Monthly Archives: December 2012
As bells toll, clergy push Congress on gun control
By Adelle M. Banks — December 21, 2012
WASHINGTON (RNS) As bells tolled across the country on Friday (Dec. 21) in memory of lives lost in Newtown, Conn., religious leaders gathered outside the Washington National Cathedral to push congregants and Congress to prevent further gun violence. By Adelle M. Banks.
Pope Paul VI inches one step closer to sainthood
By Alessandro Speciale — December 21, 2012
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Paul VI, who guided the Catholic Church through a tumultuous period of change in the 1960s and 70s, took a crucial first step toward possible sainthood when Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday (Dec. 20) recognized his predecessor's "heroic virtues." By Alessandro Speciale.
GetGetReligion: Just call them Nones
By Mark Silk — December 21, 2012
Pew prefers to call them the "unaffiliated," though in its report on the group back in October it overcame its misgivings and went ahead (sometimes with scare quotes) and periodically called them by what has become the preferred sociological term: Nones.
Friday’s Religion News Roundup: Doomsday dud * B16 v. Bieber * Bells for Newtown
By Kevin Eckstrom — December 21, 2012
It wasn't the end of the world as we know it. B16 and The Biebs are in a Twitter throw-down. And should church bells toll for the Newtown shooter? All in today's Religion News Roundup.
I pray for the apocalypse
By Omid Safi — December 21, 2012
I pray for the apocalypse, today. Here is one of the original meanings of Apocalypse: Old English, via Old French and ecclesiastical Latin from Greek apokalupsis, from apokaluptein ‘uncover, reveal’, from apo- ‘un-‘ + kaluptein ‘to cover’. So yes, I pray for the apocalypse. I pray for the uncovering of falsehood. I pray for the discovery […]
Secularists see ‘HumanLight’ as new December holiday
By Kimberly Winston — December 20, 2012
(RNS) In addition to Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, secular humanists have added a new celebration to the crowded calendar. HumanLight, observed on Dec. 23, is a secular celebration of human potential that is growing in acceptance. By Kimberly Winston.
New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan
By Ron Ribiat — December 20, 2012
“Like Jesus, Annie laid down her life for her friends. Like Jesus, Annie’s life and death brings light, truth, goodness and love to a world often shrouded in darkness, evil, selfishness and death.” — New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, speaking at the funeral of Anne Marie Murphy, a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, […]
From nuns to ‘nones,’ 10 ways religion shaped the news in 2012
By Kevin Eckstrom — December 20, 2012
WASHINGTON (RNS) From the nuns to the nones, religion dominated the headlines throughout 2012. Questions of religious faith took center stage in the presidential race, and deep questions of morality and ethics played out in budget debates, mass killings and an unexpected focus on "religious freedom." Here are 10 ways religion played out in the news in 2012. By Kevin Eckstrom.
Mayans unfazed about the end of the world
By David Agren — December 20, 2012
(RNS) Folks seeking spiritual experiences are pouring into the Yucatan Peninsula for the end of the centuries-long Mayan calendar that some believe predicted the end of the world Friday. The Mayan people here appear to be bemused. By David Agren / USA Today.
Jindal teaches the Catholic Church a lesson
By Mark Silk — December 20, 2012
Bobby Jindal, the conservative Catholic governor of Louisiana, attracted some attention last week for a Wall Street Journal op-ed in which he advocated making oral contraceptives available over the counter without a prescription. And for his pains, he received a slap on the wrist from his local archdiocese. Jindal made his case on libertarian and partisan grounds: […]
Vatican newspaper compares marriage equality to communism
By Alessandro Speciale — December 20, 2012
(RNS) Faced with recent setbacks in the United States and in Europe, the Catholic Church has intensified its increasingly uphill battle against gay marriage, and embraced a theory that compares marriage equality to communism. By Alessandro Speciale.
Thursday Religion News Roundup: Clergy and guns* Massacre of the Innocents* Fruitcakes
By Yonat Shimron — December 20, 2012
Christian, Jewish and Muslim clergy will launch campaign for gun control legislation on Friday in Washington. "The Massacre of the Innocents" has become a trendy phrase. Trappist monks bake fruitcakes.
Gandalf and Goodness–today
By Omid Safi — December 19, 2012
I love spiritual mentors, wise old souls that see beyond, see that something in us that we don’t see in ourselves. I love Yoda, love Dumbledore, love Gandalf. The Gandalf character has grown on me, bit by bit. In the Hobbit movie, there is a line that really spoke to me. He disagrees with his […]
Journalists vote for contraception fight as top 2012 U.S. religion story, pick Catholic bishops’ president as top newsmaker
By Wendy Gustofson — December 19, 2012
COLUMBIA, MO—As the nation reeled from the Dec. 14 killing of 20 first graders and six adults in Newtown, Conn., religious leaders sought to console a stunned public and to discern religion’s role in future debates about mental health and gun control. The No. 1 U.S. religion story in December 2012 was, without a […]
Contraception opponents hail DC court ruling
By Lauren Markoe — December 19, 2012
(RNS) Opponents of the federal contraception mandate are cheering an appeals court decision requiring the Obama administration to make good on a promise to exempt Christian colleges from the controversial rule. By Lauren Markoe.
