Bible Belt churches putting Bush in more than prayers

The smiling face of President Bush is on prominent display in the Rev. David Johnston's office at King of Kings Church, superimposed on a thank-you letter for a $2,000 campaign contribution.

Johnston's 120-member evangelical congregation backs the president wholeheartedly on social issues most important to his church. There is even a red-white-and-blue church Web site, saveamericanow.us, that King of Kings started in part to campaign against gay marriage

Vatican birth control policy spurned

The Vatican's conservative policies on birth control have received a blow from one of the Roman Catholic Church's most loyal regions after opinion polls showed overwhelming support in Latin America for measures of contraception.
The move also represents an assault on US policies which, under George Bush, have blocked aid to organisations supporting abortion.

The polls, released at an inter-governmental health conference in Puerto Rico, show at least three quarters of those questioned in Mexico, Colombia and Bolivia supporting contraception being made available to adolescents and even higher majorities in favour of the use of condoms to prevent HIV/Aids

Catholic politicians' dilemma an old one

The current pressure on Sen. John Kerry and other Catholic politicians from fellow Catholics on the political and ecclesiastical right is not a new phenomenon. Ever since the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, abortion has become a highly sensitive political as well as moral issue within the Catholic church.

Catholic politicians -- mostly liberal Democrats but also a few moderate Republicans -- have found themselves under a special kind of fire since the mid-’70s. In the mind of their Catholic critics, Roe v. Wade (1973) was an illegitimate decision, and Catholic legislators and executives are still bound by the moral principle that abortion is tantamount to murder and, as such, always to be prevented at whatever cost.

However, once the Supreme Court had determined abortion to be a constitutionally guaranteed right, Catholic legislators were faced with the dilemma of either upholding their oath of office to enforce the law regardless of their personal beliefs or of subordinating the laws of the land to the teachings of their church

Pope Hopes for 'Leap Forward' in Catholic-Orthodox Relations

Pope John Paul II welcomed the leader of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians to the Vatican on Tuesday (June 29) with an appeal for a "leap forward" in relations between the long-divided Catholic and Orthodox churches.

Britons pick sterilisation as contraceptive

British adults have the highest sterilisation rate in Europe, according to research published today.

Experts said men and women were turning to the most drastic form of contraception because they were not being given access to or information about other methods which could give them equal confidence that they would not risk an unwanted pregnancy.

Six out of ten women who had been sterilised said that doctors had not discussed long-term contraceptive alternatives such as the coil or hormonal implants.

Clerical Errors

The basic contention of Celibacy, a new documentary by the Emmy-winning director Antony Thomas (tonight at 10 p.m. ET on HBO), is that sexuality is the Galileo of today's Roman Catholic Church. In 1632, when that Italian physicist published his revolutionary heliocentric theory, he was threatened with torture by the Inquisition. Galileo recanted, but it would take until 1992—the year of the Rodney King riots and Bill Clinton's defeat of George H.W. Bush—for the church to admit that, yes, perhaps the earth really did revolve around the sun. The doctrine of imposed celibacy for all ordained clergy seems to be stuck in a comparable limbo, a lapse between theory and practice. If Roman Catholicism wishes to survive, shouldn't it rethink its mandate of complete abstinence for priests and nuns?

In Asia, a Trend to Destroy Catholic Schools

The destruction of Catholic schools has become a new trend to suppress religious freedom in Asia, warns a priest-journalist.

Father Bernardo Cervellera, director of AsiaNews, described this problem when presenting the "2004 Report on Religious Freedom," written by the pontifical association Aid to the Church in Need, of which he is a collaborator.

"In Communist areas and those influenced by religious fundamentalism, they are no longer content with suppressing individuals; they destroy all objects and buildings linked to freedom of worship," Father Cervellera said.

"Of course, churches are destroyed, as happens in Indonesia, China and India, " he said.

Catholic priest from central Wisconsin heads to war in Iraq

A Roman Catholic priest from central Wisconsin has been called up to the war in Iraq - not to fight, but to counsel soldiers who do.

The Rev. Dan Farley, an Army chaplain since 1995, said Monday that he got a call at the beginning of June informing him he was being involuntarily mobilized.

He requested and was granted an extension to July 7 so that he could be on hand when his Portage County parish's new $2.5 million church was dedicated Sunday.

"When I first received the call, I was angry, I was hoping that I'd be able to stay here longer," Farley told The Associated Press. "But then I came to see that it was a new door that was opening, and the work that I was doing here was coming to completion."

Muslims Find Recognition Elusive in Catholic Italy

It is only a short metro ride from Milan's chic designer stores but the city's most controversial mosque may as well be a world away.

Surrounded by dull apartment blocks and grimy warehouses, the Viale Jenner mosque is a microcosm of the problems of Islam in Catholic Italy.

And, since Sept. 11, 2001, it has come under a microscope of suspicion.

Questioning Catholic hierarchy's priorities

Raw, anti-Catholic bigotry sank Democrat Al Smith's 1928 bid to become the first Roman Catholic U.S. president. It almost cost Democrat John Kennedy the presidency 32 years later.

Senator John Kerry is expected to become the Democratic standard bearer in this year's presidential election. A former altar boy, he's a practising Catholic and, like Kennedy, he has said his Catholicism would not prevent him from acting in the best interests of his country.

But there's an ironic twist this time round. While Smith and Kennedy struggled to neutralize fears that a Catholic president would be a Vatican puppet, many U.S. Catholics accuse Kerry of not being Catholic enough.

Spit it out: Catholic schools ban chaw

REGINA - Regina's Catholic schools have banned chewing tobacco. According to the division's superintendent, many students were using the tobacco in the classroom.

School officials fear students may mistakenly think smokeless tobacco is a healthy alternative to smoking.

A study done four years ago showed nearly 20 per cent of Grade 9 students use chewing tobacco, while six per cent of Grade 6 students use it.

What has faith got to do with votes? Kerry can learn from Clinton

WHEN former United States president Bill Clinton was eight, he started taking himself to church. When he was 10, he publicly committed himself to Jesus. As a boy, he begged his Sunday school teacher to take him to see evangelist Billy Graham. And as anybody watching his book roll out knows, he still exudes religiosity. He gave Dan Rather of CBS News a tour of his Little Rock church, and talked about praying in good times and bad.

More than any other leading Democrat, Mr Clinton understands the role religion actually plays in modern politics. He knows Americans want to be able to see their leaders' faith. A recent Pew survey showed that for every American who thinks politicians should talk less about religion, there are two Americans who believe politicians should talk more about it.

New Age: Conference affirms need for new analysis/response

An international conference on the New Age celebrated in the Vatican on June 14-16, an initiative of various dicasteries interested in studying sects and new religious movements, has come to a close. Delegates from episcopal conferences from twenty-two countries, members of the Roman Curia and a representative from the General Union of Superiors participated in the study session.

During the conference, the episcopates' answers to questions on the document, "Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the 'New Age'" (2003), were examined and, in addition to the summary of these answers, two fundamental aspects were studied: the discernment of the techniques and finalities of the New Age, and the comparison between Christian spirituality and the mystical experiences proposed by the New Age.

Child Soldiers and human trafficking

Rebels arrive in your village. Your parents and the parents of your neighbours are beaten, speared and bludgeoned to death in front of you and your friends.

Everyone between the age of 8 and 16 is rounded up. Then, loaded on your backs with loot taken from your own families you are force-marched across the country. The abuses continue. You watch friends murdered for lagging behind and their corpses left to rot where they fall or are thrown into the surrounding bushes

Priests Risking Their Lives in Colombia

After meeting with leaders of a right-wing death squad, the Rev. Leonel Narvaez was driving home along a pitted rural road when he heard rattling in the car's engine compartment.

Pulling over to investigate, he popped the hood - and discovered two hand grenades on the verge of exploding, their safety pins nearly jiggled loose.

Brushes with death are becoming common for priests in Colombia's civil war. Going beyond their normal duties of baptizing babies, celebrating Mass and hearing confession, they intervene to secure freedom for hostages, escort civilians to safety through combat zones and broker temporary truces.

CHRISTIANS IN EUROPE, ATHEISTS IN RUSSIA MAKING ROOM FOR OTHERS

The controversy in the EU over who and how will make political and economic decisions in accordance with the common constitution has moved to the background another dispute, a religious one. Despite dramatic protests from the Poles, Italians and Spanish, the European Union Constitution has got no reference at all to the Christians roots of European civilization.

Actually, by adopting this wording of its fundamental law, Europe which was built by the Christians and on Christian blood is quite purposefully changing its spots. It is becoming ever more Voltairean with a kind of deistic approach or ever more secular and multi-confessional: a huge inflow of Moslem immigrants couldn't but change the religious climate on the Old continent. St. Bartholomew's night has gone into the oblivion and most European leaders are not campaigning today for the only rightful Christian faith professed by their subjects but competing in political correctness.

As a result, the Vatican is offended, which has been voiced by its spokesman Joaquin Navarro, and the all-European constitution can expect no easy approval at referendums in Catholic countries.

Pope Disappointed by Absence of Christianity in Eurotext

Constitutional Treaty Still Faces Votes in Member States

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 20, 2004 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II publicly expressed his disappointment over the text of the constitution, backed by European Union leaders on Friday, which fails to mention the continent's Christian roots.

"We cannot be severed from our roots," the Pope said today in Polish before bidding farewell to the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray the Angelus.

The Holy Father saluted his homeland, whose government tried to have the role of Christianity mentioned in the Constitutional Treaty.

"I thank Poland which, in the European forum, faithfully defended the Christian roots of our continent, from which arose the culture and development of the civilization of our time," he said.

On Saturday, Vatican spokesman Joaquín Navarro Valls published a statement saying that the "Holy See cannot but express its distress over the opposition of some governments to the explicit recognition of the Christian roots of Europe."

"It is a question of disregard of the historical evidence and of the Christian identity of European peoples," said the director of the Vatican press office.

"The Holy See expresses heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to those governments that, aware of the past and of the historical horizon in which the new Europe is taking shape, worked to express concretely its recognized religious heritage," Navarro Valls continued.

"Not to be forgotten is the intense commitment of different entities to have the Christian heritage of Europe mentioned in this treaty, stimulating the reflection of political leaders, citizens, and public opinion on a question that is not secondary in the present national, European and world context," he said.

The Vatican spokesman expressed satisfaction over Article 51 of the constitution, "which safeguards the status of religious confessions in the Member States, and commits the Union to maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with them, recognizing their identity and specific contribution."

The EU leaders must now turn to their own citizens for approval of the constitution. If approved in all 25 EU nations, the text will replace the existing five treaties which govern the union, set up in 1957 to promote economic and political integration to prevent future wars.

Religious network plans Christian 'American Idol'

The Wright Entertainment Group, best known for managing the careers of teen stars such as Britney Spears and 'N Sync, is negotiating to create a Christian version of the popular TV show "American Idol."

The show, to be called "Gifted," is scheduled to debut in October on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, the world's largest religious television network.

A spokesman for Orlando-based Wright Entertainment, Philip McIntyre, confirmed Thursday that the company is part of a joint venture with Matt Crouch, son of the founders of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, to create the talent-search show. The joint venture, now called Wright Generation, is negotiating with a private investor, whom McIntyre declined to name, to finance the project.

Melbourne boy gets "divorce" from mother

A 14-year-old Melbourne boy has been granted a divorce from his mother on the grounds of irreconcilable differences.

According to the report published in the Sunday Telegraph yesterday, the "divorce" was sanctioned by the Children´s Court last month after counselling for the warring parties failed. A family court spokesperson and a parents´ rights activist said it was likely he was the youngest Australian child to have divorced his family.

The newspaper says the boy´s distraught mother, a laboratory technician, said she felt let down and betrayed. She said it was ludicrous that a boy could divorce his family

VIRGIN MARY OF TIKHVIN ICON RETURNS TO RUSSIA

The Virgin Mary of Tikhvin Icon is returning to Russia through Latvia after 60 years in the U.S.

The legend runs that the icon was painted by one of Christ's apostles Luke in the first century AD in Jerusalem when Virgin Mary was still alive. Then the image went to a specially built church in Constantinople to be a main relic of Byzantine Empire, the world-first Orthodox Christian state. In 1383 the icon disappeared and emerged in some time in Rus (Russia) on the bank of the river Tikhvinka flowing into Lake Ladoga (Russia's northwest). Soon it became one of the most celebrated Russian religious relics. From 1560 into the 1920s the icon was kept in the Tikhvin Uspensky (Dormition) Monastery built on Ivan the Terrible's order. The Nazis who occupied the region during WWII withdrew the relic first to Pskov and then forwarded to Riga

The `sex priest' stuns Argentina and titillates it

They used to call him the "Click Priest," because he was best known for signing off the programming on an Argentine TV station each night.

But Friar Jose Mariani has now become Argentina's "Sex Priest" following the publication of a book of racy memoirs that is on track to become a global publishing phenomenon.

Pope singles out Madonna for criticism

Madonna might start singing, “Pope, Don’t Preach.”

The lapsed-Catholic diva has come under scrutiny from the Vatican because of her support of Kabbalah. The former Material Girl has become the world’s highest-profile member of the Kabbalah Centre, a controversial offshoot of Judaism, and has even taken on the Jewish name Esther. But now, the Vatican is holding a special summit with Catholic leaders from around the world, hammering out a way to deal with so-called “New Age” religions and fads that pose a “threat” to Christianity.

The council, which met last week, singled out “Kabbalah as espoused by Madonna” — as well as a number of other faddish religions, according to a report.

“In the past, the Pope has criticized Madonna for the contents of her concerts,” says cult expert Rick Ross, who has closely followed the activities of the Kabbalah Centre. “Now, ironically, it’s become a theological issue.”

Bishops: Kerry, Pro Choicers 'Cooperating with Evil'

Politicians who support abortion "are cooperating with evil" and should not receive Communion U.S. Catholic bishops said in a statement, approved in vote of 183 to six, and issued Friday at their meeting in Denver.

But the bishops left it up to pro-abortion politicians to refrain from receiving Communion when they are in a state of serious sin, which includes support of abortion, while approving of fellow bishops who deny the sacrament to pro-abortion lawmakers if they choose.

Peruvian cathedral restoration finished

After 9,000 gallons of paint, more than 600 new lights and hundreds of hours of painstaking cleaning and rebuilding, Lima's 400-year-old Roman Catholic cathedral celebrated its restoration Thursday.

Located in the former capital of Spain's South American colonial empire, the Lima cathedral oversaw much of the evangelization of indigenous peoples on the continent.

Cardinal Ratzinger Joins U.S. Bishops Debate On Withholding Eucharist from Pro-Abort Politicians

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has weighed into the debate within the American hierarchy, saying that public figures who openly dissent from Church teachings should not receive Communion. In an official letter to the US bishops, which has not been made public, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith writes that Catholics who are "living in grave sin" or who "reject the doctrine of the Church," should abstain from the Eucharist.

Cardinal Ratzinger's letter was prompted by the sharp differences among American bishops on the question. These differences have been discussed at length by US bishops and Vatican officials in recent weeks, as the American bishops made their ad limina visits to Rome. The existence of Cardinal Ratzinger's letter was first reported by the Italian daily La Reppublica, and subsequently confirmed by informed sources at the Vatican.

Bishops are likely to decide key issue

Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis said Thursday that despite "a difference of opinion" he expects a statement on Communion and Catholic politicians will come today from the nation's bishops.

"You can imagine there's been a lot of discussion about it," he said.

Lost Catholic community found in China after 50 years

The Catholic agency AsiaNews.it reports today that a community of 5,000 lay Catholics has been located in a remote part of China who have "kept the faith" without a priest and without contact with the universal Church for 50 years.

It has taken a further two years for the news to seep back to the media that a Catholic priest has been in regular contact with them again since 2002.

Monks count unusual blessing - 06/13/04

They still tool around these gently rolling green hills in the same sturdy Chevys. They still wear their same black robes. Their rooms are spartan as ever, and still called cells.
And the soothing Gregorian chants echo deep from these sandstone walls just as they have for 150 years.

For the monks of St. Meinrad Archabbey, life follows immutable rhythms: Bells peal crisply from Romanesque towers, noontime prayers are read from white oak choir stalls, breakfast and dinner are eaten in silence.

Not much can change this brotherhood of holy men who have taken a vow of poverty. Not war, not peace and certainly not money.

Not even a gift of nearly $27 million

Can Mel Gibson add another credit to his success?

"Can the popular film maker Mel Gibson now claim some credit for having triggered the beatification of a saint?Catholic News Service reports today the Vatican 'has confirmed that Pope John Paul II plans to beatify a controversial 19th-century nun whose visions helped inspire Mel Gibson to make the movie 'The Passion of the Christ'.'

'German Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich will be proclaimed 'blessed' along with four others Oct. 3 in a Mass at the Vatican, officials at the Congregation for Saints' Causes told Catholic News Service June 16. Beatification is a major step toward sainthood.'"

The Catholic Communications Office - Press Release

The Catholic Communications Office
PRESS RELEASE
16 JUNE 2004
STATEMENT FROM CATHOLIC BISHOPS ON THE OUTCOME OF JUNE 2004 MEETING IN MAYNOOTH

Mass Translation: Irish Bishops want new draft

In a media release received early this morning (Australian time) from the Irish Bishops' Conference it has been confirmed that the Irish Bishops have requested a new draft English translation of the Mass that, while "faithful to the Latin original" reflects "a style that is contemporary and accessible to people in their worship and prayer".

The Irish Bishops join a growing chorus of Bishops from the English speaking world, including the Australian Catholic Bishops, who are unhappy with the present draft translation that has been circulated for comment.

The issue of the English translation of liturgical texts has been controversial since the mid-1990s when, at the behest of conservative lobbyists around the world, the Vatican intervened in the affairs of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy in an endeavour that has been widely interpreted as seeking to give more power to those wanting more centralisation of power in the Church on politically and theologically conservative lines

Woman admitted to parish after death

After a family's appeal, St. Louis' archbishop has made an exception and posthumously let a woman become a member of an independent Polish parish at odds with the cleric over its control.
Virginia Swiercz — baptized 95 years ago at St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Church, where she also was married — had sought to become a member of the parish after more than a half century away

Voices raised to question, challenge centuries-old dictate for Catholic priests

The requirement of celibacy for priests -- a centuries-old dictate of the Roman Catholic Church -- is increasingly being questioned if not challenged outright.
Yet for many priests, as well as parishioners, celibacy is valued as an act of total self-giving -- a way to demonstrate one's devotion to prayer, commitment to a holy life and total allegiance to priestly duties.

Bringing the issue to the forefront are two topics taken directly from the headlines -- sexual abuse by priests at various dioceses across the nation and a growing priest shortage. Some Catholic laity and priests say that the two are reason enough to open discussion on allowing priests to marry.

Catholic Church may dump gay employees who marry

Catholic church leaders across the state are considering rewriting employment policies in the wake of legalized gay marriage and may go so far as to call for the firing of church workers who tie the knot with same-sex partners.

The proposed new policies - which also include a more lenient proposal to let employees follow their own consciences - are articulated in memos circulating among the state's four bishops and their staffs. No decision on which policy to embrace is imminent, said several people who have seen the documents.

Catholic Teaching: Does abortion trump all other issues?

When Dick Durbin's hometown priest slammed the Senator's pro-choice voting record, Durbin's office did not sit idle. It compiled a scorecard ranking 24 Catholic Senators by their votes on issues of concern to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Abortion made the list, but so did the minimum wage, the death penalty and media ownership, all weighted equally. Democrats did better than Republicans, and the test's high scorer was John Kerry. An incensed (and low scoring) Senator Rick Santorum fumed that abortion and "how many television stations somebody owns ... are not equivalent moral issues." True, but Durbin did express a prevalent Democratic curiosity: Does the church see the right to life as trumping all its other concerns?

Kerry's Choice for Religious Outreach Director 'Confounding,' Group Says

Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign has hired a new director of religion outreach, who is being described by a Catholic group as "a curious choice."

Mara Vanderslice, who formerly worked as religion outreach director for Democrat Howard Dean, was raised without any faith and didn't become an evangelical Christian until she attended Earlham College, a Quaker school known for its adherence to pacifism, the Catholic League said on Monday.

According to Catholic League President William Donohue, when Vanderslice was in college she was active in the Earlham Socialist Alliance, a group that supports convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal and openly embraces Marxism-Leninism.

Vatican summit aims to combat threat of 'alternative' religions

Catholics from more than 25 countries are in Rome this week to hammer out a strategy for combating the threat posed to Christianity by "New Age" religions and fads.

"Astrologers believe that the Age of Pisces - known to them as the Christian age - is drawing to a close," explained an exhaustive report on the New Age produced by the Catholic church last year. And as priests around the world watch their congregations dwindle through boredom or plain disbelief, the Church believes that the moment has come to fight back.

Monsignor Peter Fleetwood, one of the authors of the report, said those at the closed-door conference include priests and lay people from Latin America "worried that they can be pushed out by something that has come from abroad", and from Asia where "a lot of traditional religions are reviving".

Faith-based investing: Taking God's name in gain?

THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is reviewing an unorthodox IPO for the public to subscribe to shares to buy a foreclosed property from its mortgagee bank. However, the shares will not be traded on the Singapore Exchange. Investors will get, instead, annual dividends if there are profits from its operations as well as a share in the proceeds when the property - the 45-unit Alocassia Apartments in Bukit Timah - is eventually sold.

The problem is that the IPO prospectus scarcely mentions it is slated for religious use, a theme which is trumpeted on the website of the company, Aloecassia Ltd. However, as long as a supplementary or replacement document is issued to address the deficiency, the initial public offering can be salvaged.

Report finds outsourcing of religious services in US

Facing shortage of priests, Roman Catholic Churches in the United States, Canada and Europe have for years been "outsourcing" religious services to India and other developing countries, says a newspaper report.

Priests in India are handling Mass for special "intention" or requests for services to remember deceased relatives and thanksgiving prayers.

In Kerala, which has one of the largest concentrations of Christians in India, churches often receive intentions from overseas.

Vatican hesitant on US Communion debate

Vatican officials do not have easy answers to the questions raised by the US debate on communion for politicians says respected Vatican reporter, John Thavis of CNS.

In one of its main reports this week, Catholic News Service is carrying a story from respected Vatican reporter, John Thavis, that the Vatican might not have any easy answers to the questions raised by the debate in the US on denying individuals communion.

Thavis writes: "Despite the divergent policies adopted by several U.S. bishops, the Vatican has been slow to intervene, and it may choose not to do so publicly. One reason is that the Vatican does not want to be seen as telling the U.S. bishops what to do. Another is that Vatican officials do not have easy answers to the questions raised by the debate."

Zondervan to distribute 'Passion' to North American Christian bookstores

The world’s largest publisher of the Bible will help Christians take home the “Passion.”

Zondervan has signed an agreement with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Inc. to be the exclusive North American distributor of “The Passion of the Christ” for thousands of Christian bookstores when the movie is released on DVD and videotape this summer.

Man tortured for preaching Christianity

Saudi Arabia's religious police have imprisoned a Catholic foreign worker for "preaching Christianity" and allegedly selling drugs.

Brian Savio O'Connor's family in India and Catholic officials, insist, however, the drug charges are trumped up and his only "crime" was to be seen praying, according to the Compass Direct news service.

Catholic peacemakers challenge Israel's separation wall

Members of the British Section of Pax Christi met in London at the weekend to launch their new campaign: "People of the Holy Land Need Bridges not Walls" - an education and political campaign challenging the separation wall in Israel.

The organisations which works with idea of reconciliation and nonviolence is encouraging churches and groups in the UK to learn more about the reality of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, using the separation wall as a focus.

Catholic Group Targets Gay Marriage Votes

The lobbying arm of the state's four Roman Catholic dioceses is sending letters to every parish in the state, urging Catholics to let lawmakers who did not vote to ban gay marriage know of their "profound disappointment."

At the same time, the letter encourages the "highest praise" for lawmakers who opposed gay marriage during the March constitutional convention when the Massachusetts Legislature voted narrowly to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2006 that would ban gay marriage while allowing civil unions for same-sex couples.

While the letter from the Massachusetts Catholic Conference does not endorse particular candidates, or compare incumbents to challengers on the gay marriage issue, it comes just five months before all 200 seats in the Legislature are up for grabs, and is consistent with other recent efforts by the Archbishop of Boston and the bishops of Fall River, Worcester and Springfield to influence politics.

Religion may have saved him

Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols may have been spared the death penalty for a second time because a jailhouse conversion to Christianity gained him sympathy from the jury, lawyers in the case said yesterday.

The state prosecution spent an estimated $10 million in an attempt to secure the death penalty. Instead, it ended with the same sentence Nichols received in federal court six years ago: life.

Juror Daniel Cochran said as many as eight of the 12 jurors agreed to impose a death sentence, but declined to disclose further details of the deliberations.

Vatican to release study on Inquisition

The Vatican will soon publish a study on the Inquisition, containing the proceedings of an international conference held in Rome in 1998.

Catholic World News reports that the Vatican has scheduled a press conference for Tuesday, at which three cardinals will speak about the new study.

Cardinal Roger Etchegary was involved because the original conference on the Inquisition, held in October 1998, was organised by the committee to prepare for the Jubilee Year 2000, which he chaired.

The October 1998 conference brought together 30 scholars, who met behind closed doors to discuss the actions of the Inquisition, putting that work in the proper historical context. The research submitted to that committee was partially responsible for the decision by Pope John Paul II to issue an apology for the episodes of intolerance that have marked the history of the church; he included the use of coercive methods by the Inquisition.

Pope Explains Why He Convoked "Year of the Eucharist"

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 13, 2004 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II said he convoked the "Year of the Eucharist" because the program he presented to the Church at the start of the millennium is based on "starting afresh from Christ."

Noting that many countries were celebrating the solemnity of Corpus Christi today -- it was observed last Thursday in Rome -- the Pope dedicated his traditional greeting to pilgrims to highlight the central character of the Eucharist for Christians.

"The Year of the Eucharist takes place in the framework of the pastoral project that I presented in the apostolic letter 'Novo Millennio Ineunte,' in which I invited the faithful to 'start afresh from Christ,'" he said before praying the Angelus.

"Contemplating more assiduously the countenance of the Incarnate Word, really present in the Sacrament, they will be able to exercise themselves in the art of prayer and commit themselves in that 'high degree' of the Christian life, which is the indispensable condition to develop in an effective manner the new evangelization," the Holy Father continued.

This is why, when celebrating Corpus Christi last Thursday, the Pope convoked the Year of the Eucharist for next October, on the occasion of the International Eucharistic Congress of Guadalajara, Mexico.

The "year" will end in October 2005 with the ordinary assembly of the Synod of Bishops, whose theme will be "The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church."

"The Eucharist is at the center of the life of the Church. In it, Christ offers himself to the Father for us, making us participants of his sacrifice itself, and he gives himself to us as bread of life for our journey on the paths of the world," the Pontiff said from the window of his study overlooking St. Peter's Square.

Addressing a crowd of thousands, the Holy Father said that this Year of the Eucharist seeks to "make every community grow in faith and love toward the mystery of the Body and Blood of the Lord."

Catholic leader calls for Orange walk ban

THE leadership of the Roman Catholic Church in the west of Scotland has made an unprecedented attack on Orange marchers, complaining of their "bile, bigotry and boorishness".

Bush asked Vatican for help with bishops

A Roman Catholic newspaper says President George W. Bush asked a Vatican official to help push American bishops on certain cultural issues.

Bush made the request during a June 4 meeting with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, after his meeting with the pope, the New York Times reported Sunday.

Keeping the faith in Catholic leadership

U.S. bishops must continue to allow annual reviews of their dioceses to prove to Catholics that the church truly wants to move past its sexual assault scandal.

There is only one decision to be made next week when the national meeting of Catholic bishops takes up the issue of how to proceed on reforms to prevent sexual abuse by clergy.

The gathering is in Denver, and the imperative is for the bishops to go forward with a second annual review of U.S. dioceses to ensure that the church isn't backsliding on the guidelines adopted two years ago.

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Lawmakers urge Pentagon to probe treatment of Muslim chaplain

Four Democratic members of Congress are calling on the Pentagon to investigate the Army's treatment of a Muslim chaplain who was suspected of espionage and imprisoned for 76 days before all charges were dropped.

The Army's decision to drop all charges against Capt. James Yee "raises important questions about the strength and legitimacy of initial assertions by Army officials that Capt. Yee had engaged in espionage and treasonous conduct at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba," Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., and three other House members said in a letter to the Pentagon's inspector general.

´Nuff said: 'Buddha bikinis must go'

Sri Lankan police and customs officials have been ordered to seize Buddha Bar music and bikinis with Buddha images, officials said on Thursday.

State Attorney Nihal Jayawardene asked for strict enforcement of laws that prohibit the commercial use of religious symbols and said Buddha Bar music and the bikinis would fall under the measures.

Canadian Catholic Priest Running for Politics Promises Not to Vote against Abortion

Rev. Des McGrath, a retired Catholic priest is running for the New Democratic Party in the current election despite the fact that the Catholic Church forbids priests to run for political office. However the situation is further complicated by the Catholic priest's promise not to vote against abortion.

Loyalists force Catholic woman to flee

A CO Down woman today described how she had been forced from her "dream home" by a campaign of terror from loyalist paramilitaries which culminated in a hoax bomb being left outside her house this week.

Police have appealed for information after the device was left in the garden of the woman's home at Railway Street in Comber yesterday and her car was also set alight.

The 32-year-old Catholic woman, who is too afraid to be named, said this had been the latest in a series of threats since she moved into the area in May.

Judgment day has arrived for ex-bishop

SHE'S still not prepared to be named in public, but chances are you know her story.

As a 15-year-old schoolgirl boarding at an Anglican hostel in Forbes, central west NSW, she lost her innocence to her "padre", Donald Norman Shearman, a priest who would go on to become bishop of Rockhampton and feature prominently in the scandal that destroyed Peter Hollingworth's glittering career as governor-general.

On Thursday, she will finally get her day of reckoning with the man she blames for ruining her life. After all these years, the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane has convened a tribunal to hear misconduct charges against the Rev Shearman, now 77, and comfortably retired to a Brisbane bayside address