Roman Catholicism

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Notre Dame Sues Over Obama Birth Control Mandate

Nation's most prominent Roman Catholic school says it violates constitution

(Newser) - More trouble for the Obama administration's mandate requiring most employers to cover birth control: Now the University of Notre Dame is suing, the AP reports, claiming that the mandate violates religious freedom. Observers had been waiting to see what step Notre Dame would take as the US' most prominent...

Pope Greeted by Protesters Upon Arrival in Germany

Four-day visit is first state visit to his homeland

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI is back home for his first state visit to Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Christian Wulff, and Cabinet members met the pontiff upon his arrival at a Berlin airport today, the first of his four-day visit, as howitzers fired and fighter jets flew overhead. He is also...

One Episcopal Congregation Converting to Catholicism

St. Luke's Parish-Anglican will get new name, but keep married pastor

(Newser) - Parishioners of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Maryland arrived at services Sunday and got an unexpected sermon: Rev. Mark Lewis informed the congregation that he and other church leaders wanted the entire parish to convert to Catholicism. “We didn’t know for sure how people would react,”...

Pope Talks About Life Under Nazis

Benedict XVI calls it a 'dark time'

(Newser) - German-born Pope Benedict XVI rarely talks about when he was conscripted into the Hitler Youth as a teen. But yesterday, in an audience with a German Catholic group, Benedict made a rare mention of life under the Nazis, calling it a "dark time," reports the AP . "It...

Cardinal to Ricky Martin: Stop Promoting Homosexuality

He should 'set an example' for his children, cardinal says

(Newser) - Cardinal Luis Aponte Martinez of San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a fan of Ricky Martin's "artistic gifts," but he sure wishes the singer would stop promoting homosexuality. In an interview with Primera Hora published last week and picked up yesterday by On Top magazine and Perez Hilton , Martinez...

Pope Aide Skips UK Trip After '3rd World' Jab

Also said BA discriminates against those wearing crosses

(Newser) - A top aide to Pope Benedict is skipping tomorrow's trip to Britain after telling a German magazine that "when you land at Heathrow you think at times you have landed in a Third World country." As the BBC reports, German-born Cardinal Walter Kasper said the UK, where the...

Make Annulments Tougher: Pope
 Make Annulments 
 Tougher: Pope 

Make Annulments Tougher: Pope

Benedict thinks pessimism about lasting marriage is driving trend

(Newser) - Pope Benedict wants Catholic Church tribunals to make marriage annulments more difficult to get. “We run the risk of falling into an anthropological pessimism which, in the light of today's cultural situation, considers it almost impossible to marry,” he said today. Marriage is stronger than people think, he...

Vatican Demands Holocaust Denier Recant

(Newser) - The Vatican has demanded that Bishop Richard Williamson, a Holocaust denier who was recently un-excommunicated, recant his views in order to serve in the Catholic Church, the BBC reports. Williamson was excommunicated 20 years ago for a separate transgression. The Church said the pope was unaware of his contrarian stance...

Pope to Kids: Spurn 'Spiritual Desert'

Young should change lives of 'quiet despair,' Benedict pleads

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI called on young Christians to revive spirituality by rejecting modern society's greed and materialism, AP reports. At a mass of 350,000 young pilgrims in Sydney, and a global TV audience of millions, the pope called for "a new age in which hope liberates us from...

Divorced Berlusconi Challenges Communion Ban

He confronts startled bishop at mass

(Newser) - Beleaguered Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi caused a scene in a church over the weekend, loudly demanding from a startled bishop in the middle of mass: "When are you going to change this rule that stops me taking communion?" Berlusconi, like other divorced Catholics who remarry, is banned from...

US Clergy Tell Aussie Critic to Go Home

Bishop vows to keep slamming Vatican for sex abuse, celibacy

(Newser) - On orders from the Vatican, a dozen top US bishops have asked their Australian colleague to cancel his American book tour, the Los Angeles Times reports. But Geoffrey Robinson, former auxiliary bishop of Sydney, vows to keep on promoting Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church, which blames clergy...

25K Teens Rock at NY Pope Rally
25K Teens
Rock at NY
Pope Rally

25K Teens Rock at NY Pope Rally

Kelly Clarkson opens before Benedict XVI blesses followers

(Newser) - About 25,000 teens experienced Popemania today at a rocking rally in Yonkers, NY, the New York Daily News reports. After Kelly Clarkson belted out tunes, Benedict XVI emerged from a seminary meeting with disabled kids to receive gifts of bread and bless the crowd. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing,...

Pope Prays for Healing After Abuse Scandal

Reassures clergy of his "spiritual closeness" in NYC

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI spent the third anniversary of his election to the papacy trying to comfort clergy still weathering the fallout from the priest sex abuse scandal, the AP reports. “I simply wish to assure you of my spiritual closeness,” Benedict said. The pontiff, addressing 3,000 people...

Abuse Victims Find Some Peace With Pope

Tears and inspiration at long-sought meeting

(Newser) - Victims of sexual abuse yesterday exited a long-sought meeting with Pope Benedict XVI moved by his compassion and inspired by hope. "He apologized," one of them told CNN after the talk in a Washington chapel. "He seemed to intrinsically understand what we were talking about." Benedict...

Pope to Church: Pedophilia Was 'Badly Handled'

He urges bishops to 'foster healing' and work to improve trust

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI had strong words for America's Roman Catholic bishops today, asserting that the clerical sexual molestation scandal had been "very badly handled" in many cases, the AP reports. "It is your God-given responsibility as pastors to bind up the wounds caused by every breach of trust,...

Domino's Founder Grows His Catholic-Friendly Town

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...

America May See Soft Side of Hardline Pope

Pontiff known to blend dogma with compassion

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI is a known hardliner, but Americans may see his softer side during a 5-day US tour this week, the New York Times reports. During stops at the White House, United Nations, and various churches, Benedict will touch on abortion, divorce, war, and the priest sex-abuse scandals, but...

NY, DC Prep for Papal Visit
 NY, DC
  Prep for
 Papal Visit 

NY, DC Prep for Papal Visit

US teams ready churches, Yankee Stadium for holy trip

(Newser) - He may be the only man who can draw Mets fans to Yankee Stadium: Next week, Pope Benedict XVI will lead a stadium Mass on his 6-day tour of Washington, DC and New York. Before gracing second base, the Pontiff will celebrate his 81st birthday at the White House, and...

Jews Outraged at Vatican Prayer
Jews Outraged at Vatican Prayer

Jews Outraged at Vatican Prayer

Anger over call for Jewish conversion

(Newser) - An updated version of a centuries-old Good Friday prayer has opened a rift between Roman Catholics and Jews. When Pope Benedict XVI reinstated the Latin mass, the Vatican promised to rewrite a controversial prayer calling for the conversion of Jews. But the new, merely toned-down version has infuriated Jewish leaders...

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