Monthly Archives: February 2007
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — February 7, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Groups Criticize Bush Budget for Cuts to Domestic Programs WASHINGTON (RNS) A variety of faith groups are protesting President Bush’s proposed $2.9 trillion budget, arguing that cuts in medical and anti-hunger programs would leave millions of Americans sick and hungry. The president’s budget, which was submitted to Congress Monday (Feb. […]
Churches Change Marriage Prep Classes to Include Remarried Couples
By RNS Blog Editor — February 7, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ Robert Walling and his bride, Arlene, knew they loved each other. What they were less aware of in 1989 as both entered a second marriage were the consequences of bringing together seven children, six of them teenagers. “Within weeks, everybody hated everybody,” recalled Robert Walling, a deacon at […]
Old World Kosher Is Now New World Gourmet
By RNS Blog Editor — February 7, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service NEW YORK _ What’s old is new in the kosher food industry. Ethnic favorites once regarded as too Old World for mainstream consumption are taking over the marketplace, if the products promoted at the recent Kosherfest convention in Manhattan are any indication. Many of those products are quickly filtering down […]
COMMENTARY: Keeping Us Honest
By Tom Ehrich — February 7, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service DURHAM, N.C. _ On our drive from suburb to city, from Anglo culture to Hispanic, my wife and I mused about our next automobile purchase. Is it time to let our well-used vehicles go and venture into something newer that requires less maintenance? Time for me to go from fun-to-drive […]
Haggards Says He’s “Completely Heterosexual”
By Kevin Eckstrom — February 7, 2007
Our friend Eric Gorski out at the Denver Post reports on the whereabouts of Ted Haggard, the disgraced former megachurch pastor and president of the National Association of Evangelicals who resigned after a male prostitute revealed on ongoing sexual-and possibly drug-fueled-relationship. The highlights, according to Gorski: -Haggard spent three weeks at an Arizona treatment center […]
Artist Uses Friends, Bar Patrons to Bring Sacred Images to Life
By Doug MacCash — February 6, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service NEW ORLEANS _ It was a fall morning in 2001 and Larry L. Graham, 59, knew he was having a stroke. His left eye was unfocused, his arm numb and his voice garbled. He survived, but was a profoundly changed man, physically and artistically. During his long recovery, Graham, a […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — February 6, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Report Says Catholics Must Rethink Parochial School System (RNS) The glory days of the U.S. Catholic parochial school are gone, according to a new University of Notre Dame report, and the church must rethink its mission in order to recapture the school system’s lost luster. The report, issued late last […]
Oregon Gay Couples See Hope for Civil Union Law
By Bill Graves — February 6, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service PORTLAND, Ore. _ Marriage slipped out of their grasp, but Linda Duchek and Marte Sheeran say the benefits of marriage may be within their reach through a possible civil union law this year. The couple of 11 years got a taste of marriage when Multnomah County issued marriage licenses to […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — February 3, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Protestant Leaders Welcome New Report on Global Climate Change (RNS) Some Protestant leaders are welcoming a major new study on climate change which found that emissions from fossil fuels and other human activities are to blame for global warming. The highly anticipated report issued by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel […]
Catholic Priest Pushes Art for a New Generation
By Nancy Haught — February 3, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service PORTLAND, Ore. _ The voice that has championed original art in Oregon’s Catholic churches is a little softer these days, but the Rev. John Domin has not lost faith in the creative spirit. After 84 years of life _ including 60 as an artist and 57 as a priest _ […]
Flock Gets Say in Future of Katrina-Damaged Church
By Christine Harvey — February 2, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service SLIDELL, La. _ The walls will remain, as will the foundation. New stained glass will grace the now-empty window frames, while fountains and gardens will replace the pews that once stood on the floor of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. The site will become a place for quiet reflection, […]
COMMENTARY: Drinan Was a Righteous Christian
By James Rudin — February 2, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The Rev. Robert F. Drinan, who died on Sunday (Jan. 28) in Washington, was a Righteous Christian of our time. His obituaries accurately describe the 86-year-old Jesuit priest as a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts who pressed for President Richard Nixon’s impeachment, as well as an outstanding lawyer, gifted teacher, […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — February 2, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Bush Calls America `Nation of Prayer’ at National Prayer Breakfast WASHINGTON _ Calling the United States a “nation of prayer,” President Bush joined religious leaders and politicians at the annual National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday (Feb. 1). “Many in our country know the power of prayer,” he said. “Prayer changes […]
COMMENTARY: Software is No Match for Common Sense in Protecting Children
By Frances Kennedy — February 2, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Unlike many other lawyers, Ralph Yanello seems astonished to find the Catholic Church on his client roster. “If you said to me last year,” he recently told the St. Petersburg Times, that he would be marketing software to do background checks on Catholic Church employees working with children, “I […]
As German Jews Rebuild, Rabbis Are in Short Supply
By Niels Sorrells — February 2, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service BERLIN _ Everything here seems to be a work in progress. Up the hall, a new space soon will be ready to hold worship services. A kindergarten is ready to open. And here, in the study room, a group of young men debate theological points, some perhaps considering the life […]
