Monthly Archives: February 2009
Conscientious
By Mark Silk — February 28, 2009
A predictable outcry from social conservatives has greeted the Obama administration’s decision to move towards rescinding the “conscience” rule permitting health care workers to refuse to provide care if they have religious scruples about doing so. For example: “It is open season to again discriminate against health-care professionals,” said David Stevens, head of the Christian […]
Dobson retires from ministry, but expected to keep an eye on politics
By Tracy Gordon — February 28, 2009
(UNDATED) Focus on the Family founder James Dobson has resigned as chairman of the Colorado ministry he started 32 years ago, but will continue to host his daily radio broadcast and is expected to stay involved in national politics. Both Dobson and his wife, Shirley, have departed from the board, the ministry based in Colorado […]
A dynamic duo
By Kevin Eckstrom — February 28, 2009
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham recently teamed up to deliver food to a small struggling Alaskan community. The Yukon River community, made up of 330 people, has been struggling financially because of soaring gas prices and scarce food supplies. Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse organization has stepped in with the goal of […]
Jindal’s demon?
By Kevin Eckstrom — February 28, 2009
It’s very possible that Tuesday’s Republican response to President Obama’s speech isn’t the last people will see of Governor Bobby Jindal. Washington Times’ On Faith takes note that Jindal may very well make a 2012 bid for the presidency and that there may be a demon that will follow him the process. What’s being referred […]
Obama moves to rescind `conscience clauseâÂ?Â? for healthcare workers
By Tracy Gordon — February 28, 2009
WASHINGTON (RNS) The Obama administration announced Friday (Feb. 27) plans to rescind regulations that allow healthcare workers to abstain from performing medical procedures they object to on moral grounds. The Bush administration authored the rule shortly before leaving office last December, primarily to shield those with religious or moral opposition to abortion. It said healthcare […]
Holocaust-denying bishop apologizes, Vatican and Jewish leaders not satisfied
By Tracy Gordon — February 28, 2009
VATICAN CITY (RNS) A Holocaust-denying bishop recently readmitted to the Catholic Church apologized for comments that have provoked an international outcry, but Jewish leaders and the spokesman for Pope Benedict XVI call the apology unsatisfactory. Bishop Richard Williamson issued his statement Thursday (Feb. 26) on a Web site affiliated with the ultra-traditionalist Society of Saint […]
Non-profits call for public-private alliance to salve nationâÂ?Â?s ills
By Tracy Gordon — February 28, 2009
(RNS) Tens of thousands of leaders of nonprofit organizations, including a host of faith-based groups, are calling for a public-private partnership to address the nation’s social and economic troubles. “We issue this call now because of the magnitude of the problems that confront us, but also because of the opportunity the present moment offers to […]
Down to the wire
By Daniel Burke — February 28, 2009
While the ELCA made headlines with its proposal to open the ministry to non-celibate gays, another mainline Protestant church is quietly dealing with the same issue. The 173 regional presbyteries in the Presbyterian Church (USA) have been voting on whether to amend their Book of Order to allow gay and lesbian clergy. The amendment needs […]
Saving their asses
By Daniel Burke — February 27, 2009
Donkeys have been beasts of burden in the Middle East for thousands of years, when they can no longer work, they are often abandoned. This Lent/Passover season a group called Safe Haven for Donkeys in the Holy Land is hoping to get word out about their care for malnourished, injured or elderly asses. According to […]
Obama moves to rescind `conscience clause’
By Daniel Burke — February 27, 2009
WASHINGTON – Taking another step into the abortion debate, the Obama administration will move today to rescind a controversial rule that allows health care workers to deny abortion counseling or other family planning services if doing so would violate their moral beliefs, according to administration officials. The rollback of the so-called “conscience rule” comes just […]
Who’s a terrorist?
By Daniel Burke — February 27, 2009
CAIRO – If President Obama is serious about repairing relations with the Arab world and re-establishing the United States as an honest broker in Middle East peace talks, one step would be to bridge a chasm in perception that centers on one contentious word: terrorism.
Vatican says bishop’s apology not enough
By Daniel Burke — February 27, 2009
VATICAN CITY (AP) – The Vatican says the apology issued by a bishop who denied the Holocaust is not enough to admit him into the church as a clergyman. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Friday that Bishop Richard Williamson’s statement “does not seem to respect the conditions” the Vatican set out for him.
Pope says encyclical delayed by recession
By Daniel Burke — February 27, 2009
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The global economic crisis has contributed to the delay in the publication of Pope Benedict XVI’s new social encyclical, not for financial reasons, but because the crisis has demonstrated how important and how complicated the topic is. If the encyclical “does not deal competently with the economic reality, it cannot be […]
Archbishop O’Brien renews criticism of Legion of Christ
By Daniel Burke — February 27, 2009
Concerned that the Legion of Christ stifles the free will of its members and lacks transparency, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien told the religious order’s director general that he cannot in good conscience recommend that anyone join the Legion or Regnum Christi, its affiliated lay movement.
Anti-porn groups target evangelical Christians
By Tracy Gordon — February 27, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. — Every February, SouthPoint Foursquare Church reminds its younger members here that “True Love Waits,” part of a global evangelical Christian campaign that stresses abstinence until marriage. A few days after Valentine’s Day this year, 80 teenagers and some parents attended the church’s weekly youth night to hear a related message: Jesus loves […]
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