Monthly Archives: February 2005
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — February 11, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service New Jersey Diocese Settles Sex Abuse Lawsuit with 27 Victims (RNS) The Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson (N.J.) has quietly settled a clergy sex abuse lawsuit involving allegations from 27 victims _ most of them against one priest over a 14-year period. One plaintiff who asked not to be named […]
NEWS STORY: `Cured’ Pope Leaves Hospital to Return to Vatican
By RNS Blog Editor — February 11, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ Pope John Paul II returned to the Vatican Thursday (Feb. 10), pronounced cured of the acute breathing problems that forced his emergency hospitalization nine days earlier. The 84-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff left Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic hospital early in the evening in his glass-sided “popemobile,” escorted by […]
NEWS STORY: Survey: Religious Teens Tend to Be More Academic, Confident, Chaste
By RNS Blog Editor — February 11, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The most comprehensive survey ever done on faith and adolescence finds a teen nation where more than four in five youths say religion is important in their lives. But the new survey of more than 3,000 teenagers and their parents also indicated that many teens know little about their […]
NEWS STORY: Even After Election, Religion and Race Still Divide Iraq
By RNS Blog Editor — February 11, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service BAGHDAD, Iraq _ Mishaan Jabouri thought he had come up with a winning political strategy. The Sunni Arab candidate chose an esteemed Shiite leader as his No. 2, hoping to draw votes from the country’s majority sect. He spoke out for Kurdish rights, hoping to earn support from the Kurds […]
NEWS STORY: Pope Opens Penitential Season of Lent With Ashes in His Hospital Room
By RNS Blog Editor — February 10, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ Unable for the first time in his 26 years as Roman Catholic pontiff to preside over an Ash Wednesday church service, Pope John Paul II opened the penitential season of Lent (on Feb. 9) from his hospital room. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the 84-year-old pontiff blessed […]
NEWS STORY: Jailed Anti-Gay Protesters Become Causes Celebres for Conservative Groups
By RNS Blog Editor — February 10, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) On Oct. 10, 2004, as Philadelphia police were hauling off to jail a group of Christian protesters at a gay pride rally, organizers of the event applauded what seemed to be a big victory. But after four months, the case is instead providing Christian conservatives with a rallying cry, […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — February 10, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Human Cloning License for “Dolly” Scientist Stirs Religious Concerns (RNS) Some religious observers of bioethics are reacting with concern to a decision by the British government to approve human cell cloning for medical research. Ian Wilmut, who directed the creation of the cloned sheep “Dolly” in Scotland in 1996, received […]
COMMENTARY: Faith and Development Leaders Unite for a Worldwide Standard of Living
By RNS Blog Editor — February 10, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) World leaders rarely bother about events outside their constituencies. While many enjoy and employ the benefits of globalization, few have sleepless nights over the condition of starving communities in developing nations. But a recent meeting bringing together faith and development leaders, held in Dublin, Ireland, has me encouraged that […]
RNS Weekly Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — February 10, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Robertson’s Comments Continue to Prompt Religious Reaction (RNS) Pat Robertson’s comments about assassinating Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez continue to reverberate, with one evangelical leader saying the religious broadcaster should retire and another considering a meeting with Chavez to make amends. Robertson, the founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network, apologized Wednesday […]
NEWS STORY: In Break From Tradition, Vatican Official Addresses Papal Retirement
By RNS Blog Editor — February 9, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ In a startling break with Vatican protocol, a high Vatican official has addressed the issue of whether the ailing Pope John Paul II should retire. Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the secretary of state who ranks No. 2 behind the pope in the Vatican hierarchy, did not take a […]
COMMENTARY: What is a Retreat? Why is One Necessary?
By Tom Ehrich — February 9, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) “Where will you be going next week, Dad?” asks my son on our drive to school. “I will be in Pennsylvania, leading two retreats,” I reply. “What is a retreat?” Good question. Not simple to answer. For some a retreat is a time of silence and prayer. For some […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — February 9, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Vatican Issues Instructions for Hearing Annulment Cases VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican on Tuesday (Feb. 8) issued a book of instructions guiding the granting of an annulment, which decrees that a true marriage never existed in the eyes of the church. The instructions make diocesan tribunals more rigorous in deciding […]
NEWS FEATURE: Ten-Day Trips to Israel Transform Young Jews
By Bruce Nolan — February 9, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) There was a time not long ago when young Jody Portnoff was barely aware of her Jewish heritage. Reared in a secular home in Georgia’s Bible Belt, “We did Hanukkah, but we also did Christmas. We did Passover, but we had Easter baskets.” In college she joined a women’s […]
NEWS FEATURE: `Saint’ Valentine Still Inspires Religious Devotion
By RNS Blog Editor — February 8, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) It has been 36 years since the Vatican dropped St. Valentine. But the patron of romantic love still claims the devotion of many. “This is someone about whom we know absolutely nothing,” said Lawrence S. Cunningham, a professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame and author of […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — February 8, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Recovering Pope to Remain Hospitalized a Few More Days VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope John Paul II is making good progress in his recovery from acute breathing problems, but for “precautionary reasons” he will remain hospitalized for a few more days, the Vatican said Monday (Feb. 7). Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls, […]
