Francis X. Rocca
Francis X. Rocca is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Francis X. Rocca
Beating the Vatican crowds
By Francis X. Rocca — April 6, 2009
There’s no richer artistic treasury than the Vatican Museums, but with three million tourists per year cramming into spaces built for the exclusive use of the papal court, a visitor’s experience can be less than sublime. In summer months, the wait in line can last hours, and once you make it into the Sistine Chapel, […]
Happy Vesakh from Rome
By Francis X. Rocca — April 3, 2009
The Vatican today sent a greeting to the world’s Buddhists on the occasion of the forthcoming festival of Vesakh, thanking them for their “inspiring witness of non-attachment and contentment,” and emphasizing that Catholics and Buddhists share an appreciation of the spiritual value of poverty.
It’s not easy going green
By Francis X. Rocca — April 2, 2009
Nearly two years after the Holy See announced that it would become the world’s first “carbon neutral” sovereign state (by planting trees in a Hungarian national park to offset Vatican City’s CO2 emissions and energy use), that initiative has yet to bear fruit. The Italian edition of Wired reports this month that not a single […]
Access issues
By Francis X. Rocca — April 1, 2009
The rabbi in charge of Jerusalem’s Western Wall, who last month said that Pope Benedict should not wear his cross when he visits the site in May, now says that security concerns should not keep other worshippers away during the papal visit. And some of those worshippers are apparently planning passive resistance if asked to […]
The African sense of the sacred
By Francis X. Rocca — March 24, 2009
As if to refute claims that he fails to appreciate African litugrical styles, Pope Benedict told reporters on his flight back from Angola yesterday that he had been “greatly impressed by the spirit of concentration in the liturgies, the strong sense of the sacred” that he witnessed during a week-long trip to Africa. “In the […]
Blessed John Paul?
By Francis X. Rocca — March 23, 2009
Polish media are reporting it could happen as soon as next spring, for the fifth anniversary of the late pope’s death.
Risky business
By Francis X. Rocca — March 19, 2009
When you’re the pope, every word you say counts, especially on the subject of sex. According to reporters who accompanied him on a flight to Cameroon on Tuesday, Pope Benedict said that the use of condoms “aggravates” the spread of HIV/AIDS. But according to the Vatican’s official transcript of the statement, he said that they […]
Clash of symbols
By Francis X. Rocca — March 18, 2009
First the rabbi in charge of Jerusalem’s Western Wall says that Pope Benedict XVI should not wear his cross when visits the site this May — even though Pope John Paul II wore one when he came in 2000. Then Israel’s ambassador to the Vatican says his foreign ministry has spoken to the rabbi, and […]
The Vatican gives in to the Temptations
By Francis X. Rocca — March 10, 2009
Tomorrow’s edition of L’Osservatore Romano features an article celebrating the 50th birthday of Motown Records, under the headline: “The soundtrack of black emancipation.” (Among the illustrations is a photo of none other than Marvin Gaye. Alas, no discussion of the merits of “sexual healing.”)
Vatican [heart] Obama?
By Francis X. Rocca — March 4, 2009
Reporters on the Vatican beat read L’Osservatore Romano the way Soviet-era Kremlinologists pored over Pravda. That means lots of speculation, of course, which calls for plenty of caution. Still, back-to-back items over the last couple of days suggest that the Holy See is sending friendly signals to the Obama White House, despite strong differences over […]
Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?
By Francis X. Rocca — March 3, 2009
The head of the ultra-traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X says that Bishop Richard Williamson will get himself kicked out of the schismatic Catholic group if he denies the Holocaust one more time. (Does that mean that Williamson could end up running his own off-shoot of the SSPX? In that case, he’d have to choose […]
Katrina’s latest casualty
By Francis X. Rocca — March 2, 2009
In a terse one-line statement, the Vatican today announced that Pope Benedict had “dispensed” the Rev. Gerhard Wagner from accepting an auxiliary bishopric in Linz, Austria. Wagner’s appointment aroused international controversy last month after it was revealed that he had called Hurricane Katrina divine punishment for New Orleans’ sins.
Video game violence with a moral
By Francis X. Rocca — March 2, 2009
Where do villainous video game avatars go when they die? With any justice, to Dante’s Inferno, a forthcoming game based on the 14th-century epic poem. The Wired blog notes that the project “stands in a rather awkward place. The source material is a treasured piece of culture, yes, but it’s far less likely to incite […]
Take up and read
By Francis X. Rocca — February 12, 2009
Clever piece in Slate today arguing that the way out of the news industry crisis is for news organizations to declare themselves religions. This strategy wouldn’t work for RNS, of course, since standards of objectivity would disqualify us from writing about any other faith.
“Harmonies” amid discord
By Francis X. Rocca — February 8, 2009
Four days after the Vatican demanded that Bishop Richard Williamson recant his Holocaust denial, he comes out with this. It may be, just perhaps, a coded commentary on what he calls the “media uproar of the last two weeks.” Most likely, it’s just a show of indifference to it. In any case, the author reveals […]
