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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Catholic Church

Catholic Church stories: 185 news summaries

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DC, Catholic Church
in Gay Rights Standoff

Church to pull plug on social programs if marriage bill passes

Nov 12, 09 3:04 AM CST
(Newser) - The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has told the District of Columbia it will tear up its social service contracts to help the city's needy if it passes a proposed same-sex marriage bill next month. The bill wouldn't require the church to perform or provide space for gay marriages, but would... More »

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gay rights • gay marriage • Catholic Church • Washington DC • social services • District of Columbia • archdiocese

 ET, Phone Rome: 
 Vatican Holds 
 Alien Conference 

Astrobiology experts ponder big picture

Nov 11, 09 2:35 AM CST
(Newser) - Does intelligent life exist elsewhere in the universe and if so, is it Christian? Those and other weighty questions are up for discussion this week at a Vatican conference on astrobiology. Religious leaders and a range of scientists—including some non-Catholics—have been called in to discuss the possibility of... More »

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astronomy • Catholic Church • Vatican • extraterrestrial life • aliens • Catholicism • outer space • theology

 Anglican Deal May Lead 
 to Married Priests 

Vatican's gesture
cracks door to
ending celibacy

Oct 22, 09 4:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Vatican's attempts to heal the centuries-old rift with the Anglican Church may have a consequence nobody intended: an end to celibacy for priests. By offering a new Anglican rite under the umbrella of Catholicism, Pope Benedict XVI has invited married Anglican clergy into the fold—and cracked open... More »

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Pope Benedict XVI • Catholic Church • Anglican Church • Vatican • Orthodox Christianity • priest • Catholic priest

 Catholic Church Welcomes 
 Disgruntled Anglicans 

Extends a hand to those unhappy with gay bishops, ordained women

Oct 20, 09 8:42 AM CDT
(AP) - Pope Benedict XVI has created a new church structure for Anglicans who want to join the Catholic Church, responding to the disillusionment of some Anglicans over the ordination of women and the election of openly gay bishops. The new provision will allow Anglicans to join the Catholic Church while maintaining... More »

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gay rights • Pope Benedict XVI • gay marriage • Catholic Church • Anglican Church • interfaith dialogue • orthodoxy • Roman Catholic Church

 Pope Canonizes Father Damien 

Belgian missionary, four others elevated to sainthood

Oct 11, 09 2:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - Father Damien, the Belgian missionary who ministered to leprosy victims on the Hawaiian island of Molokai before contracting and dying of the disease, was canonized today. The 19th-century priest, the founder of the Little Sisters of the Poor, and three others were elevated to sainthood in a ceremony that drew... More »

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Pope Benedict XVI • Catholic Church • religion • saint • Hawaii • missionary • sainthood • Roman Catholic Church • leprosy • Father Damien • canonization • Molokai • Hansen's disease

Vatican Slams Sex Abuse in Other Religions

Pedophilia statement charges that most abusers are gay

Sep 29, 09 5:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Vatican hit out at critics of its handling of the church's sexual abuse crisis yesterday, maintaining that most of its abusive clergymen were gay men and not pedophiles. The Holy See's UN representative cited "available research" that only 5% or less of its clergy were involved in... More »

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Catholic Church • Vatican • sexual abuse • homosexuality • clergy abuse scandal • priest sex abuse • homosexual clergy • pedophilia • gay men

Uruguay Legalizes
Gay Adoption

First Latin American nation to let same-sex couples adopt

Sep 10, 09 1:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Uruguay's senate has approved the first law in Latin America allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children, AFP reports. The bill, backed by leftist President Tabare Vazquez, passed despite fierce objections from the Catholic church and right-wing politicians. Uruguay, traditionally much more liberal than other countries in the region,... More »

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gay rights • Latin America • adoption • Catholic Church • lesbians • Uruguay • gays • gay parent

Flu-Fearing Churches Ban Peace Handshakes

'Sign of peace,' prayer hand holding barred amid swine flu warnings

Sep 8, 09 2:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Churches nationwide are bracing for cases of swine flu, with one in Cincinnati banning peace handshakes during Mass, the Enquirer reports. The Catholic church passed out a flier telling parishioners not to shake with their neighbors during the “sign of peace” or clasp hands during the “Our Father”... More »

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Catholic Church • Catholicism • Cincinnati • Roman Catholic Church • swine flu • H1N1 virus • handshake

 Catholic Bishops 
 Slam Obamacare 

Fears of abortion funding clash with social service concerns

Aug 28, 09 3:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - After decades lobbying for better health care for the poor, a growing number of Catholic bishops have become an unexpected voice of opposition against President Obama's health care plan, the New York Times reports. "No health care reform is better than the wrong sort of health care reform,"... More »

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abortion • Catholic Church • health care reform • President Obama

OPINION

 US Nuns Dodge 
 Specter of Sex Abuse 


Aug 17, 09 9:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - Last week the largest group of American nuns held its annual meeting, and once again they refused to let survivors of sexual abuse in Catholic schools attend. When even the bishops have acknowledged the depth and seriousness of abuse within the Church, it's strange for the nuns to bury their... More »

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Catholic Church • sexual abuse • nuns • abuse • clergy abuse scandal • Catholic

analysis



 Why Gingrich 
 Became Catholic 


Aug 16, 09 5:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Newt Gingrich shrugged off religious issues while in office, and was recently seen reading a novel before Mass—so why his sudden conversion to Catholicism? Some analysts say he converted this spring to position himself for the Republican nomination in 2012. Joining other high-profile conservatives on the road to Rome,... More »

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Newt Gingrich • Catholic Church • conservative • convert • Catholic • conversion • Election 2012

(Newser) - The hallelujahs are strained in US churches these days as donations plunge at the same time demand for aid is skyrocketing, reports the Wall Street Journal. Congregations across the nation are slashing budgets and even laying off staff, including pastors. Churches and synagogues usually weather downturns well, but not... More »

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Catholic Church • Jews • religion • church • fundamentalism • Protestants • worshippers • donation • priest • synagogue • evangelicals • Baptists • pastor • baptism • temple • Catholic priest • women's issues • congregations • collection box • born again

(Newser) - Italy has legalized the abortion drug RU-486, drawing the ire of the Vatican, which threatened to excommunicate doctors who prescribe the medication and women who take it. A church official said using the pill is "a sin in a moral and juridical sense," but a politician who is... More »

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abortion • Pope Benedict XVI • Catholic Church • Italy • Vatican • morning after pill • mifepristone • abortion pill • Roman Catholic Church • abortion pills • RU-486

OPINION

Pope Has
Best Take on Financial Crisis

Goldman exec touts Benedict's 6-point plan for global economy

Jul 13, 09 10:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - All of Pope Benedict XVI's gaffes and controversies have obscured his principal appeal, writes Brian Griffiths in the Times of London: he's a scholar, with an uncommon command of theology and philosophy. For Griffiths, a vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs, the pope's recent encyclical on the economy is "without... More »

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ethics • Pope Benedict XVI • Catholic Church • Goldman Sachs • capitalism • Catholicism • encyclical • free markets • financial crisis

(Newser) - President Obama told Pope Benedict XVI yesterday that he would make every effort to reduce the number of abortions in the US, according to a Vatican spokesman. Bioethics and life issues were the focus of the men's 40-minute talk yesterday. The pontiff gave the president a booklet explaining the church's... More »

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stem cell research • Barack Obama • abortion • Pope Benedict XVI • Catholic Church • abortion rights • Vatican • bioethics • President Obama

Vatican Steps Up Scrutiny
of American Nuns

Nuns fear church heirarchy is seeking to return them to strictly traditional ways

Jul 2, 09 1:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Vatican has launched two major probes into the lives of America's 60,000 nuns, the New York Times reports. Many nuns have stopped wearing habits, moved out of convents, and found work in academia or political advocacy in the last few decades, and some fear the investigations are part... More »

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Catholic Church • Vatican • nuns • Catholic

'Father Oprah,' Fiancée Set Wedding Date

Former Catholic cleric plans Episcopalian nuptials

Jun 12, 09 3:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - The onetime Catholic priest whose cavorting with his then-girlfriend led to his departure from the church is headed for the altar—as the groom. The Rev. Alberto Cutié, aka the "kissing priest," and his girlfriend of 2 years plan to wed this month in the Episcopal church,... More »

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Catholic Church • Episcopal Church • Miami • God • Episcopalian • scandal • Roman Catholic Church • Catholic priest • Alberto Cutié • celibacy • Ruhama Buni Canellis

Confession Isn't Therapy, Church Warns

Priests told to get tough on sinners instead of providing counseling sessions

Jun 4, 09 4:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Vatican plans a campaign to remind priests that the confessional isn't a psychiatrist's couch, the Guardian reports. A handbook will be issued to emphasize that sinners are in confession to be given penance, not counseling sessions. The number of Catholics going to confession has slumped in recent years and... More »

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Catholic Church • Vatican • Catholicism • Catholic • confession

'Church Is About Forgiveness': Kissing Priest

'Father Oprah' gives first Episcopal sermon to standing ovation

May 31, 09 2:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - His Catholic parish was scandalized when photos surfaced of the Rev. Alberto Cutié cavorting on the beach with a 35-year-old divorceé, but his new Episcopalian flock greeted his first sermon this morning with a standing ovation, reports the Miami Herald. From the altar of Miami’s Episcopal Church of... More »

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Catholic Church • Episcopal Church • Miami • God • scandal • Alberto Cutié • celibacy

(Newser) - The first pizza shop in Domino’s founder Thomas Monaghan’s Catholic university town of Ave Maria, Fla., will not be a Domino’s, the Fort Myers News-Press reports. Domino’s says the town is covered by another franchise’s delivery radius, and Ave Maria will get a Milano’s... More »

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Florida • Catholic Church • Domino's Pizza • Ave Maria • Catholicism • pizza • Thomas Monaghan • Milano's Pizza

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