Monthly Archives: July 2010
Pope grants wide authority to revamp Legion of Christ
By Tracy Gordon — July 26, 2010
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI has handed the Vatican’s chief auditor “wide-ranging powers” as he sets about reforming the powerful but scandal-hit Legionaries of Christ. In a decree published Saturday (July 24) on the website of the ultra-conservative order, Archbishop Velasio De Paolis will have final say over all decisions taken by the commission […]
Quietly, another mosque operates in shadow of Ground Zero
By Tracy Gordon — July 26, 2010
NEW YORK (RNS) Barely visible among the high-rise apartment buildings and cocktail lounges, a battered steel door in Manhattan’s trendy Tribeca neighborhood leads to a basement jammed with barefoot men praying on their lunch break. The makeshift mosque is a far cry from the 13-story proposed Cordoba House, the so-called planned “Ground Zero mosque” that’s […]
Monday’s roundup
By Daniel Burke — July 26, 2010
The Muslim imam behind the “ground zero mosque,” said it’s neither a mosque, nor at ground zero. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf told Reuters, “We are trying to establish something that follows the YMCA concept but is not a church or a synagogue or, in this case, a mosque. We are taking that concept and adapting […]
Latino Catholics v. political meddling
By Mark Silk — July 26, 2010
Making his own effort to explain Latino Catholic support for same-sex marriage in California, Joseph M. Palacios offers the following: It is important to note that modern Latin Catholicism has a dual nature: it is “conservative” in the sense of family communalism and tradition that the church offers, yet it is classically “liberal” in the […]
Jesus Toast
By Alfredo Garcia — July 24, 2010
It seems that Jesus is everywhere these days. From pancakes and toast to a potato chip, the carpenter from Nazareth has been reaching out to us in the form of food for many a year. One artist in the UK, however, has taken this one step further: he has made a representation of the crucifix […]
Students seek to revive progressive movement
By Tracy Gordon — July 23, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) Progressive Christian college students hope to reorganize a movement that propelled young adults into pro-civil rights and anti-war activities before it was disbanded decades ago. The U.S. Student Christian Movement, which officially ended more than 40 years ago, will be revived at an Oct. 8-11 meeting at Morehouse College in Atlanta. “Students will […]
Lutherans apologize to Mennonites for persecution
By Tracy Gordon — July 23, 2010
STUTTGART, Germany (RNS/ENInews) A global Lutheran assembly in Germany has asked for forgiveness for the 16th-century persecution of Anabaptists, the religious reformers whose modern-day descendants include Mennonites. “We remember how Anabaptist Christians knew suffering and persecution, and we remember how some of our most honored Reformation leaders defended this persecution in the name of faithfulness,” […]
Charges filed against third faith-healing couple in Oregon
By Tracy Gordon — July 23, 2010
OREGON CITY, Ore. (RNS) A couple who left their infant daughter’s fate to God rather than seek medical treatment for a mass that grew over her left eye will face charges of first-degree criminal mistreatment. Prosecutors said Thursday (July 22) during a custody hearing that a grand jury has indicted Timothy and Rebecca Wyland of […]
Friday’s roundup
By Kevin Eckstrom — July 23, 2010
Yet another set of parents from that Oregon faith-healing church is in trouble with the law — this time for not seeking medical attention for a massive growth on the eye of their seven-month-old daughter (photo, left). State officials assumed custody; the parents want her back. They’re from the same church as two other families […]
Christians examine morality of birth control
By Tracy Gordon — July 23, 2010
(RNS) Is contraception a sin? The very suggestion made Bryan Hodge and his classmates at Chicago’s Moody Bible Institute laugh. As his friends scoffed and began rebutting the oddball idea, Hodge found himself on the other side, poking holes in their arguments. He finished a bachelor’s degree in biblical theology at Moody and earned a […]
Why Latino Catholics support marriage
By Mark Silk — July 23, 2010
The most notable result of the new Public Religion Research Institute survey of attitudes toward Proposition 8 is the divide between Latino Catholics and Latino Protestants. The former are more in favor of same-sex marriage than any other ethno-religious group in the survey; the former are more opposed. (That’s Catholics 57-38 in favor versus Protestants […]
Help! The President’s Faith-Based Initiative is Missing!
By Mark Silk — July 23, 2010
A few days ago, WaPo’s Michelle Boorstein put up a plaintive post on the newspaper’s Under God blog asking for help in finding out what’s up with the faith-based initiative out in the dozen federal departments that have dedicated officials embedded in them. I’ve been requesting access to even a few of these offices for […]
Priest under fire for serving Communion to a dog
By Tracy Gordon — July 22, 2010
TORONTO (RNS) The Anglican Church in Canada is dealing with fallout following a published report that a priest gave Communion to a dog. One congregant has quit St. Peter’s Anglican Church in downtown Toronto in protest over the June 27 incident, in which interim priest Rev. Marguerite Rea gave Communion to a man and his […]
Catholic group comes to aid of Democrats who supported health care
By Tracy Gordon — July 22, 2010
(RNS) A Catholic group that backed the health care reform bill will spend $500,000 on ads and organizers for at least four congressional Democrats who are under fire from anti-abortion groups for their support of the bill. Washington-based Catholics United isn’t backing any Republican members of Congress because none supported the health care reform bill, […]
Citing Madoff losses, American Jewish Congress suspends operations
By Tracy Gordon — July 22, 2010
NEW YORK (RNS) The American Jewish Congress, a national advocacy group that has argued for church-state separation on prayer in public schools, has laid off most employees and suspended operations. The 92-year-old organization lost $21 million of its $24 million endowment to Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, which devastated a range of Jewish groups, including Yeshiva […]
