Catholic Church 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...

Catholic School Boycotts Title Game Over Girl Player

Mary Papenfuss — Fri, 11 May 2012 04:21:55 CDT

An Arizona Catholic high school has ditched a shot at a state baseball title to shun a rival team with a female second-baseman. Our Lady of Sorrows, a fundamentalist Catholic school in Phoenix, refused to participate in the Arizona Charter Athletic Association state championship game against Mesa Prep because Paige...

Nuns Rock, and Vatican Is Nuts to Mess With Them

Mark Russell — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 09:14:05 CDT

Catholic nuns represent much of the best the church has to offer—they're tough, smart, and humble. Which is why Nicholas Kristof has a clear warning for Pope Benedict: "You are crazy to mess with nuns," whom Kristof lauds as "the first feminists" and whom he has seen "defy warlords,...

Vatican to Outspoken Priest: Spend 6 Weeks in Prayer

Rob Quinn — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 04:23:00 CDT

A popular Irish priest known for his liberal views has been told to shut up by church authorities, reports the Daily Beast . Father Tony Flannery, who has questioned the doctrine of celibacy, and said the priesthood should be opened up to women, has been told to stop writing about controversial...

Poverty Groups With Gay Ties Lose Catholic Funding

Kevin Spak — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:05:05 CDT

For years, Compañeros, a small nonprofit that helps Hispanic immigrants in Colorado, has relied on thousands in funding from the Catholic Church's Campaign for Human Development. But now the Campaign is considering yanking that money, after noticing that Compañeros is a member of an immigrant rights coalition that had ties...

Priest Flashes Gay Porn During Communion Talk

Rob Quinn — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:28:00 CDT

A Catholic priest in Northern Ireland insists he has no idea how gay porn ended up on a memory stick he was using for a Powerpoint presentation to families before their children's First Communion. After he clicked on a folder and explicit images filled the screen, the "visibly shaken and...

Fidel Castro Meets Pope

John Johnson — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:50:19 CDT

Pope Benedict delivered a relatively blunt message during his homily in Havana today—"Cuba and the world needs change"—but that didn't prevent a subsequent half-hour meeting with Fidel Castro, reports NBC News . It's not Castro's first with a pontiff: He met John Paul II in 1998, a trip during...

Dutch Catholics Castrated at Least 10 Teens in 1950s

Kevin Spak — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 13:27:05 CDT

The Dutch Roman Catholic Church castrated at least 10 boys under age 21 "to get rid of homosexuality" in the 1950s, according to a report from Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad . The paper identified one victim, named Henk Heithuis, who in 1956 claimed to have been sexually abused by priests. Two...

Priest and Lesbian Spark Culture Clash Over Holy Mass

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 16:15:54 CDT

A lesbian and a priest have set off a new round of fighting in America's ubiquitous culture wars. When Barbara Johnson reached out for Holy Communion at her mother's funeral Mass last month near Washington, DC, a Russian-ordained conservative priest named Rev. Marcel Guarnizo refused to let her have the...