medical ethics
O’Malley defends Kennedy’s Catholic funeral
By Tracy Gordon — September 3, 2009
(RNS) Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston on Wednesday (Sept. 2) defended his attendance at the funeral of Sen. Ted Kennedy, a prominent dissenter from Catholic teachings on gay rights and legalized abortion. O’Malley wrote on his blog that it was “appropriate to represent the church at this liturgy out of respect for the senator, his […]
COMMENTARY: Kidnapping unveils the `spirit of bondage’
By Tracy Gordon — September 3, 2009
(UNDATED) Why didn’t she escape? In 1991, 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped by Phillip Garrido at a school bus stop near her home in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. For the next 18 years, she was held captive in a concealed area behind her abductor’s home in Antioch, Calif., about 180 miles away. There, in […]
Churches step into health care debate
By Tracy Gordon — August 18, 2009
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Congress may be on summer recess, but Americans who are motivated by their faith are joining the conversation over changing the way that health care is paid for in the United States. The Huntsville Chapter of Health Care for Everyone-Alabama, for example, includes many who are motivated by their faith to support […]
Jews irked as cancer race scheduled for Rosh Hashana
By Tracy Gordon — August 17, 2009
PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) Friderike Heuer has walked in the Race for the Cure breast cancer fundraiser many times, but this year she’s hit a roadblock: The date of this year’s Portland race, Sept. 20, conflicts with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year. Her faith won’t allow her to attend. “I am pretty upset over it,” […]
Secular Buddhism
By Daniel Burke — August 12, 2009
It’s no secret that mindfulness meditation and other Buddhist-based cognitive studies are gaining in popularity in the West, particularly in the U.S. But in bringing mindfulness to the masses, is something lost in translation? That is to say, are Westerners gradually stripping Buddhism of its religious roots? Vince Horn, of the podcast “Buddhist Geeks,” ponders […]
Senate confirms Diaz as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican
By Tracy Gordon — August 5, 2009
WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. Senate on Tuesday (Aug. 4) confirmed a Cuban-born theologian as the ninth U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. Miguel H. Diaz, 45, will be the first theologian and the first Hispanic to serve as American envoy since Washington established formal diplomatic ties with the Holy See in 1984. A relative unknown before […]
Britain, hard-hit by swine flu, alters worship rituals
By Tracy Gordon — July 25, 2009
CANTERBURY, England (RNS/ENI) Fears about the spread of the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, are curtailing religious activities of both Christians and Muslims as they worship and express their faith, especially in Britain. Health authorities believe that the H1N1 flu pandemic is having a greater impact on Britain than on other European countries, […]
Pope meets Obama with abortion as topic No. 1
By Tracy Gordon — July 10, 2009
VATICAN CITY — President Obama met Pope Benedict XVI for the first time on Friday (July 10) in a closed-door meeting that a Vatican statement said covered multiple topics but focused on the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion. The pope also gave Obama copies of his recent encyclical on the global economy and a statement […]
JehovahâÂ?Â?s Witnesses more likely to die in childbirth, study finds
By RNS Blog Editor — June 12, 2009
(RNS) Pregnant women who are Jehovah’s Witnesses are six times more likely to die during childbirth and three times more likely to have serious complications than the general population, according to a new study by Dutch researchers. All of the cases of death examined by the researchers were caused by major obstetric hemorrhage, according to […]
For renowned ethicist, academic debates turn personal
By RNS Blog Editor — June 3, 2009
SALT LAKE CITY — The moment Brooke Hopkins’ heart stopped beating, Peggy Battin found herself in a scene whose ending she had written time and again. Doctors, nurses and aides swarmed Hopkins’ hospital bed, urgently working to save his life. Battin watched in horror as his eyes rolled back and his face grew ashen. A […]
Thou shalt not kill*
By Daniel Burke — June 3, 2009
The publisher of the anti-abortion newsletter that suspected murderer Scott Roeder subscribed to told the Des Moines Register on Tuesday that killing abortion doctors is biblically justified. The publisher, Dave Leach of Des Moines, told the paper that did not condone the shooting death Sunday of Dr. George Tiller, but he wouldn’t condemn it. “Based […]
Experts say case of missing teen reflects larger problem
By Tracy Gordon — May 22, 2009
(UNDATED) As authorities search for a missing 13-year-old cancer patient whose mother shunned chemotherapy, an expert on faith healing said the case demonstrates just how these cases can get out of hand — and the need to prevent them in the future. On Tuesday (May 19), Daniel Hauser of Sleepy Eye, Minn., and his mother, […]
Vatican notes ObamaâÂ?Â?s search for `common groundâÂ?Â? on abortion
By Tracy Gordon — May 18, 2009
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican’s official newspaper called President Obama’s commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame on Sunday (May 17) part of his “search for common ground” with opponents of legalized abortion. “The search for common ground: this seems to be the path chosen by the president of the United States, Barack Obama, […]
After Notre Dame, a search for common ground
By Tracy Gordon — May 18, 2009
(UNDATED) Will President Obama’s plea for “common ground” on abortion during his much-anticipated speech at the University of Notre Dame on Sunday (May 17) persuade ardent abortion opponents to work with the new president? At first glance, it doesn’t seem likely. “Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and […]
Court mulls treatment for teenage `medicine man’
By Tracy Gordon — May 13, 2009
(RNS) A Minnesota court is mulling whether to order chemotherapy for a teenager with cancer whose parents are resisting the treatment because they believe their son is a Native American medicine man. The parents of Daniel Hauser, who has Hodgkin’s lymphoma, believe they are being forced to choose between chemotherapy, which violates the family’s religious […]
