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The Roman Catholic bishop of Richmond was told that a diocesan charity planned to help a teenage foster child get an abortion in January and did not try to prevent the procedure. Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo "was told erroneously that everything was in place and there was nothing he could do to stop it," said Steve Neill, Bishop DiLorenzo's communications officer. "He is very apologetic about the whole episode. "It is very awkward, it is very embarrassing. A human life was taken. He certainly has not taken it lightly in any way. He is clearly opposed to abortion." Mr. Neill...

In January 2008, a minor in foster care in Richmond, procured an abortion while receiving support services from Commonwealth Catholic Charities (CCC). An investigation of this unfortunate event revealed that some members of CCC staff assisted the minor in preparations leading up to the abortion, and that one member of staff signed the consent form necessary for the minor to have the abortion. The minor was taken to and from the abortion facility by a person associated with CCC. Neither agency nor diocesan funds were used to pay for the procedure. A subsequent investigation also revealed that about two months...

He maintains he is following the Holy Spirit in calling for this radical revision of Christian orthodoxy. Yet, he argues against the clear teaching of the Scriptures and unbroken teaching of the Christian tradition that reserve sexual activity to the loving, lifelong marriage bond between a married man and woman. Clearly, Bishop Gene Robinson views himself as a liberator, and he is doing more to foster the splintering of the Anglican Communion worldwide singlehandedly than anyone else. He seems to take delight in both his celebrity and his self appointed task. Now, the controversialist crusader for homosexual equivalency with marriage...

There’s an adage that says “the clothes make the man.” Of course we know that that’s not the case. However, I think a brief look at the symbolism of some of the bishop’s vestments and accoutrements provide some important insights regarding the role of the bishop as servant of the Gospel.                                                                                           First, there’s the bishop’s ring, which symbolizes his marriage to his particular Church or diocese. He stands in the person of Christ the Bridegroom in relation to His bride, the Church. In totally giving of himself for the People of God entrusted to him, the bishop is called to imitate...

Denver, CO -- In the latest development of the saga over a group of Catholics who are supporting Barack Obama for president despite his pro-abortion position, Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput is weighing in. Chaput says the Catholics should following the church's pro-life teaching and get Obama to do so as well.

The Anglican Church is the perfect vehicle for creating a new “gay” Christianity by virtue of the fact that it is the only church that accepts the logical contradiction of asserting both the sanctity of human life and the existence of a right to abortion. Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, whose ordination to the episcopate has precipitated the ongoing schism between traditionally Christian Anglicans and its ultra-liberal, secularized branches, is in London to talk about his vision for the homosexual future of the Anglican Church. He was visiting and promoting his cause in preparation for the upcoming Lambeth Conference in July.

ELCA NEWS SERVICE May 19, 2008 Michael Burk Elected Bishop of ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod 08-065-JD* IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The Rev. Michael L. Burk, executive, Worship and Liturgical Resources, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Chicago, was elected May 17 to a six-year term as bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod. He was elected on the fourth ballot for bishop during the synod assembly here May 16-18. On the fourth ballot, Burk received 312 votes to 92 for the Rev. Kurt R. Nordby, assistant to the bishop, ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod, and director, Illowa Lutheran Coalition, Rock Island,...

In an interview with Matt Lauer of NBC, practicing Homosexual controversialist Bishop Gene Robinson announced plans to enter into a ‘Civil Union’ with his Male Paramour. He told the interviewer it was “what God is telling me to do” Just as the splintering Anglican Communion was preparing for its International Lambeth Conference. Just as the controversy surrounding the actions of some orthodox Anglicans planning an alternative Conference seemed to be out of the limelight. Right at this time,a controversialist Bishop named Gene Robinson once again enters the limelight to make himself the center of attention.

Genetic manipulation, environmental pollution, social inequality, unsustainable social injustice: these are the new forms of sin appearing on the horizon of humanity, like a corollary of the unstoppable process of globalization. They are also new challenges for the Apostolic Penitentiary, which labors to reaffirm its own role in an age in which the perception of sin counts less. Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, Regent of the Penitentiary, spoke of these in this interview released to L’Osservatore Romano the day after the conclusion of the course for confessors.... Does the attention to sin come from a sensibility to the needs of modern society...

-- MANY Episcopalians are reeling from the news in this week's New Yorker that the late Bishop Paul Moore - the 6-foot-5 patrician whose political activism drove many parishioners from the church - was a closeted homosexual who had a gay lover for the last 30 years of his life. While the Episcopal Church has embraced gays and ordained lesbian priests, Moore's secret life came as a shock. Moore - who made the cover of Newsweek in 1972, when he took over the Archdiocese of New York - died in May 2003. His daughter, Honor Moore, the eldest of nine...

Italian bishops condemned for urging actors to shun sex scenes Richard Owen in Rome A row has erupted over “Vatican interference” after the Italian Synod of Bishops appealed to actors to exercise their consciences and refuse to take part in “vulgar and destructive” erotic scenes in films. The appeal follows public condemnation by the bishops of an explicit sex scene in Caos Calmo, starring the Italian actor and director Nanni Moretti, which has just been released. In the film, directed by Antonello Grimaldi, Moretti plays a television executive who experiences a mid-life crisis after the death of his wife in...

"Grace Notes" for February 2008, by United Methodist Church Bishop Charlene Kammerer: Why we should care about God’s creation The psalmist has declared in Psalm 8: "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet..." My Christian...

Muslims call for 'no-go' CoE bishop to resign By Caroline Gammell Last Updated: 1:29am GMT 07/01/2008 Religious groups have demanded the resignation of the Bishop of Rochester after he claimed that Islamic radicals had turned parts of Britain into "no-go" areas for non-Muslims. The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali wrote in The Sunday Telegraph that fundamentalism had made some communities hostile to Christians and those from other faiths. Supporters say Bishop Nazir-Ali’s comments have raised valid questions about multiculturalism in Britain But Mohammed Shafiq, from the Ramadhan Foundation, said: "Mr Nazir-Ali is promoting hatred towards Muslims and should resign." Ajmal Masroor,...

The Bend Bulletin of Oregon has an interesting article on Bishop Robert Vasa of the Diocese of Baker in eastern Oregon. It is too long an article to reproduce here, but it is well worth the read. I would like to just quote some of the more interesting excerpts and quotes. Bishop Vasa on his "controversial" orthodoxy: “I as a teacher have an obligation to say these are not opinion, they are our teachings and are part and parcel of the Catholic Church,� he said. “These are things which stem directly from God himself.�On the value of a Catholic education:“Children...

In the lefty U.K. Guardian, columnist Andrew Brown laments the fact that the Archbishop of Canterbury has failed in his attempt to keep the language of controversy cloudy enough to avert schism. He hankers after those bygone days when liberal ecclesiocrats were not subject to interrogation by importunate evangelicals, when doctrinal disagreements could be assigned to study groups and buried in endless committee work, and when (as he claims) people were obliged to "pretend to accept each others' viewpoint." No more. The Church of England consists almost entirely of people who think that many of their fellow Anglicans aren't real...

Feastday: November 12 Josaphat, an Eastern Rite bishop, is held up as a martyr to church unity because he died trying to bring part of the Orthodox Church into union with Rome. In 1054, a formal split called a schism took place between the Eastern Church centered in Constantinople and the Western Church centered in Rome. Trouble between the two had been brewing for centuries because of cultural, political, and theological differences. In 1054 Cardinal Humbert was sent to Constantinople to try and reconcile the latest flare up and wound up excommunicating the patriarch. The immediate problems included an insistence...

[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori on October 31 inhibited Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania Bishop Charles Bennison from all ordained ministry pending a judgment of the Court for the Trial of a Bishop. The Title IV Review Committee issued a presentment for conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy against Bennison on October 28. The two counts of the presentment center on accusations that Bennison, when he was rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Upland, California, did not respond properly after learning sometime in 1973 that his brother, John, who worked as a lay youth minister in...

LifeSite News  Other Articles by LifeSite NewsPrinter Friendly Version   Duquesne Catholic University President Stops Planned Parenthood Ads October 15, 2007 Dr. Charles J. Dougherty, president of Duquesne University, has directed campus-based radio station WDUQ to stop running advertisements for Planned Parenthood. He based his decision on the hostility to Catholic Church teachings by Planned Parenthood, the nation's leading advocate for abortion.Planned Parenthood has launched a public relations effort to put pressure on the university to reverse the president's move. Cardinal Newman Society executive vice president Tom Mead said, "We applaud Dr. Dougherty's principled position. Planned Parenthood continues to...

ROME (Reuters) - The Vatican expressed concern on Tuesday at the unexplained death of a jailed Chinese bishop, who was quickly cremated and buried by Chinese authorities without a religious ceremony. Han Dinxiang, bishop in Hebei province who belonged to China's underground Catholic Church, died in custody on Sept. 9. The Vatican newspaper said he had suffered for his faith "in life and death", and estimated that he had been jailed for more than 20 years in total. "The news of his death took everyone by surprise because there was no knowledge that the prelate was sick or suffered from...

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorOctober 4, 2007Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A Catholic bishop who made national headlines yesterday with comments saying he would deny communion to pro-abortion Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has gone further. Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis says the nation's Catholic bishops should establish guidelines for a national policy.Burke expressed his views in an essay that appeared in Periodica De Re Canonica, published by the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.The Catholic leader says parish priests should ensure that everyone takes communion in a worthy manner, with no one taking it if they have publicly stood against the...

Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires Rages Against Abortion "Death Sentence" Calls the related abuse of children "demographic terrorism" By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman BUENOS AIRES, October 5, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In the wake of a clandestine abortion performed on a retarded woman with the help of the nation's health minister, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio and other Catholic authorities have let loose a torrent of criticism against the promoters of the "death sentence" for unborn children in Argentina, as well as other anti-life policies and customs. In a speech given to a gathering of priests and laity on October 2nd, the cardinal pointed...

Canadian Catholic Priest/Politician Says He Supports Abortion on TV Show Also publicly supports homosexuality; local bishop still refuses to discipline priest By Marie-Christine Houle and John-Henry Westen MONTREAL, October 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Father Raymond Gravel, the Quebec priest turned federal politician, has once again brought scandal to the Catholic Church by publicly voicing his stand in favour of abortion. On a French-language television show, Gravel was presented as a Catholic priest and Bloc Québécois MP (Member of Parliament) for Repentigny debating an Imam. In an article published in Le Soleil, reporter Richard Therrien reports that the conversation between Gravel...

U.S. Catholic Health Association Giving Flawed Advice on Morning After Pill to Catholic Hospitals Commentary republished with permission by Matt Bowman of Alliance Defense FundExcerpted from http://www.constitutionallycorrect.com/archive/2007/10/03/553.aspx WASHINGTON, DC, October 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Connecticut Catholic hospitals' spokesman Barry Feldman, in statements discussing the new policy allowing emergency contraception for rape victims even though embryos might not implant as a result, listed the Catholic Health Association as support for the new policy. The position of the Catholic Health Association on "emergency contraception" is well known and seriously flawed.  It basically presents "emergency contraception" as permissible even after a positive ovulation...

Catholics in Dominican Republic Plan Offensive Against Abortion 260 Catholic churches will hold anti-abortion protests on same day By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, October 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Catholics in the Dominican Republic are planning a large-scale offensive against the legalization of abortion in the Caribbean nation. The campaign will begin this Wednesday at 7 pm, with a speech in the capital city of Santo Domingo by the rector of the nation's Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, Roberto Reyna, who was almost aborted on the advice of his mother's doctor.  The event will also include speeches by several congressmen...

Michigan Bishops Launch Massive Statewide Stem Cell Education Program - Video Online 12 minute DVD and other material being sent to over 500,000 Catholic homes and nearly 800 parishes LANSING, October 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an effort to communicate the Catholic Church's teaching on human life as it relates to adult and embryonic stem cell research, the Michigan Catholic Conference on Monday announced the state's seven diocesan bishops have launched a monumental internal education program that includes over 500,000 Catholic homes and nearly 800 parishes. As part of the internal education program, which has the theme "The Science of...

Point Man for Connecticut Bishops on Plan B 'Emergency Contraception' Totally Confused on Issue By John-Henry Westen HARTFORD, October 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Barry Feldman is general counsel for St. Francis Hospital the lead spokesman for the Connecticut Catholic Bishops conference regarding their newly announced permission to administer the morning after pill Plan B to rape victims in Catholic hospitals in the state. In seeking comment on the decision LifeSiteNews.com spoke with the pro-life office of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) but was directed to the executive director of the Connecticut Catholic Conference (CCC). Deacon David Reynold, acting...

North Dakota Catholic Bishop Leads Prayers Outside State's Only Abortion Facility FARGO, October 1, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Facing the busy street in front of the state of North Dakota's only abortion facility Friday morning, Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fargo, led the prayers of the rosary. The dozen or so men and women who joined him drew close to hear his words above the sounds of the traffic and occasional nearby trains. The bishop had scheduled an hour of prayer at the abortion facility as part of the 40 Days for Life North Dakota...

GALLUP, N.M. -- Gallup police reported a bizarre set of circumstances following a recent emergency call to the home of Roman Catholic Bishop Donald Pelotte. The most recent event happened Thursday when Gallup police reported receiving an emergency call from Pelotte, 62. An incident report from the McKinley Metropolitan Dispatch Authority reported that Pelotte told operators "...gentle little people, about 3 to 4 feet tall, and wearing Halloween masks" were in the hall. The dispatch log reported that Pelotte said he hid in a closet while the people were in his home. The report said Pelotte offered conflicting information about...

Pro-Life Groups Asks Bishop to Stop Sister Helen Prejean's Fundraising for ACLU By John-Henry Westen BOISE, September 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Idaho Choose Life (ICL) has issued a public call for Idaho's Catholic Bishop, Mike Driscoll "to intervene quickly and forcefully in the brewing scandal involving Sister Helen Prejean." Sister Prejean is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at an event to raise money for the Idaho ACLU on Friday, September 28th.  (see ACLU website announcement: http://www.acluidaho.org/ ) Speaking of ACLU, ICL Executive Director David Ripley said "This nefarious organization has played a pivotal role in undermining Christian morality and...

Vatican City, Sep 28, 2007 / 09:48 am (CNA).- The Diocese of Crookston received a new bishop this morning with Pope Benedict XVI’s appointment of Monsignor Michael Hoeppner as its next spiritual head. Bishop-elect Hoeppner will replace Bishop Victor Balke who has been the bishop of Crookston since 1976. Msgr. Hoeppner comes to Crookston from the Diocese of Winona, Minnestoa where he is well regarded for his service to the Church.  Bishop Bernard Harrington of the Diocese of Winona praised Msgr. Hoeppner’s appointment. “I am delighted that Father Hoeppner has been appointed as Bishop of Crookston,” Bishop Harrington said. “He...

New Pembroke Bishop: "Pro-life is an incredibly important issue for us in the Church today" Adds, "It's a difficulty that's reeking havoc in our spiritual lives, in our nation and throughout the world" By John-Henry Westen and Steve Jalsevac PEMBROKE, ON, September 21, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Immediately after his ordination today as the new bishop of the Catholic diocese of Pembroke, a small diocese in Canada's Ottawa Valley district, Bishop Michael Mulhall emphasized that the pro-life issue is a very high priority for him. During a brief meeting with the press after the ordination LifeSiteNews asked the bishop for his...

We will be Celebrating Native American Tribal Rights Theme: Journey of Faith: Tears, Trial, and Triumph Starting with a reception on Friday evening at Williamsburg United Methodist Church, also celebrating with Native Tribal Dancers Opening Celebration on Friday September 14th The Custalow Brothers of the Mattaponi Tribe have been together for 40 years. The Custalow Brothers are sons of the late Solomon Dewey Custalow of the Mattaponi Tribe. They will be singing for the reception of Friday evening starting at 6:30pm The Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Tribe will be performing tribal dances on Friday evening. Saturday 8:30am Continental Breakfast 9:30am Opening Program...

Archbishop Burke: Bishops Must Discipline Pro-Abortion Catholic Politicians Calls his brother bishops to task - “To remain silent is to permit serious confusion regarding a fundamental truth of the moral law" By Hilary White ST. LOUIS, September 11, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Writing in the latest edition of the Canon Law journal, Periodica De Re Canonica, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, bishop of St. Louis, Missouri, has called his brother bishops to task for their silence on the problem of Catholic politicians who support abortion, euthanasia, cloning, embryo research, the homosexual political agenda or other legislation “contrary to the natural moral law.” Burke’s lengthy...

Pro-Abortion John Kerry to Speak at Catholic University of America Invitation violates principle unanimously agreed upon by US Bishops in 2004 By Hilary White WASHINGTON, September 10, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Catholic University of America (CUA) has invited former presidential candidate, Senator John Kerry to speak on environmentalism and the Iraq war this semester, despite initial opposition by the office of University Center, Student Programs and Events (UCSPE). The Tower, the campus paper of Catholic University, said the UCSPE had initially objected to Kerry's appearance, saying there is an "unwritten" campus rule banning political candidates during an election year. Kerry, who...

Bishops Denounce Influence of International Abortion Lobby in Nicaragua Warn that they will take to the streets to Prevent Legalization of Abortion By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman NICARAGUA, September 11, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) -The Catholic bishop's conference of Nicaragua denounced attempts by foreign organizations to promote "therapeutic abortion" in the country on Sunday, and warned that they would take to the streets to protest if it was necessary to prevent the practice from being legalized, something that they have done in the past. "We know that there are international entities who are interested in legalizing therapeutic abortion in Nicaragua," said Abelardo Mata,...

Kochi (Kerala, India), SVM News, September 8, 2007: An 81-year-old village bishop of Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church was severely beaten and hospitalised on August 29 at Kanjiramattam in Ernakulam district of Kerala state, India. Mathews Pulimoottil Cor-episcopa, aged 81, the village bishop and the vicar of the Kajniramattom St. Ignatius Orthodox Syrian Christian Church was severely beaten on Wednesday on the public road near his house while on his way home from the church after the funeral of a member of his parish. The accused, known as Baby of Kaniyamparmbil, apparently slapped the bishop on his face several times until...

Bishop-elect Peter F. Christensen will be ordained in the Cathedral of Saint Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota this Friday at 2 PM. The Mass of Ordination will be officiated by Archbishop Harry Flynn of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee. Bishop Christensen will then leave his parish, Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul, to travel to Superior, Wisconsin for his installation next week as the tenth Bishop of Superior. He may be especially welcome in Wisconsin given he is a distant relative of former Packers coach Verne Lewellen. Superior traces its Catholic roots to 1661,...

A bishop who led an underground congregation of Roman Catholics and was repeatedly detained in China for his loyalty to the Vatican died in police custody, a monitoring group said Tuesday.Bishop Han Dingxiang, 71, was cremated within six hours of his death Sunday and buried in a public cemetery with no priests or other faithful present, both groups said.Han, who had been under house arrest or other forms of detention for nearly eight years, died while being treated for an unspecified illness, the U.S.-based Cardinal Kung Foundation said. The group, which has long had close contacts with China's underground church...

Swiss Court Says Labor Law Forbids Bishop from Removing Dissident Priest from Parish Priest repudiated essential Catholic teachings on marriage and homosexuality and criticized Vatican By Peter J. Smith ZURICH, September 7, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Swiss court has ruled that a Catholic bishop has no authority to remove a rebel priest from his parish post under Switzerland's labour laws. The Basel Country cantonal court decided that Father Franz Sabo will remain at the parish of Röschenz as a parish administrator, despite the countervailing orders from Basel Bishop Kurt Koch. Fr. Sabo has been supported by the majority of Röschenz...

Despite Pleas, Ontario Bishop Refuses to Direct Catholic School on Amnesty International Local branch of AI still meets regularly in St. Sault Marie Catholic High School Hilary White SAULT STE. MARIE, Ontario, September 7, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Despite ratifying its parent organization's decision to support abortion as a human right, the local branch of Amnesty International in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario still meets regularly at St. Basil Secondary Catholic school.  Since the AI decision was announced this spring, two Catholic bishops in the UK have joined the Vatican in condemning the move. Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council...

"Lesbian Could Head Episcopal Diocese" blares the headline of a Chicago Sun-Times story about the nomination of the Rev. Tracey Lind as a "finalist" -- a curious expression -- for bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. She's found within herself the courage to go forward: "I believe that accepting this nomination is what God is asking of me," Lind said in a statement. She's dean of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland and author of Interrupted by God. How quickly identity politics has changed. Twenty-five years ago politically enlightened persons were instructed to ignore a candidate's homosexual libido as irrelevant...

Bishops to Amnesty International: We work with orgs who "do not oppose the fundamental right to life" By John-Henry Westen WASHINGTON, D.C., August 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has decried Amnesty International's recent decision to - as the bishops put it - "promote worldwide access to abortion," telling the organization that the Bishops' Conference will work with other organizations rather than with Amnesty International (AI) to carry out the good ends which AI was traditionally associated with. Bishop William S. Skylstad, the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement to...

Breda - The Dutch Roman Catholic bishop Tiny Muskens is urging the faithful of all religions to call God Allah in order to foster mutual understanding. The bishop of the city of Breda says God does not mind what he is called and points out that Allah is the Arabic word for God. The bishop, who is retiring in a few weeks, added he did not expect his ideas to find immediate acceptance. He expects it could take 100 or 200 years. Bishop Muskens has previously defied the Vatican by calling for the acceptance of married priests and the use...

Bishop: Tomorrow is Last Chance for AI on Abortion or Catholics Will Boycott By Elizabeth O'BrienUNITED KINGDOM, August 10, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A British Bishop has given Amnesty International (AI) a final warning, saying that tomorrow the organization faces its last chance reject its pro-abortion stance, or else face a boycott from individual Catholics and the Catholic Church.East Anglia Bishop Michael Evens, a long-time member of AI, clearly stated that tomorrow's meeting of the AI International Council in Mexico City is the last opportunity for AI to revoke its position on abortion, the Guardian Unlimited reports. Evans stated, "Catholics and...

Catholic Apologetics International and its Teachings on the Jews ...The issue of how CAI has been communicating its concerns about the Jews was recently brought to our attention by the bishop of the diocese in which CAI is located, the Very Reverend, Kevin C. Rhoades of Harrisburg, PA. In a personal letter he wrote to me, and in a follow up meeting I recently had with his vicar general, the Very Reverend William J. King, JCD, along with the executive director for ecumenical and inter-religious affairs of the USCCB, the Reverend James Massa, the shepherds God has placed as overseers...

Hubert O'Connor, the disgraced Roman Catholic bishop, has died of a heart attack in Toronto. He was 79. His death was announced by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. He resigned as bishop of the British Columbia diocese of Prince George after being charged with sex crimes in 1991. He was convicted in 1996 of committing rape and indecent assault on two young aboriginal women during the 1960s when he was a priest. He was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison by Mr. Justice Wally Oppal, who is now British Columbia's attorney general. After serving six months, the disgraced...

Archbishop Pius Ncube, an outspoken critic of authoritarian Zimbabwean President Mugabe, is being taken to court for allegedly conducting an affair with a secretary, a married woman. The outspoken critic of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Archbishop Pius Ncube, is being taken to court for allegedly having an affair with one of his secretaries. The lawsuit, filed yesterday by the husband of the woman in question, Mrs. Rosemary Sibanda, asks for the equivalent of $160,000 as compensation for emotional damages and the loss of companionship. In reaction to the filing of charges against the cleric, the Archbishop’s lawyer said that the...

Bishop David Zubik of Green Bay, Wis., a popular former auxiliary bishop of Pittsburgh, has been named bishop of his hometown Diocese of Pittsburgh. His Mass of installation will be held Sept. 28 in St. Paul Cathedral, Oakland. Today's announcement was made at 6 a.m. in Washington, D.C., by Msgr. Martin Krebs of the Vatican nunciature. A press conference to introduce the new bishop will be held at 10 a.m. in the chancery office, Downtown. Bishop David Zubik The new bishop is being hailed as a holy man who knows the diocese inside and out. The Ambridge native spent most...

Rocco is setting off speculation that Pittsburg will have a new bishop appointed in a matter of "weeks": In other terna news, the Pope is said to finally have the dossier for the bishopric of Pittsburgh on his desk. The final shortlist, received in Rome last month, was reportedly brought up at the last pre-summer meeting of the Congregation for Bishops in late June. An announcement ending the year-plus-long vacancy, created by the promotion of Donald Wuerl to Washington, is expected within "weeks."The Pittsburg post-gazette interviewed Rocco and adds details of its own: No names of potential appointees were...

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – In a highly controversial vote that may divide the denomination, the Free Methodist Church of North America voted today to install Dr. Jack Harvey, an openly obese man, as the bishop of the western conference of the church. Harvey is the first admitted obese person to have been installed as a bishop in the FM Church. The vote, which came after several hours of intense debate at the annual Free Methodist General Conference, fell in Harvey's favor by a margin of 421-385.