Monthly Archives: May 2008
Pastor turns pulpit over to wife to focus on Atlanta church
By RNS Blog Editor — May 29, 2008
NEW ORLEANS-Bishop Paul S. Morton, the leader of what’s probably the largest church in New Orleans, has turned over his pulpit to his wife so he can spend more time building a post-Katrina satellite branch in the Atlanta area.
Nun, 93, preaches the gospel behind razor-wire fences
By RNS Blog Editor — May 29, 2008
MUSKEGON, Mich.-Sister Elizabeth Barilla rolled in a wheelchair past inmates playing basketball and raking spacious prison grounds. A pleasant breeze blew across what looked like a small-college campus, except for prisoners’ blue togs and the sun glinting off razor wire at the Muskegon Correctional Facility. Barilla was impatient to arrive for her monthly 6:15 p.m. […]
Donald Cozzens
By RNS Blog Editor — May 29, 2008
During his recent trip to America, Pope Benedict XVI attended a youth rally at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y.-the same school where enrollment has dwindled to the point that no new prospective priests are enrolled next fall. As the U.S. church ordains its crop of some 400 new priests in the coming weeks, church […]
RNS Weekly Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 28, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service British clerk files suit over gay partnerships LONDON (RNS) A Christian government clerk in Britain has taken her town hall bosses to court for threatening to fire her because she refused to register civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples. Lillian Ladele, who earns more than $60,000 a year as […]
Monks top the charts
By Daniel Burke — May 28, 2008
Last week, while writing about a mini-renaissance of interest in Gregorian chant (find it here) I mentioned that Universal Music Group, the record company best known for acts like Eminem and Snoop Dogg, had signed Austrian monks from a Cistercian monastery to cut an album. The album “Chant-Music for Paradise,” released this May, has hit […]
Harry Potter and the Curse of the Frivolous Lawsuit
By Daniel Burke — May 28, 2008
Sure the boy wizard has escaped some perilous foes, but how will Potter fare against the likes of Dewey, Cheatam & Howe, or the dreaded ACLU? A former Missouri librarian, Deborah Smith, said she was suspended for 10 days without pay after she refused to work at a Harry Potter event that she claims violates […]
Field of Marital Dreams
By Mark Silk — May 28, 2008
If the new Field poll is on the money, not only is same-sex marriage a done deal in California, but anything looking like the national GOP of the past generation can pack up and head back east. The only religious bloc in solid opposition are evangelicals (those identifying themselves as born again). Other Protestants (by […]
Muslims try to balance culture, married life in U.S.
By Kevin Eckstrom — May 28, 2008
imam Mohamed Magid counsels married couples, including those with a problem he sees among Muslim Americans: husbands and wives who were virtual strangers before they wedded.
Some U.S. Muslims quietly practice polygamy
By Kevin Eckstrom — May 28, 2008
Although polygamy is illegal in the U.S. and most mosques try to discourage plural marriages, some Muslim men in America have quietly married multiple wives.
Kansas bishop answers questions on Sebelius
By Kevin Eckstrom — May 28, 2008
Archbishop of Kansas City, Kan., tries to answers some of the more common questions and misunderstandings regarding his pastoral action against Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Vatican opens up pagan cemetery under St. Peter’s
By Kevin Eckstrom — May 28, 2008
The Vatican has completed the restoration of the largest and most luxurious mausoleum in the vast necropolis under St. Peter’s Basilica.
Texas says FLDS families are flight risk
By Kevin Eckstrom — May 28, 2008
Lawyers for Texas Child Protective Services warned that adults from a polygamous sect might flee the state if the Texas Supreme Court forces the agency to return hundreds of children to their parents’ custody.
Survey: Clergy among the uninsured
By Adelle M. Banks — May 28, 2008
Many of the nation’s clergy are living without health insurance, a new survey of the 100-member board of the National Association of Evangelicals reveals. Most of those responding to the question “How do pastors and other church employees in your church, denomination or organization secure health insurance?” answered that they have no or little help […]
Catholic split
By Mark Silk — May 28, 2008
An AP review of polls shows Obama and McCain splitting the Catholic vote. So, it seems, no particular Catholic problem for the Illinois senator.
Existential blongst
By Mark Silk — May 28, 2008
Tomorrow at 5:30 Eastern Daylight Savings Time I’ll be talking about the campaign on a radio show called The Blog Bunker, which airs daily on Sirius Radio’s Indie Talk Channel 110. The Blog Bunker bills itself as a “cutting-edge roundtable featuring a selection of the over 100 million bloggers around the globe,” which makes me […]
