July 5, 2012 Sojo in the News Patrick O'Neill ...

Nearly lost amid ongoing reports about the Vatican leaks scandal, Rome’s battle with American nuns, the American bishops’ battle for religious freedom, and the priest on trial in Philadelphia, was the news tha ...

Pope Benedict XVI is set to visit Philadelphia in 2015 for the Vatican World Meeting of Families. Pope Benedict XVI is set to visit Philadelphia in 2015 for the Vatican World Mee ...

Groups of Boston-area Catholics who have waged an eight-year battle to block the sale of parish buildings are running out of options as the Vatican has rejected their appeals. BOS ...

In his speeches, Pope Benedict XVI often echoed bishops' concern about religious freedom and the challenges confronting the American church. In his last address, on May 22, he warned bishops of the “threa ...

Pundits and politicians who opine about the so-called war on women ought to take note of the lawsuits filed Monday against the Department of Health and Human Services contraception mandate by 43 religious grou ...

Archbishop Michael Seneco, of Washington, D.C., is a gay man who plans to marry his longtime partner in September. Bishop Jim Morgan, of Ogden, Utah, is also gay and has been with the man he considers his hus ...

Dozens of Catholic universities, dioceses and other institutions filed lawsuits in courts around the country on Monday in a coordinated effort, spearheaded by the U.S. hierarchy and Catholic conservatives, to ...

It's been nearly a month since Bishop Richard Lennon announced he would reopen 12 closed churches, but so far no shuttered sanctuaries have been resurrected. CLEVELAND — It ...

The Vatican's doctrinal office said “further discussions” will be needed with the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in order to heal a decades-long split within the Roman Catholic Church. ...

The Vatican announced on May 15 it had settled a lawsuit against Italian clothing group Benetton for using an image of Pope Benedict XVI in one of its advertisement campaigns. VAT ...

The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops are reviewing the church’s long-standing ties to the Girl Scouts of the USA after complaints that some of that venerable organization’s programs might contradict church teac ...

On Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI ordered Hildegard von Bingen, who died in 1179, to be inscribed “in the catalogue of saints,” thus extending her cult “to the universal church.” Her ...

The flagship Jesuit university has announced that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic who has angered conservatives and bishops for overseeing the Obama administration’s contracep ...

I started seeing Sister Catherine once a week and within two months I felt as though I were going through a spiritual transformation, like I was being radically broken open and the thick outer shell I had main ...

It turns out that conservative American churchmen living in Rome—including disgraced former Boston Cardinal Bernard Law—were key players in pushing the hostile takeover of the Leadership Conference of Women Re ...

Silly and serious, strict and kind, profoundly faithful and sometimes hilarious — Catholic nuns are evergreen characters on the big (and the small) screens. Here's a list of some of our favorite portrayal ...

Give Congressman Paul Ryan credit for persistence. The Wisconsin Republican and architect of the GOP’s budget plan has spent a month arguing that his party’s proposals to cut programs for the needy while sparing the Defense Department and not raising ...

April 26, 2012   QUOTE OF THE WEEK "For years, we dreamed ...

When Bishop Richard Lennon began closing 50 Catholic churches in and around Cleveland three years ago, the bulk of the faithful quietly moved on. CLEVELAND—When Bishop Richard Le ...

After an official investigation, the Vatican seems pretty upset with the Catholic Sisters here in the United States. After an official investigation, the Vatican seems pretty upse ...

After nearly 700 people tried to push Gonzaga University to rescind its commencement speaker's invitation to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, supporters of the anti-apartheid hero responded with 11,000 signatures ...

American nuns have gotten into some hot water with the Vatican, whose representatives claim the nuns are practicing “certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.” ...

The Vatican has launched a crackdown on the umbrella group that represents most of America's 55,000 Catholic nuns, saying that the group was not speaking out strongly enough against gay marriage, abortion ...

Roman Catholic Bishop Richard Lennon on Tuesday (April 17) announced that he will reopen 12 churches whose closings were reversed by the Vatican last month. Roman Catholic Bishop ...

Pope Benedict XVI turned 85 on Monday (April 16) amid renewed speculation about his declining health and possible resignation. VATICAN CITY—Pope Benedict XVI turned 85 on Monday ( ...

The nation’s Catholic bishops are calling on the faithful to pray and mobilize in a “great national campaign” to confront what they see as a series of threats to religious freedom, and they are setting aside t ...

Pope Benedict XVI ended his three-day visit to Cuba on Wednesday (March 28) with an appeal for more religious freedom for the Catholic Church, ahead of a highly anticipated meeting with the island's histo ...

Pope Benedict XVI’s 3-day visit to Cuba began Monday, when President Raul Castro greeted the pontiff at the airport of Santiago de Cuba. The arrival was fairly quiet, but the evening Mass in Santiago’s plaza w ...

Emmanuel shows up on our front porch about once a week. His name means “God with us,” but if there’s anyone on the planet who appears to have been forgotten by the Divine, It’s him. He stands at about 5’4″ and ...

A small group of protesters occupied a church in central Havana, illustrating the challenges that Pope Benedict XVI will find in Cuba during a March 23-29 trip. VATICAN CITY--Two ...

Wading into sensitive church-state territory, a Missouri judge has ruled in favor of an independent-minded Catholic church that claims ownership of its property and autonomy from the Archdiocese of St. Louis. ...

A Catholic priest who was pulled from ministry after a furor over denying Communion to a lesbian at her mother's funeral insists he did the right thing and criticized the Washington archdiocese for discip ...

A Catholic priest who allegedly denied Communion to a lesbian at her mother's funeral has been put on leave pending an investigation of unrelated "intimidating behavior toward parish staff and others ...

Despite differences over women's ordination and a controversial Vatican initiative to woo back disgruntled Anglicans, Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will pray together in Ro ...

Strapped for cash and staff, Rick Santorum has enlisted a ragtag but politically potent army to keep his campaign afloat: home-schoolers. Strapped for cash and staff, Rick Santoru ...

In unusually strong, populist tones, the guide's authors decry efforts to cut government programs for the poor and middle class while protecting tax rates for the "super-rich." They "denoun ...

VATICAN CITY — On the eve of his elevation to cardinal, New York's Archbishop Timothy Dolan said he would like to change the caricature of his city as a modern-day Gomorrah. ...

There likely was little Sabbath-ing for politicians and journalists this weekend, as the debate over health policy raged across the campaign trail and in the television studios. T ...

President Obama on Friday said that all insurers — not all religious institutions — will be required to offer free contraceptive services to women. Here's what people are saying about it: ...

The Obama Administration announced earlier today a change to its policy regarding conscience exemptions and contraception coverage for faith based organizations. The Obama Adminis ...

I care because this matter touches upon the religious freedom of us all. I care because InterVarsity is engaged in a parallel struggle. Over the past 18 months, our status as a recognized student organization ...

Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus is a true Internet phenomenon, garnering more than 18 million views and sparking a global debate. As with most internet phenomena, the viral video has given birth to dozens ...

But compared to other religious Americans, the Romneys and other Mormons are fairly atypical when it comes to passing the plate. Across the rest of the religious landscape, tithing is often preached but rarely ...

During her brief career as star of stage and screen in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Dolores Hart won a Theater World Award, was nominated for a Tony Award and gave Elvis Presley his first on-screen kiss (in ...

Just as some religious organizations and individuals object to their taxes paying for contraception or abortion, being forced to pay for war is also a violation of religious freedom and conscience. But there i ...

January 19, 2012 Sojo in the News Maureen Fiedler ...

In this segment from his new CatholicTV series "Blinks," the Rev. Jim Martin considers why Christianity is often considered so joyless, and why "religious" usually means "serious." ...

The Afternoon News: Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012 Huffington Post: An Interview with United States 39 th President Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter is the 39th president of the United ...

Whatever you call them, however you spell it, there’s a group of Evangelicals who have Tea Party hearts. TeaVangelicals? TEA-Vangelicas? T-Evangelicals? Whatever you cal ...