Daniel Burke
Daniel Burke worked for Religion News Service from 2006-2013. He now co-edits CNN's Belief Blog.
All Stories by Daniel Burke
What’s a Guy Gotta Do?
By Daniel Burke — January 14, 2008
According to a letter released by SNAP on Friday, former Green Bay Bishop Aloysius Wycislo moved a former priest John Patrick Feeney from Green Bay to another diocese while keeping his molestation problems on the downlow in 1983. According to SNAP’s letter, Wycislo wrote: “As I go through the total file of the hearings, your […]
Churches feel pinch of rising health care costs
By Daniel Burke — January 11, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Unlike many other pastors in the Church of the Brethren, Kendal W. Elmore stuck with his denomination’s medical insurance plan for 34 years, even as premiums escalated. The 60-year-old pastor from Toledo, Ohio, says he was told the higher costs made health care more affordable for older and less […]
A Prepositional Proposition
By Daniel Burke — January 10, 2008
This piece from National Catholic Reporter on the Jesuits’ General Congregation in Rome, relates a speech by Slovenian Cardinal Franc Rode. Jesuits, says, Rode, are to think with the church, not for the church. One little preposition makes a lot of difference, don’t it? Rode, says NCR: “specifically urged the Jesuits to greater fidelity in […]
God, Help Me Be Pure … But Not Yet
By Daniel Burke — January 9, 2008
That’s the only line of St. Augustine’s “Confessions” I recall from college. Read into that what you will. Turns out Pope kinda agrees with me on this one. Benedict XVI said Wednesday that Augustine’s desire to be good but reluctance to give up the spoils of youth should have a lot of resonance for today’s […]
A Degree in McPeace, Supersized
By Daniel Burke — January 9, 2008
The Kroc (as in Ray Kroc, of McDonald’s fame)Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame has established a Ph.D. program in peace studies, according to a press release. The program welcomes applications from scholars of all religious and secular traditions for its first doctoral class in fall 2008. Students can pursue […]
“God Made You a Man”
By Daniel Burke — January 9, 2008
That’s what Charlene Hastings said she was told when she called to inquire about breast enlargement surgery at Seton Medical Center, a Catholic hospital in Daly City, Calif. Now the San Francisco resident is suing the hospital, claiming officials there discriminated against her because she had a sex-change operation. Hastings, 57, had already had the […]
Padre Pio to Be Exhumed
By Daniel Burke — January 9, 2008
Apparently, reports that the saint’s family was upset over the proposed exhumation were greatly exaggerated. CNS says:-The body of St. Padre Pio will be exhumed, studied and displayed for public veneration from mid-April to late September in Italy, said the archbishop who oversees the shrine where the saint is buried. Archbishop Domenico D’Ambrosio, papal delegate […]
Jesuits, sui generis
By Daniel Burke — January 8, 2008
J. Peter Nixon, over on Commonweal’s excellent blog, has a interesting commentary on why the Jesuits have been so controversial over the centuries. Nixon says “even more sympathetic Catholics … may be inclined to wonder why the Society is so often in the thick of intra–ecclesial controversy. By way of answer, I’d like to suggest […]
In Centerfield – Number 16, Pope Benedict
By Daniel Burke — January 8, 2008
I’d just about give my right arm to hear legendary Yankee Stadium announcer Bob Sheppard (often invoked, by my family at least, as the “voice of God”) make that call. The WashPo’s Jacqueline Salmon has a story about the pope’s April visit to the nation’s capital. The only public event planned is a Mass at […]
Tibetans forced to oppose Dalai Lama’s return
By Daniel Burke — January 7, 2008
Anyway, on this happy Monday morning, Reuters has news that Chinese officials have been forcing Tibetans to sign a petition opposing the Dalai Lama’s return to his Himalayan homeland. It will be interesting to see what happens during this summer’s Olympics. Will the world continue to turn a blind eye to China’s environmental and human […]
Tammy Faye’s Widower Weds
By Daniel Burke — January 4, 2008
Entertainment Tonight (yes, I know) is reporting that Tammy Faye Bakker Messner’s widower, Roe Messner, has remarried. Five months after Tammy Faye died of cancer, Messner married Melanie Hart on Dec. 7, in a “traditional format,” at “A Special Memory Wedding Chapel ” in Las Vegas, ET reports. The $59 wedding included special requests from […]
Pat’s Picks
By Daniel Burke — January 3, 2008
Religious broadcaster and sometime clairvoyant Pat Robertson has announced his God-inspired predictions for 2008, the AP reports. Apparently, we’re in for more violence around the world and $150-per-barrel oil. Also, the broadcaster says there will be a major stock market crash in 2009 or 2010. “The Lord was saying that there’s going to be violence […]
Never has a Toto comparison been more apt
By Daniel Burke — January 3, 2008
At least that’s what this e-mail from my inbox offers. This blog is best served by quoting the e-mail itself, I think, which comes from a Mr. Daryl Toor, who calls himself CEO/Chief Awareness Officer for Revelation Press “Three candidates in particular have had their religious heritage; commitment and beliefs challenged – both in the […]
God Doesn’t Do Waste, Or Does God?
By Daniel Burke — January 3, 2008
I’m not one to go picking theological fights with the likes of Rowan Williams, but I do have some questions about his New Year’s message. The Archbishop, who is “first among equals,” of the world’s 77 million Anglicans, brings the basic message that in our disposable culture we moderns consume, and waste, much, from plastic […]
Minnesota and the Sinful Six
By Daniel Burke — January 3, 2008
Six states has positively sinful tax policies, according to a business and law professor at the University of Alabama Law School. According to this NY Times story, Professor Susan Pace Hamill, who has a divinity degree in addition to her secular credentials, has penned a book, “As Certain as Death” that seeks to document how […]
