Monthly Archives: December 2004
Catholic System Ineffective at Eliminating Clergy Theft
By RNS Blog Editor — December 28, 2004
c. 2004 Newhouse News Service NEWARK, N.J. _ Catholic Church law has required since 1983 that every pastor appoint a committee of lay members to help set spending priorities and manage the parish’s money. But when the Rev. Joseph Hughes was allegedly taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from an off-the-books bank account at Holy […]
NEWS FEATURE: Eastern Orthodox School Teaches Faith-Based Greek, Latin and `Holy Wisdom’
By RNS Blog Editor — December 28, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service PORTLAND, Ore. _ On the walls of Ingrid Schor’s classroom are maps of ancient Mesopotamia and pictures of the creation of the animals from Genesis that her students have colored in bright hues. The students’ handiwork offers hints of the central theme of Agia Sophia Academy _ providing faith-based, classical […]
NEWS FEATURE: Council of Churches Sees Progress in 2004 Nonviolence Focus
By RNS Blog Editor — December 24, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Participants in a yearlong Christian nonviolence initiative spotlighting the United States say it has encouraged the pursuit of peace, even if it appears that goodwill to all is still far from being achieved. “The idea is not to expect there will be some dramatic change in a year’s time […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — December 24, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service Pope Defrocks Priest Who Was Shot by Man Who Accused Him of Abuse (RNS) Pope John Paul II has defrocked a Baltimore priest who was shot in 2002 by a man who said he was a victim of the cleric’s abuse. Maurice Blackwell, former pastor of St. Edward’s Roman Catholic […]
COMMENTARY: Don’t Overlook Catholicism’s Positive Stories
By RNS Blog Editor — December 24, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) News is by its nature negative. Just read the headlines and you will find negative words in almost every one of them. The Catholic Church has had its share of sensational headlines over the past three years, most of them regarding the sex abuse scandal in the priesthood. Despite […]
Unique in a Divided Land, Israeli School Embraces Jews, Muslims, Christians
By RNS Blog Editor — December 24, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service JERUSALEM _ Tucked away in a working-class neighborhood, the Hand in Hand elementary school is unlike any other in this ethnically and religiously diverse city where children of different faiths are rarely educated together. Here, Jewish, Muslim and Christian kids literally learn hand in hand. In the fall, the school’s […]
COMMENTARY: New Book Ponders The Passion for Christians and Jews
By RNS Blog Editor — December 24, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) “The Passion of the Christ,” Mel Gibson’s cinematic version of the death of Jesus attracted great controversy and large audiences when the film was released last February. Critics, including both Christians and Jews, charged the movie transmitted anti-Semitic images that unfairly demonstrated Jewish responsibility and culpability for Jesus’ execution. […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — December 23, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service Republicans, Churchgoers Want More Religion in Political Life (RNS) While nearly half of Americans think religion has too much political influence, Republicans and people who attend church frequently tend to think it should have more, according to a just-released Gallup Poll. The poll, taken after the Nov. 2 elections, found […]
NEWS STORY: In Wave of Christian Unity, Communion Becomes More Inclusive
By RNS Blog Editor — December 23, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) They marched down the sloping concrete ramps of the Communion aisles by the thousands _ Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Congregationalists, Lutherans and even one Catholic priest. For more than a century, Christians had scattered throughout the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y. to receive the sacrament in the […]
NEWS FEATURE: Outrage Over Public Schools’ Handling of Christmas Reaches a Tipping Point
By RNS Blog Editor — December 23, 2004
c. 2004 Beliefnet (UNDATED) It was the snowflake that broke the reindeer’s back. When her children’s school forbade the wearing of Halloween costumes, Lisa Lowry was mum. When her children said they were discouraged from saying “Merry Christmas” lest they offend someone who doesn’t observe the holiday, she was frustrated. But when her flute-playing daughter […]
COMMENTARY: Rabbi: `Stop Stripping Christmas of Christianity’
By RNS Blog Editor — December 23, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Would you please do me a favor? Stop fooling with baby Jesus in the village square. And while you’re at it, don’t interrupt the kid singing “Silent Night” in the holiday pageant. It’s been years since this rabbi objected to public displays of creches, menorahs and Kwanzaa symbols. I […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — December 22, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service Aging Pope Tells Vatican Aides He Relies Increasingly on Their Help VATICAN CITY (RNS) In a rare reference to his increasing frailty, Pope John Paul II told his Vatican aides Tuesday (Dec. 21) that with the passing of the years he relies more and more on their help. The 84-year-old […]
NEWS STORY: Documentary Follows Trials of Church with Lesbian Pastor
By Kein Eckstrom — December 22, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) When filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond started a documentary on an urban church facing a new pastor, membership loss and financial troubles, they thought they had a compelling story to tell. But when the church’s associate pastor came out as a lesbian half way through filming and was later […]
COMMENTARY: When Darkness Seems to Close, Hope Surprises
By Tom Ehrich — December 22, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) It is semi-dark when we gather for worship in a church up North. Snow is falling, temperature plunging, the day not yet fully dawned. Darkness might have eased its hold during the closing hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” a gentle tune composed 600 years ago for French nuns. […]
NEWS FEATURE: Toronto Mosque Hailed as Flexible Model for Muslims in the West
By RNS Blog Editor — December 22, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service TORONTO _ The handful of girls and women arriving for Friday prayers at the Islamic center make small talk before removing their coats and shoes, tying their head scarves and quietly filing into the prayer room _ just as their Muslim sisters do the world over this day. After the […]
