Catholic
NEWS STORY: State Department names religious freedom advisory committee
By Kim Lawton — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The U.S. State Department Tuesday (Nov. 12) formally announced the formation of a special advisory committee to study religious persecution around the world and recommend U.S. foreign policy responses. The panel is comprised of 20 members from across the religious spectrum and is chaired by Assistant Secretary of […]
PERSPECTIVE: JEWISH POWER: In media and politics, Jewish power is real, but has its limits
By Ira Rifkin — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Author J.J. Goldberg has broken a time-honored Jewish taboo. He has dared to discuss openly the power that Jews have in American society, mere mention of which often prompts hyper-sensitive Jewish defense organizations to cry foul. American Jews, said Goldberg, author of the newly published”Jewish Power: Inside the […]
NEWS STORY: VIOLENT TOYS: Group releases list of unacceptable playthings
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ A toy based on the movie”Independence Day”that includes models of real public buildings that collapse when”bombed”is among the toys that a Maryland organization is urging parents not to purchase this holiday season. Daphne White, executive director of The Lion & Lamb Project based in Bethesda, Md., said the”dirty […]
SPECIAL REPORT: RELIGION’S EFFECT ON ELECTION ‘96: Religious right a much tamer animal i
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The religious right emerged from the 1994 election like a tiger, claiming a clear-cut victory in turning Congress over to conservative Republican control. After this week’s election, the religious right, while hardly declawed, seems a much tamer animal. Bob Dole, favored by the religious conservatives in spite of […]
Presents of mind and spirit: Books and music for the holidays
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Everyone know’s it’s better to give than to receive. And better still, during the holiday season is to give something of value, something with meaning, a gift that will last long after the celebrations have concluded. So here’s a sample of this year’s best inspirational and thought-provoking books […]
SPECIAL REPORT: RELIGION’S EFFECT ON ELECTION ‘96: Religious right a much tamer animal i
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The religious right emerged from the 1994 election like a tiger, claiming a clear-cut victory in turning Congress over to conservative Republican control. After this week’s election, the religious right, while hardly declawed, seems a much tamer animal. Bob Dole, favored by the religious conservatives in spite of […]
NEWS STORY: Catholic bishops take stand against assisted suicide
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops Wednesday (Nov. 13) said the U.S. Supreme Court debate over assisted suicide has brought the United States to”a new crossroads”in the ongoing discussion over the value placed by society on human life. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) urged the high court […]
NEWS STORY: Despite historic accord, Vatican-Israel relations far from smooth
By Ira Rifkin — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Three years after the Vatican and Israel agreed to establish diplomatic relations, efforts to extend that agreement to everyday reality remain hampered by painful Jewish memories of the past and the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Arabs, a prominent Israeli rabbi and American Catholic official said Thursday (Nov. […]
Saying goodbye: Religious community reacts to cardinal’s death
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (UNDATED) As news of Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin’s death Thursday (Nov. 14) reached people of all faiths, there was an outpouring of sentiment celebrating the life of the Archbishop of Chicago and his work within and beyond the Catholic Roman Church. Here is a sampling of comments: Pope John Paul […]
TOP STORY: HEROINES OF HANUKKAH: Jewish feminists revive tales of the heroines of Hanukkah
By Ira Rifkin — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service UNDATED _ As a young girl, Lucy Steinitz felt her Jewish sensibilities stirred each Hanukkah as she listened to the often repeated story of how some 2,100 years ago Mattathias and his five sons _ including the legendary Judah the Maccabee _ routed their Syrian oppressors, recaptured the Jerusalem temple […]
TOP STORY: THE YEAR IN REVIEW: The year in religion: A time to build up, a time to break down
By Carl Anderson — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service UNDATED _ In the world of religion and ethics, 1996 was a time of mending ties and breaking them, of bridges built and churches burned and safety nets unraveling for the poor. Deep fissures _ social and sexual, ethnic and racial, political and theological _ tore at the fabric of […]
FEATURE STORY: HEROINES OF HANUKKAH: Jewish feminists revive tales of the heroines of Hanukkah
By Ira Rifkin — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service UNDATED _ As a young girl, Lucy Steinitz felt her Jewish sensibilities stirred each Hanukkah as she listened to the often repeated story of how some 2,100 years ago Mattathias and his five sons _ including the legendary Judah the Maccabee _ routed their Syrian oppressors, recaptured the Jerusalem temple […]
NEWS STORY: PENTHOUSE `EXPOSE’: Episcopal priest named in Penthouse expose vows libel suit
By Carl Anderson — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The Rev. Lloyd Andries, an Episcopal priest accused in a recent Penthouse magazine story of participating in homosexual orgies at his Brooklyn, N.Y., church, denied the charges Tuesday (Nov. 5) and said he would file suit against the magazine over the allegations.”I categorically deny the veracity of the article […]
Peace prize for East Timor activists draws praise and blame
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (UNDATED) _ When a Roman Catholic bishop and an exiled political activist from East Timor were chosen to receive the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize world attention was focused on a long-simmering but long-ignored dispute _ the struggle by primarily Catholic East Timor to gain its independence from Indonesia, the world’s […]
Defending priestly celibacy, bishop salutes a mentor and model
By Carl Anderson — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS) _ He didn’t say so explicitly, but Bishop Anthony Pilla of Cleveland, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, might have had Chicago Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin in mind Monday when he delivered an impassioned defense of the priesthood and priestly celibacy. Pilla’s presidential address, an examination […]
