Pizza Mogul Orders Town, University

After a year, Florida's Ave Maria boasts close to 1K residents

(NEWSER) - Almost a year after opening, Domino’s founder Tom Monaghan’s made-to-order Catholic town is growing. Although the 1,000 residents of Ave Maria, Fla., are not exclusively Catholic, the town wears it identity on its sleeve: The only coffee shop plays Mass on TV 24/7, and the bookstores prominently display Vatican, a "papal election board game." The Telegraph pays a visit. More»

(NEWSER) - The first pizza shop in Domino’s founder Thomas Monaghan’s Catholic university town of Ave Maria, Fla., will not be a Domino’s, the Fort Myers News-Press reports. Domino’s says the town is covered by another franchise’s delivery radius, and Ave Maria will get a Milano’s instead. And that sit-down restaurant serves alcohol. “Domino’s doesn't allow that,” said Monaghan, who sold Domino’s in 1998. More»

Host says Domino's Pizza more contrite than Church

(NEWSER) - Maureen Dowd has been nipping at Pope Benedict's heels, but you know you're in trouble when Jon Stewart takes aim at you. On last night's Daily Show , Stewart blasted the pontiff's defiance over his handling of sex abuse cases. "If any other organization had done anything close to what the Church is being accused of, they'd be done!" he said in a segment called "Pope Opera." More»

Free-thinking academics anticipate call to toe the line

(NEWSER) - Pope Benedict XVI’s April address to top Catholic educators is likely to be a call to observe church teachings more closely, reports the Washington Post. All but 20 of the 235 American Catholic colleges and universities are too freethinking to suit the Vatican, says one expert, and the situation "is something that's been simmering for so long that it's reached a boiling point." More»