Monthly Archives: December 2009
Vatican offer unlikely to lead to Anglican schism
By Tracy Gordon — December 14, 2009
HACKENSACK, N.J. (RNS) For five years, members of Saint Anthony of Padua Episcopal Church, a conservative parish in the largely liberal Diocese of Newark, have sought spiritual guidance from a bishop in a socially conservative diocese in South Carolina. The reason? They oppose the liberal tendencies of the Newark diocese and their national church, which […]
Lieberman and tikkun olam
By Mark Silk — December 14, 2009
In recent years, the rabbinic phrase tikkun olam (“repairing the world”) has come to signify, in the American Jewish community, a general commitment to work for the betterment of society. Thus, in his autobiography In Praise of Public Life, Joe Lieberman retroactively invoked it to explain his personal commitment to public service: [My faith] gave […]
Jackson on Obama’s Nobel
By Mark Silk — December 14, 2009
Jesse Jackson gave his view on why Barack Obama won the Nobel Prize in an interview yesterday with NPR’s Guy Raz: RAZ: Jesse Jackson, this week, the president accepted the Nobel Prize, only the third time a U.S. president or former president has received that award. What did you make of that ceremony? Rev. JACKSON: […]
Rowan Williams tut-tuts Uganda
By Mark Silk — December 13, 2009
So his eminence Rick Warren issues an, ahem, “encylical video” to condemn Uganda’s proposed anti-homosexual act. And then the Vatican officially seems to criticize it, but dares not speak its name. And now, buried in the middle of an interview with George Pitcher of the Telegraph, conducted over a cup of tea at his palace […]
God Gap a white thing
By Mark Silk — December 13, 2009
The Religion News Service consigns it to the Dept. of Things We Already Knew, but Gallup’s new survey of religion and party i.d. is more noteworthy than that. For starters, it makes clear that the God Gap (i.e. the preference of the more religious for Republicans and the less religious for Democrats) is almost entirely […]
Pope warns of `deceitful’ aspects of liberation theology
By Tracy Gordon — December 12, 2009
ROME (RNS/ENI) An exhortation by Pope Benedict XVI to Brazilian bishops to reject “certain deceitful principles” of liberation theology has been condemned by a movement campaigning for reforms in the Roman Catholic Church. Meeting a group of Brazilian bishops earlier this month (Dec.) at the Vatican, Benedict recalled a 1984 document on liberation theology issued […]
Pope outraged and shamed by Irish clergy’s abuse
By Tracy Gordon — December 12, 2009
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI expressed “outrage,” “shame,” and “profound regret” over revelations of large-scale child abuse by Irish Catholic priests, the Vatican said on Friday (Dec. 11). The Vatican’s statement came after Benedict met with Ireland’s two leading bishops, Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, along with Secretary […]
Jewish leaders scramble for White House invite
By Tracy Gordon — December 11, 2009
WASHINGTON (RNS) When is a Hanukkah party more than just a Hanukkah party? When it is hosted by the White House, and viewed as emblematic of the Obama administration’s relationship with American Jews. The White House cut the size of the Dec. 16 party to about 500 people, a sharp decline from the 800 or […]
Friday’s roundup
By Kevin Eckstrom — December 11, 2009
Hanukkah starts at sunset tonight, so get your candles ready. You might also want to check out the wind-powered menorah developed by students at Yeshiva University. Chabad offers a brief history of menorahs in public places here. Something not to celebrate: Jewish charities still struggling a year after Bernie Madoff’s house of financial cards fell […]
Obama’s critique of Bush’s Holy War
By Mark Silk — December 11, 2009
As Michael Sean Winters has pointed out with asperity, the Beltway reaction to President Obama’s Nobel speech as amounting to an “echo” of George W. Bush has been idiotic. Yes, there’s evil in the world. That was the point of the speech? But it wasn’t simply that Obama laid out an approach to American war-making […]
Rome speaks on Uganda, softly
By Mark Silk — December 11, 2009
Yesterday, a representative of the pope attending a U.N. panel on anti-gay violence read a statement from the Holy See that can reasonably interpreted as condemning at least part of Uganda’s proposed anti-homosexuality act. The money quote: As stated during the debate of the General Assembly last year, the Holy See continues to oppose all […]
Obama says `holy war’ can never be a `just war’
By Tracy Gordon — December 11, 2009
WASHINGTON (RNS) In a speech bemoaning the necessity of war and the potential for peace, President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize Thursday (Dec. 10) by declaring that “no holy war can ever be a just war.” In his 36-minute remarks in Oslo, Norway, Obama addressed how fear of loss of identity — including religious […]
Survey: Nearly 1 in 4 Christians dabble in Eastern, New Age beliefs
By Tracy Gordon — December 11, 2009
WASHINGTON (RNS) The vast majority of U.S. residents may be Christian, but nearly a quarter of them delve into a range of Eastern or New Age beliefs, a new study shows. Asked about their supernatural experiences, significant minorities of American Christian respondents said they believe in astrology (23 percent), reincarnation (22 percent), spiritual energy in […]
Thursday’s round-up
By Kevin Eckstrom — December 11, 2009
President Obama picked up his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo this morning, reminding the world (and world religions) that “no holy war can ever be a just war.” On the topic of holy war, a group of Muslims is staking a claim on a spot near Ground Zero to project a more tolerant image of […]
Warren condemns Uganda gay law
By Adelle M. Banks — December 11, 2009
Megachurch leader Rick Warren has posted a video on YouTube to clarify his stance against the anti-gay bill being considered by the Ugandan Parliament after some bloggers questioned his views about it. “It is my role to shepherd other pastors who look to me for guidance, and it is my role to correct lies, errors […]
