Catholic Culture Solidarity
Catholic Culture Solidarity

Stories for December 2010

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Friday, Dec. 31

 Catholic hospitals seen as focus of next key Church conflict
 Iraqi archbishop: martyrdom may awaken Christians elsewhere
 John Allen lists five 'under-reported' stories of 2010
 Korean bishops join in call to abolish capital punishment
 Pope prays for families in need as 2010 ends
 Pope’s prayer intentions for January 2011
 The Popes and the World Day of Peace (background)
 Sacred Music editor bullish on new missal, Simple Propers Project
 Philippine prelate: Population control not the solution to poverty
 Belgians scandalized by archbishop's remarks on abuse: cardinal’s spokesman
 Baghdad: 14 bombs target Christian homes

Released Thursday, Dec. 30

 Police disrupt Islamic terror plot in Denmark
 Vietnamese bishop rejects government propaganda
 Recognize Pope as defender of freedom, columnist urges policy-makers
 Hong Kong election plan would add seats for religious representatives
 Margaret Thatcher pressed Pope John Paul to intervene in IRA hunger strike of 1980
 Pope sets out new rules for Vatican banking transactions
 Papal audience with child choristers
 23 Church workers killed in 2010
 Pope Benedict the ‘Orwell of our time’
 Philippine bishops speak out against New Year’s Eve firecrackers
 Ethiopian Christians seek pardon for former Communist officials
 Effort to end public funding for Catholic schools in Alberta
 Italian missionary acquitted in Peru
 Chile: bishops lament abortion proposal
 Radical Muslims continue violence in Nigeria

Released Wednesday, Dec. 29

 Cardinal Dias to represent Pope at celebration in Vietnam
 Papal audience topic: St. Catherine of Bologna
 Two #2 officials named to Vatican congregations
 Bomb scare defused at US embassy to Vatican
 Vatican II peritus, potential Nobel Peace Prize winner, admits abuse
 50th anniversary of John Courtney Murray’s We Hold These Truths
 Columnist rues US indifference to Iraqi Christians
 Activist laments US bishops’ silence on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’
 Report: Pope to reform Vatican bank structure
 Chavez pushing Venezuela toward totalitarianism, cardinal charges

Released Tuesday, Dec. 28

 Vietnam: Christmas marked with violent crackdowns
 Belgian church roof collapses just after Christmas Mass
 Moscow Patriarch urges acceptance of immigrants
 Bomb stirs tensions in Philippines province
 New appointments expected for Roman Curia
 Father John Harvey, founder of Courage, dead at 92
 Papal spokesman looks back at 2010
 European Parliament to monitor treatment of Iraqi Christians
 Washington Post foresees more states testing abortion law
 ‘What is frankincense?’
 Oregon: Catholic agency withdraws from United Way over Planned Parenthood
 Orissa: 9 sentenced for burning Christians’ homes
 ‘Death panels’ return to health care discussion
 Quebec bans Christmas carols in government-subsidized daycare centers

Released Monday, Dec. 27

 Vietnamese officials restrict bishop in diocese marked by conversions
 After muted Christmas celebration, Iraqi prelate vows Church will persevere
 Washington Post takes note of Pope Benedict's liturgical plans
 Pope condemns Christmas-day violence, asks prayers for victims and perpetrators
 Cardinal Cañizares outlines Pope's plan for liturgical reform
 Barred from church, Indonesian Catholics celebrate Christmas Mass in a parking lot
 Arizona newspaper offers a curious profile of Bishop Olmsted
 Pope hosts a meal for Mother Teresa's poor
 Canadian bishop forgives man who almost killed him
 Patriarch of Jerusalem laments abortion, violence against Christians
 Philippines: bomb explodes during Christmas Mass
 Nigeria: 38 dead in church attacks, bombings

Released Saturday, Dec. 25

 Pope Benedict: Christmas Message Urbi et Orbi (To the City and the World)

Released Friday, Dec. 24

 Pope Benedict: Homily at Midnight Mass
 'Santa' busts reputed Sicilian Mafia figure
 New York Times headlines approval of Marian apparition in Wisconsin
 Christmas in China's underground Church
 San Francisco archbishop to consult with Catholic Healthcare West on ethical policies
 Tens of thousands of pilgrims in Bethlehem for Christmas
 Philippine bishop fears military coup
 Haiti: 1 million in camps, 100,000 with cholera
 Java: Catholics will defy ban on Christmas Mass
 Custos of Holy Land: Christmas message
 China again lashes out at Vatican
 Pope Benedict’s Christmas Eve message on BBC (link to full text)

Released Thursday, Dec. 23

 Islamic group threatens Copts living in Canada
 Israeli mayor bars Christmas trees from suburb of Nazareth
 A Christmas reminder: don't 'miss the child in Christ'
 Iraq's Christians plan quiet Christmas, hope to avoid violence
 Italian foreign minister raps EU on ignoring persecution of Christians
 The common-sense case against homosexuals in military service
 Pope will give Christmas Eve talk on BBC
 Pakistani Church leaders fear reprisals after Christmas-eve protests against blasphemy law
 Papal Christmas liturgies available online
 Chinese priest chosen for key Vatican mission post
 Connecticut man fasts on bread, water for Christ-centered Christmas
 'Star of Bethlehem' may have been conjunction of Jupiter, Regulus
 Tribal concerns divide Nigerian diocese
 Prominent New York priest laicized for abuse
 Times, ACLU: Catholic hospitals should be forced to perform abortions
 US bishops laud Senate passage of nuclear arms treaty

Released Wednesday, Dec. 22

 Most Catholics in US Congress voted to repeal "don't ask, don't tell"
 Islamic pressure restricts souvenir sales in Bethlehem
 Hindu militants threaten new action against Christians in Orissa
 Theologian defends stand on condom use
 Pope's liturgical schedule for Christmas season
 Vatican at odds with Holocaust task force over criticism of Pius XII?
 Phoenix bishop explains decision; CHA backs hospital in abortion case
 Irish Church braces for new report on abuse in Cloyne diocese
 Await Christmas with child-like awe, Pope urges audience
 ‘What did Jesus sing?’
 Revival of Jesus’ language at Oxford
 CNN profile of US national shrine
 Victims blast diocese for destroying priests’ psychological records
 US bishops rue failure of DREAM Act
 Chinese government rips Vatican statement

Released Tuesday, Dec. 21

 Ontario: Catholic teachers' union supports gay-rights advocacy
 Christmas Mass barred in Indonesian province
 Church leaders brace for Christmas violence in central Africa
 Hindu fundamentalist attacks on India's Christians mount as Christmas approaches
 Church leaders must admit errors on abuse, says retired Belgian cardinal
 How Pope Benedict chooses top Vatican officials
 Misguided compassion fueled sex-abuse scandal in Ireland
 Patriarch of Jerusalem sees hope despite breakdown of peace talks
 Bishop strips Phoenix hospital of 'Catholic' designation
 Vatican statement: no change on condoms
 Most Americans believe God had role in creation
 Fewer than half of Americans to attend Christmas services
 ‘Selective reduction’ of twins on the rise
 Church in Africa faces challenges of education, societal corruption
 Report links Catholic hospital chain to sterilizations
 Cardinal urges Italian senators to open hearts to Christ

Released Monday, Dec. 20

 Muslims seek to drive Christians out of Middle East, Egyptian priest charges
 Sweden rejects asylum claims by Iraqi Christians
 Dutch bishops charged with destroying abuse evidence
 Pope is unsparing in analysis of sex-abuse scandal
 1,000 Australian Anglicans to enter Catholic Church?
 'Catholics Come Home' draws 200,000 back to faith
 Protests of 'gay Mass' motivated by prejudice, says British archbishop
 See St. Joseph as model of 'new man,' Pope urges audience
 New nuncio's appointment brings new hope for British Catholics
 Duke of Kent raises eyebrows with call to abolish abortion
 Thousands of Catholics leaving German Church
 Italian court upholds seizure of Vatican bank funds
 Pope visits remodeled Apostolic Library
 Papal message reflects on mystery of suffering and sickness
 Open homosexuals to serve in US military
 Religious practice on the rise in England
 Pakistan: bishop denounces rape of 9-year-old Catholic girl
 Uganda: prelate decries ritual child sacrifice
 Costa Rica faces international pressure to legalize IVF
 Pope recalls dogma of Assumption, urges scholars to follow ‘way of beauty’

Released Friday, Dec. 17

 Irish report exposes 'most notorious' sex-abuse case
 Catholic scholars explain Pope's statement on condoms
 Obama team at UN pushing for gay-rights measure
 Phoenix bishop extends deadline for hospital in abortion dispute
 Chief Vatican ecumenical official sees good prospects in Catholic-Orthodox talks
 Indonesia: Christian communities decline Muslim protection
 What the European court said on Irish abortion law (Analysis)
 Venezuelan archbishop fearful of Chavez request for emergency powers
 Vatican denounces Chinese interference
 Christmas-tree lighting ceremony in St. Peter's Square
 Italy is permanently marked by Catholic heritage, Pope tells new ambassador
 Pope exhorts Catholics of Naples: rise to the challenge of 'deviant' secularism
 The Incarnation provides hope and perspective, Pope tells Rome's students
 Harvard law journal article defends marriage
 Presbyterians face lawsuit for abuse in mission field
 Archdiocese to freeze 10,000 employees’ pensions
 Pakistan: radical Muslims plan mass protest in defense of blasphemy law
 Bishops want Neocatechumenal Way to leave Japan for 5 years
 Lutheran leader acknowledges Reformation’s ‘damaging aspects’

Released Thursday, Dec. 16

 Anglican nuns to leave English priory, enter ordinariate
 European court: Ireland's laws against abortion violate human rights
 Four foreign trips on Pope's schedule for 2011
 Stockton diocese pays $2 million in latest O'Grady lawsuits
 Another attack on Iraqi Christians
 Why are the 'flash-mob' performances of the Hallelujah Chorus so popular?
 Major leadership changes coming for Legionaries, says top Vatican-watcher
 Australian Anglicans prepare traditional liturgy for Catholic ordinariate
 Secularism and fundamentalist intolerance are equal threats to religious freedom, Pope says
 Pope hails ecumenical steps with Lutherans, seeks further progress
 Christians must cherish the ideal of fraternity, Pope tells new ambassadors
 Day of prayer for peace in Holy Land
 Italian Jesuit honored as ‘Righteous Among Nations’
 Cardinal Burke: ‘Every aspect’ of a Catholic university’s life must be Catholic
 Church spokesman: Islamic fundamentalists want all Christians out of Mideast
 Pakistani bishops demand prosecution of imam
 Arizona Catholic hospital defends killing of unborn child

Released Wednesday, Dec. 15

 US embassy official rapped Vatican PR strategy in Wikileaks memo
 New wave of harassment against Redemptorists in Vietnam
 Pakistani president may favor change in blasphemy law
 Australian government may move to bar discrimination against homosexuals
 Mystic's joyful suffering shows total response to God's love, Pope tells audience
 Japanese bishops tell Pope their concerns about Neocatechumenal Way
 Critic questions Legionaries' new attitude toward disgraced founder
 Irish court allows publication of one missing chapter from report on abuse in Dublin
 Time continues misrepresentation on Pope Benedict
 Mexican prelate calls for Christmas truce in drug wars
 Bishops confirm: Pope to visit Germany in 2011
 Bishop: Children should know gifts don’t come from Santa
 Gaza priest describes horror of bombing, blasts Israel
 Poland sees rise in secularism
 Bishop rips hospital chain, threatens to revoke Catholic status of hospital

Released Tuesday, Dec. 14

 Church protests force postponement of Easter day exam in India
 Wall Street Journal discovers Iraq's Christians
 Irish government lagging in service to sex-abuse victims, doctor says
 Art donors outraged after Smithsonian removes video that offended Catholics
 Prayerful silence helps build proper perspective, archbishop tells media executives
 Central Africa braces against new 'Christmas massacre'
 Vatican, WCC plan annual meetings
 The new pontifical council: a bureaucratic solution?
 Russian officials hand over old Catholic, Lutheran churches to Russian Orthodox
 AIDS cure from adult stem-cell treatment?
 Angry Cardinal Zen decries new loss for Church freedom in China
 Pope adds two events to Christmas-season schedule
 Vatican newspaper lauds ‘In a Better World’
 Ohio bishop: Pope didn’t change Catholic teaching on condoms
 Caritas welcomes Cancun climate deal
 Polish missionary murdered in Ecuador
 Iraqi government builds massive concrete walls around churches
 Orthodox deacons murdered in Sinai desert
 Missionary: 200,000 could die of cholera in Haiti
 Legionaries will no longer refer to Maciel as ‘our father’

Released Monday, Dec. 13

 European Court decision due on Irish abortion law
 Algeria: Christians face jail for opening church without permit
 Egypt: Copts press government for action after violence near Pyramids
 Wikileaks: British ambassador worried by Pope's outreach to Anglicans
 New money-laundering complaints for Vatican bank
 Wikileaks document wrong on Iraqi prelate's murder, archbishop reports
 Religious leaders ask prayers for peace in volatile Ivory Coast
 Priest at focus of child-abuse documentary is re-arrested on child-porn charges
 Korean activist priests demand cardinal's resignation
 Advent calls for patient perseverance, Pope tells Sunday audience
 In visit to Rome parish, Pope speaks on evangelizing new arrivals
 Vatican caution on Wikileaks accuracy
 Milwaukee priest says women’s ordination would make ‘better sense’
 US missionary spreads hope in violent area of Mexico
 US bishops praise House passage of DREAM Act
 Marriage in decline among ‘moderately educated’
 Dublin archbishop calls on Church to become more like John the Baptist
 Vatican spokesman lauds report on anti-Christian discrimination

Released Friday, Dec. 10

 Religious donors contribute more to secular causes, too
 Wikileaks threatens us, too
 Papal preacher: think about eternity
 New lighting heightens beauty of Milan's Duomo
 New Krakow church to be built for beatification of John Paul II?
 Vatican project to restore, preserve historic photo archive
 Papal delegate names commission to revise charter of Legionaries
 Rhode Island bishop explains Pope's remarks
 Vatican, Israeli negotiators meet again; still no accord
 Vatican confirms miracles, martyrdoms
 Lithuanian president visits Pontiff
 Catholic senators strongly favor abortion
 Obama suffers defeat on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’
 Chilean bishops renew call for prison reform
 Turkey: government harassment of Orthodox monastery
 Indonesia: 3 attacks on Christian churches in a week
 Iran to execute Christian pastor for renouncing Islam

Released Thursday, Dec. 9

 Pakistan's blasphemy law in focus on World Day for Human Rights
 Australian Catholics launch petition to protect marriage
 Propaganda Fide opens 'Missionary Museum'
 Critics begin giving Pope Benedict his due for handling sex-abuse cases
 Delaware court adds $30 million to record sex-abuse award
 DC archdiocese did not approve pro-gay event
 Why many Protestant love St. Thomas Aquinas
 Vatican in talks with PLO to establish juridical accord
 Immaculate Conception inspires confidence, hope, Pope says
 Dutch probe finds almost 2,000 abuse claims against Church
 St. Louis archdiocese sought to remove gay judge from case of dissident parish
 Times columnist sees ‘changing culture war’
 US bishops: Continue child tax credit, unemployment relief
 Nicaraguan bishops oppose Ortega’s reelection bid
 Bishop wins ‘alternative Nobel’ for defense of Guarani
 Prelate not recognized by Pope elected leader of Chinese bishops
 US bishop approves Marian apparitions

Released Wednesday, Dec. 8

 CWN closed for feast of the Immaculate Conception

Released Tuesday, Dec. 7

 Ted Turner and the tilt toward coercive population-control plans
 Congo's new cardinal pleads for peace
 Irish archbishop apologizes as 'predatory pedophile' ex-priest is sentenced
 Greek Orthodox parish sues for right to build near Ground Zero site
 Chinese regime treating bishops like criminals
 US nuns need not fear probe, says Vatican official
 Pentagon vs. common soldiers?
 Caritas leader: EU farm subsidies contribute to 3rd World poverty
 Evangelicals join US bishops in calling for approval of nuclear weapons treaty
 Swiss bishops defend presence of crucifix in public places
 Pakistan: court orders government not to change blasphemy law
 26 US religious leaders affirm: Marriage is union of one man, one woman
 China tightens grip on Church, forces bishops to attend meeting

Released Monday, Dec. 6

 Archbishop Myers charged with protecting abusive priests
 Vatican Christmas tree is up
 Hungarian premier, Pope discuss EU leadership
 Belgian court approves 'wrongful life' claim
 Church leaders plead for calm as two rivals claim electoral victory in Ivory Coast
 Two more Iraqi Christians murdered
 Italy: The debate on Vatican II interpretation flares up again
 Maryland pro-lifers protest as late-term abortion specialist opens clinic
 Scottish prelate welcomes vote against assisted suicide
 Brief papal meeting with head of World Council of Churches
 Pope alerts world to hostages being held, mistreated in Sinai desert
 New York's old St. Patrick's named a basilica
 Vatican did not protect Italian cardinal from legal charges, Allen notes
 Hear the Word 'crying out in the wilderness' through Scripture, Pope urges
 Jerusalem patriarch urges prayer, penance to obtain rain
 Vatican turning to solar energy
 Vatican spokesman echoes Pope’s call to protect unborn
 Latin American bishops discuss evangelization, denounce violence, corruption
 US bishops urge passage of DREAM Act
 Pakistan: terrorists issue fatwa against Catholic cabinet minister

Released Friday, Dec. 3

 Pope met with Baghdad church massacre survivors
 Pope Benedict surprises some conservative Catholics, Allen observes
 WCC leader plans frank talk with Pope on ecumenical difficulties
 Little tracking for priests removed on abuse charges
 Pakistani leader may seek revision of blasphemy law, Vatican official says
 Pakistan: Imam offers reward for death of Christian woman
 Nova Scotia bishop's child-porn trial set for May 2011
 TAC leader sees over 150 Anglican clerics entering ordinariates
 Italian Cardinal Giordano dead at 80
 Democracy is rooted in Christian thought, Pope reminds theologians
 Protect dignity of life, Pope urges Costa Rica
 Papal preacher opens Advent sermon series

Released Thursday, Dec. 2

 Illinois bishop raps Catholic governor's stand on civil unions
 South Africa: Catholic AIDS workers offer condoms, cite Pope
 Another Iraqi Christian murdered in Mosul
 Changing understanding of marriage will alter Europe's identity, Pope tells Hungarian envoy
 Pope offers Mass for household member killed in accident
 Canadian Orthodox archbishop suspended; panel will investigate abuse charge
 Journalists missed significance of USCCB president vote, says Weigel
 Delaware court orders $30 million payment to abuse victim
 Turkish court rules bishop's killer insane, blocking further investigation
 Iowa bishop rallies opposition to late-term abortion clinic
 Hong Kong diocese seeks action against commercial surrogate motherhood
 Bishop Soto on women’s ordination, contraception, homosexuality
 Kazak priest optimistic about increased religious freedom
 Scottish cardinal calls for binding international pact on climate change
 Code of Canon Law’s penal provisions to be revised
 Cardinal Ratzinger pushed for swifter dismissal of abusive priests

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