Monthly Archives: September 2009
A price too high
By Kevin Eckstrom — September 28, 2009
Gillian Flaccus of the AP has an incredibly moving account of what happens to (some) clergy abuse victims when they receive six-figure settlements from the Catholic Church. Flaccus builds her story around David Guerrero, who received $4 million as part of an abuse settlement. He’s now high on crystal meth, has spent through most or […]
Monday’s religion round-up
By Daniel Burke — September 28, 2009
Conservative Lutherans voted Saturday to take 12 months to decide whether to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but one large church in Arizona is already out the door. Some victims of clergy sexual abuse are finding that settlement money is less a blessing than a bane, and a former Catholic priest in Vermont […]
Cleveland Catholics ask Vatican to oversee their bishop
By RNS Blog Editor — September 25, 2009
CLEVELAND (RNS) Catholics protesting Cleveland Bishop Richard Lennon’s plan to close 50 churches are asking the Vatican to oversee Lennon’s actions. Separately, at least three Cleveland churches received letters from the Vatican this week (Sept. 20-26), saying their appeals of Lennon’s orders to close are being reviewed. Some parishioners from the three churches are members […]
Religious leaders press for binding pact on climate change
By RNS Blog Editor — September 25, 2009
NEW YORK (RNS) Representatives from various faith traditions, gathered this week in conjunction with United Nations meetings on climate change, urged political leaders to adopt “strong, binding targets” for the reduction of greenhouse gases. The Sept. 21 statement by religious leaders called upon industrialized nations “to act responsibly in mitigation efforts, by making the largest […]
Pope to visit Portugal and maybe England in 2010
By RNS Blog Editor — September 25, 2009
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI will travel to Portugal next May to visit the world-famous shrine to the Virgin Mary at Fatima, the Vatican confirmed on Thursday (Sept. 24), amid semi-official reports of a papal trip to England later in the year. The pope will preside over observances at Fatima on May 13, marking […]
Court dismisses $5 million judgment against anti-gay protestors
By RNS Blog Editor — September 25, 2009
(RNS) Members of Westboro Baptist Church, the anti-gay church that protests military funerals, won a court victory Thursday (Sept. 24) when a federal appeals court overturned a $5 million judgment against them. The father of a Marine who was killed in Iraq in 2006 sued Westboro pastor Fred Phelps and members of his Topeka, Kan., […]
Study: One in 5 Americans may be secular by 2030
By RNS Blog Editor — September 25, 2009
(UNDATED) The number of American adults who do not identify with a particular religion is growing and may comprise more than 20 percent of the population in two decades, according to a new study. Conducted by researchers at Trinity College, the study, entitled “American Nones: The Profile of the No Religion Population,” showed that people […]
Muslims pray for ‘soul of America’ at Capitol
By RNS Blog Editor — September 25, 2009
WASHINGTON — Swapping prayer rugs for massive plastic rain tarps, an estimated 3,500 Muslims gathered at the foot of the U.S. Capitol on Friday (Sept. 25) to pray for “the soul of America” in a grassroots demonstration of religious and national pride. The rally, organized by the Dar-Ul-Islam mosque in Elizabeth, N.J., was billed as […]
Friday’s religion round-up
By Daniel Burke — September 25, 2009
Thousands of Muslims are gathering at the Capitol for a prayer vigil. A federal appeals court dismissed a $5 million verdict against the anti-gay protestors from Wesboro Baptist Church, anti-abortion black church leaders say they back Obamacare, and the Illinois Supreme Court said a Jewish dentist had the right to disinherit gentile grandchildren. Less than […]
The Kirk-O’Connell connection
By Mark Silk — September 25, 2009
Lest you think religion and politics in Massachusetts aren’t connected.
Pro-Life, Pro-Obamacare
By Mark Silk — September 25, 2009
It’s significant that anti-abortion African-American religious leaders are now supporting the Democratic health care reform legislation, taking the president at his word that it is abortion-neutral. This helps separate the pro-life sheep (those just worried about abortion) from the pro-life goats (for whom abortion concerns mask thoroughgoing opposition).
Spiritual Politics, Anglo-Saxon style
By Mark Silk — September 25, 2009
For what it’s worth, here’s my guess: The fabulous Anglo-Saxon hoard discovered by that unemployed metal detectorist in Staffordshire was booty taken by King Penda of Mercia in his victory over the saintly King Oswald of Northumbria at the battle of Maserfield in 641 or 642. The hoard includes some Judeo-Christian bric-a-brac, as reported by […]
COMMENTARY: Life after Nazism
By RNS Blog Editor — September 24, 2009
(UNDATED) Albert Einstein (Time magazine’s “Person of the 20th Century”), Sigmund Freud (the founder of psychoanalysis) Henry Kissinger (the former secretary of state), Billy Wilder (the film director/screen writer), Kurt Weill (the composer of “The Three Penny Opera”) and Hannah Arendt (the political philosopher) … What story do these six people share? They were all […]
Orthodox patriarch to advocate for Mississippi River
By RNS Blog Editor — September 24, 2009
NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s 250 million Orthodox Christians, will convene dozens of experts here next month to discuss environmental challenges facing people in the Mississippi River Valley. Bartholomew, known in some quarters as the “green patriarch” for his environmental activism, has convened seven prior environmental gatherings […]
