Pope to Meet With Pro-Choice Pelosi

Excommunications to be lifted at Madrid's World Youth Day

(NEWSER) - The Vatican is marking World Youth Day celebrations in Madrid by offering women who have had abortions an easy way to become Catholics again, reports the Guardian . Abortion is punishable by instant excommunication and "normally, only certain priests have the power to lift such an excommunication, but the local diocese has decided to give all the priests taking confession at the event this power," explains a spokesman for Pope Benedict XVI. More»

(NEWSER) - Italy has legalized the abortion drug RU-486, drawing the ire of the Vatican, which threatened to excommunicate doctors who prescribe the medication and women who take it. A church official said using the pill is "a sin in a moral and juridical sense," but a politician who is also a gynecologist hailed yesterday's decision, telling ANSA, "It's above all a victory for Italian women, who from today have more choice." More»

Pelosi aides, Vatican have differing take on meeting

(NEWSER) - Pope Benedict didn't beat around the bush in his short meeting with Nancy Pelosi today. He lectured the Catholic House speaker about her liberal views on abortion and assisted suicide, the Vatican says. Pelosi's aides, however, focused on brighter moments: She showed the pontiff photos of her grandkids and discussed poverty and global warming with him, they tell CNN. More»

Brit memo suggested pontiff should open clinic on visit

(NEWSER) - Pope Benedict is headed to the UK in the fall, and while there he's slated to ... open an abortion clinic? Unveil a line of papal-branded condoms? Let loose and sing a duet with the queen? This according to a cheeky memo circulated in Britain's Foreign Office, and obtained by the Sunday Telegraph , purporting to plan the pontiff's itinerary. More»

Pontiff keeps his silence on sex abuse scandals

(AP) - A senior cardinal defended Pope Benedict XVI from "petty gossip" today, praising his "unfailing" leadership, even as the pontiff maintained his silence on mounting accusations of sex abuse cover-ups during his Easter message. At the end of the two-hour long ceremony, a weary-looking Benedict delivered the papacy's traditional Easter "Urbi et Orbi" message, analyzing humanity's failings and hopes. More»