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An informal exorcism performed at the Cathedral of St. Paul this month was more profane than sacred and was directed toward gay Catholics, police and church authorities said Tuesday. They said the ritualistic sprinkling of blessed oil and salt around the church and in donation boxes amounted to costly vandalism and possibly even a hate crime. The damage was discovered Nov. 7 after the noon mass, and after words were exchanged between members of the Rainbow Sash Alliance, a gay rights group, and the opposing group, Catholics Against Sacrilege.

Heavenly bodies give churchgoers a shockBy Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent(Filed: 11/11/2004) The young men of a Church of England cathedral choir have dismayed traditionalists by stripping off their shirts for a charity calendar. The "heavenly hunks" of Portsmouth cathedral choir have been photographed in a series of provocative poses for the 2005 calendar, which has the backing of the Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Kenneth Stevenson. A number of the pictures of the choristers, aged between 18 and 26, have a nautical theme to tie in with the city's celebrations next year of the 200th anniversary of the Battle...

A group of Satanists vandalized the Cathedral of Linares in Chile this weekend, drawing satanic symbols on the walls and pouring red paint over the main altar, according to police in this city located 170 miles south of Santiago. The unknown group painted inverted crosses and wrote the number six in three different areas of the Cathedral walls. The vandalism took place eight days after the murder of an Italian priest, Father Faustino Gazziero, who was decapitated by a follower of satanic cults at the conclusion of Mass in the Cathedral of Santiago. The priest’s killer, Rodrigo Orias, attempted to...

p>Satanism Linked to Priest's Murder in Chilean Cathedral Assailant Invoked Devil's Name, Says Servite Superior SANTIAGO, Chile, JULY 26, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The archbishop of Santiago decried the existence of Satanic groups in Chile in the wake of the weekend murder of a priest in the metropolitan cathedral. Cardinal Francisco Errázuriz, archbishop of Santiago and president of the country's episcopate, made that observation Sunday, a day after Servite Father Faustino Gazziero de Stefani, 68, was slain after he had celebrated Mass. The cardinal lamented that legislative proposals to curb Satanic groups have not been addressed with greater care. "They have killed...

BISHOP ALLEN VIGNERON, shepherd of the Roman Catholic Diocese, heard something he didn't like from his flock about Diocesan plans for the 17-story Christ the Light Cathedral last week at a community meeting. These were not sheep-like Catholics, and they knew the scriptures. What the bishop heard was a respectful bleating. "Baaaaa ..." Several who spoke said the $131 million price tag for building the cathedral complex should instead be spent on the poor and homeless as taught by Jesus Christ and the Bible. The proposed soaring edifice would be a "symbol of wealth and the pride of man," said...

Church to remove Moor-slayer saint A statue in a Spanish cathedral showing St James slicing the heads off Moorish invaders is to be removed to avoid causing offence to Muslims. Cathedral authorities in the pilgrim city of Santiago de Compostela, on Spain's north west coast, plan to move the statue to the museum. Among the reasons for the move is to avoid upsetting the "sensitivities of other ethnic groups". The statue of St James "the Moor-slayer" is expected to be replaced by one depicting the calmer image of St James "the Pilgrim", by the same 18th century artist, Jose Gambino....

In southern Spain, once the centre of an Islamic civilisation in Europe, the Muslim community has appealed to the Vatican to be allowed to pray alongside Christians in what was once the Great Mosque of Cordoba.It is one of the oldest buildings in the Islamic world and one of the most beautiful. The first thing I saw was a courtyard full of orange blossom. A fountain played in the middle. I felt that I was already back in the Middle Ages making my way towards the entrance of the mosque itself. The interior is stunning - a symmetrical forest of...

A man proclaiming himself the "Prince of Peace" intent on saving souls from idol worship ran amok Tuesday morning at San Fernando Cathedral, toppling seven statues, reducing parts of them to piles of dust. Worshippers at the downtown church subdued the man until police arrived at around 8:30 a.m. Officers found statues across the cathedral knocked off their pedestals, some of them split in two, others in dozens of tiny pieces. "He was agitated. He started yelling that he was going to save the people in the church and he was going to start by smashing the statues," said Deacon...

Homosexual Activists Desecrate Catholic Church in Argentina

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ROME - Visitors can no longer use the splendid entrance at Rome's Basilica of St. Mary Major — it's sealed off because drunks and lovers had made it a hangout. In Florence, Catholic officials complain that church steps are turning into latrines at night. Police in Venice plan to fine tourists for leaving lunch leftovers in the square outside St. Mark's Basilica. Italy's churches draw millions of visitors each year, and anger is mounting over how some mistreat the nation's religious heritage. Monsignor Timothy Verdon, on the staff at Florence's Duomo, or cathedral, held a news conference this week to...

As Washington National Cathedral approached completion, the west towers rose towards the sky, striking toward heaven. During the building a startling idea was hatched: hold a competition for children to design decorative sculpture for the Cathedral.To Find Darth Vader you have to leave the building through the ramp entrance. This is located at the northwest corner of the nave, through the double wooden doors of Lincoln Bay. Go down the ramp, and step into the parking lot. Then, turn around and look back up at the tower closest to you. He is almost impossible to see without the assistance of...

Pope John Paul II will visit Mongolia at the end of August. This was reported by Radio Vaticana who quoted the Apostolic Nuncio, Monsignor Giovanni Battista Morandini, who held a press conference this morning in the Mongolian capital city of Ulaanbaatar. Mons. Renato Boccardo, the person in charge of planning the Pope's trips, is already working on the itinerary. The Pope recently received an invitation to visit Mongolia from the President of the Mongolia, Natsagiin Bagabandi. News source: AGI, Vatican city

>SOFIA, Bulgaria, DEC. 24, 2002 (Zenit.org).- The resurgence of a new Catholic cathedral in Sofia is due in no small measure to John Paul II's visit to the country. Last May 23, the very day the Pope arrived in Sofia, the government approved the construction of the cathedral, dedicated to St. Joseph, in the historic center of the capital. An Orthodox cathedral, a mosque and a synagogue are also located in the center of Sofia, near the headquarters of the Parliament and government, Vatican Radio noted. The new building is located where once stood the old cathedral, destroyed by bombings...

<p>It has been applauded as a "landmark of remarkable architectural intelligence" by some and derided by others as a "concrete monstrosity." Yet most critics are evaluating the new Los Angeles cathedral according to the canons of modernist architecture--i.e., what the building says about itself.</p>

Missing from the endless line of church officials at Cardinal Roger Mahony's cathedral grand opening on Monday was one of its first associate pastors, Fr. Carl Sutphin. An accused molester, Sutphin held the title of associate pastor at the new "Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels" until Mahony cut him loose in the wake of the Boston church scandals. Mahony knew of Sutphin's checkered clerical career for at least a decade. That troubled Mahony so much he gave him lodging at the new cathedral's apartments and appointed him associate pastor of the church. (Before that, Sutphin resided at the...

Opie and Anthony are over and out. The New York-based shock jocks, criticized by Catholic groups for broadcasting a live account of a couple allegedly having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral, had their nationally syndicated show canceled Thursday. The station, owned by Infinity Broadcasting, offered no further comment. The pair had been pulled off the airwaves Monday, three days after the stunt was aired. The cancellation was announced shortly after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell directed the agency's enforcement bureau to investigate the broadcast. The FCC had been flooded with hundreds of complaints about the show. The rest of...

<p>NEW YORK — A Virginia couple was arrested in New York City Thursday for public lewdness after allegedly having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral as part of a radio stunt that outraged parishioners and church officials.</p> <p>Also arrested was comedian Paul Mercurio, 40, who provided a running on-air commentary of the sex act, which took place just five feet away from worshippers praying on the Feast of the Assumption, a holy day of obligation for Catholics.</p>

<p>Robert Graham's images stand above the doors of the new cathedral.</p> <p>"Remember 'The Agony and the Ecstasy'? Think of that--times 10." Sculptor Simon Toparovsky is recounting the perils and thrills of creating a life-size bronze crucifix for the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Like author Irving Stone's interpretation of Michelangelo's ordeal in the Sistine Chapel, the saga of adorning the enormous new cathedral, which opens Sept. 3 in downtown Los Angeles, is fraught with angst and drama.</p>

First-hand impressions of Weakland's monstrosity Since last May, I have been a part of a wonderful group of people who have opposed the interior "wreckovation" of our historic St. John the Evangelist Cathedral in the Milwaukee Archdiocese. I decided to view the changes for myself on Saturday, February 17, 2002.... View the damage for yourself.