By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Baltimore
Facing the reality of an Obama presidency, the U.S. bishops intend to support the new administration but also to stress areas of disagreement, above all abortion and other ?life issues,? according to Cardinal Francis George of Chicago and other bishops who spoke this morning in Baltimore.
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Baltimore
Cardinal Francis George, speaking this morning as president of the U.S. bishops? conference, said all Americans should ?rejoice? that a country which once tolerated slavery has elected an African-American as president ? and, in the same breath, he issued a blunt challenge to the new administration on abortion.
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Baltimore
I?ve said it before, and I?ll say it again: It ain?t easy being a bishop. As proof, just consider the avalanche of wildly conflicting advice descending upon the Catholic bishops of the United States as they gather Nov. 10-13 in Baltimore, most of it focused on abortion, the 2008 elections, and where the bishops go from here.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Pius XII, the wartime pope whose alleged "silence" on the Holocaust has long been a sore point in Jewish/Catholic relations as well as in internal Catholic debate.
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Though there?s been no actual declaration to this effect, unofficially 2009 appears to be shaping up as the ?Year of Africa? in the Catholic church.
Three high-profile public events seem destined to ensure that the spectacular growth of Catholicism in Africa, as well as the steep challenges it faces, will be in the limelight throughout the year:
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Denver
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Though the Oct. 5-26 Synod of Bishops was hardly defined by electric theological debate, the final propositions submitted to Pope Benedict XVI nonetheless represent a victory for what might be called a ?moderate? line.
Final Propositions
Synod of Bishops on ?The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church,? Oct. 5-26, 2008
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Pope Benedict XVI is not delaying a trip to Israel in protest over a controversial display about Pope Pius XII, his wartime predecessor, in Jerusalem?s main Holocaust museum, a Vatican statement asserted yesterday.
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Blaming Bible scholars for a crisis of faith in the West is a time-honored exercise in Christian thought, but after a fairly tough opening round for the Biblical guild during the current Synod of Bishops in Rome, notes of praise as well as burial are beginning to be heard.