Southern Baptists to stick (mostly) with same name

Adelle M. Banks

(RNS) A task force recommended Monday (Feb. 20) that the nation’s largest Protestant denomination maintain its official name but give Southern Baptists the option of calling themselves "Great Commission Baptists.’’ By Adelle M. Banks.
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Tempers flare over priest fired over Mass prayers

Tim Townsend | Feb 22, 2012

ST. LOUIS (RNS) A Roman Catholic bishop in Illinois confirmed that a priest was fired because he "simply would not and could not pray the prayers of the Mass" as written in a new translation of the Mass. By Tim Townsend.
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Southern Baptists won’t vote on name change

Adelle M. Banks | Feb 22, 2012

(RNS) When Southern Baptists gather for their annual meeting this June, they will not be asked to create a new official name after top leaders decided it was not worth pursuing. By Adelle M. Banks.
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Why Ash Wednesday belongs out of the church and out on the streets

Lauren Winner | Feb 21, 2012

The priests who offer ashes in public on Ash Wednesday are not doing something for the sake of convenience or expediency; Rather, we will be in public, with our prayers and our crosses of ash, to meet the Christ who died in a public place. By Lauren Winner.
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On Ash Wednesday, Episcopalians take it to the streets

Piet Levy | Feb 21, 2012

CHICAGO (RNS) At least 49 Episcopal churches in 12 states will offer ashes to passersby on Ash Wednesday at train stations, bus stops, college campuses and busy intersections. "We live in a time where we can’t just sit back and wait for people to come to us," said Bishop Stacy Sauls. By Piet Levy.
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Gotham’s no Gomorrah, says N.Y. Archbishop Timothy Dolan

Alessandro Speciale | Feb 17, 2012

VATICAN CITY (RNS) One the eve of his elevation to cardinal, New York's Archbishop Timothy Dolan said he doesn't caricature's of his city as a modern-day Gomorrah.
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Vatican leaks scandal looms large at meeting to elevate new cardinals

Alessandro Speciale | Feb 17, 2012

VATICAN CITY (RNS) It isn't anywhere on the official agenda, but as Roman Catholic leaders meet in Rome this weekend, looming in the background will be a recent string of Vatican leaks that reveal a bitter power struggle among the hierarchy. By Alessandro Speciale.
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Southern Baptists mull whether ‘Southern’ still fits

Roy Hoffman | Feb 16, 2012

FAIRHOPE, Ala. (RNS) For the Southern Baptist Convention, which has used the same name for nearly 170 years, changing its name to make it less "Southern" isn't easy. First, there has to be the will to do so. And on that, the jury is still out. By Roy Hoffman.
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Why do Mormons baptize the dead?

Daniel Burke | Feb 15, 2012

(RNS) Jewish groups are up in arms about a Mormon's decision to baptize the parents of Holocaust survivor and Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal. Which raises an interesting question: Why do Mormons baptize the dead? By Daniel Burke.
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French Mormons find a less hospitable ‘Mormon moment’

Elizabeth Bryant | Feb 15, 2012

CHESNAY, France (RNS) With 36,000 members and a history stretching back to the1850s, France's Mormon community is among the biggest and oldest in Europe. But while Mormons in the U.S. bask in the so-called "Mormon moment," French Mormons are facing stiff opposition in their bid to build the country's first Mormon temple. By Elizabeth Bryant.
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Lauren Winner tackles doubt, divorce and the priesthood

Yonat Shimron | Feb 15, 2012

DURHAM, N.C. (RNS) Lauren Winner is a jumble of contradictions: A Jew who found Jesus and recently the priesthood, an accomplished historian who rides an oversized tricycle to work -- and a memoir writer who wants to keep some details of her private life private. By Yonat Shimron.
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