Francis X. Rocca
Francis X. Rocca is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Francis X. Rocca
Saudi king to meet pope for the first time
By Francis X. Rocca — November 1, 2007
Pope Benedict will reportedly receive King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the Vatican next Tuesday, in the first meeting ever between a pope and a Saudi monarch. Saudi Arabia and the Holy See do not have diplomatic relations. And the practice of Christianity (or any religion besides Islam) is forbidden in the kingdom-a matter that […]
The Pope says, pay your taxes
By Francis X. Rocca — November 1, 2007
Pope Benedict told a crowd of 30,000 in Rome yesterday that it is a Christian’s “duty to take on fiscal responsibilities, as serious and unpleasant as they may be.” In other words, pay your taxes-even if you think they’re too high. This might seem an unremarkable statement coming from a religious leader, but remember that […]
Tony Blair: Catholic by Christmas?
By Francis X. Rocca — October 31, 2007
Word around the Vatican is that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will finally become a Roman Catholic this December, in a private ceremony at the London residence of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor. Longstanding rumors of a Blair conversion gained credibility this past June when the British leader, whose wife Cherie is a Catholic, visited Pope […]
Old Latin Mass news
By Francis X. Rocca — October 31, 2007
An Italian magazine reports that the Vatican will soon issue a set of regulations regarding celebration of the “extraordinary rite,” commonly known as the old Latin Mass. In a document released this last July, Pope Benedict permitted regular celebration of the so-called Tridentine rite wherever there is a “stable group of faithful who adhere to […]
Vatican pushes hot buttons at the U.N.
By Francis X. Rocca — October 31, 2007
The Holy See’s representative to the United Nations has touched on a couple of controversial and politically loaded topics in recent days: the environment and the war on terrorism. On Monday, Archbishop Celestino Migliore called protecting the environment a “moral imperative” that “must not be sacrificed on the altar of economic development.” He noted that […]
There musn’t be a morning-after
By Francis X. Rocca — October 30, 2007
Pope Benedict told a delegation of Catholic pharmacists that they should exercise their right of “conscientious objection” by refusing to provide “products that have clearly immoral purposes such as, for example, abortion or euthanasia.” Benedict specifically warned against the use of “certain molecules that have the goal of preventing the implantation of the embryo.” The […]
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