The introduction of the new Roman Missal was the top religion story of the year, according to a survey of Catholic News Service editors and reporters.
Unsurprisingly, Pope Benedict XVI was voted the top newsmaker, as he has been every year since 2006. The late JP2, somehow, snuck in at number four, preceding Sister Elizabeth Johnson, the theologian.
NCR’s John Allen says the Catholic priest shortage, which didn’t make the CNS list, is the most important Catholic story of our time.
B16 said he knows that Christmas this year will be “very difficult” for many families because of the faltering world economy.
Lowe’s pulled its ads from “All-American Muslim” after a Florida Christian group complained that the reality show is too pro-Muslim. Others called for a boycott of the big box store and Lowe’s promptly apologized for having “managed to make some people very unhappy.”
Mitt Romney bet Rick Perry $10,000 that the health-care plan he championed as governor of Massachusetts was not a prescription for the rest of the country. The LDS church does not condone gambling, WaPo notes.
Another awkward moment in Saturday’s debate came when moderators asked if marital infidelity should be considered when assessing political candidates. Newt Gingrich called it a “very very important issue,” and said he “had to go to God for reconciliation” after his own transgressions. Will Iowans be as forgiving?
Gingrich also rendered his historical verdict that the Palestinians are an “invented people.”
The NYT reports that if the race comes down to Romney and Gingrich, it will be the first time a mainline Protestant is not among a major political party’s leading candidates.
The Obamas took a short walk to St. John’s Episcopal Church on Sunday, where the pastor compared the president to John the Baptist. Stay away from dancers, Mr. President.
Atheist bloggers out to prove that they can be good without God gave a humanitarian agency its biggest online fundraiser.
The Russian Orthodox Church added its influential voice to calls for free and fair elections in Russia, according to the NYT.
A firestorm has erupted on the campus of Yeshiva University in New York over a school-newspaper column that detailed a female student’s walk of shame after a sexual tryst.
For some reason, the NYT editorial board found it necessary to pontificate about Tim Tebow.
A Venezuelan Nativity scene includes Hugo Chavez among the wise men (pic at left), provoking howls of protest.
Finally, Cardinal John Foley, a longtime head of social communications for the church who was often described as the “nicest guy in the Vatican,” died Sunday in Darby, Pa., where he was born 76 years ago.
Yr hmbl aggregator,
Daniel Burke
