Religion News on the Web
Selected religion-related news from around the Web
February 14, 2013
- The New York Times
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.
February 12, 2013
- The Wall Street Journal
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.
February 11, 2013
- The Associated Press
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.
February 04, 2013
- The New York Times
NYT: New Archbishop of Canterbury takes office
On the eve of a divisive vote in Parliament on the legalization of same-sex marriage, Justin Welby, the former bishop of Durham, on Monday took over formally as the 105th archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the world’s 77 million Anglicans, saying he shares the Church of England’s opposition to marriage among people of the same gender.
January 31, 2013
- The New York Times
NYT: Cardinal in Los Angeles is removed from duties
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, who retired less than two years ago as the leader of the nation’s largest Roman Catholic archdiocese, was removed from all public duties by his successor, Archbishop José H. Gomez, as the church complied with a court order to release thousands of pages of internal documents that show how the cardinal shielded priests who sexually abused children.
January 25, 2013
- The Times of India
Times of India: For atheist China, religion is no longer a poison
Worried about the rise in people's interest in spiritualism six decades after the early Communists declared it to be evil, China's atheist government is calling for use of religion as a patriotic tool to rejuvenate the nation.
January 24, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: Pope on social networking: the virtual is real
Pope Benedict XVI put church leaders on notice Thursday, saying social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter aren't a virtual world they can ignore, but rather a very real world they must engage if they want to spread the faith to the next generation.
January 07, 2013
- The Washington Post
Wash Post: Egypt’s Christians worried by Islamists’ rise
Egypt’s Christians were worried about their safety on Monday as they marked the first Christmas under Islamist rule, with Coptic Pope Tawadros II urging worshipers “not to be afraid” and some complaining that their lives had gone from bad to worse in the nearly two years since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.
January 03, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: Philippines contraception law points to Catholic church's waning power
Twenty-six years after Roman Catholic leaders helped his mother marshal millions of Filipinos in an uprising that ousted a dictator, President Benigno Aquino III has picked a fight with the church over contraceptives and won a victory that bared the bishops' worst nightmare: They no longer sway the masses.
December 19, 2012
- The Washington Post
Wash. Post: On road to modernization Church of England finds crisis
The surprising defeat last month of a measure allowing the ordination of female bishops has plunged the Church of England into a crisis with one issue at its core: Should religion adapt to fit an increasingly secular society, or should it be the enforcer of tradition in fast-changing times?