Roman Catholic Church
Meet Father Josh: a happily married Catholic priest in a celibate world
By Tim Sullivan — February 17, 2020
Josh Whitfield is a husband, a father of four and a relentlessly good-natured priest beloved by the parishioners at Dallas' St. Rita Catholic Community.
NFL team’s deep Catholic ties behind role in abuse crisis
By Jim Mustian, Brett Martel, and Reese Dunklin — February 12, 2020
(AP) — The controversy that has led fans to question what exactly the New Orleans Saints did for the church and whether it was appropriate.
Making an idol of brain-injured patients
By John J. Paris and Kevin Wildes — February 10, 2020
(RNS) — A failure to appreciate the historical context of the ‘sanctity of life’ has led some to distort its meaning.
A young woman’s suicide puts focus on church’s counseling for LGBT Catholics
By Carina Julig — January 29, 2020
(RNS) — After Colorado barred gay conversion therapy for minors, the death of a once-devout college student has spurred debate about how religious counselors handle homosexuality.
What lifting pontifical secrecy for clergy abuse cases will change for victims
By Claire Giangravé — December 19, 2019
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — 'This is a tremendous step forward in transparency' and for the rights of victims and the accused, said a veteran canon lawyer.
Surge of new abuse claims threatens church like never before
By Bernard Condon and Jim Mustian — December 3, 2019
(AP) — The day the Catholic Church has long feared has come, with 15 states extending or suspending their statute of limitations to allow abuse claims stretching back decades.
The priest who channeled Black Power into the Catholic Church
By Matthew J. Cressler — December 2, 2019
(RNS) — George Clements teamed with Black Panthers and helped create space to be both ‘authentically Black’ and ‘truly Catholic.’
George Clements, Chicago priest known for adopting sons, dies at 87
By Emily McFarlan Miller — November 26, 2019
CHICAGO (RNS) — The civil rights activist's life turned into a made-for-TV movie after he became the first Catholic priest to adopt a child.
Pope Francis’ Japan visit fulfills lifelong missionary dream
By Claire Giangravé — November 21, 2019
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — As a young man, Pope Francis says, he hoped to one day become a missionary in the island nation of Japan, inspired by the Jesuit missionaries who first brought Catholicism there.
Pope brings his ‘show, don’t tell’ evangelization to Thai Catholics
By Claire Giangravé — November 21, 2019
BANGKOK (RNS) — Pope Francis praised Thai Catholics as 'missionary disciples' for their work in health care and serving others during his visit to the mostly Buddhist nation this week.
Four powers the pope needs to grant the new chief of Vatican finances
By Thomas Reese — November 20, 2019
(RNS) — The problem facing the pope's new head of Vatican finances is not only the church's history of mismanagement and corruption, but a lack of transparency and clear lines of authority.
Students lobby Congress on DACA and global warming
By Thomas Reese — November 19, 2019
(RNS) — More than 1,500 students descended on Washington, D.C., this week to lobby Congress on global warming and DACA, the program protecting immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for most of their lives from deportation.
The rise of fundamentalist Catholicism
By Mark Silk — November 12, 2019
(RNS) — The recent Amazon synod has exposed just how far conservative Catholicism has been reshaped in the image of American evangelicalism.
Behind Weird Christian Twitter, millennials bent on rebelliously orthodox belief
By Tara Isabella Burton — November 8, 2019
(RNS) — Weird Christianity may still be a fringe identity, but it gets at a much bigger question about the future of Christianity in an increasingly fragmented, irreligious age.
Texas grand jury declines to indict monsignor in consent case
By Nomaan Merchant and Nicole Winfield — October 22, 2019
HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas grand jury has declined to indict the onetime deputy to Cardinal Daniel DiNardo on charges he sexually assaulted a married woman in a case that raised questions about consent in the #MeToo era.
