LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

This interesting Times of London article talks about the literal interpretation of the Bible:

Catholic Church no longer swears by truth of the Bible
By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

THE hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church has published a teaching document instructing the faithful that some parts of the Bible are not actually true.

The Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland are warning their five million worshippers, as well as any others drawn to the study of scripture, that they should not expect “total accuracy” from the Bible.

“We should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision,” they say in The Gift of Scripture.

The document is timely, coming as it does amid the rise of the religious Right, in particular in the US.( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY cheap_laugh)

Vatican: Faithful should listen to Science


By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press Writer | November 3, 2005

VATICAN CITY --A Vatican cardinal said Thursday the faithful should listen to what secular modern science has to offer, warning that religion risks turning into "fundamentalism" if it ignores scientific reason.

Cardinal Paul Poupard, who heads the Pontifical Council for Culture, made the comments at a news conference on a Vatican project to help end the "mutual prejudice" between religion and science that has long bedeviled the Roman Catholic Church and is part of the evolution debate in the United States.

The Vatican project was inspired by Pope John Paul II's 1992 declaration that the church's 17th-century denunciation of Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension." Galileo was condemned for supporting Nicolaus Copernicus' discovery that the Earth revolved around the sun; church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.

"The permanent lesson that the Galileo case represents pushes us to keep alive the dialogue between the various disciplines, and in particular between theology and the natural sciences, if we want to prevent similar episodes from repeating themselves in the future," Poupard said.

But he said science, too, should listen to religion.

"We know where scientific reason can end up by itself: the atomic bomb and the possibility of cloning human beings are fruit of a reason that wants to free itself from every ethical or religious link," he said.

"But we also know the dangers of a religion that severs its links with reason and becomes prey to fundamentalism," he said.

"The faithful have the obligation to listen to that which secular modern science has to offer, just as we ask that knowledge of the faith be taken in consideration as an expert voice in humanity."

Poupard and others at the news conference were asked about the religion-science debate raging in the United States over evolution and "intelligent design."

Intelligent design's supporters argue that natural selection, an element of evolutionary theory, cannot fully explain the origin of life or the emergence of highly complex life forms.

Monsignor Gianfranco Basti, director of the Vatican project STOQ, or Science, Theology and Ontological Quest, reaffirmed John Paul's 1996 statement that evolution was "more than just a hypothesis."

"A hypothesis asks whether something is true or false," he said. "(Evolution) is more than a hypothesis because there is proof."

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Vatican: Faithful Should Listen to Science

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 34 minutes ago

A Vatican cardinal said Thursday the faithful should listen to what secular modern science has to offer, warning that religion risks turning into "fundamentalism" if it ignores scientific reason.

Cardinal Paul Poupard, who heads the Pontifical Council for Culture, made the comments at a news conference on a Vatican project to help end the "mutual prejudice" between religion and science that has long bedeviled the Roman Catholic Church and is part of the evolution debate in the United States.

The Vatican project was inspired by Pope John Paul II's 1992 declaration that the church's 17th-century denunciation of Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension." Galileo was condemned for supporting Nicolaus Copernicus' discovery that the Earth revolved around the sun; church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.( Read more... )

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1129454355261710.xml&coll=1&thispage=1
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/051004/church.shtml
http://www.hartselleenquirer.com/articles/2005/10/05/news/news1.txt
http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1128417430152490.xml&coll=1
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/opinion/editorials/051009a.shtml
http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=3931806&nav=0hBE
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/051003/assault.shtml
http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1128503864150130.xml&coll=1
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051005/NEWS02/510050350/1009

Two persons--neither of which are from the Hartselle, AL area--interrupted a Mass held at a Hartselle-area Catholic church and attempted to destroy the altar claiming they did so "on orders from God".

The article does not detail which churches they are affiliated with, but the description of theology by the two persons (being held in jail) indicate they may be involved in the "third wave"/"spiritual warfare" flavours of dominionism. There are also indications the reason they destroyed objects in the church is on account they saw people in the church as "worshipping objects".

In fact, per statements from witnesses (http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1129454346261710.xml&coll=1) the church invaders were accusing the church of "idol worship" before the attempt to destroy the altar.

Per other reports (http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/051005/church.shtml) the persons who disrupted the service have been in town for approximately one month, mostly in libraries reading "religious books"; http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=3931897&nav=0hBE has a video interview with a neighbour of one of the persons accused of attacking the altar.

At least one report (http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2005/10/05/suspect_says_attack_on_church_followed_vision_from_god/) indicates they may have even felt the present pope was the Antichrist.

The second article is especially telling in regards to the potential involvement of dominionist groups into "deliverance ministry/spiritual warfare", as they are reported to have harassed a coffeeshop owner (who has also been subjected to hate speech due to claims he is having Wiccan meetings in the coffeeshop--see http://www.hartselleenquirer.com/articles/2005/09/28/news/news1.txt for further details) and who in fact were called to the area because of the article re the coffeeshop in the Hartselle Enquirer.

Per http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/051017/church.shtml the FBI is now investigating the act as a hate crime.

I am noting this as a) this sort of theology is very common in dominionist circles (in that, especially in regards to dominionist groups practicing "third wave" and/or "latter rain" theology it is literally preached that people are being used as "God's puppets" to institute a theocracy) and b) I intend to post a very large post to this community later today regarding dominionism (and in particular the groups associated with dominionism) as coercive groups.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY squidflakes)

According to this article

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-1811332,00.html

The Catholic Church is now stating that some parts of the Bible are not to be taken literally. Could this be RCC's attempt to wrest worshippers from the Dominionists?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ellid)

Or, you knew this was coming the instant that Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/09/27/newton_parishioners_hold_vigil_to_protest_pastors_resignation/


Father Cuenin, BTW, was one of the earliest and most vocal critics of Cardinal Law and his mishandling of the pedophile scandal. I'm amazed he lasted this long

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY zarq)

Reports indicate the Vatican is considering banning all gay men from joining the clergy even if they accept a vow of celibacy.

From A Globe of Witnesses: an editorial discussing why the Church needs gay priests to survive.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY breezyg)

So, I happened across this little gem on the NY Times.  (full text behind the cut)



( Read more... )



This just really pisses me off. 



When are people going to realize that homosexuality is not pedophila... and that this kind of crap hurts Catholicism more than it helps?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY wolfsinger2k)

From this article, The Vatican is a sovereign nation?"

A U.S. lawyer said Wednesday he will press ahead with a lawsuit alleging Pope Benedict XIV conspired to cover up the abuse of three boys by a seminary student in Texas, despite the pontiff's request for diplomatic immunity.

The Vatican's embassy in Washington filed a request in May for the U.S. government to declare immunity for Pope Benedict as a head of state, according to documents provided by Shea.


Ok, did I miss something here? I thought the Catholic church was a church. When did they gain sovereign nation status allowing them to be entitled to an embassy??? Is the Vatican truly a sovereign nation, even in Italy? Would this translate to every Catholic church becoming an embassy if the Vatican is a "nation"? Oh, this could get very ugly.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY britzkrieg)

New Scientist reports:

A deep rift has opened within the Catholic church over the theory of evolution and its compatibility with the Christian faith.

The Vatican’s chief astronomer, George Coyne, has rebuffed controversial comments made by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn in The New York Times on 7 July that evolution is incompatible with a belief in God.

Full Article

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

A Christian adoption agency in Mississippi has changed its practice of not placing children with Roman Catholic couples.

According to this article, the board voted unanimously to change the policy.

I like to do follow-ups to articles like this one, because it is good to see positive change in the Christian community.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY seshen)

Christian adoption agency snubs Catholics

A Christian adoption agency that receives money from Choose Life license plate fees said it does not place children with Roman Catholic couples because their religion conflicts with the agency's "Statement of Faith."

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

From the New York Times:

Leading Cardinal Redefines Church's View on Evolution
By CORNELIA DEAN and LAURIE GOODSTEIN

An influential cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, which has long been regarded as an ally of the theory of evolution, is now suggesting that belief in evolution as accepted by science today may be incompatible with Catholic faith.

The cardinal, Christoph Schönborn, archbishop of Vienna, a theologian who is close to Pope Benedict XVI, staked out his position in an Op-Ed article in The New York Times on Thursday, writing, "Evolution in the sense of common ancestry might be true, but evolution in the neo-Darwinian sense - an unguided, unplanned process of random variation and natural selection - is not."( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ellid)

Update on the crucified nun story from Romania:

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050624151109990013

At least someone's taking an interest now....

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

thedemonprist pointed out this very interesting article to me. I didn't want to dissapear without comment into the aether uncommented upon, so it's featured here. It's about Tom Monaghan's "Ave Maria" project, a specifically Orthodox Catholic city being built in SW Florida. Some excerpts:

If Tom Monaghan knows this history, he doesn’t care. It’s a Saturday in March, and Monaghan — founder of Domino’s Pizza, former owner of the Detroit Tigers, and self-appointed savior of American Catholicism — is addressing an overflow crowd packed into BC High’s gymnasium for the first annual Boston Catholic Men’s Conference. Monaghan doesn’t seem like a revolutionary: his voice is gentle, his graying hair mussed, and he leans against the podium for support as he speaks. But his rhetoric is incendiary. Catholic schools are failing, Monaghan announces; on key issues (religious observance, sexual behavior, opposition to abortion), graduates of Catholic colleges and universities are actually less orthodox than their co-religionists who attend secular institutions. The problem is especially bad at elite schools, which are academically rigorous but spiritually impoverished. Yet Monaghan brings good news as well. At Ave Maria, the university he’s building in southwest Florida, things will be different. In a few years, the median SAT score will be higher than that at any other Catholic institution; even better, the dorms will be single-sex, a quarter of the classes will be taught by "wholly orthodox" priests, and students will be urged to become priests and nuns.( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY britzkrieg)

Pharmacist Refuses To Fill Prescriptions For Moral Reasons
Walgreens Allows Pharmacists To Not Dispense Drugs They Object To

MILWAUKEE -- A WISN 12 News investigation has discovered that a Milwaukee-area pharmacist has refused to fill prescriptions for women citing religious reasons.

A Milwaukee mother of six walked into a north side Walgreens with a prescription for the so-called morning after pill.

( Read more... )

"It was right after New Year's weekend. I got it as soon as I could," Doe said.

But the pharmacist refused to fill her prescription.

"She just told me that she will not fill it. That she's Catholic, and it's murder," Doe said.

Then, she said, before a crowded waiting area, the pharmacist berated her.

"'You're a murderer. I will not help you kill this baby. I will not have the blood on my hands,'" Doe said. "I tried to explain to her that it's emergency contraceptives, that it's not an abortion pill. She then snatched the form from me, that the prescription was attached to, telling me the paper was full of lies, and she won't be a part of it. I was crying, shaking, upset, so embarrassed. I wanted to run out of the store and hope nobody else could get a good look at me."

"So, did you ever get your emergency contraceptives?" 12 News Senior Investigative Reporter Colleen Henry asked.

"No, I never received that one," Doe said.

"And you became pregnant?" Henry asked.

"I did become pregnant, and I had to terminate the pregnancy. It was very hard. And I didn't want to be what she called me. But that's what I ended up being," Doe said.

The woman claimed she's emotionally distressed, that Walgreens breached her privacy and discriminated against her.

( Read more... )

Source

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

This Catholic prayer is one that I believe reflects the Beatudes of Christ. I see it as a counterpoint to all the fear and hate being sown by the Dominionists.

Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY meta4life)

Thought those of you who don't follow BeliefNet.com might want to go check out one of their daily bloggers, Charlotte Hays, a conservative Catholic who publishes their "Loose Canon" blog.

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/145/story_14545_1.html

She's just getting "informed" about dominionism (as I was, last week) and has taken what I see as a typically casual approach (for a religious conservative) in her attempts to educate herself.

BeliefNet allows users to comment on these blogs, much like here except you're limited to 1024 characters. It may be worth getting an account so you can join me (alesia1, there) in helping her get educated on those who'd like to hijack her religion altogether.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ellid)

Not specifically Dominionist, but still a horrifying example of religious dogma trumping medical care:

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~27772~2842070,00.html

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY britzkrieg)

HARTFORD, Connecticut (AP) -- Connecticut on Wednesday became the second state to offer civil unions to gay couples -- and the first to do so without being forced by the courts...

"I have said all along that I believe in no discrimination of any kind, and I think that this bill accomplishes that, while at the same time preserving the traditional language that a marriage is between a man and a woman," [Governor Jodi] Rell said...

Roman Catholics and other activists plan a big rally Sunday in opposition to the bill...

Brian Brown, head of the Family Institute of Connecticut, said his group intends to keep the issue squarely before the public.

"Our mission will be to let every person know in the state of Connecticut which lawmakers voted to redefine marriage, and which lawmakers voted to protect marriage," he said.

Full Story