On Tuesday, the New York Times put together a remarkable chart showing that, with the naming of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential running mate, there are now no white protestants among this country’s top leaders in Washington. Both Joe Biden and Paul Ryan are Catholics (as are six of the nine Supreme Court justices and House Speaker John Boehner), Read more
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is attempting to block a Vatican bid to create new web addresses ending in .catholic, arguing that the Church “cannot demonstrate that it possesses a monopoly over the term ‘Catholic’ ”. The objection is one of more than 160 sent by the Saudis to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names Read more
Mitt Romney, the Mormon who is the likely Republican candidate for the presidency of the United States, has crafted a religiously unique election ticket by choosing Catholic congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate. His vice-presidential choice is well-known for his pro-life advocacy and his conservative economic views. Explaining his pro-life position, Ryan has said: Read more
Why am I still a Catholic? How should I answer this important question? In truth, sometimes I’m not sure why. Yet I know the Church frames my identity, as basic as that. It’s the source of consolation without peer. I can’t slough it off: it’s too embedded in the way I see the world and Read more
An Olympic Cross, hospitality centres for athletes and round-the-clock adoration of the Blessed Sacrament are featuring in the Catholic pastoral programme for the London Olympic Games. The cross will stand at the Joshua Camp, an international Catholic Olympic gathering in East London, until August 13. The camp provides hospitality and creates a Catholic presence to Read more
A review of a programme to bring overseas priests into an Australian diocese has revealed the priests received inadequate orientation and their parishes were poorly prepared to receive them. The review by a working party in Maitland-Newcastle diocese, north of Sydney, recommended continuing the programme. But it said further invitations to overseas priests should be Read more
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started July 20 in many countries, is a time of fasting, prayer and repentance, when Muslims distance themselves from worldly activities in an effort to align their lives more closely with God and his laws. According to the Vatican’s point man for dialogue with Islam, Ramadan is also Read more
Tawa is named after a broadleaf tree that was once widespread in the area, and the most well known landmark is a “bucket tree”. So when one hears of a street in southern Tawa called Redwood Ave, it is easy to conclude that it is named after one of the largest and tallest trees in Read more
After decades of dialogue, the Holy See has taken the unusual step of stripping the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru of the right to call itself “Pontifical” or “Catholic”. A Vatican statement said the university had amended its statutes several times since 1967 “in a way which has severely injured the interests of the Church”. Read more
Egypt’s newly-elected Islamic President Mohammed Morsi has met with Catholic leaders and assured them that all Egyptians will be protected by the administration. The meeting came one day after he met the interim leader of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church, which makes up the vast majority of the roughly 8 million Christians in the country. The Read more