Catholic Culture News
Catholic Culture News

Stories for January 2013

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Thursday, Jan. 31

 Split decisions in US courts on challenges to HHS mandate
 Director of Vatican Museums decries looting of Italian cultural treasures
 Vatican, Palestinian negotiators move toward accord
 Vatican donation toward repairs at Bethlehem basilica
 Cardinal Ravasi: young people ‘disconnected’ from their culture
 Pressure from Islamic radicals driving Catholic religious out of eastern Libya
 Massachusetts diocese cancels appearance by Robert Spencer, writer on Islam
 LA archdiocese will not redact Church officials’ names when abuse files are released
 USCCB committee: end life sentences without parole for minors
 Philadelphia priest, schoolteacher convicted of abuse in case related to clergy vicar’s conviction

Released Wednesday, Jan. 30

 Pakistani appeals court lifts death sentence against Christian in blasphemy case
 Some US bishops ready to defy HHS mandate, risk jail
 Lebanese prelate denounces governments supporting both sides of Syrian civil war
 God's love is the ultimate form of fatherly strength, Pope tells audience
 Vatican-Israel diplomatic accord finally near completion?
 Catholic schools see continued enrollment decline, save nation $20 billion per year
 USCCB, in Supreme Court briefs, defends marriage as union of man and woman
 String of attacks against Armenian Christians in Istanbul
 Central African Republic: rebels seize city, loot church
 Philippine bishops blast ‘culture of death and promiscuity,’ will inform voters of candidates’ stances

Released Tuesday, Jan. 29

 Court dismissed ex-Congressman's defamation suit against pro-life group
 Mennonite pastor jailed for refusing to testify in case involving lesbian visitation
 Philippines: pro-contraception demonstrator sentenced for disrupting Mass
 Zambia: bishops warn of mounting human-rights violations, repression of political dissent
 Pope picks young Lebanese Catholics to write Good Friday meditations
 Resistance continues to translating pro multis as 'for many'
 Vatican press conference presents Pope's message for World Day of the Sick
 Pope plans full schedule of liturgical events for Lent, Easter
 Boy Scouts may permit homosexual scoutmasters
 Archbishop Gomez welcomes senators’ immigration framework as ‘first step’
 Evangelical, Pentecostal churches spread in Angola
 Iran sentences US pastor to 8 years in prison for missionary activity
 Judge will hold Obama administration to its pledge to modify HHS mandate

Released Monday, Jan. 28

 Crisis of faith causes crisis in marriage, Pope tells Roman tribunal
 NY Times editorial calls for lawsuits against Cardinal Mahony, removal of former aide
 Pope's prayer for Holocaust Remembrance Day
 Pope reflects on challenges of constantly living the faith 'today'
 Plenary indulgence granted for World Day of the Sick participants
 Papal prayers for Brazilian nightclub fire victims
 Italian bishop confined to home by homosexual demonstration
 Turnover coming in leadership of Vatican bank?
 British lawyers say same-sex marriage bill could lead to other changes in law on adultery, divorce
 Chaldean bishops meet to elect new leader for embattled Church in Iraq
 Altar desecrated at Charlotte parish
 Pennsylvania: accused Franciscan friar commits suicide
 Religious leaders call upon Obama administration to take initiative on Mideast peace
 Kazakhstan imposes fines on 7 missionaries
 Record crowd at March for Life in Washington

Released Friday, Jan. 25

 Bishop confirms National Catholic Reporter is not a 'Catholic' publication
 Pope offers support to Christians of ancient Orthodox churches in Middle East
 Vatican encourages new push to eliminate leprosy
 Washington Post profiles new head of March for Life
 Fiji expels Australian missionary priest
 Milwaukee archdiocese, in bankruptcy, seeks permission to suspend payments
 Churches to receive no 'Sandy' disaster relief?
 Pope closes Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, rues scandal of division
 Pope sends Twitter message of support to March for Life
 Pope shifts some duties between offices of Roman Curia
 Colorado bishops pledge ‘full review’ of Catholic hospital’s policies, litigation
 Rhode Island House approves same-sex marriage
 Typical new US religious: 39-year-old who prays Rosary, comes from large family
 Judge dismisses diocese’s suit against HHS mandate

Released Thursday, Jan. 24

 Redemptorist superior rues actions of Irish dissident priest
 Scottish Catholic adoption agency ordered to serve same-sex couples
 In wrongful-death lawsuit, Catholic hospital argues fetus is not a person
 Pope Benedict calls for strong Christian presence in social media
 Polish cardinal defends ‘baby hatches’ following UN committee’s criticism
 Malaysian lawmaker calls for burning of Bibles
 Judge orders release of Legion of Christ documents related to widow’s $60M will
 Cardinal Glemp, Poland’s primate for nearly 3 decades, dead at 83

Released Wednesday, Jan. 23

 Vatican spokesman promises action against illegal ivory trade
 Iraqi prelate begs Western help to save future of Christianity in Middle East
 Israeli elections could help peace prospects, bishop reports
 Detroit priest suspended after audit raises financial questions
 Turkish leader urges women: have more children
 Cardinal Mahony, future bishop discussed ways to shield abusive priests from prosecution
 Pope asks emergency aid for Indonesia after flooding
 Tariq Aziz, deputy to Saddam Hussein, asks to be executed quickly
 Pope, at audience, reflects on Abraham as model of faith
 Memorial to unborn vandalized at Illinois Catholic university
 Burger King settles with Christian teen, fired after seeking to wear skirt
 Archbishop Aquila recalls aftermath of 2 abortions
 President issues statement on 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade
 Vatican official reviews ecumenical relations with Anglicans, Methodists

Released Tuesday, Jan. 22

 German cardinal apologizes for hospitals' refusal to treat rape victims
 Turkey: 15-year sentence for bishop's killer
 Code of Canon Law Seen as Realization of Vatican II vision
 Lutheran leader unhappy with proposal for Lutheran ordinariate
 Pope meets with Vietnamese Communist leader
 Vatican quizzical about Guardian article on 'secretive' real-estate investments
 Robert George reflects on Roe v. Wade
 Nigeria: arrests in bomb attack on church
 Vatican official reviews ecumenical progress with Protestant communities
 CDF prefect discusses Pope’s trilogy on Jesus
 Indonesia: Catholic schools to offer Islamic instruction rather than shut down
 Key USCCB bishop calls for criminal background check on every gun purchaser

Released Monday, Jan. 21

 Australia: Church will cooperate fully with royal commission probe on sexual abuse
 Cardinal Mahony, LA archdiocese sheltered abusive priests, files show
 Church charitable efforts must guard against anti-Christian ideologies, Pope warns
 Vatican spokesman endorses Obama gun-control plans
 Divisions among Christians are serious sins, Pope tells audience
 Irish priest removed from teaching post; argues Jesus is a myth
 Annual presentation of lambs at the Vatican
 New Vatican move to rekindle dialogue with SSPX
 Irish pro-lifers rally, warn government of 'sleeping giant'
 Dissident Irish priest will defy Vatican, risk further disciplinary action
 Pro-life pharmacists discuss challenges
 Vatican Radio: interview on AIDS with Bishop Dowling, papal critic and condom supporter
 Cardinal calls for prayer, penance as Roe anniversary approaches
 Canada’s law school deans rip Christian university over homosexuality
 US bishops invite Catholics to go to confession during Lent
 Lebanon becoming unstable, warns Caritas director

Released Friday, Jan. 18

 New Patriarch for Egypt's Coptic Catholics
 French and German bishops celebrate 50th anniversary of Elysee Treaty
 Urgent aid needed for refugees in Mali, archbishop reports
 Profile of Vatican's secular tribunals
 Father Tissa Balasuriya, radical theologian, dies in Sri Lanka at 88
 Cardinal Ravasi chosen to preach Lenten Retreat at Vatican
 US, European nations backed destructive violence in Syria, charges Catholic patriarch
 Background: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
 2nd court victory for Illinois company against contraceptive-coverage mandates
 Pakistan: Church demands apology from government official
 Seized land returned to Eastern Orthodox seminary in Turkey
 Pope appoints Derry priest as successor to Cardinal Brady, future Primate of All Ireland

Released Thursday, Jan. 17

 Vatican preparing guide for priests on how to celebrate Mass
 Mali: bishops welcome French military intervention; feared Islamic rebels
 Ecumenical work requires humility, faithfulness, Pope tells Finnish Lutheran pilgrims
 Vatican officials to meet with Italian bankers on card-transaction freeze
 Connecticut priest charged with meth sales
 Pope's former valet, convicted in 'Vatileaks' scandal, offered post at Roman hospital
 Federal court vacates decision that declared grant to USCCB unconstitutional
 Flu leads some US dioceses to alter sign of peace, mandate Communion under one kind
 President Obama pays tribute to religious freedom
 Polish court rules that crucifix in parliament is permitted
 US bishops announce 9 days of prayer, penance around Roe anniversary

Released Wednesday, Jan. 16

 Vatican official fears 'moral relativism' becoming European legal norm
 Episcopalian priest chosen for Obama inauguration prayer
 Panetta meets with Pontiff after Wednesday audience
 US opinions unchanged on Roe v. Wade
 Bishop Williamson convicted again after re-trial for denying Holocaust
 Freeze on bank-card transactions imposes heavy losses on Vatican
 Cyclist Armstrong's confession shows 'rotten' world of professional sports, says Vatican official
 India's Church leaders see sex-education as answer to violence against women
 The Incarnation answers man's longing to see God's face, Pope tells audience
 Vatican Radio pays tribute to African peacemaker-prelates
 Court: First Amendment does not prevent lawsuits over votive candles
 Vatican: blessing of horses on St. Anthony’s feast day
 Bishop Schneider discusses Vatican II and religious liberty
 Cardinal emphasizes: Nostra Aetate’s theological arguments are ‘irreversible’
 CDF prefect lauds Pope’s intellectual breadth, depth

Released Tuesday, Jan. 15

 Connecticut nominee moves toward supreme court seat despite charge of anti-Catholicism
 Catholic church bombed in Belfast as sectarian tensions revive
 Israeli envoy backs papal call for negotiations, says Palestinians resist
 Canadian law professor calls for legal changes to bring about ‘queering’ of Catholic schools
 Vatican spokesman calls for charitable courage
 Illinois bishops welcome driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants
 Record crowd expected at March for Life; prayer vigil to feature Masses, holy hours
 Mixed religious-freedom rulings at European Court of Human Rights

Released Monday, Jan. 14

 Top Italian court rules same-sex couples can have custody of children
 An ordinariate for Lutherans?
 Serve truth, not egos, Cardinal Bertone urges Vatican tribunal officials
 Jesus was baptized in solidarity with sinners, Pope says
 Papal thanks for Vatican security officials
 Monaco's royals meet with Pontiff
 Euthanasia approved for Belgian twins because of approaching blindness
 Topless feminists attempt to disrupt papal audience
 One-fourth of Britain’s Catholic priests join in warning that same-sex marriage could trigger new persecution
 Generation Life spreads pro-life, chastity message among Catholic youth
 Bishop emphasizes importance of fighting poverty
 Background: Pope’s message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees
 Hobby Lobby delays insurance year, postponing millions in fines
 Lay Vatican financial expert surprised by suspension of credit-card processing
 Massive French demonstration against same-sex marriage

Released Friday, Jan. 11

 Minnesota lawyer faces sanctions for anti-Catholic outbursts
 Christians trapped in Syrian village endangered by fighting
 Massachusetts priest gains rare appointment at Vatican basilica
 Burmese prelate urges refugees to return, help rebuild country
 Orthodox leader meets with would-be papal assassin Agca
 No 'Soho Masses' at new London site, pastor assures
 Haitian poverty persists; residents feel relief donations misspent
 Canterbury cathedral canons elect new Anglican leader
 Historical evidence prompted Yad Vashem to alter judgment on Pope Pius XII
 Stand for religious freedom, Vatican cardinal urges Egyptian Catholics
 Ohio: hundreds defend portrait of Jesus at public school
 Cardinal Dolan calls for ‘strong US leadership’ for Mideast peace
 Pastor bows out of role at Obama inauguration following discovery of sermon against same-sex marriage
 Virginia official: going to jail may be strategy against HHS mandate
 US bishops to continue dialogue with Catholic college presidents
 German justice minister rips bishops over abuse study

Released Thursday, Jan. 10

 UN focus on abortion ignores deadly and preventable diseases
 New York’s Cardinal Dolan appalled by Cuomo abortion plan
 French cardinal warns against manipulating definition of marriage
 Excommunicated priest formally notified of laicization
 Boston archdiocese unveils new reconfiguration plan
 Visiting bishops report rising tensions in Holy Land
 Irish bishops urge lawmakers against allowing abortion
 Congo rebels offer ceasefire
 African prelates denounce new Anglican stand on homosexual bishops
 Justice Sotomayor describes herself as ‘lapsed Catholic’
 Nearly 10% of members of Congress are Jesuit-educated
 Mosul: Christians in fear following murders
 Report: some Indian Christians denied water unless they convert to Hinduism
 Judge dismisses Protestant college’s suit against HHS mandate
 Russian patriarch: punish desecration without limiting free speech

Released Wednesday, Jan. 9

 Priest returns to Zambia after deportation order revoked
 Canonization this year for John Paul II?
 Strong support in US for abortion restrictions, poll shows
 Doctors ask British court to direct abortion for mentally disabled woman
 Vatican Museums re-open access to Raphael frescoes after restoration
 Vermont diocese settles abuse case just before trial
 ‘Soho Mass’ organizers still organizing liturgies in London?
 Wales: government seeks ‘presumed consent’ for organ donation
 German bishops drop support for independent sex-abuse study
 Irish leader brushes aside Pope’s warning on abortion law
 New Zealand: ad council approves image of Pope blessing homosexual couple
 Incarnation shows depth of God’s love, Pope tells Wednesday audience
 Swiss court: farmers no longer need to pay parish for medieval crime
 US diplomat looks for ‘common ground’ with Holy See
 Philippines: 9 million in procession in honor of Black Nazarene
 Malaysian state leader insists: non-Muslims must not use ‘Allah’
 Coptic Catholic leader blasts Egypt’s new constitution, fears ‘Islamic caliphate’

Released Tuesday, Jan. 8

 See Christ in those suffering illness, Pope says in message for World Day of Sick
 Irish deputy prime minister disagrees with Pope's stand against legal abortion
 Speculation on next US ambassador to the Holy See
 Scottish archbishop: same-sex marriage would be 'morally defective'
 Fallout from old money-laundering case prompted suspension of Vatican bank-card transactions
 Times offers an unbiased look at pregnancy-help centers
 Is ‘American exceptionalism’ a thing of the past?
 CHA leaders still hopes for ‘accommodation’ on HHS mandate
 Italian bishops urge citizenship for children of immigrants
 Sacramento bishop joins pro-abortion gay lawmaker to host prayer service
 Former ambassador to Vatican laments child poverty in US
 ‘Catholics and depression’
 Conclusion of jubilee year in honor of Pauline Jaricot
 Venezuela’s bishops call on Chávez regime to respect constitution
 Supreme Court lets stand ruling allowing federally-funded embryonic stem-cell research
 Court temporarily halts enforcement of HHS mandate against Illinois company

Released Monday, Jan. 7

 Times columnists urge new approach to funding parochial schools
 Irish party leader says public fears abortion on demand
 English seminary denies request for traditional Latin Mass
 Vatican spokesman rejects SSPX leader's claim that Jews are 'enemies of the Church'
 Judge orders LA archdiocese to release sex-abuse files with names intact
 Archbishop Nichols to meet with 'Soho Mass' organizers, express support
 Prince Charles questions bill ending ban on Catholics in royal family
 Christians will not leave Egypt, Coptic leader vows
 Bishop asks help for Jordan's refugee programs
 Indian Catholic group urges sex education to counter violence against women
 Bishops need courage to challenge society, Pope says as he ordains 4 prelates
 Pope honors martyrs of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge era
 Profile of new prefect of Pontifical Household
 Plea for peace in Syria headlines Pope's 'State of the World' address
 Vatican spokesman: Magi are models for Year of Faith
 USCCB anti-trafficking efforts focus on recent Haitian, Hispanic immigrants
 Iranian Protestant pastor, once sentenced to death for apostasy, freed from prison
 Vatican cardinal: prayers for peace in the Central African Republic
 Patriarch urges Russians to adopt children
 French government calls for no discussion of same-sex marriage in Catholic schools

Released Friday, Jan. 4

 Catholic representation in US Congress hits all-time high
 Church of England rules bishops can enter same-sex partnerships
 French authorities find heightened health risks in new oral contraceptives
 Ohio teacher sues Cincinnati archdiocese after dismissal for out-of-wedlock pregnancy
 Federal judge rejects Notre Dame's challenge to HHS mandate
 Militant Iraqi Muslim leader visits Catholic church, laments massacre there
 Harvard journal postpones publication of piece on 'Coptic papyrus,' continues to test authenticity
 Financial reforms top list of 'under-reported' Vatican stories for 2012
 1 million displaced inside Somalia, charitable agency reports
 Jesuit journal: Vatican II was not a radical break
 Obama: military chaplains don't need conscience clause
 Catholic image found hidden under portrait of top Elizabethan persecutor
 1st French baby of 2013 registered to 2 mothers
 Notre Dame passes up a golden opportunity
 Will US Catholic population reach 100 million?
 1st Hindu member of Congress sworn in
 Canada: diocese, attorneys differ over obligation to report abuse allegations to police
 Syrian archbishop warns of humanitarian emergency
 Mounting attacks on religious freedom in Cuba
 Vatican cardinal rues Islamist violence, sharia imposition

Released Thursday, Jan. 3

 Vatican cardinal writes on role of priests' mothers
 Financial motives influence decisions on abortion, euthanasia: Italian cardinal
 Italian banks suspend Vatican credit-card processing
 2.3 million attended papal audiences, ceremonies in 2012
 Leading Polish anti-Communist prelate dies
 Vatican prelate discusses how Pope’s ‘tweets’ originate
 USCCB office to launch postcard campaign for immigration reform
 States enacted 43 pro-life measures in 2012
 Philippine bishops’ conference: reproductive health bill is ‘wake-up call’
 New restrictions on religious freedom in Vietnam

Released Wednesday, Jan. 2

 Demonstrator climbs scaffolding in St. Peter's Square
 Chicago cardinal urges opposition to same-sex marriage
 Papal nuncio urges Irish leaders: maintain protection for unborn life
 Chad rescinds bishop's deportation
 Pope faces busy 2013 schedule
 Inequalities, unregulated capitalism, terrorism all threaten peace, Pope warns
 Pope reflects on Incarnation at year's 1st weekly audience
 Westminster diocese ends gay-oriented 'Soho Masses,' establishes church for Anglican ordinariate
 French magazine courts outrage with illustrated biography of Mohammed
 Bomb threat against Catholic parish in Indonesia
 13 new Catholic schools to be built in Melbourne
 Iran intensifies persecution of Christians; ‘apostate’ pastor jailed again
 Pope speaks to Taizé youth about Christ, ecumenism
 2 dead following church bombing in Libya
 Federal court blocks enforcement of HHS mandate against Michigan company

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