Located on Poland's Baltic coast, Hel is a well-loved tourist destination. However, certain groups of Christian conservatives have expressed their disapproval of the number on a bus that leads to a location whose name resembles the word "hell" in English. In response, the final numeral was changed to 9.

According to a local news portal, the bus line had operated under the number 666 since 2006, initially as a local joke. But it gained popularity among riders from both Poland and abroad. Many people simply rode the bus to be able to say that they had taken the 666 bus to Hel. Read more

As more than 200 people gathered for her funeral, a plane carrying a sign flew overhead which read,"I'm watching you … cry harder. M. XXX". Read more

The poll of 1400 regular churchgoing Christians found that they ranked explanations of the Bible as 27 times as important in a sermon as humour and "practical application" 42 times more highly than personal anecdote.

Continue reading

The society, which counts some 1400 academics among its ranks, has adopted a set of new guidelines to help members better respect "diverse theological and ecclesial sensibilities".

The inquiry, by an ad hoc committee, found that meetings frequently "include jokes and snide remarks about, or disrespectful references to, bishops, the Vatican, the magisterium, etc. These predictably elicit derisive laughter from a part of the audience."

The committee's report noted that public discussions at meetings frequently display demeaning references toward conservative theologians and cites two examples: "The phrase 'thinking Catholics' is sometimes used to mean liberals. The phrase 'people who would take us backwards' is sometimes used to mean conservatives."

The report also described a variety of exclusionary tactics aimed at more conservative members, including a failure to invite conservative theologians to speak.

As a result, conservatives felt "not only marginalised but unwelcome".

In its conclusion, the report says: "In sum, the self-conception of many members that the CTSA is open to all Catholic theologians is faulty and self-deceptive. As one of our members put it, the CTSA is a group of liberal theologians and 'this permeates virtually everything'.

"Because the CTSA does not aspire to be a partisan group, both attitudes and practices will have to shift if the CTSA is to become the place where all perspectives within Catholic theology in North America are welcome."

The society's president, Richard Gaillardetz, explained in a letter to the members that while the board does not share all of the concerns of the committee's findings, the report is still "an opportunity for an examination of conscience regarding our treatment of colleagues whose theological and ecclesial commitments differ substantially from our own."

He added: "The Catholic Theological Society of America should aspire to be a 'big tent' professional society that models in its attitudes and policies a commitment to the full catholicity of our theological tradition."

Sources:

National Catholic Reporter

National Catholic Reporter

Catholic News Agency

Image: National Catholic Reporter

Meanwhile three quarters of believers agree that freedom of speech should not be restricted even if it offends people with deeply-held religious convictions.

The finding emerged from a survey of attitudes among more than 2,000 committed Christians conducted in the wake of the international furore over the film mocking the Prophet Mohammed.

It is the first in a series of studies to gauge the opinion in the pews by Christian Research, a polling and research group, using an online panel of thousands of churchgoers. Continue reading