Catholic Church – News Stories About Catholic Church - Page 38

Feb 28, 2008 11:06 AM CST

Spain Gets on Divorce Express

Church leaders say marriage contract is now 'trash'

(Newser) - Marriage has become a battleground in Spain, where divorce has been legal for 20 years, but a recent reform accelerating the process led to a 74% spike in the divorce rate. With 1 in every 2.3 married couples now parting, the Catholic Church is accusing the socialist government of...

Pope Fans Rush for Tour Tickets

Feb 26, 2008 9:03 AM CST

Pope Fans Rush for Tour Tickets

Demand is high ahead of Benedict's US visit in April

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI will be making his first visit to the US in April, and tickets for two super masses are in high demand, USA Today reports. Ticket requests for the masses at Yankee Stadium and Washington's National Park stadium are already more than double the number of seats available....

More Americans Cut Church Ties

Feb 26, 2008 6:00 AM CST

More Americans Cut Church Ties

50% have switched denomination, and 16% have no affiliation

(Newser) - Americans are swapping religious affiliations at an accelerating rate, with 50% choosing a different denomination than the one they were raised in, and 16%—double the number 20 years ago—saying the have no ties to a particular church, a new survey of religious life finds. That doesn't mean they're...

Pope Appeals for Lebanon Peace

Feb 17, 2008 11:40 AM CST

Pope Appeals for Lebanon Peace

Pontiff calls for end to infighting, election of 'president for all'

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI expressed concern today over the escalating tensions in Lebanon, calling on its people to find a “president for all Lebanese” to end the months of infighting that have stalled elections. After his noontime blessing, the pontiff told the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square that...

Spain's PM Tells Church to Get Out of Election

Feb 14, 2008 11:53 AM CST

Spain's PM Tells Church to Get Out of Election

Zapatero meets with Vatican rep over campaign to oust him

(Newser) - Spanish PM José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is meeting today with a Vatican representative to protest the Catholic Church's call for voters to oust his Socialist party in the March 9 general election. Zapatero was infuriated by bishops' publication of "moral guidance," calling on parishioners to vote out...

Catholic HS Bars Female Ref

Feb 14, 2008 11:43 AM CST

Catholic HS Bars Female Ref

Kansas religious school said to object to woman in authority over boys

(Newser) - A Kansas Catholic high school’s decision to ban a female referee from officiating a boys’ basketball game because of the school’s religious beliefs has state officials investigating the incident and considering banning the school from future competition, the AP reports. Referees said officials from St. Mary’s Academy,...

British Cleric to Pope: Party On!

Jan 29, 2008 1:14 PM CST

British Cleric to Pope: Party On!

Archbishop of York knows Bavarian pontiff likes brew

(Newser) - An Anglican archbishop from the land of Monty Python brought Pope Benedict a hoppy Holy Grail this month, reports the Guardian. Archbishop of York John Sentamu had heard that Benedict liked Black Sheep, so he brought along the British ale and a custom brew dubbed Holy Grail to his audience...

Brazil Govt. Targets Carnival Debauchery

Jan 29, 2008 11:35 AM CST

Brazil Govt. Targets Carnival Debauchery

Sex-crazed partygoers get free condoms, morning-after pills

(Newser) - As Brazil prepares to indulge in the 5-day party known as Carnival, the president is spearheading a campaign to get samba-crazed revelers to practice safe sex and drink in moderation. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Brazilians to have fun in his weekly radio address, AFP reports, but reminded them...

Angry Students Block Pope Visit

Jan 16, 2008 4:31 AM CST

Angry Students Block Pope Visit

Profs say appearance would be affront to 'people of science'

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI has scrapped plans to speak at a prestigious Italian university after unprecedented protests by furious students and professors who accused him of justifying Galileo's trial and "affronting" people of science, the Los Angeles Times reports. The pope once described as "reasonable" the 400-year-old heresy trial...

Italy's Favorite Saint to Be Exhumed

Jan 8, 2008 2:00 PM CST

Italy's Favorite Saint to Be Exhumed

Preservation procedure sparks controversy among some devotees

(Newser) - The body of Padre Pio, one of Italy’s most beloved saints, will be exhumed this year for a “checkup” and to be put on display for public veneration, the Guardian reports. "It is our duty to allow the generations that come after us the ability to venerate...

Mike's Church Trip Annoys Catholics

Dec 24, 2007 3:34 AM CST

Mike's Church Trip Annoys Catholics

They're upset by visit with pastor who linked Catholics to Hitler

(Newser) - Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee may have alienated some Catholic supporters with yesterday's visit to Cornerstone, the mammoth evangelical church in Texas run by controversial pastor John Hagee. Hagee has suggested that the Roman Catholic Church played a part in the Holocaust, though the outspoken preacher claims he is not...

Catholics Now No. 1 in Britain

Dec 23, 2007 12:47 PM CST

Catholics Now No. 1 in Britain

Anglicans second to Catholicism for first time in 400 years

(Newser) - For the first time in 400 years, Catholicism has more adherents than the Church of England in Great Britain, the Sunday Telegraph reports. Immigrants from Eastern Europe and Africa have filled the pews of Catholic churches, while attendance at Anglican Sunday services has dipped 20% since 2000, according to a...

Blair Now Officially Catholic

Dec 22, 2007 11:16 AM CST

Blair Now Officially Catholic

Former British PM makes long-awaited conversion

(Newser) - Tony Blair converted to Catholicism yesterday, confirming months of rumors that he would switch from the Church of England, the UK Times reports. "I am very glad to receive Tony Blair into the Catholic church," said the archbishop of Westminster, who performed the ceremony in London. The former...

Pope Rips Christmas Materialism

Dec 9, 2007 12:36 PM CST

Pope Rips Christmas Materialism

Continues Vatican battle against rampant consumerism

(Newser) - Continuing the Vatican's battle against rampant consumerism on the occasion of Jesus' birthday, Pope Benedict XVI today blasted a pervasive "materialistic mentality" in "the way of living out and perceiving Christmas." The pontiff urged pilgrims gathered below his window on St. Peter's Square instead to "fill...

Navy Chaplain With HIV Gets Jail in Forcible Sodomy Case

Dec 6, 2007 2:43 PM CST

Navy Chaplain With HIV Gets Jail in Forcible Sodomy Case

Didn't disclose illness before sex with officer

(Newser) - An HIV-positive US Navy chaplain pleaded guilty today to several charges of forcible sodomy and an aggravated assault charge for not disclosing his HIV status to one man, the AP reports. Lt. Cmdr. John Thomas Matthew Lee, 42, was sentenced to two years; without the plea bargain, the charges could...

NY Diocese's Coloring Book Warns of Abuse

Dec 5, 2007 9:06 AM CST

NY Diocese's Coloring Book Warns of Abuse

Angel tells kids not to be alone with an adult; priest not mentioned

(Newser) - A coloring book handed out by the Catholic Church to kids in New York warns them not to be alone with an adult in a room with the door shut, Newsweek reports. It doesn't specifically name priests as a risk, but it does depict an angel warning an altar boy...

$37M Deal for Priest Sex Victims

Dec 4, 2007 2:12 AM CST

$37M Deal for Priest Sex Victims

Iowa bishop apologizes for abuse

(Newser) - A Catholic diocese in Iowa has agreed to pay $37 million to settle claims by 156 people who charge they were sexually abused by priests. The deal clears the way for the diocese to emerge from bankruptcy declared last year after a jury awarded $1.5 million to a single...

Pope Condemns Atheism

Nov 30, 2007 3:20 PM CST

Pope Condemns Atheism

Lack of belief 'has led to the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice'

(Newser) - Pope Benedict issued a strong condemnation of atheism today and warned that advances in technology must be met with similar advancements in ethics. In his second encyclical, the pope said atheist ideologies have "led to the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice," Reuters reports. "Man...

Vatican Offers Earthly Rewards

Nov 23, 2007 6:35 AM CST

Vatican Offers Earthly Rewards

Employees get new corporate-style bonus system

(Newser) - The Vatican is offering corporate-style performance bonuses to its workers for the first time, the Times of London reports. Pope Benedict XVI is offering rewards based on "dedication, professionalism, productivity and politeness." The conditions will apply to the thousands of lay workers who do everything from run Vatican...

Sweatshop Crucifixes Stir Up Unholy Mess for Church

Nov 21, 2007 2:13 AM CST

Sweatshop Crucifixes Stir Up Unholy Mess for Church

Religious gifts made in appalling conditions

(Newser) - Revelations that crucifixes in their gift shops are made in a Chinese sweatshop has shocked officials at New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral and Trinity Episcopal Church, who removed the crosses from stores, reports Newsday. Young workers at the crucifix factory reportedly work 15-hour days in poor conditions for only 26...