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NEWS ABOUT: Catholicism

Benedict the Right Pope for Right Now: Noonan

Internet pontiff succeeds TV phenomenon

(Newser) - John Paul II was an incredible Pope, but Benedict might be just what the world needs today, writes Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal. Benedict, who "lacks an immediately accessible flair," succeeded a telegenic "showman" who brought joy to the faithful. "John Paul made you... More »

7 Deadly Sins? Try These On for Size

PJ O'Rourke disagrees with Vatican, comes up with his own no-nos

(Newser) - The Vatican has released a list of seven new Deadly Sins, and satirist-curmudgeon PJ O’Rourke isn’t impressed. Writing in the Weekly Standard, O’Rourke details the updated catalogue, which includes “morally debatable experimentation,” “social inequality and injustice,” and “genetic manipulation.” Finding it... More »

Muslims Outnumber Catholics: Vatican

Islam is world's biggest religion with 1.3B members

(Newser) - Islam has topped Roman Catholicism as the world's biggest religion for the first time, the Vatican said today. About 1.1 billion people are still Catholic, but Muslims have pulled ahead with 1.3 billion members. “For the first time in history we are no longer at the top:... More »

Prominent Italian Muslim Baptized by Pope

Convert Takes Big Step at Vatican During Easter Vigil

(Newser) - Italy's best-known commentator on Islam converted to Catholicism yesterday at the Vatican, during Easter vigil, and was baptized by the Pope himself, the AP reports. Though Magdi Allam was born a Muslim, he said he "never" practiced his native religion, and made his name criticizing Islamic fanaticism, receiving death... More »

Teens' Public Orgies Rattle Chilean Mores

Sexcapades reflect consumer-driven, apolitical youth culture

(Newser) - Can 100 teenagers performing oral sex on one another in a public park not be a political statement? That's one of the questions the sight of horny, apolitical, bisexual Chilean teenagers are prompting among their appalled, mostly Catholic compatriots, Newsweek reports from a country still haunted by General Pinochet's repressive... More »

Pope Pushing for Church in Saudi Arabia

Islam's holy ground could be ready to open up

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI is lobbying Saudi Arabia to let a Catholic church on its soil, Time reports. The Vatican confirms that it's discussing forging diplomatic relations with the Saudis, but a house of worship would be a major coup in a country where all religions besides Sunni Islam are banned. More »

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,... More »

Evangelicals Turn Back to Ritual

Some adopt previously shunned confession, communion, Lent

(Newser) - Evangelical Christians are increasingly turning to long-shunned traditions as a means of practicing their faith, reports the Washington Post. In a trend some call “worship renewal,” some are reviving Catholic customs such as fasting for Lent, going to confession, and weekly communion. “Evangelicalism is coming to point... More »

Pope Fans Rush for Tour Tickets

Demand is high ahead of Benedict's US visit in April

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI will be making his first visit to the US in April, and tickets for two super masses are in high demand, USA Today reports. Ticket requests for the masses at Yankee Stadium and Washington's National Park stadium are already more than double the number of seats available.... More »

Critics Blast Sarkozy's Holocaust School Plan

Prez wants each 5th grader to study a victim

(Newser) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked a new controversy: The maverick leader is  now defending his plan to have every fifth grader study a French youth killed in the Holocaust. Critics, including Jewish analysts, warn the move could traumatize students. But one historian applauded Sarkozy's "courage" and said what... More »

Benedict Plans to Meet With Muslim Leaders

'Historic' spring summit seeks to mend rift after 2006 controversy

(Newser) - Catholic and Muslim leaders plan a "historic" meeting at the Vatican this spring, reports the AP, a year and a half after Pope Benedict's controversial comments about the Prophet Muhammad. Benedict proposed the meeting in response to an open letter from 138 Muslim scholars that urged interfaith dialogue based... More »

Catholics Now No. 1 in Britain

Anglicans second to Catholicism for first time in 400 years

(Newser) - For the first time in 400 years, Catholicism has more adherents than the Church of England in Great Britain, the Sunday Telegraph reports. Immigrants from Eastern Europe and Africa have filled the pews of Catholic churches, while attendance at Anglican Sunday services has dipped 20% since 2000, according to a... More »

Mitt: 'Freedom Requires Religion'

Romney stands by Mormon faith in long-awaited address

(Newser) - In a much-hyped address on religion, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney asserted today, “Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone." The former Massachusetts governor focused on religious liberty during the speech in College Station, Texas, but did allow that if Mormonism hurts his candidacy, “so be... More »

Faith Doesn't Play in British Politics

Blair complains that any UK pol who cites God is considered 'a nutter'

(Newser) - Soon-to-be-Catholic Tony Blair has confessed that faith was "hugely important"  in decisions he made as Britain's prime minister, and he wished he could, like President Bush, have been open about it at the time. But Britons are suspicious of religion, Blair said in a TV interview reported in... More »

Pull Over, Father

Irish clergy oppose new drunk driving standard, fearing it would rule out communion

(Newser) - Irish priests are carping about a government proposal to lower the legal blood alcohol limit for drivers from .08 to .05, fearing that communion wine may make them legally drunk. “I don't like to use the word wine, as it is Christ's blood,” says one priest, “but... More »

Muslim Scholars to Pope: It's the Same God

Letter calls for peace, understanding between Christianity and Islam

(Newser) - Christianity and Islam are more alike than they are different, Muslim scholars say in a letter to Pope Benedict XVI. Quoting passages from the Bible and Koran, the letter shows links between the faiths, and calls for peace. If enough people heed the statement, one scholar says, “the atmosphere... More »

6 Ark. Nuns Excommunicated

Members of 'Army of Mary' cast out

(Newser) - Six Arkansas nuns have been booted from the Catholic Church for refusing to renounce the Army of Mary, a sect the Vatican deems heretical for its founder’s claim to be the reincarnation of the virgin. “We know we are doing the right thing,” said an 82-year-old nun.... More »

Pope Blasts Wasted Weekends

Sundays are time to reflect on dangers posed by humanity, he says

(Newser) - Pope Benedict has urged Catholics to  keep Sunday special amid the  "mad rush" of the modern world. He encouraged people to set the day aside for reflection on faith and the dangers humans pose to the world, including destruction of "God's creation," an apparent reference to environmental... More »

100 Years of Anti-Modernism

Pius X's 1907 'Pascendi' slammed 'modernists' in the Catholic Church

(Newser) - Pope Pius X's encyclical "Pascendi Dominici Gregis" turns 100 years old next week. The  document decried so-called "modernists" in the Church who looked to new discoveries and theories about human experience and desire to explain religious belief. The ensuing purge of Catholic thinkers did not relent until Paul... More »

France Bids Adieu to Archbishop

Notre-Dame holds Catholic-Jewish funeral ceremony for former church leader

(Newser) - Catholic and Jewish prayers rang out at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris today during the funeral of the former archbishop of Paris, Jean-Marie Lustiger, who died Sunday at 80. A convert from Judaism whose mother died at Auschwitz, he was known for his tireless work to bridge his two faiths, and... More »

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