Monthly Archives: August 2009
‘Builder’ bishop attempts to rebuild New Orleans archdiocese
By Tracy Gordon — August 24, 2009
NEW ORLEANS — When Bishop Gregory Aymond left his native New Orleans to become bishop of Austin, Texas, nine years ago, he was a relatively new bishop without experience at the head of a regional church. But, as Aymond frequently told Texas friends in a series of farewells in recent weeks, Austin taught him how […]
GUEST COMMENTARY: Overheated rhetoric is deadly serious
By Tracy Gordon — August 24, 2009
(UNDATED) If Harry Truman were alive today, he might be surprised to learn he was a Nazi — at least according to some overzealous contemporary political activists. Truman, of course, was president when Nazi Germany was soundly defeated by America and her allies. He was also a champion of universal health care. President Obama seems […]
Health Reform Works…for the GOP
By Mark Silk — August 24, 2009
Michael Steele’s “health bill of rights” for seniors is a transparent enough way to drum up opposition to Democratic health reform–including, of course, the right to hold on to that nifty government-run health care program called Medicare. But perhaps less obviouis is how well the GOP’s “just say no” approach has worked to bridge the […]
Inglourious critics
By Mark Silk — August 24, 2009
Back in harness after a splendid summer break, I will ease into serious business by considering the moral panic that has seized certain high-minded movie critics (e.g. the New Yorker‘s David Denby, the New York Times‘ Manohla Dargis, and Slate’s Dana Stevens) in their respective considerations of Inglourious Basterds. The burden of their distress lies […]
Doctors remove pope’s wrist cast
By Tracy Gordon — August 21, 2009
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Doctors removed a cast from Pope Benedict XVI’s right wrist on Friday (Aug. 21), five weeks after he fractured it during a fall. A Vatican press release said that an x-ray showed the fracture had healed, but that Benedict would recover full use of his wrist after completing “an adequate program of […]
Jews warn Catholic bishops on interfaith talks
By Tracy Gordon — August 21, 2009
WASHINGTON (RNS) Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jewish leaders warned the nation’s Catholic bishops that a June statement on whether Jews should convert to Christianity could make Jewish-Catholic dialogue “untenable.” In June, the bishops resurrected a 2002 statement on Jewish-Christian relations that they called “insufficiently precise and potentially misleading” about whether Christians should share the gospel […]
Ill. funding comes under church-state scrutiny
By Tracy Gordon — August 21, 2009
WASHINGTON (RNS) A prominent church-state watchdog group is questioning $40 million in state funds that it says could be improperly used by religious groups in Illinois. Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) is concerned that an infrastructure improvement bill would funnel taxpayer funds to 97 religious organizations, including the Archdiocese of Chicago […]
Muslims worry recession may impact Ramadan giving
By Tracy Gordon — August 21, 2009
(UNDATED) Yousef Abdallah’s annual Ramadan duties promise to be tougher than usual this year. The Islamic holy month starts Friday (Aug. 21) or Saturday (Aug. 22) night, depending on the sighting of the moon. Abdallah, a regional operations manager for Islamic Relief USA, one of the nation’s largest Islamic charities, and his staff are preparing […]
Today’s funerals: clergy or celebrant?
By Adelle M. Banks — August 21, 2009
Clergy once were staples at funerals but now, reports USA Today, they are sometimes replaced with secular “celebrants.” “What we’ve found in the past decade is that when you ask people whether they want a minister, people say, ‘Not interested,'” said William McQueen, president of Anderson-McQueen Funeral & Cremation Centers in the St. Petersburg, Fla., […]
Lutherans lift ban on gay clergy
By Tracy Gordon — August 21, 2009
(UNDATED) After a long and contentious debate, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted Friday (Aug. 21) to drop a ban on partnered gay clergy and committed to let people in same-sex relationships serve as leaders of the church. The ground-breaking decision is a dramatic change for the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination, which previously permitted […]
Lutherans approve full communion pact with Methodists
By Tracy Gordon — August 21, 2009
(UNDATED) Even as their churches are riven by internal debates over homosexuality, the nation’s two largest mainline Protestant denominations agreed Thursday (Aug. 20) to share ministers and resources in a “full communion” accord. The agreement, which was approved at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s biennial assembly in Minneapolis, connects the 4.6 million-member ELCA with […]
Lutherans approve sexuality statement by razor margin
By Tracy Gordon — August 21, 2009
(RNS) The nation’s largest Lutheran denomination approved a carefully balanced statement on human sexuality late Wednesday (Aug. 19) that progressives quickly welcomed as a possible step towards overturning a churchwide ban on non-celibate gay clergy later this week. By a vote of 676 to 338 — the exact two-thirds majority needed for passage — delegates […]
Okla. bishop will no longer face congregation at Mass
By Tracy Gordon — August 21, 2009
(RNS) Roman Catholic Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa, Okla., will no longer face his parishioners during Mass, in an effort to “recover a more authentic Catholic worship.” Since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960’s, Catholic Mass has been performed in the local language and with the priest facing the congregation. In a July 2007 […]
Obama seeks religious help in debunking health care `lies’
By Tracy Gordon — August 21, 2009
WASHINGTON — Facing incendiary charges that health care reform would finance abortion and euthanasia, President Obama on Wednesday (Aug. 19) appealed to religious groups to help sell the plan and debunk critics’ “false witness.” “I’m going to need the help of all of you,” Obama told a conference call and live webcast that attracted an […]
More guidlines for future priests
By Francis X. Rocca — August 20, 2009
The Vatican’s education office, which in recent years has issued controversial documents on the use of psychological testing in seminaries and the admission of students with “homosexual tendencies,” will soon have more to say on the formation of future priests. Archbishop Jean-Louis Bruguès, secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, says that a “brief, forceful […]
