Monthly Archives: July 2009
NIH, surgeon general nominees live private faith behind public careers
By Adelle M. Banks — July 23, 2009
WASHINGTON — When President Obama named his choices for his administration’s two top medical posts, he chose people of private faith and public acclaim whose positions may put them out of lock step with fellow believers. Dr. Francis Collins, 59, Obama’s nominee to head the National Institutes of Health, has differed from fellow evangelicals by […]
COMMENTARY: Seek and ye shall (not) find
By Tracy Gordon — July 23, 2009
(UNDATED) Every day, millions of us use search engines to find what we’re looking for on the Internet. We try Google, or Yahoo, or other sites until we find what we need. If a search engine repeatedly yields unsatisfactory results, we try different key words or use a different search engine entirely. Search-engine companies are […]
Pope Benedict the dictator
By Francis X. Rocca — July 23, 2009
“With his right hand immobilized in a cast, Pope Benedict XVI is using a voice recorder to put down his thoughts and ideas,” CNS reports from the site of the pontiff’s vacation digs in northwestern Italy. Let’s hope that doesn’t push Benedict’s admirably clear prose style in the direction of the late Henry James. The […]
Insuring abortion
By Mark Silk — July 23, 2009
The religious right is up in arms about the place of abortion in the health insurance reform bills making their way through Congress. Today, an all-star cast of pro-lifers will appear on a webcast headlined as “Stop the Abortion Mandate Now.” Not surprisingly, several separate issue are being conflated to create an abortion healthcare bogeyman. […]
Christian schools report closures, drops in enrollment
By Tracy Gordon — July 23, 2009
(RNS) A Colorado-based organization of Christian schools is reporting that more than 200 schools closed or merged in its last fiscal year. As of June 30, 186 schools had closed and 16 had merged, according to the Association of Christian Schools International. That’s up from an average of 150 school closures that the association has […]
Bishop says Turkey ready to permit permanent church in St. Paul’s birthplace
By Tracy Gordon — July 22, 2009
(RNS/ENI) Turkey’s government has agreed to extend indefinite permission for Christian worship at an historic church in Tarsus, the birthplace of St. Paul, says the head of the country’s Roman Catholic bishops’ conference. “I’m confident the church in Tarsus could soon change from being a museum to a center of spiritual pilgrimage,” said Bishop Luigi […]
Fessio fired, again, from Ave Maria
By Tracy Gordon — July 22, 2009
(RNS) A prominent priest and friend of Pope Benedict XVI was fired for the second time from Ave Maria University in Florida on Monday (July 20) for criticizing the school’s policies in a conversation with a board member. The Rev. Joseph Fessio said he was dismissed from his post as the resident theologian at Ave […]
Senate holds confirmation hearings on Vatican ambassador
By Tracy Gordon — July 22, 2009
WASHINGTON — President Obama’s nominee for ambassador to the Vatican, Miguel Diaz, told senators Wednesday (July 22) that his socially conscious scholarship gives him common ground with fellow theologian Pope Benedict XVI, which could further U.S. policies and interests in Rome. “My commitment to creating dialogue related to cultural diversity, immigration, poverty and the role […]
Straight believers find a home in gay churches, synagogues
By Tracy Gordon — July 22, 2009
WASHINGTON — When Andi Kasarsky’s husband died six years ago, members of her synagogue came to sit shiva — the customary Jewish ritual of mourning — with her. They came in shifts for days, many of them strangers, to share her grief. And although Kasarsky was mourning her husband, many of the grievers were gay. […]
10 minutes with … Ani Gilda Paldron Taylor
By Tracy Gordon — July 22, 2009
(UNDATED) Ani Gilda Paldron Taylor was a nurse in the 1960s, confronting death and dying on a daily basis, when she began to think about suffering. She asked her Episcopal priest to explain why suffering seemed to be inevitable. “It’s God’s will,” the priest said. “That did nothing but cause frustration,” says Taylor, now 74 […]
COMMENTARY: Welcome home
By Cathleen Falsani — July 22, 2009
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. — Along with about 20 million other Americans who’ll do the same this summer, my family just moved house. It’s the biggest relocation of my life — 2,016 miles to be exact — from a bohemian suburb of Chicago to a groovy beach town in Southern California. It’s been said that moving […]
Our Judeo-Christian Tradition
By Mark Silk — July 22, 2009
Corners of the blogosphere have been atwitter with a remark made yesterday by House minority whip Eric Cantor to the annual conference of John Hagee’s Christians United for Israel; to wit: Reaching out to the Muslim world may help in creating an environment for peace in the Middle East, but we must insist as Americans […]
Lutherans bring largest post-Katrina convention to New Orleans
By Tracy Gordon — July 22, 2009
NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Thirty-seven thousand Lutheran teenagers and their adult leaders will converge on New Orleans Wednesday (July 22) for the biggest convention since Hurricane Katrina, a three-day event that will include thousands of hours of donated labor around the city. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America holds a youth gathering like this every three […]
Filipino Catholics pray for ailing Aquino
By Tracy Gordon — July 21, 2009
MANILA, Philippines (RNS/ENI) She helped battle a 20-year-serving strongman, and joined with a popular cardinal in rallying people to a peaceful revolution. Now, more than 23 years later, Corazon Aquino is fighting for her life with colon cancer, and she says the prayers of a grateful nation continue to sustain her as her family has […]
Israelis praise Episcopal bishops for rejecting Middle East statement
By Tracy Gordon — July 21, 2009
WASHINGTON (RNS) Israeli officials praised Episcopal bishops on Monday (July 20) for rejecting a resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that they deemed too pro-Palestinian. The rejected resolution called for a Palestinian state and an end to the “ongoing confiscation of Palestinian land, demolition of housing and the displacement of people.” The Episcopal House of Bishops […]
