Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Pope Francis. The first pope from South America, from Argentina. The first non-European pope since the 8th Century. Said to be a humble man who voluntarily gave up many of the trappings of a cardinal, such… Read More ›
Catholic
Sweet Sistine finals close Monday night
Well, I blew it. Lost track of time and forgot to check for the Sweet Sistine update. Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Canada and Cardinal John Onaiyekan of Nigeria made it to the finals and the voting ends tonight (Monday). The winner… Read More ›
Sweet Sistine reaches Final Four
The previously reported Sweet Sistine has reached its Final Four. Canadian Marc Ouellet is facing off against Brazilian Joao Braz de Aviz, while Milan’s Angelo Scola is up against Nigeria’s John Onaiyekan. Choose your favorites now. No word on when this… Read More ›
Sweet Sistine advances to round of 8
The brackets for the Sweet Sistine race for the Vatican have moved to the Round of Eight. You have until 9 pm EST on March 6 to pick your favorites. The two Italians, Ravasi and Scola, have advanced (surprise!) and one will… Read More ›
March Madness, Vatican-style
I have paid little attention to the race for the papacy in Rome and am only vaguely acquainted with the names of the American hopefuls. It’s been suggested that, since the majority of Catholics today live in Latin America, the… Read More ›
Papal resignation: The more things change
As the sun sank slowly in the west (in Italy), Pope Benedict XVI stepped out of the public limelight and into “retirement” (though he’ll continue to reside in the Vatican), his every move described in rapt reverence by this morning’s commentators… Read More ›
Pro-life groups not likely to let science interfere with religion, politics
While The New York Times first reported it in great detail several days ago, The Week breaks it down into a short form: The “morning after pill” does not keep a fertilized egg from implanting; it prevents fertilization from occurring… Read More ›
Caution: Higher education at work
In today’s New York Times there’s a wonderful editorial by Frank Bruni entitled “A Catholic Classmate Rethinks His Religion.” Don’t be put off by the title; it’s not some treatise on Catholicism. Instead, it touches on stereotypes, homosexuality, religion, bigotry,… Read More ›
The religious rape of American women
Catholic men of America — and all conservatives who support them — you’re not going to win this debate. You are not going to deprive American women of the benefits of 21st Century science, medicine, and law. You are not… Read More ›
Semantics in religion and law
I’m still scratching my head over the furor with Pres. Obama and the Catholic Church about providing contraception for employees. As I understand it, the edict from Washington originally said all Catholic institutions had to cover/pay for/provide contraception for female… Read More ›
So that’s how it is
I just saw a teaser on TV for Oprah Winfrey’s “Next Chapter” show on Sunday. It was evangelist Joel Osteen saying something like (paraphrasing): “I can’t be helpful to people if I’m all poor and depressed myself.” Finally. The rationale… Read More ›
Atheists beat believers on religion survey
America’s atheists and agnostics scored higher on a religious knowledge survey than evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants, and Catholics, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center. They scored highest on questions about religion in public life and what… Read More ›
