Free Republic

The London Catholic Herald blogger Anna Arco blogs the news that Pope Benedict XVI “called for the Church to investigate priestly celibacy”, in 1970 when he was a young priest. She notes a German newspaper report that he signed a petition that suggested the Church re-examine the obligation of priestly celibacy.The memorandum was drawn up in the face of a shortage of priests and other signatories included Karl Rahner and the future cardinals Karl Lehmann and Walter Kasper.If there weren’t enough priests, the document said, then the “Church quite simply has a responsibility to take up certain modifications”.The blog points...

Mary Kay Kusner was raised as a quite traditional Roman Catholic.On Sunday, she was ordained as a priest — a role for women that is anything but traditional in the Catholic Church.Kusner’s ordination was made possible by the Roman Catholic Womenpriests organization, a group loyal to the church in its teachings and rituals but denounced by the church for its belief that women, too, can be priests.“We’re growing very quickly, and the people are accepting us,” Roman Catholic Woman Bishop, Bridget Mary Meehan said.Meehan, who actively keeps a blog on the movement, was one of the first eight women in...

When Pope Benedict XVI announced the "Year of the Priest" that concluded Friday, he probably didn't have in mind the sort of year he got. He acknowledged as much in a closing Mass, telling more than 10,000 assembled priests in St. Peter's Square that "in the very year of joy for the sacrament of the priesthood, the sins of priests came to light." ...

The future Pope Benedict XVI refused to defrock an American priest who confessed to molesting numerous children and even served prison time for it, simply because the cleric wouldn't agree to the discipline. The case provides the latest evidence of how changes in church law under Pope John Paul II frustrated and hamstrung U.S. bishops struggling with an abuse crisis that would eventually explode. Documents obtained by The Associated Press from court filings in the case of the late Rev. Alvin Campbell of Illinois show Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, following church law at the time, turned down a bishop's plea to...

A 35-year-old Sicilian became the first Catholic woman to be ordained in Italy on Saturday.Maria Vittoria Longhitano is a member of the breakaway Old Catholic church. But she was made a priest at the Anglican church of All Saints in Rome ‑ an act some in the Vatican are likely to see as provocative, not least because the organist at the service was dismissed by the Catholic hierarchy after deciding to change sex.The Old Catholic church broke with the Vatican in the 19th century in protest at the adoption of the doctrine of papal infallibility. It is in full communion...

Italy’s first woman priest is to be ordained a close to the Vatican later this month. Maria Vittoria Longhitano, 35, a member of the Italian Old Catholic Church, a breakaway group not recognised by the Vatican, will be ordained at All Saints Church, near the Spanish Steps in Rome, on 22 May. A spokeswoman for All Saints Church said Ms Longhitano, who is married, was not being ordained as an Anglican. “We are offering our church as the venue because the Old Catholics have no venue of their own in Rome,” she said. “They use our facilities for their regular...

A US sailor cleared of raping a prostitute in a Sydney brothel is "looking forward" to returning to California. While Petty Officer Timothy Davis had admitted using a "lock down manoeuvre" to pin the woman to the bed, he denied forcing himself on her, saying he had only wanted his money back. The 25-year-old had pleaded not guilty to having sexual intercourse without consent, aggravated by causing the woman actual bodily harm. He also denied an alternative charge that, with intent to have sexual intercourse, he recklessly inflicted actual bodily harm on her. After a week-long trial, a jury in...

Amid the worst recession in generations, Karl Marx, who famously described religion as “the opium of the people”, got a thumbs up from the Vatican overturning a century of Catholic hostility to his creed. Marx, who predicted that capitalism would be destroyed by its internal contradictions, has joined Galileo, Charles Darwin and Oscar Wilde on a growing list of historical figures to have undergone an unlikely reappraisal by the Roman Catholic Church, The Times newspaper said on Thursday. The British daily, quoting the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, said Marx’s early critiques of capitalism had highlighted the “social alienation” felt by...

The Vatican has issued a statement congratulating US President Barack Obama on his selection for the Nobel Peace Prize, expressing the hope that "this important recognition will continue to encourage such a difficult but fundamental effort for the future of humanity." Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, said that the award was welcome "particularly in light of the commitment shown by the President towards the promotion of international peace and recently in favor of nuclear disarmament."

An Obama administration task force has so far cleared 75 of the remaining 223 Guantanamo prisoners for release as part of its effort to close the detention camp, a military spokesman said on Monday. The review team is examining each prisoner's case to decide who will be held for trial and who can be sent home or resettled in other nations. President Barack Obama had set a January 22 deadline to shut the detention camp although Defense Secretary Robert Gates told ABC News in an interview broadcast on Sunday that "it's going to be tough" to meet the deadline. As...

Roman Catholic couples are being encouraged to pray together before they have sex. A book published by a prominent Church group invites those setting out on married life to recite the specially-composed Prayer Before Making Love. It is aimed at 'purifying their intentions' so that the act is not about selfishness or hedonism. The prayer, which appears in the Prayer Book for Spouses, implores God 'to place within us love that truly gives, tenderness that truly unites, self-offering that tells the truth and does not deceive, forgiveness that truly receives, loving physical union that welcomes'. It adds: 'Open our hearts...

Roman Catholic couples are being encouraged to pray together before they have sex. A book published by a prominent Church group invites those setting out on married life to recite the specially-composed Prayer Before Making Love. It is aimed at 'purifying their intentions' so that the act is not about selfishness or hedonism. The prayer, which appears in the Prayer Book for Spouses, implores God 'to place within us love that truly gives, tenderness that truly unites, self-offering that tells the truth and does not deceive, forgiveness that truly receives, loving physical union that welcomes'. It adds: 'Open our hearts...