Vatican

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Pope to Launch Bible Marathon for TV, Internet

Pontiff will lead off six-day reading fest in the fall

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI may not have the media cache of his predecessor, but he's working on it. The pontiff will kick off a six-day Bible-reading marathon that will be broadcast live on Italian television and the Internet this fall. The Guardian reports the pope will read aloud the first chapter...

Imposter Priest Confessor Nabbed at Vatican

'Strange behavior' tipped off authorities

(Newser) - A phony priest was stopped just as he was about to hear confessions in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, the BBC reports. The man had on the right clothes and produced valid-looking priestly documents and Vatican ID—"but the expert eye of our personnel didn't need much to...

High-Rolling Hathaway Ex Charged With Fraud

Raffaelo Follieri said to use Vatican in scam, which ensnared billionaire Burkle, others

(Newser) - Actress Anne Hathaway’s ex-boyfriend was charged today with defrauding investors of millions with a real-estate scheme in which Raffaello Follieri claimed intimate connections with the Vatican, the Smoking Gun reports. Billionaire Ron Burkle appears to be the "principal investor" scammed by Follieri, 29, who used Burkle’s money...

Divorced Berlusconi Challenges Communion Ban

He confronts startled bishop at mass

(Newser) - Beleaguered Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi caused a scene in a church over the weekend, loudly demanding from a startled bishop in the middle of mass: "When are you going to change this rule that stops me taking communion?" Berlusconi, like other divorced Catholics who remarry, is banned from...

Rumors From Vatican: Bush May Convert

Sit-down with pope sparks talk that prez could turn Catholic

(Newser) - President Bush visited Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican yesterday, sparking rumors that the president may convert to Catholicism, the Telegraph reports. They spoke in a garden where the pontiff prays daily, not in the library where Benedict greets most world leaders. “What an honor!” said Bush, who...

Vatican Opens Ancient Pagan Tomb
Vatican Opens Ancient
Pagan Tomb
May 28, 2008 12:11 PM CDT

Vatican Opens Ancient Pagan Tomb

After a year of restoration, public sees necropolis gem

(Newser) - After a year of restoration work, the Vatican has unveiled one of the most luxurious pagan tombs buried in the necropolis beneath St. Peter’s Basilica, the AP reports. Built by Emperor Marcus Aurelius in the second century, the once open-air tomb was buried by Emperor Constantine in the fourth...

Vatican: OK to Believe in Aliens
 Vatican: OK to Believe in Aliens 
May 14, 2008 10:04 AM CDT

Vatican: OK to Believe in Aliens

If God wants to create aliens, 'we can't limit his freedom,' says astronomer

(Newser) - Believing in God doesn’t mean you can’t believe in aliens, the Vatican’s chief astronomer told L’Osservatore Romano. God may well have created other creatures, including intelligent ones. “We cannot place limits on God’s creative freedom,” he noted.

Padre Pio's Shrine Now 2nd Only to Vatican

Italy's most famous saint displaces Lourdes for religious tourists

(Newser) - Move over, Lourdes. Padre Pio’s shrine in southern Italy is now the world’s second-largest religious tourist destination, reports the ANSA news agency. About 9 million tourists will visit the saint’s body, a million more than the French site and second only to the Vatican.

Pope Prays for Healing After Abuse Scandal

Reassures clergy of his "spiritual closeness" in NYC

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI spent the third anniversary of his election to the papacy trying to comfort clergy still weathering the fallout from the priest sex abuse scandal, the AP reports. “I simply wish to assure you of my spiritual closeness,” Benedict said. The pontiff, addressing 3,000 people...

After Pope Meets Victims, Vatican Considers Change

Canon law, particularly on statute of limitations, evolving with sex scandal

(Newser) - Just a day after a Washington meeting where Pope Benedict XVI talked with victims sexually abused by Catholic priests, a Vatican official said the church would consider changes to canon law dictating how the church deals with such offenses, the New York Times reports. Cardinal William Levada holds Benedict’s...

Did You See What the Pope Is Wearing?!?

Benedict brings back vintage papal styles; Catholics wonder why

(Newser) - Benedict XVI is wearing some pretty flashy, and pretty old-school, outfits, and pope-watchers the world over are atwitter, the Washington Post reports. Unlike his predecessor, who “would just wear whatever was given to him,” the current pontiff is reaching into a closet that dates back hundreds of years,...

'Monumental' US Visit Ahead
 'Monumental' US Visit Ahead 
UPDATED
Apr 15, 2008 5:05 PM CDT

'Monumental' US Visit Ahead

Unprecedented presidential welcome kick off Pope's jam-packed itinerary

(Newser) - Today's arrival of Pope Benedict XVI "had the look and feel of a monumental and historic event," a CNN correspondent notes—and the six-day visit will indeed be eventful. Benedict will speak to US Catholic leadership tomorrow after a welcoming ceremony at the White House, then visit the...

Greenies Find God Might Be the Answer
Greenies Find God Might Be the Answer
Apr 15, 2008 11:56 AM CDT

Greenies Find God Might Be the Answer

Eco lobby partners with the pulpit to get through to Congress

(Newser) - How much carbon would Jesus use? Not much, say the religious communities now teaming with environmentalists to lobby Capitol Hill. As a carbon-capping bill approaches the Senate, eco-advocates hope that church partnerships will re-frame the debate, and religious leaders rail against the desecration of divine creation and the suffering of...

America May See Soft Side of Hardline Pope

Pontiff known to blend dogma with compassion

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI is a known hardliner, but Americans may see his softer side during a 5-day US tour this week, the New York Times reports. During stops at the White House, United Nations, and various churches, Benedict will touch on abortion, divorce, war, and the priest sex-abuse scandals, but...

7 Deadly Sins? Try These On for Size
7 Deadly Sins? Try These On
for Size
OPINION
Apr 10, 2008 7:31 PM CDT

7 Deadly Sins? Try These On for Size

PJ O'Rourke disagrees with Vatican, comes up with his own no-nos

(Newser) - The Vatican has released a list of seven new Deadly Sins, and satirist-curmudgeon PJ O’Rourke isn’t impressed. Writing in the Weekly Standard, O’Rourke details the updated catalogue, which includes “morally debatable experimentation,” “social inequality and injustice,” and “genetic manipulation.” Finding it...

Muslims Outnumber Catholics: Vatican

Islam is world's biggest religion with 1.3B members

(Newser) - Islam has topped Roman Catholicism as the world's biggest religion for the first time, the Vatican said today. About 1.1 billion people are still Catholic, but Muslims have pulled ahead with 1.3 billion members. “For the first time in history we are no longer at the top:...

Prominent Italian Muslim Baptized by Pope

Convert Takes Big Step at Vatican During Easter Vigil

(Newser) - Italy's best-known commentator on Islam converted to Catholicism yesterday at the Vatican, during Easter vigil, and was baptized by the Pope himself, the AP reports. Though Magdi Allam was born a Muslim, he said he "never" practiced his native religion, and made his name criticizing Islamic fanaticism, receiving death...

Pope Slams Iraq War
 Pope Slams Iraq War 
Mar 16, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Pope Slams Iraq War

Speaks to faithful in Palm Sunday Mass

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI harshly criticized the Iraq war today at the close of a Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, the AP reports. “Enough with the slaughters. Enough with the violence. Enough with the hatred,” he said to applause from a crowd of thousands. He said...

Catholic Colleges Brace for Pope's Criticism

Free-thinking academics anticipate call to toe the line

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI’s April address to top Catholic educators is likely to be a call to observe church teachings more closely, reports the Washington Post. All but 20 of the 235 American Catholic colleges and universities are too freethinking to suit the Vatican, says one expert, and the situation...

Kidnapped Priest Found Dead in Iraq
Kidnapped Priest Found Dead in Iraq
Mar 13, 2008 12:49 PM CDT

Kidnapped Priest Found Dead in Iraq

Captors tell church Chaldean archbishop was ill before death

(Newser) - The body of the Chaldean Catholic archbishop who was abducted last month has been found in a shallow grave in northern Iraq, the BBC reports. His kidnappers contacted church officials yesterday to tell them Paulos Faraj Rahho, archbishop of Mosul, had become very sick. They reported his death later that...

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