Catholic Church

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LA Cardinal Apologizes to Abuse Victims

Record $660M deal means cardinal won't have to testify

(Newser) - Cardinal Roger Mahony publicly apologized yesterday to the 508 plaintiffs in a sexual-abuse lawsuit the archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to settle for a record $660 million. Mahony, who met privately with many of the victims abused by clergy, said he wished their lives were like a videotape—"...

$650M Deal to Settle Clergy Abuse Charges

LA archdiocese close to a settlement on more than 500 cases, biggest to date

(Newser) - The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is on the verge of an agreement to spend $650 million to settle more than 500 claims of alleged sex abuse against Roman Catholic clergy, the Los Angeles Times reports. The deal, which would be the largest settlement in the 5-year-old clergy-abuse scandal, comes as...

Pope Gives Go-Ahead to Latin Mass
Pope Gives Go-Ahead to Latin Mass
Jul 7, 2007 5:53 PM CDT

Pope Gives Go-Ahead to Latin Mass

After 4 decades out of favor, rite faces opposition, controversy

(Newser) - Four decades after sweeping reforms intended to make the Catholic Church more accessible, Pope Benedict backed off the best-known change today, lifting restrictions on the Tridentine rite, better known as the Latin Mass. The move is already controversial, Time reports, because it's perceived as a sop to traditionalists—and because...

Questions Dog Longtime Giuliani Friend

Candidate's company employs priest accused of child sex abuse

(Newser) - A Catholic priest who was best man at Rudy Giuliani's first wedding, performed his second marriage, and presided at his parents' funerals is on the payroll of the candidate's consulting firm—and suspended from his pastoral duties because he has been accused of sexually abusing children. Salon looks at the...

Blair to Convert to Catholicism
Blair to Convert to Catholicism
Jun 22, 2007 5:38 AM CDT

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
Jun 20, 2007 2:55 PM CDT

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
Jun 19, 2007 2:14 PM CDT

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
Jun 14, 2007 10:10 PM CDT

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
Jun 8, 2007 11:24 AM CDT

'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
May 29, 2007 7:50 AM CDT

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
May 29, 2007 5:31 AM CDT

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
May 15, 2007 8:08 AM CDT

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
Apr 25, 2007 7:48 AM CDT

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
Mar 31, 2007 5:54 PM CDT

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
Mar 22, 2007 11:20 AM CDT

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–...

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