Catholics

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Nearly Half of Small Nation Showed Up for Pope

About 600K faithful converged on park in East Timor to hear Francis speak

(Newser) - An estimated 600,000 people—nearly half of East Timor's population—packed a seaside park Tuesday for Pope Francis' final Mass, held on the same field where St. John Paul II prayed 35 years ago during the nation's fight for independence from Indonesia. The remarkable turnout was a...

Swear You Saw Stigmata? Vatican Has New Guidelines

Church officials update norms to confirm Virgin Mary visions, other supernatural claims

(Newser) - The Catholic Church has a long and controversial history of the faithful claiming to have had visions of the Virgin Mary, of statues that purportedly wept blood tears, and of stigmata that erupted on hands mimicking the wounds of Christ. On Friday, the Vatican will announce new norms to help...

Bishops Take Drug Cartel Matters Into Their Own Hands

Catholic clergy is trying to negotiate for peace, says Mexican government isn't doing its job

(Newser) - Four Roman Catholic bishops met with Mexican drug cartel bosses in a bid to negotiate a possible peace accord, and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Thursday he approves of such talks. The revelation by the bishop of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, Jose de Jesus Gonzalez Hernandez, illustrates the extent to which the...

Vatican Bends Its Rules Regarding Ashes of the Dead

Families may request to keep a small portion, so long as the rest resides in a sacred space

(Newser) - The Vatican has slightly softened its stance when it comes to the ashes of the dead, saying Tuesday that Catholic families may keep a small portion of their relative's cremated ashes in a "place of significance" to them rather than in a church or cemetery. It's the...

Dodgers Do 180 on Pride Night After 2nd Round of Backlash

MLB team uninvited LGBTQ+ charity group after conservative complaints, then reinvited them

(Newser) - It didn't seem out of the ordinary that the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence , an LGBTQ+ charity and satirical performance drag group in which participants dress as nuns, had been invited to the Los Angeles Dodgers' 10th annual Pride Night next month. The group was set to receive a "...

Podcaster Loses Job Over Coach's Words

West Virginia's Bob Huggins used a homophobic slur, twice

(Newser) - West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins will keep his job after twice uttering a homophobic slur and dissing Catholics in a radio interview. A podcaster who aired his comments in full isn't so lucky. The controversy started Monday, when Huggins was being interviewed on WLW-AM radio, reports the Cincinnati ...

In Northern Ireland, a Big Religious Shift

There are now more Catholics in Northern Ireland than Protestants, which could affect future politics

(Newser) - Ten years ago, the national census revealed that Protestants still had the numbers over Catholics in Northern Ireland, though the gap was a slim one: 48% to 45%, respectively. Now, that ranking has flipped, per the 2021 demographics poll released Thursday. While the percentage of those who are Catholic (or...

Archbishop to Pelosi: No More Communion for You

San Francisco's Salvatore Cordileone says House speaker must repudiate support for abortion rights

(Newser) - The conservative Catholic archbishop of San Francisco said Friday that he'll no longer allow US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to receive Communion because of her support for abortion rights. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said he sent Pelosi a letter April 7 expressing his concerns after she vowed to codify the...

Report: French Catholic Church Showed 'Cruel Indifference'

Commission finds 330K children may have been sexually abused by clergy, laypeople since 1950

(Newser) - A new report slams the Catholic Church for "cruel indifference," with clergy in France accused of sexually abusing an estimated 216,000 children since 1950. Jean-Marc Sauve, head of the inquiry commissioned by the French Catholic Church, says most of the victims over the past seven decades were...

Pope on George Floyd: Abortion Isn't the Only 'Life' Issue

Francis implores Catholics—US Catholics especially—to pay attention to racism

(Newser) - Cardinals black and white have spoken out about George Floyd's death, and the Vatican’s communications juggernaut has shifted into overdrive to draw attention to the cause he now represents, per the AP . Last week, Pope Francis denounced the "sin of racism" and twice identified Floyd as the...

Court Gives OK to Steve Bannon for Right-Wing 'Political Academy'

Ex-Trump adviser will set up Dignitatis Humanae Institute in centuries-old Italian monastery

(Newser) - Steve Bannon, President Trump's controversial former top adviser, has emerged victorious in his quest to set up a "right-wing Catholic political academy" in Italy, per Reuters . A ruling released Tuesday notes that the Dignitatis Humanae Institute will be able to set up shop in an 800-year-old monastery to...

Bishops Just Gave Catholics a Big Lenten Dispensation

Some dioceses are letting followers eat meat on Fridays (but not Good Friday) due to coronavirus

(Newser) - Catholics who don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent, as well as give up other things during the 40 or so days of the religious observance before Easter, probably didn't anticipate this year also sacrificing hanging out with friends, heading out to restaurants and bars, and attending most...

Parents: Our Autistic Son 'Is Being Shunned' by Church

NJ couple says 8-year-old was turned down for first Holy Communion because he's nonverbal

(Newser) - A New Jersey couple is railing against their church for a "disgraceful and disheartening" act against their 8-year-old son, which they say is due to his disability. Per NBC News , Anthony LaCugna is autistic and nonverbal, and because of that, his parents say, Saint Aloysius Church in Jackson refused...

Catholic Bishops Call for Married Men to Be Ordained

Bishops from the Amazon also want to revive debate over women becoming deacons

(Newser) - Catholic bishops from across the Amazon called Saturday for the ordination of married men as priests to address the clergy shortage in the region, an historic proposal that would upend centuries of Roman Catholic tradition, the AP reports. The majority of 180 bishops from nine Amazonian countries also called for...

Pope: It's an 'Honor If the Americans Attack Me'

He responds to 'bombshell' book about US critics

(Newser) - Pope Francis acknowledged his growing opposition within the conservative right wing of the US Catholic Church and said in off-hand remarks aboard the papal plane Wednesday it is "an honor if the Americans attack me." Francis commented on critics of his papacy when he received a copy of...

Teen Refused Vaccine and Sued, Then Got 'Itchy'

Lawyer says Jerome Kunkel knew he was at risk of chickenpox

(Newser) - No regrets. That's the mentality of Jerome Kunkel, the northern Kentucky teenager who objected to getting the chickenpox vaccine on religious grounds, only to come down with symptoms last week. "He's fine. He's a little itchy," attorney Christopher Wiest tells WXIX . The Washington Post reports...

Catholic Teen Files Lawsuit Over Chickenpox

Jerome Kunkel, 18, objects to it on religious grounds

(Newser) - A Catholic high school student in Kentucky is suing for his right to avoid the chickenpox vaccine—on religious grounds, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Jerome Kunkel, 18, says the Northern Kentucky Health Dept. violated his religious freedom by telling unvaccinated students to stay away from Our Lady of the Sacred...

Pope Who Says He's a Tech 'Disaster' Has a New App

'Click to Pray' lets users keep on top of pontiff's prayers, as well as add their own

(Newser) - First we had a drive-thru for Ash Wednesday ; now there's a Pope Francis-sponsored app for praying. The pontiff who once called himself a techie "disaster" launched "Click to Pray" on Sunday, a six-language app for both Android and iPhone that he hopes will keep Catholic constituents around...

Pope Francis Extols 'Middle Class of Holiness'

Francis likes the idea of 'saints next door' over dogmatists

(Newser) - Pope Francis is calling for ordinary Catholics to live holy lives in whatever they do, stressing that the "saints next door" are more pleasing to God than religious elites who insist on perfect adherence to rules and doctrine. In a new document released Monday, Francis said defending the poor...

Pope Francis Rips 'Very Ugly Thing' He Sees at Mass

Specifically, worshippers with their cellphones

(Newser) - When the priest says "lift up your hearts" during Mass, you'd better put your cellphone down while you do it. That was Pope Francis' message Wednesday during his weekly address in St. Peter's Square, calling it a "very ugly thing" to see worshippers—even other men...

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