Townhal.com Mary Grabar March 4, 2007
“In America religion is the road to knowledge, and the observance of the divine laws leads man to civil freedom” Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy in America.
Religion (general)
Pope Blasts ‘Dismal Theories’ on Gays
Ed: It’s Reuters so the quotes are probably selective and the context a bit skewed. Still, very interesting.
Reuters
Pope Benedict spoke out on Friday against legal recognition for unmarried couples and “dismal theories” on the rights of gays to marry which he said stripped men and women of their innate sexual identity.
Which One God?
National Review Online Bat Yeor December 4, 2006
Comparing the Muslim and Christian conceptions of God.
With the passing of time, hidden challenges, which for a long time had been growing unnoticed and unaddressed, can suddenly emerge into the full-blown light of current events with a force which seems quite overwhelming. Today the Western world, or Judeo-Christian civilization, shaken by jihadist terror, is being rudely awakened to theological realities blurred for decades. From clashes of civilizations to the jihad that is declaring to the planet its genocidal intentions, rational discourse concerning faith is becoming increasingly fraught.
On 9/11, an inter-faith reality check
Jewish World Review Ira Rifkin September 11, 2006
He polished the prose of Muslim leaders so their views would be marketable. He invited them home to break bread. He even attacked his co-religionists in print for not being more realistic. No more.
In January 1985, the Los Angeles newspaper I worked for assigned me to the religion beat. My first story was a feature on what was then a new phenomenon in Southern California, a fully licensed Muslim parochial school.
Pontiff Admonishes Catholics Not to Lose Their Souls to Science
Los Angeles Times Tracy Wilkinson September 11, 2006
MUNICH, Germany — Under glorious skies in this Bavarian capital where he once lived, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday warned Roman Catholics against letting modern concerns drown out God’s word, adding that technology alone could not solve the world’s problems.
[Read more…]
Church’s apology over priests – communist collaborators
Poland.pl 2006-03-09, 17:26
The Catholic Church in Poland has apologized for the harm caused by those priests who collaborated with the communist secret police.
Don’t stifle Christianity by political correctness, says Carey
London Times A Correspondent December 19, 2005
THE public expression of the Christian faith and other religions is being undermined by political correctness, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, says.
“I think there is a view around that practising Christianity and all the symbols that go with it embarrasses people of other faiths and of course that’s nonsense,” he told GMTV’s Sunday Programme.
“We can’t keep faith out of politics or out of public life. It’s part of our own identity.
Pick-and-Choose Piety Makes Enemies
Ed. Interesting article from Rabbi Daniel Lapin that touches on our ongoing discussion of poverty but from a Jewish perspective.
Toward Tradition Rabbi Daniel Lapin
Heading an organization whose entire purpose is to promote friendship and mutual respect between Jews and Christians, egregious assaults on this friendship really bother me. As I reported last week, it gives me little pleasure to admit that most of these assaults come from my side of the fence. Well, here we go again.
In Bellevue, Washington, just a few miles from my home, a Jewish Reform temple has been upsetting its neighbors by insisting on hosting an encampment of homeless people on its property. Fearful neighbors in this upper middle class enclave of young families point to countless offenses, ranging from assault and relieving in public to drug possession, perpetrated by this group of homeless during their earlier sojourn on the grounds of a church in a neighboring city.
[Read more…]
Cardinal Would Ban Communion for Certain Lawmakers
Those Who Deny Christian Principles
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 9, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo asked a blunt question when addressing the Synod of Bishops: “May access to Eucharistic Communion be allowed to those who deny human and Christian values and principles?”
The president of the Pontifical Council for the Family raised the question in connection with politicians and lawmakers. He answered his own question with a “no.”
“So-called personal option cannot be separated from the sociopolitical duty,” the cardinal said Friday. “It is not a ‘private’ problem. The acceptance of the Gospel, of the magisterium and of right reasoning are needed!”
[Read more…]
Pope bans homosexuals from ordination as priests
World Net Daily September 19, 2005
Applicants with ‘gay’ tendencies won’t be admitted to seminaries
Pope Benedict XVI has given his approval to a new Vatican policy document that bans men with homosexual tendencies from being ordained as priests, reports Catholic World News.
The policy statement is a direct result of the pope’s concern about the pedophilia scandal in the church – especially in the U.S.
The new document, prepared by the Congregation for Catholic Education in response to a request made by the late Pope John Paul II in 1994, will be published soon. It will take the form of an “Instruction,” signed by the prefect and secretary of the congregation: Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski and Archbishop Michael Miller, according to the report.
[Read more…]