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800-Year-Old Relic Stolen From California Church

Relic of St. Anthony, patron saint of missing objects, is missing

(Newser) - Calling Saint Anthony of Padua: A relic of the patron saint of missing objects and lost causes has gone missing from a Catholic church in California. The relic was stolen from a cabinet in the church in Long Beach, where it had been on display to mark the 780th anniversary...

Surfing Madonna Makes Waves in California

Is it inspirational or sacrilegious?

(Newser) - A mystery mosaic of a surfing Madonna is roiling the waters in suburban San Diego. Most love the sporty beach gal while city officials worry about those who find the vivid "vandalism" offensive. The 10-foot-square stained-glass mosaic with the message "Save the Ocean" appeared overnight on a wall...

Church Keeps Catholics Off British Throne

Anglican leader must not be subordinate to pope: Church of England

(Newser) - Royals are free to marry atheists, agnostics, Jews, and Muslims—but don’t expect a Catholic wedding anytime soon. The British government recently attempted to end a policy, in place for centuries, that bars marriages between royals and Catholics ... but the Church of England blocked the move, the Telegraph reports....

Faithful Crucify Themselves in Philippines

At least 24 nailed to crosses

(Newser) - At least 24 Filipinos celebrated Good Friday in an incredibly painful fashion today, by voluntarily having people dressed as Roman soldiers drive four-inch stainless-steal nails through their palms, and then hoist them into the midday sun. Such ritual crucifixions are a tradition in the country, and the largest of them...

Protesters Smash &#39;Piss Christ&#39;
 Protesters Smash 'Piss Christ' 

Protesters Smash 'Piss Christ'

Catholic activists hit it with a hammer in Avignon museum

(Newser) - A pair of extreme Catholic protesters celebrated Palm Sunday this weekend by bursting into the Museum of Contemporary Art in Avignon, France, and smashing Andres Serrano’s (in)famous photograph “Immersion Piss Christ,” and some other works of art they objected to, with hammers. According to a French report...

Diplomat Accused of Preaching Too Much Resigns

State dept. said Douglas Kmiec spent too much time touting Catholic beliefs

(Newser) - The Obama administration’s ambassador to Malta has resigned following a State Department report that blasted him for spending too much time speaking and writing about his Catholic beliefs—to the detriment of his actual work, Politico reports. In a resignation letter sent to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the...

Most Catholic Women Use Birth Control

98% of sexually active Catholics use or used contraceptives

(Newser) - The Catholic Church officially bans birth control—and that ban and a dollar will buy you a condom out of a vending machine. It turns out that a whopping 98% of sexually active Catholic women use or have used birth control, according to a new study from the Guttmacher reproductive...

Better Plan Ahead if You Want Last Rites

Shortage of Catholic priests makes last-minute requests tough

(Newser) - There's a shortage of Catholic priests these days, and that means that dying Catholics need to plan ahead if they want to get last rites. "Try to anticipate. Look at your last days instead of your last hour," one hospice minister tells USA Today , adding that sometimes it...

Condom on Phallic Statue Gets Rise Out of Poles

Huge phallus covered with plastic to honor founder of latex condoms

(Newser) - Safe sex supporters have topped an ancient phallic statue in Poland with a kind of giant condom—and Catholic townies are not amused. The stunt was pulled to commemorate the birth of latex condom inventor Julius Fromm, notes Der Spiegel . The condom was crafted out of a large plastic bag...

Vatican: You Cannot Confess by iPhone

Penance requires a 'personal dialogue between penitents, their confessor'

(Newser) - So much for instant absolution: The Vatican today emphatically stressed that Catholics cannot confess by iPhone , one day after news of the "Confession: A Roman Catholic App" emerged, reports the AFP . "It is essential to understand that the rites of penance require a personal dialogue between penitents and...

Sinning Catholic? There's an App for That

...but you still have to go to a priest if you want absolution

(Newser) - Have something you need to confess? There’s an app for that. "Confession: A Roman Catholic App" has actually been sanctioned by the Catholic Church in the US, Reuters reports. The app will walk you through the process as well as offer you a “personalized examination of conscience,...

Pope Razzes China in Christmas Message

Tells Catholics in the country to persevere

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI urged loyal Catholics in China and Iraq to have courage in the face of persecution and limits on their religious freedom, as the largest number of pilgrims in a decade flocked to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem. Benedict's traditional holiday speech highlighted the tensions between Beijing and the...

Catholic Church Seeks Exorcists
 Catholic Church 
 Seeks Exorcists 
Tough Job, But...

Catholic Church Seeks Exorcists

Clergy attend weekend training session in Baltimore

(Newser) - Do you have a knack for battling Satan? The Catholic Church may have just the job for you. With just five or six of US priests capable of performing an exorcism and demand for exorcisms rising as Catholics who hail from countries where the rite doesn't evoke head-spinning immigrate to...

Wedding Announcement Costs Lesbian Her Job

University says Laine Tadlock resigned; she says she was pushed out

(Newser) - Laine Tadlock lost her job at a Catholic university—not because she’s gay, not because she married a woman, but because she published a wedding announcement. Tadlock says Illinois’ Benedictine University knew about her sexual orientation when she was hired, and that the university also knew about her trip...

Berlusconi Is Sick: Catholic Media

Italian PM accused of intervening in teen girl's theft case

(Newser) - A major Catholic magazine in Italy has blasted Silvio Berlusconi for having what it calls “a disease, something uncontrollable” when it comes to women, the Daily Telegraph reports. The latest accusation in the PM’s never-dull love life: That he stepped in and helped get an underage girl out...

Israel Slams Catholic Call to End Occupation of Palestine

Calls archbishop's comments 'libel'

(Newser) - Israel blasted a statement by Catholic bishops made during a conference in Rome that called for “an end to the occupation” of Palestinian territories. “We express our disappointment that this important synod has become a forum for political attacks on Israel in the best history of Arab propaganda,...

Bomb Threat Clears Lourdes
 Bomb Threat Clears Lourdes 

Bomb Threat Clears Lourdes

Hoax strikes on Feast of the Assumption

(Newser) - Some 30,000 Catholic pilgrims, many of them disabled or ailing, had to flee the Lourdes pilgrimage site in France yesterday because of a bomb scare on the Feast of the Assumption, one of the site's busiest days of the year. A phone call to police warning that four bombs...

'Bloody Sunday' Report Blames British Soldiers

PM David Cameron apologizes to Irish victims of 1972

(Newser) - Relatives of 13 Irish demonstrators shot to death by British troops on Northern Ireland 's Bloody Sunday cried tears of joy today as an epic fact-finding probe ruled that their loved ones were innocent and the soldiers entirely to blame for the 1972 slaughter. The investigation took 12 years and...

Iceland Legalizes Gay Marriage
 Iceland Legalizes Gay Marriage 

Iceland Legalizes Gay Marriage

Parliament unanimously approves redefinition of marriage

(Newser) - With little fanfare, Iceland's parliament unanimously passed a resolution legalizing gay marriage today, Reuters reports . The Althingi voted 49-0 to add mention of unions between "man and man" and "woman and woman" to the legal definition of marriage. Iceland's tolerance for homosexuality is well known—PM Johanna Sigurdardottir...

Add Kagan, and High Court Won't Have Any Protestants

Court rarely reflects country's faith mix well

(Newser) - If Elena Kagan is confirmed, the Supreme Court will have six Catholics, three Jews, and, for the first time in history, not a single Protestant. That might not seem as important as it used to, but Ed Kilgore of FiveThirtyEight decided to take a quick look at the court's historic...

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