Will there be a ‘mass exodus’ of religious groups from the Scouts?
(RNS) Now that Boy Scout delegates have taken their long-awaited vote and permitted openly gay Scouts, will there be a mass exodus by religious groups? It depends on who you ask.
Institutions
Is Pope Francis is a heretic? No, but he does raise questions
(RNS) Is Pope Francis endorsing heresy? It might look that way from headlines that made it seem as though the pontiff had said that everyone – even atheists! – were destined for heaven. What he actually said was boilerplate Catholic doctrine.
Evangelical leaders stand by pastor accused of abuse cover-up
(RNS) Several leading evangelical pastors and authors have come to the defense of a pastor accused in a lawsuit for covering up sexual abuse of children.
ANALYSIS: Can gay Catholics find a home in the Catholic Church?
(RNS) As U.S. Catholics grow increasingly accepting of homosexuality, there’s going to be inevitable conflict as an uneasy “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell” policy clashes with gay Catholics’ increasing visibility in the form of marriage licenses or wedding announcements.
Pope Francis: God redeemed everyone, ‘not just Catholics’
(RNS) In remarks that may prompt a theological debate about the nature of salvation, Pope Francis declared that God “has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone!”
U.S. missionary doctor suspended after challenging cardinal, nuns
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) The New York-based Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers suspended the Rev. Dr. William Charles Fryda after he refused to drop a case he filed three years ago against Kenya’s top cardinal and a group of nuns over control of two missionary hospitals.
Survey shows Catholic priests don’t like Mass changes
(RNS) Nothing can upset the folks in the pews as much as changing the liturgy that they’re used to, and that seemed likely to be the case when the Vatican ordered revisions to the familiar prayers of the Catholic Mass. But now, more than a year after the changes took effect, a survey of American priests shows that they are more disturbed by the innovations than their flock.
ANALYSIS: Does religious freedom report need more ‘teeth’?
WASHINGTON (RNS) Watchdogs say the State Department missed a key opportunity to put teeth into its annual assessment of global religious freedom, which was released by Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday.
N.J. priest faces judge for violating ban on access to children
HACKENSACK, N.J. (RNS) Wearing a bright orange prison jumpsuit, the priest at the center of the furor in the Archdiocese in Newark made his first court appearance on Tuesday on charges he violated a court-sanctioned ban on working with children.
COMMENTARY: The revolution is upon us
(RNS) Religious historians say that every 500 years, Christianity goes through a “massive transition,” as Phyllis Tickle puts it. We aren’t likely to comprehend this latest transition until it is further along. But two things are clear: Christianity in North America is being freed from its own roots, and Christianity no longer controls the flow.
