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Take a moment to consider this short excerpt from Francis Schaeffer's sermon, "What Difference Has Looking Made?" The sermon is an extended reflection on the experience of the shepherds to whom the angels appeared at the birth of Jesus, as well as what that experience has to teach us: Doctrinal clarity matters a great deal; but Luke does not allow his Gospel to end merely with a proper emphasis on the necessity of the great doctrinal truths, and our study should not end there either. Before his ascension Jesus told the disciples "that repentance and remission of sins should be...

OTTAWA, Ontario (CCN) -- Bishop Raymond Lahey is not a pedophile and poses virtually no risk of sexual abuse or violence against children, a forensic psychiatrist testified during a sentencing hearing for the prelate who has pleaded guilty to child pornography charges. John Bradford, the psychiatrist who examined Bishop Lahey, described him Dec. 19, the first day of the hearing, as a homosexual with an addiction to Internet pornography. The bishop also entertains sadomasochistic fantasies, but indicated during questioning that he has never acted on those fantasies, Bradford said at the hearing. Bradford said that in a sexual history inventory,...

The St. Stanislaus case — which triggered a two-week trial that ended 11 months ago — is before St. Louis Circuit Judge Bryan Hettenbach. Constitutional scholars say the landmark 1976 U.S. Supreme Court ruling — Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese v. Milivojevich — could guide his decision.... ....He could read the Serbian case as grounds to side with the archdiocese's view. Under that thinking, a civil court considering church disputes should always defer to the internal legal rulings of that church's hierarchy. Such a reading of the law could return control of St. Stanislaus and its property to the archdiocese —...

FOR those of you who don't know already, the tsunami that hit Japan in March was caused by a space-based earthquake weapon controlled by the CIA. I learned this from an extremely long email I received recently from an anonymous gentleman with a fondness for block capitals and a disdain for conventional spelling who claimed that the American government has been behind every major earthquake and weather event of the last decade. It wasn't clear from his message: a) What the Earth's natural tectonic forces had been up to in the meantime - presumably spying on the Russians - or...

Roman Catholic bishops in the Netherlands protected sexual abusers and covered up their crimes, according to a major new report released today. The church-installed Deetman Commission says there were up to 20,000 victims of abuse between the end of World War II and 1981. Radio Netherlands Worldwide journalist Robert Chesal brought to light the abuse that led to a national scandal. He looks back at how the story unfolded.You could say that 2010 was the year when the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandal went viral. Until February of that year, abuse of youngsters by Catholic clergy was primarily seen as...

A communion wafer that fell to the floor at a South St. Paul church and turned blood red is not a miracle. Twin Cities archdiocese officials said Wednesday that the discoloration was instead caused by a fungus. The wafer was dropped during mass after it had been consecrated on June 19 at St. Augustine Church. Catholics believe that after consecration the wafer becomes the actual body of Christ. In order to show the proper reverence, the host was placed in a chalice-like container with water so it would dissolve. [SNIP] "Exhaustive biological analysis by an independent scientific laboratory has determined...

Thomas Nast, whose antislavery political cartoons propelled him to notoriety in the 19th century, has ignited another uproar: whether his anti-Irish and -Catholic drawings should disqualify him from the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Irish and Catholic groups are waging a campaign against including the father of the American political cartoon in that group of notable New Jerseyans, arguing that he routinely depicted them in an unfavorable light.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — In a country at least nominally 90 percent Catholic, you would think the news of another papal visit would be met with jubilation. It's not that the millions of faithful in Mexico aren't happy about Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming visit, expected before Easter next year. It's just that they can't drum up the same kind of emotion they had for his predecessor, the late Pope John Paul II, a man so beloved that the Vatican was presenting his relics, a vial of blood and a wax likeness, in more than 100 locations throughout the country. John...

CEBU CITY -- The Catholic Church supports the City Council’s move to rename Juan Luna Ave. in Barangay Mabolo to Pope John Paul II Ave. But Msgr. Achilles Dakay, Archdiocesan media liaison officer, told the Cebu City Government to make sure that once renamed, Juan Luna Ave., along with other streets in the city named after religious leaders, should be “clean and clear.” “Clean of indecent billboards and clear of flyovers, whoever may build them,” he said, apparently referring to the proposed flyover project of Representative Rachel “Cutie” Del Mar (Cebu City, north district) on Gorordo Ave., which was named...

Amid the hubbub surrounding the Gingrich surge, this is one question that has perplexed commentators of all religious and political persuasions. There’s no consensus about where to find the Catholic in Newt. At this point, the question is not where it is exactly, but where to begin looking.So, let’s review speculation about the Catholicity of Newt Gingrich. I’ll also advance my own hypothesis and give it a professorial flourish by using a suitably big word. Hypothesis number one: The new Catholic Newt is simply being American. Playfully characterizing Gingrich as a “religious flip-flopper� draws attention to how Gingrich, like many...

Wearing the garments of their respective faiths, a rabbi, two Protestant ministers and a Franciscan friar set aside theological differences on a December afternoon to lead a march – sponsored by a broad coalition of community and labor groups – down Market Street in San Francisco to the Occupy San Francisco encampment at Justin Herman Plaza. They were united in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement’s main rallying cry against inequality, recession, high unemployment and unaffordable health care. These conditions and the economic system behind them, they say, are in opposition to the Gospel and Catholic social teaching. “If...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is urging members of the House of Representatives to “find effective ways to assure continuing Unemployment Insurance and Emergency Unemployment Compensation to protect jobless workers and their families.” The House is considering a measure that would the reduce the duration of unemployment benefits from a maximum of 99 weeks to 59 weeks. “When the economy fails to generate sufficient jobs, there is a moral obligation to help protect the life and dignity of unemployed workers and their families,” said Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice...

The archbishop of Los Angeles is among a group of Latino bishops from throughout the US to have called for undocumented immigrants to be seen as a "revitalizing force" -- instead of as criminals. The group of 30, including Los Angeles Archbishop José Gómez, released a joint letter vowing to work for immigration law reform, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. [SNIP] "The lack of a just, humane and effective reform of immigration laws negatively affects the common good of the United States. We promise to keep working to bring about this change."

The Catholic Church in Italy may start paying up to £700 million in taxes on properties across the country in response to Italy's economic crisis. Following new Prime Minister Mario Monti’s austerity proposals, which include the reintroduced property tax on first homes, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, leader of the Italian Bishops Conference, said that the Church is likely to review their current tax exemption. “The current norms are correct in that they recognise the social value of activities carried out by many non-profits, among them church ones, especially is used for social, cultural or educational reasons,” Cardinal Bagnasco (above right) said....

[SNIP] "He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel." Scripture scholars over the years have debated regarding the word he. Should it be translated he or she or even they? But does it matter? In another words, does the he refer to the Messiah who is to come? Does the she refer to Mary? Does the they refer to the descendants of Mary; i.e., Christ and the Church? [SNIP] ...all three lead us to the same conclusion. Since it depends which original text is being used for the translation into our modern languages (the Septuagint or...

ROBINSON TOWNSHIP (KDKA) — The Vasko home is full of religious icons. Some of them have seasonal significance and some don’t, but all of them are inside the home for now. “I had a Blessed Mother statue sitting out here,” Steven Vasko said. He placed the statue just below the window of his family’s Robinson Township condominium. “Yeah it was taken,” Vasko said. “The association – they stole it.” He’s kind of right. The homeowners association did have someone remove the 150-pound cement statue from the spot. The association says its common ground. No one is allowed to have anything...

Candidates seeking to woo Catholic voters in 2012 will be dealing with political dynamics far more complicated than any since 1980. Since the Reagan years, when it became clear Catholic voters were up for grabs, both Democrats and Republicans have developed somewhat predictable ways of courting them. Democrats pretend settled issues like abortion and marriage are matters of private conscience, while Republicans have asserted themselves as the pro-life party. Battles over abortion, and now marriage, will continue to be the baseline of any appeal to the religiously active Catholic voter. But this year, candidates will discover Catholics are viscerally troubled...

What seemed at first glance to be a fairly straightforward report on the increase in lobbying efforts by religious groups has turned into quite a complicated ordeal.As I wrote last week, the U.S. bishops' conference had disputed a report by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life about religious advocacy groups in Washington, D.C. which stated that the U.S. bishops spend upwards of $26 million each year on advocacy efforts. Sister Mary Ann Walsh, media director for the USCCB, took Pew researchers to task for the numbers they came up with and for what seemed like a broad definition...

Bishop Claudio Silvero says the devices are "accursed and tools of sin".... [SNIP] ....mobile phones ease access to pornography and aid in "inappropriate relations." He says about 40 percent of Christian families suffer damage "because of the bad use of cellular phones and the Internet." His campaign is not shared by many in the church. Cell phones are common among Vatican officials and the church has produced some of its own applications for them.

Christian theologians should help the world to understand the “Trinitarian monotheism shows the true face of God,” Pope Benedict XVI said in a December 2 address to the International Theological Commission. The Pope acknowledged that Christian monotheism builds on the faith of Judaism. But with the incarnation of Jesus, this faith “came to be illuminated with a completely new light: the light of the Trinity, a mystery which also illuminates brotherhood among men.” Pope Benedict next addressed the question of how scholars can identify authentically Catholic thought. He observed that many Christians take the Bible as the ultimate source of...

Vatican officials are amused, rather than concerned, by a German lawyer’s complaint about the failure of Pope Benedict to wear a seatbelt while riding in his Popemobile. “It continues continues to provoke curiosity and smiles of amusements, beginning with the Pope himself," reported Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office.

With all due respect, Pope Benedict XVI either lives in an alternate reality or needs better PR handlers. His comments over the weekend to U.S. bishops about the sex abuse of children showed a continued disconnect with the church’s mishandling of this ongoing scandal. The pope referenced the church’s “conscientious effort” to confront sex abuse by priests. Uh? Perhaps the pope meant to say conscientious cover-up. No institution has done more to deny and downplay the sexual abuse of young boys than the Catholic Church. No institution has done more to discredit victims and protect pedophile priests than the Catholic...

When it comes to the holy trinity of art, architecture, and religion, few buildings are more significant than the 1898 Methodist Church in Norwalk, Connecticut. Anchoring a main street, the Romanesque-style church features a stained-glass rose window designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany himself. The founders of American Methodism preached there. Given its prominence and pedigree, should the church's governing body be allowed to sell the building for development, as it is currently trying to do? The U.S. Constitution, according to many observers, says yes, but historic preservationists beg to differ. Who decides? In cities nationwide, churches are struggling to maintain...

The other day a press release lands in my email inbox and blares: U.S. TELEVISION PREMIERE OF “POPE JOAN� ON REELZCHANNEL The Incredible Legend of the Only Female Pope Two-Part Television Miniseries Event Premieres Sunday and Monday, December 18-19, 2011 at 8pm ET and at 8pm PT Oh, great. The “Pope Joan� thing again.[SNIP] Okay, here’s the standard TV overhyped mystery weasel word: “consider.� They want their viewers to “consider� this story. They’re not willing to say flat out that it’s true. But they want to create the illusion that it is or might be, so they ask viewers to...

Next Thursday, as the rest of us tuck into our turkey feasts, hundreds of needy families in Southern California will open "Boxes of Love." Delivered by several churches led by Pacific Crossroads in Santa Monica, Calif., the boxes contain ingredients for a Thanksgiving meal for six. They allow impoverished families to skip food lines and neighborhood pantries and enjoy the holiday in their own homes. What's unusual about the Pacific Crossroads congregation—and what underpins efforts such as Boxes of Love—is its theologically conservative raison d'être. A member church of the Presbyterian Church in America, Pacific Crossroads is committed to Reformation...

A majority of Catholics voted for Barack Obama. And for it, we got a nice photo op at the University of Notre Dame and some ameliorating verbiage. But since then, we’ve seen a long list of actions that’s caused obvious displeasure among many Catholics, including priests and bishops. And it has some asking if the Obama administration anti-Catholic? For answers, let’s look at some recent actions by the administration. Recently, The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) filed a Freedom of Information Act request to discover why the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declined to renew a...

(Reuters) - The top U.S. Catholic bishop said on Monday that a child sex abuse scandal at Penn State University "opens a wound" within the church, which remains scarred from its own similar controversies and cover-ups. "We know what you're going through," Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, told a news conference in Baltimore where hundreds of bishops have gathered for their national meeting. Dolan declined to offer advice to Penn State University on how to deal with its scandal, because the church "has not been a good example of how...

Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church in Gig Harbor voted Sunday to leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), primarily because the denomination changed its constitution to allow noncelibate gay men and lesbians to be ordained as clergy and lay leaders. With 1,660 members, Chapel Hill Presbyterian is one of the largest mainline Protestant churches in the South Sound region. The Rev. Mark Toone, senior pastor of Chapel Hill, said his congregation reached a “tipping point” last spring when a majority of regional governing bodies, called presbyteries, voted to change the church’s ordination standards, permitting openly gay people to be ordained. “For 30 years,...

The U.S. bishops' relative silence contrasts with a recent Vatican document that urges stronger regulation of the financial sector and a more just distribution of wealth. Urging reforms to the left of even the most liberal Democrat in Congress, the Vatican spoke in stark terms about a global financial system that is unhinged from moral values. It's a thoughtful critique of free-market fundamentalism, in keeping with centuries of Catholic teaching as articulated by several popes. A Vatican cardinal even acknowledged that the "basic sentiment" behind the Occupy Wall Street movement aligns with Catholic values on the need for ethical corporate...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) – A Southern Baptist seminary president said Baptist churches should pay heed to the child sexual abuse scandal tarnishing Penn State University and immediately report any credible report of child abuse to legal authorities. “Sometimes Christians and indeed those in churches or Christian institutions seem to have the protective instinct that we need to find out more before going to any legal authority with that kind of suspicion,” Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said Nov. 8. “We need to get over that reluctance,” Mohler said. “We have to leave it to...

At Penn State, a month after the revelation of a sex-abuse scandal, four top executives have been ousted. In the American Catholic hierarchy, a decade after the exposure of hundreds of sex-abuse cases, just one bishop has resigned. So now the American bishops know what it looks like when an institution takes its responsibilities seriously—its responsibility not only to curb abusers, but also to hold accountable those leaders who allowed the abuse to go unchecked. A university president, a vice-president, an athletic director, and a legendary football coach have been dismissed for doing once what many American bishops did multiple...

COVINGTON, KY (FOX19) - Local company “TUNG TOOS” sells candy tongue tattoos aimed at adolescents and teenagers. To sell this unique product they have enlisted the partnership of Covington Catholic High School graphic design students. Students created designs from sketches, then submitted the designs to the company owner and received feedback. Approximately ten students had their work selected for professional use. These students eventually produced final art in Adobe Illustrator and lead designers were compensated for their work. Graphic design instructor Craig Cleveland reports that CCH designs have been getting great reactions at trade shows. The products will be sold...

THE High Court ruled on Tuesday that the Roman Catholic Church could be held responsible for the wrongdoing of its priests. The ruling could make it easier for victims of clerical abuse to make compensation claims. Mr Justice MacDuff said that the RC diocese of Portsmouth “may be vicariously liable” for the alleged sexual abuse of a woman known as JGE, now aged 47, who says that, as a child, she was abused at a children’s home in Hampshire by Fr Wilfrid Baldwin, an RC priest who died in 2006. Mr MacDuff said in his ruling that Fr Baldwin had...

SANTA ANA, Calif., Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The Roman Catholic diocese of Orange County has promised to honor Robert Schuller's legacy if it acquires his Crystal Cathedral in Southern California. A bankruptcy judge is scheduled to decide on the future of the complex at a hearing Monday, The Orange County Register reported. At a hearing Wednesday, a lawyer for the diocese said it was adding $1.8 million to its offer for the cathedral, bringing the total to $55.4 million. The cathedral board has said it would prefer an offer by Chapman University, an institution affiliated with the Disciples of Christ....

It didn’t take long after news broke of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky being charged with the sexual abuse of male students for pundits to make the inevitable comparison to the Catholic Church’s own abuse scandal. But with as many similarities as there were early on, they came to a screeching halt when the university's Board of Trustees last night announced the firing of both legendary head coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier.In a story that's now been widely reported, Sandusky was arrested last weekend and two additional employees of the university were charged with...

EMPLOYER’S name? “God.” His address? “Heaven.” In more self-confident days, that is how Anglicans used to answer pesky bureaucrats demanding particulars of a clergyman’s employment. But for better or worse, the old idea that “religious workers”—to use more modern language—belong in a legal and metaphysical category all of their own is being chipped away. London’s High Court ruled this week that the Roman Catholic church—in this case, the diocese of Portsmouth—could be held responsible for the actions of a priest, now dead, who is alleged to have abused a young girl at a children’s home. This was because the church...

This is no nursery rhyme but rather the cast of characters lining up to appear at the 2012 Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly meeting in Pittsburgh. ACT I: An assault on marriageThe chameleon:  This character will attempt to lead commissioners to see marriage differently than the Church has historically defined it. Separating marriage from the Biblical narrative of creation and the Biblical witness of Jesus' affirmation between one man and one woman, the assembly will be asked to see a "new normal" that is inclusive of gay marriage. Presented plainly, the redefinition of marriage will arrive at the assembly through...

Victims of clerical sexual abuse will find it easier to bring compensation claims against the Catholic church after a judge ruled it can be held responsible for the wrongdoings of its priests. [SNIP] The judge said although there had been no formal contract between the church and the priest, the late Father Baldwin, there were "crucial features" that should be recognised. He said: "He [Baldwin] was provided with the premises, the pulpit and the clerical robes. He was directed into the community with that full authority and was given free rein to act as a representative of the church. He...

Editor’s note: In light of recent decisions by other denominations to approve openly homosexual individuals for ministry, to sanction the blessing of same-sex unions, and because of the public debate on legalizing same-sex marriages, it is appropriate to publish the position of the Presbyterian Church in America on these issues. Here is a brief overview of actions of past General Assemblies and summaries of these actions: In 1977 the following was adopted: That the Fifth General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America affirms the biblical position for our denomination which states that: 1. The act of homosexuality is a...

Protests in support of Father Adam Boniecki, a liberal clergyman who was gagged by Church authorities on Thursday over controversial comments he made in the media, have highlighted a schism in Poland's Roman Catholic Church.“I am ashamed that this can happen in my – our – church,” said Zbigniew Nosowski, editor of Catholic monthy Wiez. Facebook pages and online petitions have already sprung up in favour of Father Adam Boniecki, the 77-year-old editor of the Tygodnik Powszechny weekly, who was informed by his religious order, the Congregation of Marian Fathers, that he must confine his media appearances to the afore-mentioned...

The editor of the prestigious Roman Catholic Tygodnik Powschechny weekly has been told by Church authorities not to make any more statements about a controversial 'Satanist' rock star recently kicked off a TV talent show. Father Adam Boniecki, who was a confidante of the late Pope John Paul II, has been disciplined by the religious order of which he is a member, the Congregation of Marian Fathers. According to a statement released on Thursday by the Marian Fathers, Boniecki must “limit his media appearances to Tygodnik Powszechny for the time being.” Although no reason was given for the disciplinary measures,...

Like something out of the Old Testament, an affliction from on high has rained down on Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Fairfax County: golf balls. One smashed the rear window of Pastor Bob Barnett’s Honda Odyssey on a Sunday. Another crashed through a church office window, and a third plunked the youth director on the head, knocking him down as he worked with a group of children. In all, 2,637 balls pelted the property during a recent year-long period, the church claims. Members know because they collected each one. The source is not divine, but the adjacent TopGolf, a state-of-the-art...

Plenty of people throughout history have pondered the possibility that extraterrestrial intelligent life exists on a planet other than Earth, but how does that relate to Christian theology and teachings? The idea that life could exist elsewhere and how it might relate to Christian and Catholic beliefs will be the topic of a free lecture Tuesday at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo. The Rev. Dr. Thomas O'Meara, retired University of Notre Dame theology professor and nationally renown author and speaker, will present his lecture, "Christian Theology and Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life," at 7 p.m. Members of the public are welcome. O'Meara,...

For those following the Occupy movement that has been protesting on Wall Street in New York and many other cities, the masked face of Anonymous has become an increasingly common symbol. If you have not seen the face of Anonymous, he has pale white skin, black hair and a long moustache, a long thin angular face and a 16th-century black hat. The visual image used by the protesters is drawn from the film "Vendetta," which was in turn derived from a graphic novel, or long comic book, set in a futuristic Britain, where a rebel against a tyrannical government uses...

<p>Baker served more than five years of a 10-year prison sentence for his 2007 conviction and was scheduled to be released in August. But the Los Angeles district attorney's office filed a petition to have him committed to a state hospital indefinitely as a sexually violent predator.</p>

The Vatican recalled its ambassador to Ireland in July after Prime Minister Enda Kenny accused the Holy See of obstructing investigations into sexual abuse by priests. Gilmore said he did not expect the Vatican now to close its mission in Dublin. "The fact that we have chosen to close our mission in the Vatican and to have it serviced from Dublin doesn't necessarily mean that we won't have a Papal Nuncio here," he said.

THEIR WORK ethic appears to be alive and well but Protestants are less likely than others to back notions of sharing the benefits. A new European Central Bank study has also found that Catholics are more likely to favour sharing wealth and to support government intervention in the economy than are Protestants. Based on data from Swiss cantons of Fribourg (Catholic) and Vaud (Protestant), the study found support for early 20th century German sociologist Max Weber’s theories about the Protestant work ethic. It also concluded that Weber’s theories apply more widely than thought, including in the choice of political institutions...

The Reformation of the Church, ignited in 1517 by Martin Luther’s posting of the Theses on Indulgences, is and always has been about the proclamation of the pure Gospel as set forth in sacred Scripture.  The “Treasury of Daily Prayer,” from Concordia Publishing House had as part of the readings for today a paragraph from Martin Luther’s sermon on John 1:29 – Behold the Lamb of God.  The pure Gospel, as Lutherans and orthodox Christendom proclaims it – we have strayed from time to time from this proclamation – is and always has been Christ and Him crucified for our...

This Monday (October 31) is Reformation Day, commemorating and celebrating the Reformation. It takes place each year on the anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing of the 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Door on October 31, 1517. For pastors (and others) who might want some resources in preparation, here are a few recommendations:1. Last year I interviewed Carl Trueman about the 95 Theses. It’s a nice way to get a brief introduction to what happened.2. There are a number of accessible introductions to the Reformation, but if you want to focus on Luther’s life and theology, a great choice would be...

Reformation Day is a religious holiday celebrated on October 31st or the last weekend in October in remembrance of the Reformation. Martin Luther posted a proposal at the doors of a church in Wittenberg, Germany to debate the doctrine and practice of indulgences. This proposal is popularly known as the 95 Theses, which he nailed to the Castle Church doors. This was not an act of defiance or provocation as is sometimes thought. Since the Castle Church faced Wittenberg's main thoroughfare, the church door functioned as a public bulletin board and was therefore the logical place for posting important notices....