archives

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
New York

Speaking out of what he called “sadness and anxiety,” the Vatican’s top official for religious life has called upon the Jesuit order to obey the hierarchy, to defend church teaching and to deepen its commitment to “think with the church.”

Slovenian Cardinal Franc Rodé specifically urged the Jesuits to greater fidelity in theological work as well as in “your magazines and publications,” both areas of tension between the Jesuits and the Vatican in recent years.

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
New York

Wielding some of his most dramatic language to date about Darfur and other regions of the world, especially Africa and the Middle East, Pope Benedict XVI today offered a 360-degree review of the Vatican’s international concerns in an annual address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See.

The meeting with the diplomats is considered the pope’s most important foreign policy speech of the year.

By DANIEL BURKE
Religion News Serbice

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori says other members of the Anglican Communion hold a "double standard" against the U.S. church for having an openly gay bishop and blessing same-sex unions.

Other provinces in the 77 million-member communion have gay bishops and blessing ceremonies, Jefferts Schori told BBC Radio in an interview broadcast Jan. 1, but are not as open about it.

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY -- A leading Vatican official has proposed a worldwide program of eucharistic adoration to seek spiritual reparation for the damage caused by the sexual abuse of children by priests.

Cardinal Claudio Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, said the initiative would involve dioceses, parishes, monasteries, convents and seminaries in a prayer movement to support priestly holiness.

The Catholic hierarchs preach about love of neighbor.

But when will these men (and yes, they are all MEN), begin to “love their neighbors,” the neighbors who happen to be female and comprise half the human race; love them enough to respect them, to value their opinions, include them in leadership positions, instead of actively excluding them. Oh, I forget. Women are supposed to be seen but not heard.

I am a Catholic mom of an eight year old boy who was concieved by in vitro fertilization. I was very disturbed to hear that the Catholic Church was taking the position that IVF babies do not have souls. I could not believe that anyone would say this and my comment is that my child will always have a soul because even if he does not he can have mine, because I love him with all of my heart and anything that is mine is his. I think the church needs to be very careful on IVF teaching. Alot of the arguments against it frankly make no sense. They say that they have a problem with it because it is not creating a child with sexual intercourse but most people who have IVF have tried to have a child naturally for years. Also embryos are not always destroyed, all of my embryos had a chance to be born but only one was.