Catholic Church

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Blair to Convert to Catholicism
Blair to Convert to Catholicism

Blair to Convert to Catholicism

Being Anglican was politically expedient, but the PM's been drawn to the Roman church for 30 years

(Newser) - Tony Blair is about to become a Roman Catholic, the Guardian reports. His wife is a practicing Catholic, his children were raised in the faith, and the PM has attended mass with them often. But political considerations have kept him officially Anglican all these years. With his last day in...

Church Nixes Joe K's Annulment
Church Nixes Joe K's Annulment

Church Nixes Joe K's Annulment

Political scion's first marriage just won't quit

(Newser) - Politics and religion collided today with the revelation by Joe Kennedy's ex-wife that the Catholic Church has reversed its decision to annul their marriage. Sheila Rauch Kennedy, an Episcopalian, tells Time that the process of invalidating her marriage to the ex-congressman was "dishonest, and it was important to stand...

Vatican: Thou Shalt Not Speed
Vatican: Thou Shalt Not Speed

Vatican: Thou Shalt Not Speed

Holy See issues '10 commandments' for motorists

(Newser) - The pope wants you to slow down, watch your language, and pray while on the road—and not by taking the Lord's name in vain when you get cut off. The Vatican issued "10 Commandments" for motorists today, reiterating the familiar prohibition against killing and adding new guidelines for...

Vatican Shuns Amnesty International
Vatican Shuns Amnesty International

Vatican Shuns Amnesty International

Church urges Catholics to withhold support after shift on abortion

(Newser) - The Vatican is calling on Catholics to stop contributing to Amnesty International, a reaction to the human rights group's new stance on abortion. "AI has betrayed its mission," a prominent cardinal said this week, referring to the April announcement that the organization supports access to abortion services in...

'Heresy' Goes Digital
'Heresy' Goes Digital

'Heresy' Goes Digital

Italians Catholics renouncing their faith turn to the Web for help with 'debaptism'

(Newser) - Cutting ties with the Catholic Church is, in theory, a relatively simple matter known as "debaptism." More and more Italians who aren't worried about the Vatican's formal stance on what it calls "an act of apostasy, heresy or schism" are finding the documents they need online. Wired ...

Man Tries to Hitch a Ride on Popemobile

German vaults barrier in St. Peter's Square, approaches pontiff's car

(Newser) - A German man made a leap of faith in St. Peter's Square in Rome today, apparently attempting to board Pope Benedict's Jeep. A Vatican spokesman said the 27-year-old was trying to "draw attention to himself" when he dove over a barricade toward the slow-moving Popemobile; the man was immediately...

Brazil to Subsidize Birth Control
Brazil to Subsidize Birth Control

Brazil to Subsidize Birth Control

Cheaper pills give poor women same right to family planning, says president

(Newser) - Just weeks after Pope Benedict XVI decried contraception as a threat to the future of Latin America on his visit to Brazil, Brazil's president announced that the government would subsidize birth control pills at private pharmacies so poor women can have "the same right that the wealthy have to...

Pope Backtracks on Muslims
Pope Backtracks on Muslims

Pope Backtracks on Muslims

Benedict rebuilds demoted department the leads dialog with Islamic world

(Newser) - The Pope applied some salve to wounded relations with the Muslim world yesterday after neglecting and then appearing to slander Islam in a speech last fall. In a surprising reversal, Benedict XVI announced he is restoring the Vatican department responsible for Muslim affairs, which he demoted in importance last year.

House Dems Slam Pope's Threat
House Dems Slam Pope's Threat

House Dems Slam Pope's Threat

(Newser) - A group of House Democrats bridled at Pope Benedict's recent suggestion that politicians who support abortion rights should be excommunicated, The Hill reports. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut led 18 legislators in condemning the Pope's comment, which "offends the very nature of the American experiment," according to their...

Pope: Marxism, Capitalism Hold Latin America Back

Also, contraception and secularism

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI blamed both capitalism and Marxism for Latin America's problems in a speech yesterday in Brazil, the world's most Catholic nation. Benedict blamed Marxism for "a painful destruction of the human spirit," but also worried that capitalism gives rise to "degradation of personal dignity through...

In Brazil, Pope Talks Tough On Abortion

Benedict makes first visit to world's largest Catholic population

(Newser) - Pope Benedict brought the Catholic Church's stern anti-abortion message to Brazil today, weeks after Mexico City legalized the practice and as Brazil faintly contemplates doing the same. The Pope is on his first trip to Latin America—the fastest-expanding corner of his flock, but also one of the most precarious—...

Mexico City Legalizes Abortion
Mexico City Legalizes Abortion

Mexico City Legalizes Abortion

City leaders defy bitter opposition from government and church

(Newser) - Mexico City has passed a law legalizing first-trimester abortions and offering them virtually free. The move by the city's predominantly leftist leadership was bitterly opposed by the Catholic Church and Mexico's conservative government, CNN reports.

Chocolate Christ Show Cancelled
Chocolate Christ  Show Cancelled

Chocolate Christ Show Cancelled

New York gallery pulls sculpture after Catholic outcry

(Newser) - A  nude chocolate Christ, sans loincloth, was pulled from a midtown Manhattan gallery yesterday after torrent of complaints from offended Catholics . Bill Donohue, head of the watchdog Catholic League, which orchestrated the protest, said the sculpture, intended for display during Holy Week,  was "one of the worst assaults...

King Cozies Up to Pope
King Cozies
Up to Pope

King Cozies Up to Pope

Don King gets ringside seat, offers Benedict XVI a boxing belt

(Newser) - A tonsorially tamed Don King took the stage Wednesday in front of an atypical audience–the Pope. The legendary boxing promoter, who spent four years in jail for manslaughter, was denied a personal audience with his Holiness, but did manage to hand the pontiff a handwritten set of prayer requests–...

Stories 781 - 794 | << Prev