Monthly Archives: March 2005
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — March 17, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Cardinal Urges Catholics to Boycott “The Da Vinci Code” VATICAN CITY (RNS) Denouncing “The Da Vinci Code” as a “castle of lies” that play on anti-Catholic sentiment, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone of Genoa has urged Catholics to boycott the best-selling thriller about the life of Jesus. “Don’t read it and don’t […]
NEWS FEATURE: Colleges Use Popular Culture to Teach Religion, Philosophy
By RNS Blog Editor — March 17, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Elves, sorcerers and hip-hop poets are steering college students to God and the meaning of life. A New York professor plays scenes from “The Lord of the Rings” movies to illustrate the philosophical principles in J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary work. An Indiana professor shows how the gritty rhymes of fallen […]
COMMENTARY: Leave the Anti-Blasphemy Laws in Europe
By RNS Blog Editor — March 17, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Creeping theocracy watch, continued: A court has ruled that a fashion company can’t run ads that make fun of the Last Supper. To be specific: They can’t make fun of a painting done 1,500 years after the event. Pretentious denim-vendors Girbaud parodied Leonardo DaVinci’s famous painting; bishops complained, and […]
NEWS STORY: Episcopal Church to Freeze Same-Sex Blessings, Elections of All Bishops
By Kein Eckstrom — March 17, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The Episcopal Church will not elect any new bishops _ gay or straight _ anywhere in the United States until mid-2006 under a self-imposed moratorium adopted by church bishops late Tuesday (March 15). The bishops, facing international condemnation for the election of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire, […]
NEWS ANALYSIS: For Terri Schiavo’s Family, No Easy Answer to Ethics Questions
By Richard Allen — March 17, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The legal battle over the fate of 41-year-old Theresa Marie “Terri” Schiavo may be close to an end. Judge George W. Greer of Pinellas County, Fla., has ruled that at 1 p.m. on Friday (March 18), Terri’s husband, Michael Schiavo, “shall cause the removal of nutrition and hydration.” For […]
NEWS SIDEBAR: Robinson Not `Anxious’ About Anglican Communion Report
By Kein Eckstrom — March 17, 2005
c. 2004 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The openly gay Episcopal bishop whose consecration now threatens to split the Anglican Communion said he is not “anxious” about a forthcoming report that will likely raise the pressure on him to step down. Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire said the Episcopal Church and his diocese […]
RNS Weekly Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — March 16, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service `Miss Canada Pakistan’ Pageant Comes Under Fire From Muslims TORONTO (RNS) The organizer of a beauty pageant that will pick Miss Canada Pakistan this weekend says she will not be deterred by Muslim conservatives opposed to the event on religious grounds or moderates who say it demeans women. The contest, […]
COMMENTARY: A Diverse, Urban Church Reinvents Itself With Doors Open to All
By Tom Ehrich — March 16, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service INDIANAPOLIS _ I mentally rewrite the start of my sermon after hearing a cellist play Bach’s “Air on a G String.” I am touched too deeply to proceed as if nothing has happened. “It takes a brave preacher to speak after a cellist plays Bach,” I say. “Music is our […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — March 16, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Conservatives Say California Gay Marriage Ruling Aids Amendments Drives (RNS) Conservative activists say Monday’s (March 14) ruling by a San Francisco judge that overturned a statewide ban on gay marriage will ignite efforts to pass amendments to state and federal constitutions. In his ruling, San Francisco County Superior Court Judge […]
NEWS FEATURE: Labyrinths Help Seekers Walk, Run or Even Crawl Their Faith
By RNS Blog Editor — March 16, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) This Easter season, lines are forming on church campuses and in parish halls to walk labyrinths in a metaphoric search for treasures of the spirit and the soul. As churches incorporate the labyrinth in Lenten and Easter rituals, they are drawing a different crowd, more comfortable moving through a […]
NEWS STORY: Catholic Nun Begins Sentence Related to Protest, Says It’s `Jesus Way’
By RNS Blog Editor — March 16, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Before going behind bars Tuesday (March 15), Sister Lelia “Lil” Mattingly said she expected jail would be cold and dreary compared to life in a convent. But the nun sentenced in connection with a protest in Georgia said her imprisonment follows Jesus’ way, “to speak the truth to power […]
NEWS ANALYSIS: Violence Begets Violence in Darfur
By RNS Blog Editor — March 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service NYALA, Sudan _ War is not hard to find in Darfur. You hear it behind gated compounds as bands of security forces roam the streets and fire off their guns. You feel it as a plane flies over a hamlet, and fearful villagers grimly look overhead, wondering if it is […]
NEWS ANALYSIS: Violence Begets Violence in Darfur
By RNS Blog Editor — March 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service NYALA, Sudan _ War is not hard to find in Darfur. You hear it behind gated compounds as bands of security forces roam the streets and fire off their guns. You feel it as a plane flies over a hamlet, and fearful villagers grimly look overhead, wondering if it is […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — March 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Catholic Leaders Take Steps to Strengthen Cooperation With Laity WASHINGTON (RNS) Three years after a sexual abuse scandal damaged the Catholic Church’s credibility with parishioners, Catholic lay and religious leaders launched a new group Monday (March 14) to address financial and management challenges faced by the American church. In their […]
NEWS STORY: Doctors Advise Pope to Guard Against Infection, Limit His Speaking
By RNS Blog Editor — March 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ Pope John Paul II, back in the Vatican following surgery for severe breathing problems, was advised by medical experts Monday (March 14) to guard against infection by avoiding crowds and to limit his speaking. The 84-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff left Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic hospital at dusk […]
