Monthly Archives: August 2009
The majority speaks
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 28, 2009
This just in, from the Dept. of Things We’ve Been Waiting to Hear (But Haven’t) for Months … You all remember the dust-up in May over President Obama’s honorary degree from Notre Dame. Some 75 or 80 U.S. bishops publicly blasted Notre Dame for the honor, saying a pro-choice president has no business get a […]
Penitent premier?
By Francis X. Rocca — August 28, 2009
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will join a religious procession this evening that the Vatican has decreed will earn participants remission of punishment for their sins. The announcement has aroused speculation that Berlusconi is seeking forgiveness for his alleged sexual misdeeds, which have been the cause of much scandal — and amusement — over recent […]
ESSAY: For many Americans, being Catholic means being Irish Catholic
By Tracy Gordon — August 28, 2009
(UNDATED) The patron saint of Ireland graces America’s most celebrated cathedral, and the country’s flagship Catholic university calls its student athletes the “Fighting Irish.” Somewhere between these poles of piety and pugnacity, between St. Patrick and the University of Notre Dame, rests the soul of Irish Catholicism — and, by extension, the soul of the […]
Bishops v. health reform
By Mark Silk — August 28, 2009
David Kirkpatrick has a good piece in today’s NYT outlining opposition to health reform on the Catholic right generally, and in particular among some bishops in the Chaput wing of the church. Exhibit one is a diocesan letter from Sioux City Bishop Walker Nikless, who served as Archbishop Chaput’s vicar general in Denver. Nikless begins, […]
The shadow of Chapaquiddick
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 28, 2009
After hearing about Sen. Ted Kennedy’s death yesterday, I tweaked my Facebook status update to say something along these lines: “Imagining the conversation JFK, RFK and EMK are having right now …” I decided not to include the second part: “wherever it is that Kennedys go when they die.” An old friend from high school […]
Norwegian elected to lead World Council of Churches
By Tracy Gordon — August 28, 2009
GENEVA (RNS/ENI) A Norwegian theologian was elected Thursday (Aug. 27) to lead the World Council of Churches. The Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, an ordained pastor in the Church of Norway, was elected general secretary during a week-long meeting of the WCC’s Central Committee, its main governing body. Tveit, 48, is currently general secretary of the […]
WCC head calls Israeli occupation a ‘sin against God’
By Tracy Gordon — August 27, 2009
GENEVA (RNS/ENI) The outgoing general secretary of the World Council of Churches said Wednesday (Aug. 26) that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories should be declared a “sin against God.” “Occupation, along with the concomitant humiliation of a whole people for over six decades, constitutes not just economic and political crimes but, like anti-Semitism, it is […]
Judge rules against Ky. reliance on God for protection
By Tracy Gordon — August 27, 2009
WASHINGTON (RNS) A Kentucky court has ruled that a state law that declares the state Office of Homeland Security cannot do its job without God’s help is unconstitutional. The New Jersey-based group American Atheists filed suit last December against the Commonwealth of Kentucky for a 2002 law that says “the safety and security of the […]
Thou shalt not buy cars on Sundays
By Tracy Gordon — August 27, 2009
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — When locals leave church on Sunday mornings, some will head for Sunday brunch at their favorite restaurant. Others will eat at home, stop by the pharmacy or even hit the mall. But one thing they won’t do is buy a car. A 56-year-old Michigan blue law forbids Sunday car sales in […]
COMMENTARY: Atoning for the sins of others
By Tracy Gordon — August 27, 2009
(UNDATED) Many companies shut down for an annual inventory and an honest evaluation of past performance. The idea is to detect, correct and avoid future errors. It’s the same theme of the upcoming Jewish High Holy Days: Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year that begins on Sept. 18, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, […]
Another Palin no-show
By Mark Silk — August 27, 2009
If she’ll back out of an anti-abortion event in Anchorage, what won’t she back out of? Why would anyone ever invite her to anything?
700 Club hearts DuBois
By Mark Silk — August 27, 2009
It’s hard to imagine anything puffier than David Brody’s profile of White House Faith Czar Joshua DuBois, right through to the kicker: So while DuBois plugs away for the commander-in-chief at his dream job, his parents back in Nashville say a familiar prayer. DuBois’s mom said, “From the time Joshua was born I prayed for […]
Study, pray and ski?
By Adelle M. Banks — August 27, 2009
Come Saturday, not only can Liberty University students study and pray, they also can ski year-round. “We want to give prospective students as many reasons as possible to choose LU over secular institutions,” says a page of FAQs about the ski slope that will open this weekend featuring Snowflex, a synthetic material that simulates the […]
Shuttle mission to include missionary history
By Tracy Gordon — August 27, 2009
WASHINGTON (RNS) When the space shuttle Discovery next takes flight, perhaps later this week, it will carry a piece of missionary history with it into outer space. On board Discovery will be a piece of the plane used by members of Missionary Aviation Fellowship, who were killed more than half a century ago in Ecuador […]
Poll: Six in 10 U.S. Catholics ambivalent about Latin Mass
By Tracy Gordon — August 26, 2009
(RNS) Two years after Pope Benedict XVI eased restrictions on celebrating the Latin Mass, more than six in 10 American Catholics have no opinion on the return of the traditional liturgy, according to a new survey. In 2007, Benedict told priests to work with local parishioners when there is a “stable group” interested in the […]
