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Pope’s US Visit Provokes Intense Attention; New Vatican Book on Man-Woman Complementarity & New Int’l Report on Christian Role Models for LGBT Equality; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…’s service; he was scheduled to marry his partner on Thursday. Pink News reports that Prince William took part in a session on bullying and homophobia in schools, which it called “a surprising royal first.” Given the Monarch’s role as head of the Commonwealth, and as 90% of Commonwealth citizens still live under anti-gay laws, the Royals generally avoid all reference to gay equality. No Royals have ever spoken in favour of same-sex marriage. Howev…

Episcopal Church Assault Data Reveals the Dark Side of Inclusive Christianity

By Charlotte Dalwood

…a random sample size and therefore isn’t statistically representative. The number of individuals reporting victimization in Episcopal spaces is alarming nonetheless. However, I would argue the data is more likely to under- than to overestimate the scope of the abuse that occurs. To see why, the survey results must be interpreted in light of the Episcopal Church’s larger culture of inaction around sexual violence. See no evil, hear no evil… LGBTQ+…

Sacred Texting: When Religious Writ Gets Wired

By Rachel Wagner

…result of tens of thousands of hours put in by Tibetan monks and others supportive of their cause, all transcribing woodblock and other handwritten texts into digital formats. The “User Manual” on the ACIP Web site explains that the mission of the group is finding, organizing, “digitally preserving and disseminating rapidly disappearing Tibetan and Sanskrit manuscripts that hold the philosophical, cultural, and religious heritage of endangered cul…

Power Up: Turn Off the Cell Phone

By Daniel Schultz

…plugged-in lifestyle doesn’t really get at the heart of the issue. I think the Amish, of all people, have it right. It’s not so much about what you as an individual are doing or not doing, as the effect technology has on the community: Why not make life easier and just put [a phone] in the house? “What would that lead to?” another Amish man asked me. “We don’t want to be the kind of people who will interrupt a conversation at home to answer a tel…

First U.S. Visit of the Virgin Mary Confirmed in Wisconsin

By Lewis Wallace

…over by winter winds. Asked if she is happy about the developments, Tipps laughs. “We’re kind of being a little bit selfish because we’re like oh, gosh, we don’t really want all these people,” she says. “But it’s a good thing for the Blessed Mother.” Tipps’ beliefs tie her to a centuries-old tradition of folk Catholicism driven by local traditions, an aspect of the religion that the Catholic hierarchy has long made use of. For about a dozen centur…

Lifestyles of the Rich and Pious

By Patricia Miller

…n on Madison Avenue appraised at $30 million. • Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, who warned a few years back that the local gay pride parade might “morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan,” lives in a “one of a kind,” 19-chimneyed mansion in the heart of Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood conservatively valued at $14.3 million. And he is waited on by three nuns who live in a nearby coach house—very Downton Abbey. • Seattle Archbishop James Sa…

Conservative-Preacher-Turned-Progressive-Leader Carlton Pearson Finds a New Home, Ministry in Chicago

By Jonathan L. Walton

…sterial comeback. On this week the 6,000 member Christ Universal Temple of Chicago named him interim senior pastor. Founded by the Rev. Johnnie Colemon over fifty years ago, Christ Universal is one of the largest and most influential New Thought churches in the country. Rooted in the metaphysical healing milieu of late 19th century America, New Thought faith blends Christian teachings with the power of positive thinking, creative personal power an…

“Saints Are Only Human”: Leaving the Church, But Heeding this Pope’s Lessons

By Elizabeth Colmant Estes

…ot sweep violence under the rug. We must get over it, he seemed to say, because ignoring the damage we cause hurts everyone. A flock of white-cassocked priests bearing wafers were released in our midst. An assistant who carried a yellow-and-white umbrella accompanied each. The missalette sternly warned against taking communion across denominational borders. I instant-messaged someone in my denomination to find out the status of communion between R…

Silver Bells and Atheist Billboards

By Steve A. Wiggins

…ard. What do these signs tell us about ourselves? Once the bus reaches the Port Authority terminal and I join the braided streams of Manhattan commuters, I hear piped-in Christmas carols. And not just “secular” ones like “Winter Wonderland.” Pushing through the doors into the chilly New York air with Johnny Mathis singing “Silver Bells” overhead, it strikes me that I have just experienced a tiny cross-section of America’s ongoing cultural crisis….

No Garden to Get Back to: Understanding Post-Avatar Ecological Depressive Disorder

By Ryann Croken

…e-thinking of the relationship between human beings and nature. This is because Avatar, rather than simply telling people that they shouldn’t pollute because it is bad for the planet, shows people, on a visceral, instinctual, primordial level, that they are the planet. By humanizing nature, Avatar effectively ecologizes humans. The Truth Will Break Your Heart “Pandora on Earth,” then, is an unquestionably viable project, one that could transform a…