Serra’s Actions Aren’t the Only Reason to Lament His Canonization
The only good that I find in a St. Serra is that it could force us all to meditate on the ambivalence that haunts Christianity in this hemisphere.
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Straightening Up Cardinal Newman
Cardinal John Henry Newman, England’s most famous convert to Roman Catholicism, is on his way to sainthood. Is this why the Vatican is preparing to move his grave and separate him from the friend he requested to be buried with?
Read MoreChristians are ‘Jerks,’ The New Scopes Trial, Pastafarians’ Rights
RD’s weekly review, nearly as hoary as the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Read MoreJoan of Arc, Burned at the Stake May 30, 1431
‘As the flames rose to her Roman nose and her Walkman started to melt’…
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Queering Easter: The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Redefine Sainthood
An order of queer nuns, founded in San Francisco thirty-one years ago, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is now a full-fledged pastoral and charitable organization, having given away more than a million dollars. They’ve also raised pioneers in LGBT and AIDS/HIV rights to sainthood, creating their own holy calendar.
Read MoreVatican Seeks Virgin Amidst All This Sexual Impropriety
Lost in (and sullied by) the sexual scandals is the Church’s investigation into an apparition of Mary.
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Miracle Whip: Pope John Paul II, Self-Punishment, and The Fast Track To Sainthood
At the same time as we learn of a new depth to the pedophilia crisis in the Church, we hear from a Vatican official that Pope Paul II had a regular practice of flagellation: chastising the body for the sake of the soul. What can we learn from this irony?
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Mexico’s War on Saint Death
The Mexican government has demolished dozens of shrines to Santa Muerta, claiming that the worship of this skeletal woman in a white cloak is a “narco-cult.” As resistance grows, so does this new religious movement.
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