pewforum.org Religion News on the Web

Religion News on the Web

Selected religion-related news from around the Web
Wash. Post: College of Cardinals imposes media blackout
The College of Cardinals that will elect the next pope cut off formal communications with the news media on Wednesday after their private deliberations emerged in the Italian press, raising the specter of a leaking scandal that cast a pall over the last year in office of Pope Benedict XVI.
AP: Americans control conclave message just by talking
The two American cardinals sat on the stage, microphones in hand, fielding questions from the world's news media on everything from the delayed arrival of some of their colleagues to their own wardrobe choices if elected pope.
NYT: Cardinals start to ponder subtleties of a big task
Like first-year seminarians, they walked through the glass doors on Monday carrying briefcases.
AP: Catholics ponder future with new pope
Faithful attending Sunday Mass on five continents for the first time since Pope Benedict XVI's retirement had different ideas about who should next lead the Roman Catholic Church, with people suggesting everything from a Latin American pope to one more like the conservative, Polish-born John Paul II.
Reuters: “Believing without belonging” challenges Catholicism – NY Cardinal Dolan
Roman Catholicism faces a serious challenge from the rising number of people who believe in God but no longer see any need for a church, according to New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
CS Monitor: Israel wields Bible's soft power as far afield as Brazil
On a crisp winter morning in Jerusalem, a group of American Christian leaders with Bibles under their arms walk the hilltop where many believe King David first established the Jewish capital some 3,000 years ago.
USA Today: Brazil turns to Catholic Church to quash crack epidemic
Wrapped in a Persian rug caked in dirt, a man addicted to crack cocaine listened as Elizeu Dias tried to persuade him to take the last spot available in an old Volkswagen van that is taking addicts to drug treatment.
Reuters: U.N. told atheists face discrimination around globe
Atheists, humanists and freethinkers face widespread discrimination around the world with expression of their views criminalized and subject in some countries to capital punishment, the United Nations was told on Monday.
Korea Herald: Could the next pope be from Asia?
Vatican watchers are abuzz about who will succeed Pope Benedict XVI when he officially steps down at 8:00 p.m. on Feb. 28, including the very real possibility that a cardinal from outside Europe could lead the Roman Catholic Church for the first time ever.
Wash. Post: For China’s Catholics, new pope brings hope
Of the long list of problems the next pope will inherit once the white smoke rises in Rome, few on the diplomatic front can rival the bitter, in­trac­table relationship between the Vatican and the Chinese government.
LA Times: As a new pope is chosen, Latin America hopes for more sway
They represent the region with more Roman Catholics than any other. And their to-do list for the next pope is a long one.
Boston Globe: What American nuns built
When Benedict XVI became the first pope in almost 600 years to resign earlier this month, most of the initial speculation had to do with obscure succession rules, and whether the next pope would be European, African, or even American.
Chicago Tribune: Cardinal George doesn't rule out an American pope
Fifteen years to the day that he became a prince of the Roman Catholic Church, Chicago's Cardinal Francis George said he wouldn't rule out the possibility of a fellow American becoming pope.
NYT: Eagerly awaiting release of Brazilian evangelical’s autobiography
The crowds of young people began arriving in SoHo in the dark, pitching portable chairs and passing cups of porridge among them.
Observer: As Africa rises, Europe loses grip on Catholic power base
The muted light of an African sunset filters into the high, pointed roof of Christ The King church in Accra, a wide, understated building just metres away from the seat of government in Ghana's capital city.
Observer: Latin America is home to almost half the world's Catholics, but will struggle to produce the next pope
Almost as soon as Benedict XVI announced his resignation, Latin America was abuzz with speculation that the Catholic church would finally choose a pope from the continent with the most believers.
OC Register: Don't count out mainline Protestants yet
Churches grow, churches die.
NYT: A laboratory for revitalizing Catholicism
At one new megachurch in São Paulo, a Roman Catholic priest who was a personal trainer before joining the clergy energetically belts out songs, rock-star style, before 25,000 worshipers.
WSJ: Europe remains challenge for church
As Pope Benedict XVI prepares to relinquish his office, church leaders planning for a new pontiff are sure to deliberate over one of his longtime goals: replenishing Europe's deserted pews.
AP: Pope's bombshell sends troubled church scrambling
With a few words in Latin, Pope Benedict XVI did what no pope has done in more than half a millennium, stunning the world by announcing his resignation Monday and leaving the already troubled Catholic Church to replace the leader of its 1 billion followers by Easter.
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