Monthly Archives: October 2005
Movement Seeks to Ignite Jewish Spirituality
By Kim Lawton — October 8, 2005
c. 2005 Religion & Ethics Newsweekly SILVER SPRING, Md. _ Shortly before the Jewish High Holidays began, a small group of Jews gathered in a suburban home to recite the traditional “Al Cheyt” prayer of repentance. But there was nothing traditional about this Al Cheyt. Instead of recited prayers led by a rabbi, these Jews […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — October 8, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service New Orleans Archdiocese Lays Off 881 Employees NEW ORLEANS (RNS) The Archdiocese of New Orleans says Hurricane Katrina has forced it to lay off 881 employees in its sprawling charitable, housing and other ministries. The number, disclosed Thursday (Oct. 6), does not include hundreds of teachers and parish employees already […]
Nuns Make Photographer `Honorary Sister’ for Post-Katrina Care of Convent
By RNS Blog Editor — October 8, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service NEW ORLEANS _ Before Hurricane Katrina hit, photographer David Spielman had spent more than 30 years working on a photo essay on the Poor Clare nuns, the dwindling Catholic cloistered order that dwells in an Uptown convent. “They are my family,” he said. “There are only eight of them left, […]
Author Weaves Mystery Around Saint and Stigmata
By Nancy Haught — October 8, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) St. Francis of Assisi, painted and sculpted with a bird on his shoulder and a lamb or wolf at his feet, may be the most popular Christian saint, inside the Roman Catholic Church and out. Francis is revered as the patron saint of Italy, animals, merchants and ecologists. His […]
Author Weaves Mystery Around Saint and Stigmata
By Nancy Haught — October 8, 2005
NANCY HAUGHT c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) St. Francis of Assisi, painted and sculpted with a bird on his shoulder and a lamb or wolf at his feet, may be the most popular Christian saint, inside the Roman Catholic Church and out. Francis is revered as the patron saint of Italy, animals, merchants and […]
Giving God his due
By Tracy Gordon — October 7, 2005
Quote of the Day: Muslim leader Wajdi Said “Everyone knows (April 15) is the day on which you give the government what you owe. Ramadan is the time in which you give God what you owe.” -Wajdi Said, executive director of the Oregon-based Muslim Educational Trust, comparing the day federal income taxes are due to […]
Donning Clerical Collar, Danforth Slams GOP’s Religious Rhetoric
By RNS Blog Editor — October 7, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service CAMBRIDGE, Mass. _ As a three-term U.S. senator and a former ambassador to the United Nations, Missouri Republican John Danforth has all the right credentials and connections to savor the spoils of his party’s dominance in Washington. Instead, at age 69, Danforth is combining his status as an elder statesman […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — October 7, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Cardinals Divided on Sinfulness of Voting for Abortion Rights Politicians VATICAN CITY (RNS) Top Vatican cardinals appear divided on whether it is sinful to vote for politicians who defy church teaching on abortion. Following a recent appeal by Archbishop William Levada, the Vatican’s doctrinal enforcer, for wider discussion regarding Catholic […]
Once Again, Black Pastors Conflicted on Farrakhan Gathering
By Adelle M. Banks — October 7, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Just as it did a decade ago, an event on the National Mall spearheaded by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan is prompting both support and criticism from African-American clergy across the country. Billed as the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March, the Millions More Movement is […]
COMMENTARY: Sukkot Lesson: The Divine Dwells in Frail Huts, Even After Hurricanes
By RNS Blog Editor — October 7, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The eight-day biblical festival of Sukkot (the Hebrew word for tabernacles or huts) that begins after sunset on Oct. 17 has been observed for thousands of years, but it has a thoroughly modern message as we try to make sense of the suffering caused by hurricanes. After fleeing from […]
Weeks After Hurricane, Pastors Become Counselors, Healers, Social Workers
By RNS Blog Editor — October 7, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service NEW ORLEANS _ The Rev. Mark Lomax, in clerical collar, rubber boots and green Vatican City baseball cap, was standing outside his ruined St. Mark Catholic Church in the fetid stink of desolate St. Bernard Parish, when four neighbors spotted him from across the street. “My God, look who it […]
Justices Appear Split Over Doctor-Assisted Suicide
By RNS Blog Editor — October 7, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ After 11 years, two referendums and a court case of four years, the fate of Oregon’s experiment with doctor-assisted suicide remains in doubt as Supreme Court justices appear split over its potential to subvert federal authority. Oregon’s law allows doctors to prescribe lethal doses of painkillers to terminally […]
Conservative group concerned about Miers’ philosophy
By Tracy Gordon — October 6, 2005
Quote of the Day: Texas Eagle Forum president Cathie Adams “President Bush is asking us to have faith in things unseen. We only have that kind of faith in God.” -Cathie Adams, president of the Dallas-based conservative group Texas Eagle Forum, expressing skepticism about the lack of a legal paper trail illustrating Supreme Court nominee […]
Gay rights “Great Awakening”
By RNS Blog Editor — October 6, 2005
Gay Rights Advocates Say Vatican Can’t Stop Religious Momentum RNS’ full-text article of the week, linked above, looks at gay rights and religion, in light of the Vatican’s potential ban on gay seminarians. Quote: “As far as the Episcopal Church goes, as far as the Anglican Communion goes, there will be a split,” [the Rev. […]
At Vatican Synod, Bishop Challenges Rule Banning Divorced From Communion
By RNS Blog Editor — October 6, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ A Roman Catholic bishop has urged an assembly of his peers to reconsider church teaching that bars divorced and remarried Catholics from receiving Communion, referring to the current regulations as a source of “scandal.” Speaking before an advisory synod to Pope Benedict late Tuesday (Oct. 4), Archbishop […]
