Tag Archives: vatican

Christians in Gaza Make Their Appeal to the Pope

The sign outside the door read “Cinema Club”, but inside, a Catholic priest was conducting Friday mass in Arabic for Gaza’s furtive Christians. Many of those Christians bowing their heads before a statue of the Virgin Mary were hoping that the power of prayer might nudge along the Israeli security bureaucracy. Six weeks ago, 250 Christians applied for permission from the Israelis to exit the locked down Palestinian enclave of Gaza for a day to see Pope Benedict XVI as he visits in Israel on his tour of the Middle East

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Pope Benedict’s Latest Take on Islam

Under Pope Benedict XVI’s reign, the Vatican dossier on Islam could be entitled: “Regensburg, and Everything After.” Regensburg was the professor Pope’s landmark 2006 discourse at his former university that included a nasty historical citation about the prophet Mohammed and provocatively asked if Islam lacks reason, making it inherently prone to violence. The worldwide protests among Muslims, including a handful of church burnings and the killing of a nun, forced the Pope to quickly change his approach, and soften his tone

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‘Angels & Demons’ fails to draw Vatican’s ire

If director Ron Howard hopes religious controversy will help sell tickets to "Angels & Demons" the way it boosted his "Da Vinci Code," the Catholic Church is not playing along with his script. Howard, who premiered the follow-up in Rome, Italy, this week, said there was “residual antagonism from ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ ” but Vatican officials ignored the movie by not responding to suggestions that the church was offended.

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Pope visits Italian quake zone

Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday visited two towns hit hard by the recent earthquake in central Italy, meeting with survivors and offering prayers. The pope flew by helicopter from Vatican City to a tent camp near the village of Onna, where he led a prayer for the hundreds killed in the April 6 quake. The camp houses hundreds of families left homeless when the magnitude-6.3 quake destroyed their homes

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First papal visit for Charles since divorce

Prince Charles of Britain is meeting the pope Monday for the first time since his 1996 divorce from Princess Diana, representatives for both sides said. The heir to the United Kingdom throne will be accompanied by his second wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. Prince Charles’s accession to the throne is likely to be an unspoken subtext of the meeting, an expert on the prince told CNN

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Third love-child claim hits Paraguayan president

A third woman has come forward claiming that Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo fathered a child with her out of wedlock. Damiana Moran, a teacher, told reporters Wednesday that she is confident Lugo will recognize the paternity of the 16-month-old boy. “He has the will to take responsibility as it corresponds to the rights of the child,” she said

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Paraguay’s president says he fathered child out of wedlock

Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo acknowledged Monday that he is the father of a 2-year-old child who was conceived when he was a Roman Catholic bishop. “It’s true that there was a relationship with Viviana Carrillo,” Lugo told reporters, citing the mother. “I assume all the responsibilities that could derive from such an act, recognizing the paternity of the child.” He said he was making the acknowledgment “with the most absolute honesty, transparency and feeling of obligation.” The announcement came in the week after Carrillo had filed suit in a city in southern Paraguay seeking a paternity test

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The Pope’s Anti-Condom Remarks: Candor Over P.R.

Pope Benedict XVI’s opposition to condoms, even as a weapon to help combat the spread of AIDS, should surprise no one who knows anything about Catholic Church teachings. The 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, penned by Pope Paul VI, explicitly forbids contraception as denying the Creator’s will that humans be fruitful and multiply

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