Catholic Church – News Stories About Catholic Church - Page 30

Pope Urges UK Bishops
to Fight Gay Equality Bill

Feb 1, 2010 2:13 PM CST

Pope Urges UK Bishops to Fight Gay Equality Bill

Legislation 'violates the natural law,' pontiff contends

(Newser) - Pope Benedict wants English and Welsh bishops to fight proposed human rights legislation with "missionary zeal." The Equality Bill, which is pending in Parliament, is intended to combat discrimination on the basis of sex, race, disability, religion, or sexual orientation, but the pontiff argues that "it actually...

Make Annulments
Tougher: Pope

Jan 29, 2010 11:51 AM CST

Make Annulments Tougher: Pope

Benedict thinks pessimism about lasting marriage is driving trend

(Newser) - Pope Benedict wants Catholic Church tribunals to make marriage annulments more difficult to get. “We run the risk of falling into an anthropological pessimism which, in the light of today's cultural situation, considers it almost impossible to marry,” he said today. Marriage is stronger than people think, he...

Mormon Church Aimed to Cover Tracks on Marriage Ban

PROP 8 TRIAL

Jan 20, 2010 9:45 PM CST

Mormon Church Aimed to Cover Tracks on Marriage Ban

Directed funds to outside organization

(Newser) - The Mormon church wanted its members to support the 2008 effort to ban same-sex marriage in California, but urged they do it through an outside organization to give the leadership “plausible deniability,” according to documents released today in the Proposition 8 trial in San Francisco. The Catholic church...

Pope OK After Incident
Before Christmas Mass

UPDATED

Dec 24, 2009 5:29 PM CST

Pope OK After Incident Before Christmas Mass

Woman clears barrier at Vatican, knocks down pontiff

(Newser) - A woman jumped the barriers in St. Peter's Basilica and knocked down Pope Benedict XVI tonight as he walked down the main aisle to begin Christmas Eve Mass, a Vatican spokesman says. The pope was not hurt and quickly got up. Benedict, 82, calmly resumed his walk to the basilica's...

Vatican Praises
The Simpsons'
Take on God

WHO KNEW?

Dec 23, 2009 3:25 PM CST

Vatican Praises The Simpsons' Take on God

Despite his jokes, Homer knows Him 'quite well'

(Newser) - The Vatican's newspaper sees right through Homer Simpson’s superficial ambivalence about—or even ignorance of—God to a soul that finds its “ultimate refuge in” the supreme deity. In a study of that great theological repository, The Simpsons, the editors of L'Osservatore Romano praise its portrayal of “...

Shakespeare May Have Secretly Been Catholic

Dec 22, 2009 9:42 AM CST

Shakespeare May Have Secretly Been Catholic

English seminary in Rome says it has docs to prove it

(Newser) - Documents discovered by an English seminary in Rome suggest William Shakespeare may have been a secret Catholic, a revelation that could potentially solve the mystery of the bard's religious leanings. The Venerable English College points to cryptic names signed in its guest book for visiting pilgrims that they say indicate...

Irish Bishop Quits Over
Child Sex Scandal

Dec 8, 2009 1:47 AM CST

Irish Bishop Quits Over Child Sex Scandal

Vatican mum about scathing report, government furious

(Newser) - The bishop of Limerick is offering his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI today in the wake of a damning report on the church's cover up of multiple child sexual abuse cases. Donal Murray acted "inexcusably" in one case and handled others badly, the report concluded. The report has caused...

Sex Abuse by
Irish Priests
'Hidden for
Decades'

Nov 26, 2009 10:04 AM CST

Sex Abuse by Irish Priests 'Hidden for Decades'

Senior clerics implicated in child abuse cover-up

(Newser) - Catholic authorities in Ireland covered up sexual abuse by priests for decades in an effort to protect the church, according to a damning government report. The report, which looks into allegations of child sex abuse against 46 Dublin-area priests over a 30-year period, will "shock us all," said...

Zip It on
Communion
Ban: Bishop
to Kennedy

ROLLICKING RHODE ISLAND

Nov 23, 2009 1:21 PM CST

Zip It on Communion Ban: Bishop to Kennedy

Tobin thinks Patrick's spiritual matters should be left private

(Newser) - The bishop who had the nerve to tell a Kennedy not to take communion—because he supports abortion rights—is steamed that he blabbed about it. “I am disappointed that the congressman would make public my pastoral and confidential request,” says Bishop Thomas Tobin of Patrick Kennedy. He...

RI Bishop Disses
Kennedy Over
Pro-Choice
Stance

NO COMMUNION FOR YOU, MY SON

Nov 22, 2009 8:23 AM CST

RI Bishop Disses Kennedy Over Pro-Choice Stance

Spat over Patrick's position on abortion escalates

(Newser) - Health care reform, the cause of his father's life, has made Rep. Patrick Kennedy persona non grata in his Rhode Island parish—thanks to the furor over publicly funded abortion. As the debate rages, Bishop Thomas Tobin has told the only public servant remaining in America's most famous Catholic family...

DC, Catholic Church
in Gay Rights Standoff

Nov 12, 2009 3:04 AM CST

DC, Catholic Church in Gay Rights Standoff

Church to pull plug on social programs if marriage bill passes

(Newser) - The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has told the District of Columbia it will tear up its social service contracts to help the city's needy if it passes a proposed same-sex marriage bill next month. The bill wouldn't require the church to perform or provide space for gay marriages, but would...

ET, Phone Rome:
Vatican Holds
Alien Conference

Nov 11, 2009 2:35 AM CST

ET, Phone Rome: Vatican Holds Alien Conference

Astrobiology experts ponder big picture

(Newser) - Does intelligent life exist elsewhere in the universe and if so, is it Christian? Those and other weighty questions are up for discussion this week at a Vatican conference on astrobiology. Religious leaders and a range of scientists—including some non-Catholics—have been called in to discuss the possibility of...

Anglican Deal May Lead
to Married Priests

Oct 22, 2009 4:55 AM CDT

Anglican Deal May Lead to Married Priests

Vatican's gesture cracks door to ending celibacy

(Newser) - The Vatican's attempts to heal the centuries-old rift with the Anglican Church may have a consequence nobody intended: an end to celibacy for priests. By offering a new Anglican rite under the umbrella of Catholicism, Pope Benedict XVI has invited married Anglican clergy into the fold—and cracked open...

Catholic Church Welcomes
Disgruntled Anglicans

Oct 20, 2009 8:42 AM CDT

Catholic Church Welcomes Disgruntled Anglicans

Extends a hand to those unhappy with gay bishops, ordained women

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI has created a new church structure for Anglicans who want to join the Catholic Church, responding to the disillusionment of some Anglicans over the ordination of women and the election of openly gay bishops. The new provision will allow Anglicans to join the Catholic Church while maintaining...

Pope Canonizes Father Damien

Oct 11, 2009 2:44 PM CDT

Pope Canonizes Father Damien

Belgian missionary, four others elevated to sainthood

(Newser) - Father Damien, the Belgian missionary who ministered to leprosy victims on the Hawaiian island of Molokai before contracting and dying of the disease, was canonized today. The 19th-century priest, the founder of the Little Sisters of the Poor, and three others were elevated to sainthood in a ceremony that drew...

Vatican Slams Sex Abuse in Other Religions

Sep 29, 2009 5:22 AM CDT

Vatican Slams Sex Abuse in Other Religions

Pedophilia statement charges that most abusers are gay

(Newser) - The Vatican hit out at critics of its handling of the church's sexual abuse crisis yesterday, maintaining that most of its abusive clergymen were gay men and not pedophiles. The Holy See's UN representative cited "available research" that only 5% or less of its clergy were involved in...

Uruguay Legalizes
Gay Adoption

Sep 10, 2009 1:48 AM CDT

Uruguay Legalizes Gay Adoption

First Latin American nation to let same-sex couples adopt

(Newser) - Uruguay's senate has approved the first law in Latin America allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children, AFP reports. The bill, backed by leftist President Tabare Vazquez, passed despite fierce objections from the Catholic church and right-wing politicians. Uruguay, traditionally much more liberal than other countries in the region,...

Flu-Fearing Churches Ban Peace Handshakes

Sep 8, 2009 2:37 PM CDT

Flu-Fearing Churches Ban Peace Handshakes

'Sign of peace,' prayer hand holding barred amid swine flu warnings

(Newser) - Churches nationwide are bracing for cases of swine flu, with one in Cincinnati banning peace handshakes during Mass, the Enquirer reports. The Catholic church passed out a flier telling parishioners not to shake with their neighbors during the “sign of peace” or clasp hands during the “Our Father”...

Catholic Bishops
Slam Obamacare

Aug 28, 2009 3:30 AM CDT

Catholic Bishops Slam Obamacare

Fears of abortion funding clash with social service concerns

(Newser) - After decades lobbying for better health care for the poor, a growing number of Catholic bishops have become an unexpected voice of opposition against President Obama's health care plan, the New York Times reports. "No health care reform is better than the wrong sort of health care reform,"...

US Nuns Dodge
Specter of Sex Abuse

OPINION

Aug 17, 2009 9:11 AM CDT

US Nuns Dodge Specter of Sex Abuse

(Newser) - Last week the largest group of American nuns held its annual meeting, and once again they refused to let survivors of sexual abuse in Catholic schools attend. When even the bishops have acknowledged the depth and seriousness of abuse within the Church, it's strange for the nuns to bury their...