Vatican to test if trainee priests are gay. As if the Catholic Church doesn't have bigger concerns. They seem to be trying to throw dirt onto their own graves. Organized religion is SO last millennium. If a gay person really wanted to be a priest, wouldn't it be simple to "pass" a psychological screening? And what self-respecting gay person would want to be a part of something that seeks to exclude him?
posted by archimago on Oct 25, 2002 - 77 comments

Patron saint for Internet users? The Pope has given the Internet his blessing (thanks!) and there's talk he is searching for a patron saint for Internet users. Who would you nominate for patron saint of the Internet? St. Berners-Lee of CERN? St. Metcalfe of Ethernet?
posted by billder on May 12, 2002 - 24 comments

'"Would you state your name for the record?'' the man whose visage has now graced the cover of every national newsweekly was asked at the start of yesterday's session. 'Yes,'' the cardinal said. ''My name is Bernard Francis Law.'' Wonderfully written analysis on yesterday's deposition from my favorite paper.
posted by luser on May 9, 2002 - 5 comments

No zero tolerance for ass hunting priests !! "...the group of cardinals and top bishops stopped short of developing a zero-tolerance plan to punish abusive priests" Attention all catholics ! Be sure to ask your priest if he has already used his one free, get out of jail for sexually assaulting an unsuspecting child card, before you send your kid to Sunday school. It baffles me how they cannot have zero tolerance for this.
posted by a3matrix on Apr 25, 2002 - 52 comments

Why Would Celibacy Cause Pedophilia? I been puzzled by the folks who are blaming the celibacy rule in the Catholic church for the pedophilic priests. Maybe I'm missing something, but the argument sounds counter intuitive to me.
posted by nobody_knose on Mar 21, 2002 - 23 comments

I hate to post from Salon but this just torqued my ass! "The Vatican has come up with new guidelines for the Roman Catholic Church to handle pedophilia accusations against priests, ordering church officials worldwide to inform it swiftly of such cases and declaring them subject to secrecy..."

Since when does being a Catholic priest exempt you from the law? Vatican II was supposed to bring Catholicism to the people and that included allowing man's laws to permeate the pontifical sphere that has protected so many priests for centuries. We expect holiness from these men, allowing for human failing and error; however, no one should be above the law!
posted by gloege on Jan 10, 2002 - 26 comments

Someone else's Religion or your health? How the Catholic church is manipulating medical research in the United States. Stem cell research offers some exciting opportunities for medicine but the Pope doesn't think so.
posted by keithl on Jun 21, 2001 - 48 comments

Pope John Paul II apologizes for the Sack of Constantinople and other atrocities committed by the Crusaders against the Greek Orthodox as he goes on with his controversial trip to Greece retracing the steps of his namesake.
[I am gonna miss the guy when and if he passes away.]
posted by tamim on May 5, 2001 - 19 comments

Bush's strategy: court the Catholics. Bush won as high a percentage of church-going Catholics as did Reagan in 1984, as Reagan was winning 25% more votes than did Bush. There's a strong Catholic vote in many states Bush narrowly lost, suggesting that consolidating his Catholic edge could assure victory in 2004.
posted by MattD on Apr 16, 2001 - 12 comments

Priests and missionaries sexually abusing nuns. I'm thinking it's long past time the Catholic church re-thought the whole "celibacy" thing.
posted by dnash on Mar 20, 2001 - 22 comments

Vatican might name Saint Isidore of Seville the patron saint of Internet users and computer programmers. The world keeps getting weirder, doesn't it?
posted by christian on Feb 6, 2001 - 24 comments

Our religion is better then yours, Naa, Naa! “The truth of faith does not lessen the sincere respect which the Church has for the religions of the world, but at the same time, it rules out...a religious relativism which leads to the belief that ‘one religion is as good as another’,” it said.
posted by john on Sep 5, 2000 - 14 comments