Monthly Archives: April 2011
Plans for interfaith seminary shelved
By Tiffany McCallen — April 27, 2011
(RNS) When leaders of the nation’s oldest seminary and a Unitarian Universalist theological school began to dream of building a new partnership, they planned to create a futuristic model of religious higher education. But after more than a year of discussions, Andover Newton Theological School outside Boston and Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago have […]
Methodists give $50,000 for massacre memorial
By Tiffany McCallen — April 27, 2011
NEW YORK (RNS/ENInews) The United Methodist Church is making good on a pledge to support a learning center at the Western site of an 1864 massacre of Native Americans led by a Methodist minister. The UMC’s General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns announced a $50,000 donation to the National Park Service for developing […]
Toxic Chinese drywall taxes Katrina relief groups
By Tiffany McCallen — April 27, 2011
NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Relief organizations whose volunteers built or repaired hundreds of damaged houses after Hurricane Katrina have found they installed toxic Chinese drywall in more than 200 buildings, requiring hundreds of low-income families to move out for months while the houses are gutted anew and rebuilt. For many families, it’s a return to stress, […]
Myth, martyrdom and the American Civil War
By Tiffany McCallen — April 27, 2011
(RNS) “Are you a Yankee or a rebel?” That question, asked of me at recess by a ring of third- and fourth-grade boys on my first day of school in Fairfax, Va., was my introduction to the Civil War’s lasting imprint on modern America. “I’m from New Jersey,” I said, to many puzzled looks. “Well, […]
Wednesday’s Religion News Roundup
By Kevin Eckstrom — April 27, 2011
Evangelist Franklin Graham is backtracking on his Obama-birther nonsense, saying “I’ve never made this an issue, never have.” Until he did. The White House, meanwhile, released Obama’s “long form” Hawaiian birth certificate (left). Former Speaker Newt Gingrich headlined this morning’s National Catholic Prayer Breakfast (look for Dan Burke’s report later today), and explains his conversion […]
Of course atheist chaplains
By Mark Silk — April 27, 2011
I suspect it’s only a matter of time before there are atheist chaplains in the U.S. military, and a good thing too. The justification for chaplains in the first place is that serving in the military restricts your First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion. The government therefore has an obligation to make […]
Using our gadgets against us
By Tiffany McCallen — April 26, 2011
(RNS) So now we know that, behind the scenes and buried deep, clever technology is tracking our lives through the mobile devices we gush over and computers we depend on. Firms that we want to trust are tracking who we are, what we buy, what we search for, and where we go. They sell that […]
Former N.J. governor denied Episcopal ordination
By Tiffany McCallen — April 26, 2011
NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey-who famously announced he was “a gay American” when he resigned in 2004-will not be ordained into the Episcopal Church priesthood in the near future. McGreevey has completed a master of divinity degree and worked with prison inmates and drug-addicted teens, but was denied in his first […]
John Paul’s blood to be split between Italy, Poland
By Tiffany McCallen — April 26, 2011
VATICAN CITY (RNS) A small quantity of blood from the late Pope John Paul II will be exposed as a holy relic during his beatification on Sunday (May 1), the Vatican has announced. The blood was taken during a medical test shortly before John Paul’s death in April 2005, and later divided into four containers, […]
Miracles claimed from late pope’s intercession
By Tiffany McCallen — April 26, 2011
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Jesse was just 10 days old in November 2009 when he was diagnosed with Herpes simplex, a virus often lethal to a newborn child. Doctors at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. told his parents that he had no better than a 50 percent chance of surviving, and at most a […]
U.S., Canadian Anglicans await royal wedding festivities
By Tiffany McCallen — April 26, 2011
(RNS) An ocean away from the pomp and circumstance of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s nuptials on Friday, parishioners at Grace Anglican Church in Brantford, Ontario, will host their own royal festivities, complete with a free continental breakfast and traditional wedding bunting. “Lent (is) over, so it will be time for a party,” said the […]
Tuesday’s Religion News Roundup
By Daniel Burke — April 26, 2011
The White House “struck back” against Evangelist Franklin Graham, who repeated debunked birther claims and questioned President Obama’s faith on a Sunday talk show. Luke Skytalker, I mean, um, WH spokesman Jay Carney, said: “I think it’s unfortunate that a religious leader would choose Easter Sunday to make preposterous charges.” Just 17 percent of Egyptians […]
Spotlight on abortion activist makes some Catholics nervous
By Tiffany McCallen — April 26, 2011
WASHINGTON (RNS) Anti-abortion activist Lila Rose has shared the stage with Sarah Palin, seen her exploits extolled on Fox News and drawn comparisons to heroic Gentiles who sheltered Jews during the Holocaust. So why are some conservative Christians so uneasy about her work? The telegenic 22-year-old will address the seventh annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast […]
Haley, We Hardly Knew Ye
By Mark Silk — April 26, 2011
So why has Mississipi Governor Haley Barbour, Establishment Republican Supremo, decided to drop out of the GOP presidential sweepstakes? Here’s Dan Baltz’s explanation: His decision not to enter the contest, he said in a statement, grew out of his conclusion that he lacked the necessary fire in the belly. But friends of Barbour, speaking on […]
Bill would limit military funeral protests
By Tiffany McCallen — April 25, 2011
WASHINGTON (RNS) A bipartisan group of senators has introduced a bill that would make it harder for protesters from a fringe Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, to protest outside military funerals. The Sanctity of Eternal Rest for Veterans Act, introduced by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 8-1 decision […]
