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Could Orthodoxy Be Having its Vatican II Moment?

By Chrissy Stroop

…n Crete is peaceful and determined. The Churches that have arrived for the official opening are already working on the draft message to be published at the end of the council. They are, of course, also saddened that some Churches have created this turmoil by changing their minds for no apparent (or at least no justifiable) reason. So the council will proceed and convene, while its decisions will be authoritative and binding, just as with the decis…

U.S. Bishops’ Silence on Guns and Gays

By Patricia Miller

…d must be rejected, to be fully accepted by the church. Similarly, Kurtz’s official statement, with it’s reminder of how “precious life is” and call for “protecting the life and dignity of every person,” is a not-so-subtle reference to abortion. Nothing like using a national tragedy that has absolutely nothing to do with abortion to push your anti-abortion agenda, boys. But conservatives within the church will continue to push the line that it’s a…

Exactly 30 Years Before Illinois AG’s Devastating Sexual Abuse Report, a Plan for Prevention was Implemented, Then Scrapped

By David Clohessy

…law enforcement authority stresses, each of these men is already listed on official public church websites elsewhere and is deemed “credibly” accused by official church prelates and panels. A distraught Margaret was convinced that much of the horror could have long ago been prevented—or at the very least exposed. She quickly summarized a long-ago and now largely forgotten scandal that took place in Belleville, Illinois, where she lives—a scandal i…

Conservative Bishops Unhappy At Synod, But Ignore Walkout Call; Australian Religious Leaders Step Up Marriage Equality Opposition; Italy Debates Civil Unions; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…em is highly prevalent. All classes — from the poor to the highest-ranking officials — are likely to hide their sexuality out of fear for their reputation, and of being associated with mental illness or sin.” Trinidad and Tobago: Anti-Gay Insult in Parliament Spurs Conversation on LGBT Rights Homosexuality is illegal in Trinidad and Tobago, but a homophobic insult uttered in a verbal exchange in parliament has encouraged a religious leader to spea…

Was Prof Wrong to Ask Students to Not Thank God?

By Hollis Phelps

…ultural critic Slavoj Žižek has often noted that in addition to the set of official mores, rights, and laws that govern a society, is an unwritten code or set of assumptions that govern how the former are to be interpreted and enacted. For example, if an acquaintance at work passes me in the hall and says, “Hey. How are things going?,” I’m aware that it’s not a real question, that she’s not really interested in how my day is going. Why? Because th…

Bishop Minerva Carcaño Has a Nearly Impossible Job

By Mary E. Hunt

…ice to their lobbying efforts against some of the most conservative public officials. Minerva’s episcopal position lends credibility to her progressive insistence that each child be cared for regardless of legal status. Whether preaching in one of her churches or discussing specific cases with Lou Dobbs, she insists that immigration is not about “partisan politics” but of “lifting up a matter of conscience for this country, a moral and ethical iss…

Santorum and the New Catholic-Evangelical Alliance

By Sarah Posner

…ent and control of environment,” and “alienation from families.” ODAN’s website describes Opus Dei’s aggressive recruitment tactics and lists Opus Dei’s “index of forbidden books,” based on a list maintained by the Vatican until 1948, and which has been updated to tellingly include those by writers such as Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale. (Opus Dei denies that there is an official list of forbidden books, but rather that it maintain…

Did Mormon Morality Teachings Really Make it Harder for Elizabeth Smart to Run?

By Joanna Brooks

…he one Elizabeth Smart attended. Mind you, such lessons are nowhere in the official sex education curriculum of the state of Utah. Nor are they to be found in the current handbooks or youth instructional manuals of the LDS Church. The most current LDS youth manuals (released in January 2013) reflect a steady effort on the part of LDS Church leaders to revise out especially punitive messages about sexuality, especially those that might compound fe…

Condemnation, Condolences in Wake of Orlando Massacre and More

By Peter Montgomery

…ey: Pride, under threat from Islamists and nationalists, cancelled by city officials City officials in Istanbul announced that the city would not allow the annual pride parade to be held this year. It was scheduled for June 26. A far-right youth group affiliated with the nationalist Great Union Party had held a press conference promised to do “what is needed” to stop the event from taking place. More from the Independent: Ömer Akpinar, a Turkish g…

Significant Changes to LDS Scripture Reflect Shifting Church Views on Racist History

By Joanna Brooks

…he Pearl of Great Price—includes editorial changes that reflect a shifting official view on issues like polygamy, the Church’s history of racism, and the historicity of LDS scripture. Perhaps the most significant is the inclusion of a new heading to precede the now-canonized 1978 announcement of the end of the LDS Church’s ban on black priesthood ordination: The Book of Mormon teaches that “all are alike unto God,” including “black and white, bond…