Monthly Archives: September 2009
Charm offensive
By Kevin Eckstrom — September 23, 2009
New York magazine is out with it’s lengthy profile of newly installed Gotham Archbishop Timothy Dolan. I’d agree with the magazine’s headline — “Charm Offensive” — but also its subhead: “If anyone can repair the church’s image, it’s Timothy Dolan.” I’d also wager that if there’s ever going to be an American elected pope (which […]
Wednesday’s religion round-up
By Daniel Burke — September 23, 2009
As heads of state meet at the UN in New York, 30 U.S. religious leaders said the “window is rapidly closing” on a Mideast peace plan. Catholic Bishop of Memphis Terry Steib, who is black, says racism played a part in the furor over President Obama’s speech at Notre Dame, and Archbishop Raymond Burke said […]
Pope faces crowded post-vacation agenda
By Tracy Gordon — September 23, 2009
VATICAN CITY — Ending a two-month working vacation at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence in the hills southeast of Rome, Pope Benedict XVI returns to the Vatican next Saturday (Oct. 3) with a full to-do list. Among the items on the pope’s agenda for this fall: Synod for Africa The day after his return, […]
10 minutes with … Tyler Perry
By Tracy Gordon — September 23, 2009
(A version of this story originally appeared on Beliefnet.com.) NEW YORK — Tyler Perry, you’ve heard the name. And even if you don’t know exactly who he is — writer, producer, director, and actor — you’re probably familiar with his gun-toting grandmother alter-ego character from most of his films, Madea. In the last five years, […]
COMMENTARY: Let them throw pie
By Phyllis Zagano — September 23, 2009
NEW YORK — By all accounts, Regis Philbin is a good guy. So I can’t understand why he and co-host Kelly Ripa staged a 270-person pie fight during “Live’s Guinness World Record Breaker Week.” Volunteers covered West 67th Street — and each other — with mounds of coconut custard. They handily overturned the previous record […]
Do you suck your thumb at us?
By Mark Silk — September 23, 2009
Oy veh! I’ve caught some flak from the gentlefolk at Religion Dispatches for describing that worthy electronic rag as a place for “professorial thumbsucking.” Louis Ruprecht thinks I’m giving them the finger. Actually, professors, a “thumbsucker” is simply the term journalists use for a “think piece.” Professorial think pieces are RD’s stock in trade. Heck, […]
Dolan Ensconsed
By Mark Silk — September 23, 2009
Robert Kolker’s New York profile of Timothy Dolan is what you’d expect from a professional magazine writer doing his thing for the Church’s newly arrived Happy Warrior: competent, enthusiastic without ignoring all criticism, and lacking any awareness of what’s going on in the hierarchy today. There’s a lot of attention to abortion and same-sex marriage, […]
The None Denomination
By Mark Silk — September 23, 2009
One of the more interesting findings of the new Trinity ARIS study of the Nones is that those who grew up with no religion (i.e. were Nones at the age of 12) are just as likely to switch to a religion in later life as those with a religion are to switch to something else. […]
Pat who?
By Adelle M. Banks — September 23, 2009
The Washington Post ran a story on Sunday about Regent University and its alumnus, Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert F. McDonnell, that had an interesting tidbit about university founder Pat Robertson. It quoted Kelly Duff, a 26-year-old law student who was at first concerned about attending the Virginia Beach, Va., school known for its overt […]
College students set for marathon C.S. Lewis reading session
By Tracy Gordon — September 23, 2009
MOBILE, Ala. (RNS) Students at the University of Mobile will begin reading aloud “The Chronicles of Narnia” on Thursday (Sept. 24) and won’t stop until the story’s completion on Friday. Narnia is the magical kingdom entered through a wardrobe closet in C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” the first installment of the […]
Oops!
By Daniel Burke — September 23, 2009
Lord knows, we’ve all had to run regrettable corrections, but this one published in England’s Daily Mail last Wednesday, made me chuckle. ‘Course, probably wouldn’t laugh if it was me they were writing about. “An article on May 25, 2007, ‘The Cult Guru Who Stole My Son’ made claims that William Van Gordon was a […]
S.C. Supreme Court rules for breakaway Episcopal parish
By Tracy Gordon — September 22, 2009
(RNS) A South Carolina parish that split from the Episcopal Church in 2004 can keep its church property, the state’s Supreme Court has ruled, handing a rare legal victory to conservative dissidents. A majority of members of All Saints Church at Pawley’s Island voted to secede from the Episcopal Church five years ago, after an […]
Russian Orthodox visit to Rome signals a thaw
By Tracy Gordon — September 22, 2009
MOSCOW (RNS/ENI) A Russian Orthodox official’s five-day visit to Rome, including a meeting with the pope, is being seen as a sign of thawed relations between the two churches under Pope Benedict XVI and the new Russian Patriarch Kirill I. Orthodox Archbishop Hilarion, who chairs external church relations for the Moscow Patriarchate, met with Benedict […]
Two longtime Southern Baptist executives to retire
By Tracy Gordon — September 22, 2009
(RNS) Two longtime executives of the Southern Baptist Convention have announced plans to retire in 2010, with each warning that new evangelism approaches will be needed in the denomination’s future. Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board, announced to his trustees on Sept. 16 that he would retire on July 31, 2010. “We are […]
Like the Talmud, the boxing ring calls to Foreman
By Tracy Gordon — September 22, 2009
LAS VEGAS — It’s less than two months until Yuri Foreman brings his personal dream to this town where dreamers rarely beat The House. On Nov. 14, Foreman, 29, will become the first Israeli fighter to compete for the World Boxing Association’s junior middleweight title against current champion Danny Santos at the MGM Grand Hotel […]
