Pope Pounds Protestants

Pope's wrong; they're 'Presby-Lutheran Protestants,' says producer

(NEWSER) - Turns out the pope is fallible after all. The official Vatican newspaper declared last week that Homer Simpson and his family are Catholic. But the creators of the cartoon characters have announced that church officials are downright wrong, reports the BBC . Homer and son Bart considered converting to Catholicism five years ago in an episode called "The Father, Son and Holy Guest," but never went through with it, says executive producer Al Jean. "We've always shown them as Protestants going to a Presby-Lutheran church," he explained. Besides, giving up meat on Fridays and birth control every day would be too difficult for Homer, Jean indicated. More»

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 the possibility of the same for Catholic priests. "The question arises: ‘Well, if these former Anglicans can be married priests, what about us?’" says a cardinal. More»

Benedict meets with leading Muslim cleric after visit to Dome of the Rock

(AP) - Pope Benedict XVI began the second day of his Holy Land tour at one of the most contentious sites in the Arab-Israeli conflict: the Dome of the Rock, where Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, and the adjacent Western Wall. The pontiff urged both sides to engage in "a sincere dialogue aimed at building a world of justice and peace," reports the AP. More»

(AP) - The top religious adviser to Jordan's king thanked Pope Benedict XVI today for his expression of "regret" after a 2006 speech that many Muslims deemed insulting to Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Benedict told the audience of religious leaders and officials at an Amman mosque that the history of the two faiths has been marked by misunderstanding. The pope said it is "ideological manipulation of religion sometimes for political ends that is the real catalyst for tension and division and at times even violence in society." More»

Christian-Muslim talks emphasize common belief

(NEWSER) - Clerics of the world’s two largest faiths are meeting at the Vatican this week to improve relations between the long-divided communities. Muslim clerics invited Christians to dialogue after comments Pope Benedict made in 2006 that implied Islam was violent and irrational. The mostly male Vatican members and imams will have an audience with the pope Thursday as the meeting culminates, Reuters reports. More»