Monthly Archives: May 2009
On second thought …
By Kevin Eckstrom — May 28, 2009
Retired Milwuakee Archbishop Rembert Weakland has stirred the waters lately with his new book in which he discusses — in fairly lengthy detail — his homosexuality. The New York Times was the first to break that story, and now Laurie Goodstein is back with Weakland 2.0 and his plans not to retire to a New […]
It’s elementary, my dear
By Daniel Burke — May 28, 2009
With Sonia Sotomayor poised to take a seat on the Supreme Court and become the sixth Catholic justice, the Wall Street Journal asks, why, in a country that’s only 25 percent Catholic, the faith has such a outsized presence on the court. Douglas Kmiec, the prominent jurist and Catholic Obama supporter, told the WSJ it […]
Strange bedfellows
By Daniel Burke — May 28, 2009
Gay marriage, and the fight over legal recognition thereof, has brought together some strange bedfellows, the NY Times reports. Ted Olson and David Boies, the opposing counselors in Bush v. Gore, the 2000 Supreme Court case that essentially handed the presidency to George W, have filed a federal suit – together – to overturn California’s […]
Obama nominees: from theology to diplomacy
By Adelle M. Banks — May 28, 2009
The White House has announced nominations of two theologians to serve as ambassadors for the administration. Miguel Diaz, a professor of theology at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University in Minnesota, has been nominated for the post of ambassador to the Vatican. He is a board member of the Catholic Theological Society […]
American exorcist plies his lonely trade
By Tracy Gordon — May 28, 2009
(UNDATED) Pity the poor exorcist, caught between evil spirits eager to inhabit human bodies and a skeptical society loath to believe demons exist outside of movie theaters. Even church leaders and clergy look askance at exorcists as peddlers of a practice best left in the Middle Ages. Most American exorcists, particularly those appointed by the […]
For Muslims, a final act of dignity from the living for the dead
By Tracy Gordon — May 28, 2009
PORTLAND, Ore. — Judy Nikukar was in her 40s and had been a Muslim for 15 years before someone invited her to help wash a body before burial. Nikukar considered whether she wanted to do it. She had seen only two dead bodies before — she was 6 when her great-grandmother died; 18 when her […]
COMMENTARY: U2 does it again
By Tracy Gordon — May 28, 2009
(UNDATED) In 1976, a group of Dublin teenagers with questionable ability but unquestioned passion started making music. Thirty-three years later, Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen (now known to the world as U2), have sold more than 145 million albums and have won more Grammy Awards (22) than any other band. Rolling Stone […]
Miguel Diaz Cubano
By Mark Silk — May 28, 2009
One other politically significant fact about Diaz: He’s Cuban-American. I would not be at all surprised to find him playing a role in normalizing Cuban-American relations–something Obama has already begun to do, and which the Vatican, with its own religious agenda, wants to foster. Diaz brings to the table a particular sensitivity to the role […]
Liberty University says no to student Democratic club
By Tracy Gordon — May 28, 2009
(RNS) Liberty University is drawing criticism for its decision to no longer recognize a Democratic Party student club as an official campus organization. Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of the university and son of its late founder, said the club has not been disbanded and can continue to meet on campus but will no longer […]
South African church still not `moving beyond apartheid’
By Tracy Gordon — May 28, 2009
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (RNS/ENI) A South African church that was suspended from the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in 1982 because of its support for apartheid is “still not ready for readmission,” leaders of the Geneva-based Reformed group were told. The Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika (Dutch Reformed Church of Africa), or NHKA, had been […]
Former Episcopal priest indicted on theft charges
By Tracy Gordon — May 27, 2009
(RNS) A Colorado priest accused of stealing money from his Episcopal parish before he left the denomination to join a rival church has been indicted on 20 counts of felony theft by a grand jury. The Rev. Donald Armstrong is accused of embezzling nearly $400,000 from the parish of Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church […]
Vatican Radio to accept advertising to help pay bills
By Tracy Gordon — May 27, 2009
VATICAN CITY (RNS) After 78 years of broadcasting the pope’s message around the world, Vatican Radio is to break with tradition and take paid commercials for the first time. The move to mix jingles and advertising with religious programming will help balance the books at the station, which employs 500 people, broadcasts in 47 languages […]
Ambassador to Vatican-Designate Miguel Diaz
By Mark Silk — May 27, 2009
It’s St. John’s theology prof. Miguel Diaz, and here’s the thumbnail just put out by the White House (with his surname oddly misspelled as DC-az). Miguel H. Diaz, Nominee for Ambassador to the Holy See Dr. Miguel Diaz is a Professor of Theology at St. John’s University and the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota. […]
Southwest families discover hidden Jewish roots
By Tracy Gordon — May 27, 2009
(UNDATED) Growing up in Wyoming to Catholic and Protestant parents, Isabelle Medina-Sandoval watched the women in her family practice strange customs — washing off babies’ baptismal water and setting aside some dough when they made tortillas. “As a teenager, I always had so many questions about spirituality, I always wanted to figure out the puzzle,” […]
10 minutes with … Richard Stearns
By Tracy Gordon — May 27, 2009
(UNDATED) About a decade ago, Richard Stearns made a dramatic career change, moving from the top, Jaguar-driving post with Lenox, a fine tableware company, to the presidency of World Vision U.S., an evangelical relief organization. In a new book, “The Hole in Our Gospel,” Stearns, 58, talks about the transformation in his own life and […]
