an isolated incident and fail to see the context.”

Both Larry and Barbara Johnson have received letters from the archdiocese of Washington apologizing “that what should have been a celebration of your mother’s life … was overshadowed by a lack of pastoral sensitivity.”

Larry Johnson appreciated the letters and the sentiment behind them.

But in his letter to the archdiocese, Johnson noted that the Church’s teachings in relation to personal behavior are complex issues. And he wondered if the priest has any right to determine who is able to receive communion “without any discussion, insight or spiritual awareness” of the person presenting themselves before him.

ABC News’ Melinda Arons and Lauren Effron report:

Although Denver quarterback Tim Tebow didn’t lead the Broncos to the Super Bowl, he continues to silence his critics over how he plays the game.

“No matter what happens, you’re always going to have those critics and those haters,” he told ESPN’s Hannah Storm. ”You just have to learn how to deal with that. I think I have and accept that.”

Born in the Philippines to evangelical missionaries, Tebow is deeply religious and wears his evangelical Christian faith on his sleeve, and more controversially, on the field, where he openly prays on his knees at the end of every game.  It’s a move that has become so well-known, it’s now a verb — “tebow-ing.”

“The greatest form of flattery is imitation,” he said. ”But just that prayer is being talked about is pretty cool.”

But while his open Christian faith has been an inspiration to some and sparked a national conversation about the power of prayer, it also spawned “Tebow-hating,” a sport in of itself.  Many fans and even players say a football game is no place to proselytize.  Still, Tebow says he has no plans to change.

“For me, it’s a great opportunity on a public platform to get on your knees and humble myself and thank the Lord for all the blessings he’s put in my life,” Tebow said. “[It] shows you’re putting something else or someone else first. That’s why I do it. I’m pretty sure I’m not the first athlete to get on his knees and pray.  But it’s something that I do more for myself than for everybody else.”

One thing even Tebow’s most ardent critics can’t fault him for is his charity work.  In addition to his missionary work with orphanages in the Philippines, he regularly brings sick children to his games through his foundation. Tebow brought Joey Norris, a young boy with cancer, to the playoff game against the New England Patriots, and where the Broncos suffered what he called a devastating loss.

“I was extremely disappointed,” Tebow said. “But I still have a kid who is fighting for his life, and I have a choice to make. I can choose to sulk and feel pity after this loss and this disappointment. I can choose to try to go invest in him and try to encourage him and make him smile and be a part of his life. That really changes your perspective as a young man and as an athlete.  For me to try to invest in him, he helped me more than I helped him on that night.”

SportsCenter will air a 30-minute special Face to Face with Tim Tebow on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

A parishioner at the Disciple Fellowship Christian Church in East St. Louis, Ill., claims the spirit moved another worshiper so much during service that she caused others to tumble over backwards into her, causing injuries. Now she’s suing the church for damages.

Cheryl Jones alleges in a complaint filed in December that she was visiting the church when member of the congregation received the “spirit” during praise and worship and with no ushers or members to assist, the parishioner fell backwards knocking several members into the plaintiff, who was injured falling to the floor.

“They should have either warned Cheryl and people like her of the potential dangers -especially if they’re not going to have deacons or parishioners to help these people when they fall,” attorney for the plaintiff Brian Millikan told ABCNews.com. Because falling during the service, according to Millikan, is something that “seems to happen often” at the church.

“One of the interesting questions of this case is what standard to apply: someone engaged by the holy spirit and not fully accountable or someone that should be treated objectively as assuming the risk of this activity,” said Jonathan Turley, a tort law professor at George Washington University and legal blogger told ABC News. He is not involved in this case.

When filled with what is often called the holy spirit, “participants are worked up into such a frenzy that they may no longer appreciate or respond to risk. The question is how much is the church responsible in anticipating people will be acting without concern for danger or injury,” said Turley.

“The whole idea of being touched by the holy spirit is to surrender yourself. In doing so, these are people that surrendering themselves to collapsing involuntary. These churches tend to treat this response as the holy ghost has taken away the power of the individuals to even stand,” Turley continued.

But, it’s this alleged negligent behavior, according to the complaint originally posted on the legal news Website On Point News, that allegedly caused Jones to hit her head, neck, back and buttocks and lose consciousness during the Jan. 5, 2010 services. She wants the church to pay for her medical bills.

Jones is suing the church for failing to protect her. The complaint states on that day the church typically had “two ushers that would stand on each side of the member to prevent the person receiving the ‘spirit’ from falling and injuring themselves” but no one was when she was injured.

The suit asks for a trial by jury.

In terms of the litigation, taking a church to court always presents risk for the plaintiff counsels, according to Turley.

“Jurors tend to be sympathetic towards religious organization. They also likely to be sympathetic of a church being sued due to the action of someone being filled with the spirit,” said Turley. “There is certainly a challenge for the plaintiff to overcome.”

It’s important to distinguish to some degree the type of “swoon and fall cases” that have come up, said Turley. “Jurors are least likely to be sympathetic with someone who is injured when they fall in a religious trance,” said Turley. “If the original person to fall is the person taken by the holy spirit, that person is probably in the worst position because there are what is called plaintiff conduct charges.”

According to On Point News, the complaint is a part of a trend of suits dubbed “swoon and fall.” A woman in Michigan filed a lawsuit against Mount Hope Church and International Outreach Ministries after she struck her head on the floor when an assistant minister prayed over her, allegedly causing her to be “slain in the spirit” and fall backwards.

In Oregon, the Portland Onnuri Church was not found liable after a woman asked to assist during service while churchgoers were blesses or “slain in the spirit” alleged she was injured because the church failed to provide multiple “catchers,” according to On Point News.

Some say people are aware of the risk and lined up to be touched by the holy spirit and they witness people falling. “That then leaves the question for people that are surrounding the person,” Turley continued. “In my view, churches are under obligation to take reasonable precaution that people will fall uncontrollably.

The Illinois suit accuses the church of negligence for failure to provide parishioners a safe place to worship; failure to ensure ushers were standing behind the parishioners to catch if they fell to the floor after the Pastor laid his hands on them; failure to control the parishioners who were receiving the “spirit”; failure to warn plaintiff and parishioners of the potential dangers of receiving the “spirit”; and failure to conduct a reasonably safe service.

An individual who picked up the phone at the church said the church had no comment about the complaint.

“These parishioners are discovering that churches are not immune from tort liability. Church has no special status when it comes to tort law. They are an institution that must take reasonable precaution,” said Turley.

                                                                     Image Credit: Boston Globe via Getty Images

ABC News’ Matthew Mosk and Brian Ross report:

Underscoring the prominent, if little discussed role that Mitt Romney played as a Mormon leader, the private equity giant once run by the GOP presidential frontrunner carved his church a slice of several of its most lucrative business deals, securities records show, providing it with millions of dollars worth of stock in some of Bain Capital’s most well-known holdings.

Romney has always been a major donor to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which requires that members “tithe,” or give 10 percent of their income to the church. His family charity, called the Tyler Foundation, has given more than $4 million to the church in the past five years, including $1.8 million in 2008 and $600,000 in 2009. But because Romney, whose fortune has been estimated at $250 million, has never released his personal tax returns, the full extent of his giving has never been public.

Newly uncovered stock contributions made during Romney’s Bain days suggest there is another dimension to Romney’s support for the church — one that could involve millions more than has been previously disclosed.

As part of just one Bain transaction in 2008, involving its investment in Burger King Holdings, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission reveal that an unnamed Bain partner donated 65,326 shares of Burger King stock to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, holdings then worth nearly $1.9 million. And there were numerous others, giving the church a stake in other Bain properties, such as Domino’s Pizza, the electronics manufacturer DDi, the phosphates company Innophos Holdings, and Marquee Holdings, the parent to AMC Theaters.

The Republican presidential candidate’s campaign staff confirmed that some of the stock transactions were at Romney’s direction, but they would not say which ones.

“Mitt Romney has publicly stated that he regularly tithes to his church,” said Andrea Saul, a Romney campaign spokeswoman, when asked about the Bain contributions. “Some of those church contributions have come through the Tyler Foundation. Others have been donations of stock through Bain. Any shares donated by Mitt Romney are personal shares owned by him.”

Saul also noted that not all the shares that appear on Bain securities filings can be attributed to Romney, “as there are other Mormon members of the firm who may also have been making donations to the church of personal shares owned by them.”

Questions about Romney’s faith have remained largely subdued during the 2012 campaign. Many believe he helped tame the issue during his previous campaign with a December 2007 speech at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas, during which he declared that his church would not dictate his actions in the White House, if he was to become President.

“I do not define my candidacy by my religion,” Romney said. “A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith.”

Romney said that Mormon church authority is limited to the province of church affairs, “and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin.”

The Mormon church is distinct from many other American denominations in what it asks from adherents in money, time and commitment — and not just because it asks young Mormon males to spend two years proselytizing for the faith as missionaries, said Jan Shipps, a religion professor at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, and one of the preeminent non-Mormon authorities on the church.

Romney has spoken about the 30 months he spent in France as a missionary, but his role within the church as an adult is largely unexplored. Shipps said Romney has held several significant posts within church leadership, including bishop and “stake” president, a leadership post that covers a sizeable geographic area and requires a significant commitment of time.

Beyond that, Romney appears to have lived up to rigid financial requirements within the church that asks parishioners to contribute 10 percent of their annual earnings.

“People choose their own way of deciding how to tithe,” Shipps said. “I know friends who are lawyers who take 10 percent out of their fee. In the 19th century, they would take corn, or wheat. It’s up to the person.”

Stock contributions, negotiated during his high-wheeling deals while at the helm of Bain Capital, would not be unexpected, she said.

Bain officials said it is common in public offerings, whether in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street, or in private equity, for participants to carve out shares to be donated to a favored charitable cause.

Securities records show that Romney found ways to help include the church in some of the companies most lucrative deals, just as other executives at the firm found ways to generate support for their favored charities. Among the companies named on securities filings as “Bain charitable institution donees” were the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, The Boston Foundation Inc., Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, and family foundations run by several top Bain executives.

In some cases the filings are vague about the way stocks are apportioned to the different recipients. In others, such as the 2000 stock sale involving DDi Corporation, the records show the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held 27,016 shares, worth $754,827 at the time of the sale. In a 2008 stock sale involving Innophos Holdings, the church’s 50,301 shares were worth nearly $1.4 million. SEC filings for Marquee Holdings note that “certain members and other employees of Bain and its affiliates may make a contribution of shares to one or more charities prior to this offering, including … The Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Romney’s own family nonprofit, The Tyler Charitable Foundation, was also cut into numerous Bain deals. The nonprofit, run by Bradford Malt — the Romney personal attorney who oversees all of the candidate’s financial holdings — passed those stock earnings along to a variety of other charities, including the church.