Roman Catholicism news stories on Newser

Catholics File Flood of Birth-Control Lawsuits

Rob Quinn — Tue, 22 May 2012 05:26:04 CDT

Notre Dame's lawsuit yesterday was just the beginning, because America's Catholic bishops have turned en masse to the courts in an attempt to ensure that employees of Catholic institutions do not have health plans that cover birth control. Some 43 Catholic dioceses, schools, social service agencies, and other institutions filed...

Notre Dame Sues Over Obama Birth Control Mandate

Evann Gastaldo — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:43:48 CDT

More trouble for the Obama administration's mandate requiring most employers to cover birth control: Now the University of Notre Dame is suing, the AP reports, claiming that the mandate violates religious freedom. Observers had been waiting to see what step Notre Dame would take as the US' most prominent Roman...

Pope Greeted by Protesters Upon Arrival in Germany

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 07:02:51 CDT

Pope Benedict XVI is back home for his first state visit to Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Christian Wulff, and Cabinet members met the pontiff upon his arrival at a Berlin airport today, the first of his four-day visit, as howitzers fired and fighter jets flew overhead. He is also...

One Episcopal Congregation Converting to Catholicism

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 06:59:21 CDT

Parishioners of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Maryland arrived at services Sunday and got an unexpected sermon: Rev. Mark Lewis informed the congregation that he and other church leaders wanted the entire parish to convert to Catholicism. “We didn’t know for sure how people would react,” says one person who...

Pope Talks About Life Under Nazis

Mark Russell — Sun, 29 May 2011 05:14:59 CDT

German-born Pope Benedict XVI rarely talks about when he was conscripted into the Hitler Youth as a teen. But yesterday, in an audience with a German Catholic group, Benedict made a rare mention of life under the Nazis, calling it a "dark time," reports the AP . "It looked like the...

Cardinal to Ricky Martin: Stop Promoting Homosexuality

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:56:52 CDT

Cardinal Luis Aponte Martinez of San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a fan of Ricky Martin's "artistic gifts," but he sure wishes the singer would stop promoting homosexuality. In an interview with Primera Hora published last week and picked up yesterday by On Top magazine and Perez Hilton , Martinez added, "Please,...

Pope Aide Skips UK Trip After '3rd World' Jab

Polly Davis Doig — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:35:17 CDT

A top aide to Pope Benedict is skipping tomorrow's trip to Britain after telling a German magazine that "when you land at Heathrow you think at times you have landed in a Third World country." As the BBC reports, German-born Cardinal Walter Kasper said the UK, where the pope is...

Make Annulments Tougher: Pope

Harry Kimball — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:51:47 CST

Pope Benedict wants Catholic Church tribunals to make marriage annulments more difficult to get. “We run the risk of falling into an anthropological pessimism which, in the light of today's cultural situation, considers it almost impossible to marry,” he said today. Marriage is stronger than people think, he said, and...

Vatican Demands Holocaust Denier Recant

Harry Kimball — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:02:55 CST

The Vatican has demanded that Bishop Richard Williamson, a Holocaust denier who was recently un-excommunicated, recant his views in order to serve in the Catholic Church, the BBC reports. Williamson was excommunicated 20 years ago for a separate transgression. The Church said the pope was unaware of his contrarian stance...