Holy See

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Car Rushes Vatican Gate, Is Fired On by Armed Guards

Driver was apprehended quickly after Thursday night incident

(Newser) - A car driven by someone with apparent psychiatric problems rushed through a Vatican gate Thursday evening and sped past Swiss Guards into a palace courtyard before the driver was apprehended by police, the Holy See said. Vatican gendarmes fired a shot at the speeding car’s front tires after it...

Vatican Releases Sex Abuse Files

Holy See denies accusations of cover-up of abusive priest in 1960s

(Newser) - The Vatican attempted to rebut claims it has been covering up sexual abuse by a priest in the United States in the 1960s by releasing files of its internal investigation on the Internet yesterday, reports the Wall Street Journal . The alleged victim filed suit against the Vatican in a federal...

White House Supports Vatican Immunity

Solicitor general backs Vatican in abuse suit

(Newser) - The Vatican should not be held liable in civil lawsuits over clergy abuse cases because it's a sovereign nation, according to Obama administration lawyers. The acting solicitor general has urged the Supreme Court to set aside a ruling from an appellate court allowing an Oregon man claiming abuse by a...

Obama Brings Pope Letter From Ailing Kennedy

President asks Benedict to pray for ill senator

(Newser) - President Obama delivered a letter from Ted Kennedy to Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican today, CNN reports. Obama met with the pontiff for about a half hour before leaving Rome for Ghana. The contents of Kennedy’s letter were personal, an Obama aide said, and “not known to...

Vatican Insiders Call Pope 'a Disaster'

Gaffe-prone and out-of-touch Benedict aggravates Holy See

(Newser) - As Benedict XVI continues his pilgrimage in Africa, sources inside the Vatican say that the pope's frequent gaffes and difficulties with modern communication are threatening to undermine him. One member of the Vatican told the Telegraph that Benedict is "a disaster" who is "out of touch with the...

Pope's Bro to Merkel: Chill Out
Pope's Bro to Merkel: Chill Out
Feb 4, 2009 1:13 PM CST

Pope's Bro to Merkel: Chill Out

Ratzinger says German leader's call for pontiff to clarify Holocaust stance is 'irrational'

(Newser) - The pope’s brother today criticized Angela Merkel for demanding that Benedict XVI restate his views on the Holocaust amid the controversy over a reinstated priest, the Times of London reports. “I always saw her as a rational woman,” Georg Ratzinger—himself a Catholic priest—said of the...

Vatican Gets Back in the Art Biz

Project aims to revive church's role as a sponsor of the arts

(Newser) - The Vatican was the world's biggest buyer of modern art in the days when modern art meant Michelangelo, but its influence on art has ebbed in recent centuries. The church now plans to put itself back in the forefront of the art world, Newsweek reports. A commission of critics and...

Environment, Bioethics Under Vatican's Scrutiny

Church updates Catholic morality for modern, globalized life

(Newser) - Catholics must guard against "new sins" such as polluting the environment and using genetic modification, the Vatican says. Their church has updated the concept of sin for the contemporary world, paying special attention to the expanding and morally murky world of bioethics, a top official from the Apostolic Penitentiary,...

Italy's Favorite Saint to Be Exhumed

Preservation procedure sparks controversy among some devotees

(Newser) - The body of Padre Pio, one of Italy’s most beloved saints, will be exhumed this year for a “checkup” and to be put on display for public veneration, the Guardian reports. "It is our duty to allow the generations that come after us the ability to venerate...

China Installs Bishop With Pope's Approval

After half a century, some movement in Beijing-Vatican standoff

(Newser) - Pope Benedict publicly approved the appointment of the new bishop installed today in Beijing, bringing some warmth to long-frozen relations between the Holy See and China’s government-controlled church, Reuters reports. In a critical test for future ties, Joseph Li Shan took over the highest-profile diocese in the atheist nation,...

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