Catholic Church

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2 Nuns Fall in Love, Leave Church, Get Hitched

Franciscan sisters in Italy joined in civil union

(Newser) - Two former nuns were joined in a civil union in Italy on Wednesday in a ceremony coming only four months after the heavily Catholic country approved same-sex partnerships. Identified only as Isabel and Federica, they met three years ago doing charitable work with drug addicts and gradually fell in love,...

Priest Murdered by ISIS Already on Path to Sainthood

Jacques Hamel was murdered in his church in France

(Newser) - An 85-year-old French priest murdered in his own church by Islamic militants in July is already being prepped for sainthood, Reuters reports. Speaking during a Mass Wednesday at the Vatican, Pope Francis called Jacques Hamel a "good, humble man" and a martyr. "He gave his life for us...

Archbishop: Remarried Couples Must Live as 'Brother and Sister'

Also, no sex for gay couples and unmarried couples, obviously

(Newser) - It just got a whole lot less fun to be a Catholic in Philadelphia. New guidelines released by Archbishop Charles Chaput last Friday say divorced couples who have remarried must permanently abstain from sex, instead living like "brother and sister," the Guardian reports. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer...

Montreal Priests Won't Be Allowed Alone With Kids

Chancellor says it's about protecting victims and the church

(Newser) - Some Catholic churches in Canada have banned priests from being alone with children—and more are about to start. The Catholic Church of Montreal says it will bar priests, volunteers, educators, and anyone else in "the orbit of the church" from being alone with children at 10 parishes beginning...

Pope Open to First Female Clergy In Over 1K Years

He promises commission to consider female deacons

(Newser) - During a meeting with an international group of nuns on Thursday, Pope Francis casually mentioned that he's open to making the biggest change to women's role in the Catholic Church in more than 1,000 years. When one of the sisters asked about the possibility of a commission...

Pope's New Doc on Family, Marriage: Don't Throw 'Stones'

Pontiff's 'Joy of Love' calls for embrace of the divorced, single parents—but not gay marriage

(Newser) - There's been plenty of talk of "revolution" on the campaign trail this year, and now Pope Francis wants to start his own regarding marriage, divorce, sex, and family life, issuing a major document Friday that addresses these issues while calling for one's conscience, rather than hard-and-fast rules,...

'Zinging Nun' Mother Angelica Dead at 92

She built a Catholic media empire

(Newser) - She was born Rita Rizzo in Canton, Ohio, but she became better known to millions around the world as Mother Angelica, a Franciscan nun who founded the giant media empire known as the Eternal Word Television Network. On Sunday, the EWTN announced that Mother Angelica had died at age 92...

Amid Easter Joy, Pope Laments 'Blind, Brutal Terrorism'

Francis mingles with crowds at Vatican, despite threats

(Newser) - Pope Francis tempered his Easter Sunday message of Christian hope with a denunciation of "blind" terrorism, recalling victims of attacks in Europe, Africa, and elsewhere, as well as expressing dismay that people fleeing war or poverty are being denied welcome as European countries squabble over the refugee crisis. Tens...

Mother Teresa Will Be a Saint

Pope Francis announces her canonization will be held on Sept. 4

(Newser) - It's official: Mother Teresa will be made a saint of the Catholic Church at a ceremony on Sept. 4, reports Reuters . Pope Francis, who signed off on the missionary's second miracle in December, announced the move at a meeting of cardinals on Tuesday. Teresa died in 1997 at...

Naples to Catholic Church: Hands Off the Treasure

Italians say Vatican is trying to wrest control of a trove worth more than crown jewels

(Newser) - "Don't touch the treasure." That's the message more than 3,000 demonstrators in Naples had for the Roman Catholic Church on Saturday. The faithful in that southern Italian city fear that a recent government ruling could help the church get its hands on a priceless collection...

2 Pa. Bishops Hid the Abuse of Hundreds of Kids: AG

They paid off victims, moved alleged abusers: report

(Newser) - Over four decades, two Catholic bishops in Pennsylvania covered up the abuse of hundreds of children at the hands of more than 50 religious leaders, according to a grand jury report . A 147-page document notes Joseph Adamec and James Hogan of the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese moved offending priests between parishes, paid...

Cardinal: Clerics Swam Naked With Boys

Pope Francis' adviser says Church 'made enormous mistakes'

(Newser) - One of Pope Francis' top advisers acknowledged Sunday that the Catholic Church "has made enormous mistakes" in allowing thousands of children to be raped and molested by priests over centuries, testifying at an extraordinary public hearing of Australia's Royal Commission via videolink from just a few blocks from...

Vatican: Bishops Need Not Report Abuse to Cops

Victims should be the ones to go to police: training document

(Newser) - Catholic bishops who suspect clerical child abuse need not report it to police. That's apparently the opinion of the Vatican, spelled out in a training document for newly appointed bishops. "According to the state of civil laws of each country where reporting is obligatory, it is not necessarily...

Pope Plans to End 1K-Year-Old Russian Rift

Francis will meet with leader of Russian Orthodox Church

(Newser) - Pope Francis and the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church will meet in Cuba next week in a historic step to heal the 1,000-year-old schism that divided Christianity between East and West, both churches announced Friday. The Feb. 12 meeting between Francis and Patriarch Kirill will be the first...

Report: 231 Members of German Boys' Choir Abused

The choir was conducted by the brother of former Pope Benedict

(Newser) - At least 231 members of a Catholic boys' choir in Germany were physically abused over four decades—largely while the choir was conducted by the brother of former Pope Benedict XVI, the New York Times reports. That number comes from Ulrich Weber, a lawyer hired by the Regensburger Domspatzen choir...

Priest Suspended Over Christmas Eve Hoverboard Stunt

'That was wrong'

(Newser) - A priest rolling around his church on a "hoverboard" while singing May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You on Christmas Eve earned a round of applause from his congregation and a quick suspension from his diocese, NBC News reports. It's unknown how the birthday boy felt about...

Mother Teresa Clears Last Hurdle for Sainthood
Pope Signs Off on
Mother Teresa's 2nd Miracle
UPDATED
Dec 18, 2015 2:15 AM CST

Pope Signs Off on Mother Teresa's 2nd Miracle

She'll become a saint in 2016

(Newser) - Mother Teresa is set to finish 2016 as one of the Catholic Church's newest saints after a big decision from Pope Francis. The missionary, who spent most of her life working with the poor in India, was beatified in 2003, and the AP reports that Pope Francis has now...

Catholic Diocese Finds Utah's 'Bleeding Host' Wasn't a Miracle

It was bread mold

(Newser) - The Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City says a bleeding host reported after a communion wafer turned water red was caused by bread mold, not a miracle. Officials said Wednesday that a scientist found the conclusive natural explanation for the wafer that turned water in an ablution bowl a dark...

Vatican to Catholics: Stop Trying to Convert Jews

Help them fight anti-Semitism instead: new report

(Newser) - The Vatican is taking steps toward fixing its long-troubled history with the Jewish faith with the Thursday release of a 10,000-word document that instructs Catholics to help Jews fight anti-Semitism instead of trying to convert them, Reuters reports. The Commission for Religious Relations With the Jews explained that Catholicism...

Pope on Divorce, Gays: 'Today Is a Time of Mercy!'

Closes out bishops' synod with some gains on divorce, homosexuality

(Newser) - Pope Francis closed out a three-week bishops' synod on Sunday with something of a victory lap, appearing to chastise conservative Catholic leaders for excluding swaths of the faithful, including divorced and gay Catholics. "A faith that does not know how to grow roots into the lives of people stays...

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