Moral theologians, health care workers, and other Catholics continue to try to parse Pope Benedict XVI’s condom comments.
Conservatives are generally taking the nothing-new-to-see-here-move-along-folks line, while more progressive Catholics call the comments a “game changer” for the church.
“It’s a mess,” the president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center tells the AP’s Rachel Zoll. The Washington Post takes a look at how the Vatican’s arguments on contraception have shifted over time.
In other news from B16’s new book, the pope laments that the Vatican acted “slowly and late” in addressing sexual abuse and other scandals in the conservative Legionaries of Christ order.
In non-book news, the Vatican denounced China on Wednesday for ordaining a bishop without the pope’s consent, and a member of B16’s “papal family” died after she was hit by a car. Bad week for the pontiff, and it’s only Wednesday.
A UN committee again voted to condemn the “vilification” of religion, but support for the largely symbolic measure has waned, Reuters reports. About 250 Muslims staged a demonstration in Pakistan, warning the president not to pardon a Christian woman accused of blasphemy. Muslim militants in Pakistan should reap a cash bonanza from selling the skins of animals slaughtered on Eid al-Adha, the AP reports.
Organizers have canceled a Thanksgiving prayer service that was scheduled to take place today at the site of the planned Islamic center near Ground Zero. The event was to have included a Christian minister, rabbi, and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the public face behind the controversial project.
Utah’s Supreme Court said it won’t block the extradition of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs to Texas on bigamy and sexual assault charges. A Roman Catholic priest hired a hit man to kill a teen boy who accused him of sexual abuse, according to Texas authorities. A Catholic priest who called himself “Jerry from Philly” and sported a tuxedo in online marketing schemes had his computer seized by federal agents investigating financial fraud.
A British bishop has been suspended for calling Prince William and his new fiancee “shallow” and doubting that their marriage will last more than seven years. The Queen of England lectured English bishops about the need to spread the gospel.
