Monthly Archives: February 2009
No meat for Cleveland Catholics on opening day
By Tracy Gordon — February 25, 2009
(RNS) Opening day for the Cleveland Indians brings a curve ball for Catholics this year. The April 10th home opener falls on Good Friday, when faithful Catholics abstain from meat. That means no ball park hot dogs. And don’t expect dispensation from the bishop. “It is considered the most solemn day on the church calendar,” […]
Records wear faith on their sleeves
By Kevin Eckstrom — February 24, 2009
The Los Angeles Times takes note of an out-of-the-ordinary religious albums exhibit. These particular albums are from the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s in the “post-World War II era of hula hoops and Cold War anxiety, when men still wore starched white shirts to church.” Moneyquote: “We’re not trying to embarrass Christians or anyone else, but […]
The Big Sit
By Daniel Burke — February 24, 2009
As Christians gear up for Lent, the Buddhist magazine Tricycle is promoting a similar endeavor, asking folks to commit to sitting in Zen meditation, studying a text, and taking up Buddhist precepts for a 90-day period called an ango. It may even help some people quit smoking.
The liberation of obedience
By Daniel Burke — February 24, 2009
Sirius’s Catholic Channel has an interview with Timothy Dolan and Edward Egan, the incoming and outgoing Catholic archbishops of New York. Moneyquote: “What was it, about nine or ten days ago that it became final, that the Apostolic Nuncio called me and told me that the Holy Father had nominated me to be Archbishop of […]
Fast, pray, give
By Daniel Burke — February 24, 2009
Busted Halo has what looks to be an interesting Lent calendar online. Any Catholic calendar that squeezes John Wooden, Gandhi and Stephen Colbert is bound to be worth a few minutes.
New rules for Catholic judges?
By Daniel Burke — February 24, 2009
Many people concentrated on Pope Benedict’s reprimand of Pelosi and her fellow lawmakers after a meeting at the Vatican last week. But Douglas Kmiec, the prominent Catholic legal scholar who turned a lot of heads when he articulated a Catholic case for voting for Obama last year, examines the entire statement from the Vatican. Until […]
Supreme Court to hear Mojave cross case
By Daniel Burke — February 24, 2009
n a case that could reshape the doctrine of separation of church and state, the Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether a cross to honor fallen soldiers can stand in a national preserve in California. The case will give the Roberts court its first chance to rule directly on the 1st Amendment’s ban on […]
Vatican to study place of Darwin, Galileo
By Tracy Gordon — February 24, 2009
VATICAN CITY — Over the next several months, the Vatican will sponsor academic conferences dedicated to the work of the biologist Charles Darwin and astronomer Galileo Galilei, two thinkers whose ideas have posed revolutionary challenges to religious belief. Featuring distinguished international panels of scientists and theologians, these events are the latest efforts by the Catholic […]
Documdrama explores evangelical movement
By Daniel Burke — February 24, 2009
NEW YORK — Praise the Lord and pass the tape recorder. “This Beautiful City” is a lively docudrama _ complete with countrified musical numbers _ that examines America’s homegrown evangelical movement. Members of the Civilians, a New York-based theater troupe, traveled to Colorado Springs, the geographic heart of American evangelicalism, to interview members of the […]
Dolan pledges to boost priests
By Daniel Burke — February 24, 2009
Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of Milwaukee, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to lead New York’s Roman Catholics, introduced himself to an often embattled church on Monday as an ebullient optimist, inheriting an archdiocese he praised as spiritually vibrant and financially secure.
Florida priest guilty of embezzlement
By Daniel Burke — February 24, 2009
A jury in West Palm Beach convicted a priest of stealing from his church, but it found that he had embezzled far less than the $488,000 prosecutors charged.
Nazi’s `terrible weapon’ aimed at hearts and minds
By Daniel Burke — February 24, 2009
WASHINGTON – The most haunting image in “State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda,” a major new exhibition at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum here, may be the first one you see after the introductory videos.
Movie posters with a holy edge
By Tracy Gordon — February 24, 2009
NEW YORK — In the beginning, there was light. And soon after, it seems, there were movies. And with movies came movie posters — the “heralds” that drew people into movie theaters, particularly during the Golden Age of Hollywood: the 1920s through 1950s. This was a time “when fantasy architecture made its visitors feel as […]
COMMENTARY: The four paths ahead
By Tom Ehrich — February 24, 2009
(UNDATED) Two years ago, when housing prices were soaring, the common wisdom was, “Never rent, always buy.” Today, renters can negotiate 15-percent rent reductions to stay in place (or even more if they don’t mind moving), while homeowners are stuck in houses that have dropped steadily in value and are still painfully illiquid. Two years […]
A ticking time bomb goes off
By Daniel Burke — February 24, 2009
Abdallah Saleh al-Ajmi ‘scase illuminates a key challenge facing the Obama administration as it considers how to close the U.S. military prison and resolve the futures of the approximately 245 incarcerated there. Once detainees are sent home, even to friendly nations, the United States has very little influence over what happens to them. Convictions are […]
