Pope Calls for Peace in Christmas Speech

Continues Vatican battle against rampant consumerism

(NEWSER) - Continuing the Vatican's battle against rampant consumerism on the occasion of Jesus' birthday, Pope Benedict XVI today blasted a pervasive "materialistic mentality" in "the way of living out and perceiving Christmas." The pontiff urged pilgrims gathered below his window on St. Peter's Square instead to "fill your hearts with redeeming hope," reports the AP. More»

Monks hosted concerts starring prancing nuns

(NEWSER) - Some party-loving monks have been evicted from Rome's Santa Croce monastery by order of the Pope. The monks, whose abbey was attached to a church holding some of Catholicism's holiest relics, staged concerts featuring a lap dancer-turned-nun, hosted VIP guests including Madonna, and opened a hotel with a 24-hour limousine service, the Guardian reports. The monks are also believed to have amassed huge debts. More»

Mass. Rev. James Scahill says Benedict lied, gets standing ovations

(NEWSER) - One Massachusetts priest says Pope Benedict is lying when he says the Vatican hasn’t covered up the sexual abuse of children. In four sermons over the weekend, Rev. James Scahill called on Benedict to resign over the scandal, the Longmeadow Republican reports. “There were standing ovations at two Masses, and applause at the others,” he says, though he adds that one parishioner, “booed very boisterously and called me a heretic.” More»

(NEWSER) - Pope Benedict landed in Jordan today to begin what could be a tense Middle East tour, the New York Times reports. Next week the pope will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories, delivering 32 speeches at some of the world’s holiest sites for Christians, Jews, and Muslims. But with the region still on edge from the Gaza conflict—and considering Benedict's poor track record with Muslims and Jews—they could be tense engagements. More»

Thousands protest pontiff's claim that contraceptives don't halt HIV

(NEWSER) - The pope’s recent remark that condoms not only don’t prevent the spread of HIV but make it worse hasn’t earned him many friends on Facebook, CNN reports. Almost a dozen groups have sprung up in protest of the pontiff’s scientifically inaccurate statement, with thousands of Facebookers—many of them in Europe—pledging to send millions of condoms to the Vatican. More»