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VATICAN CITY (RNS) Facing calls for his resignation, the senior prelate of the Catholic Church in Ireland apologized Wednesday (March 17) for his role in dealing with a sexually abusive priest in 1975. Cardinal Sean Brady said he was “ashamed” he had failed to tell Irish police about secrecy oaths signed by two alleged victims…

WASHINGTON (RNS) The CEO of the Christian Medical Association says the national ban on gay men making blood donations should be kept in place, despite calls from at least 18 senators for the Food and Drug Administration to drop the ban. Dr. David Stevens, CEO of the Tennessee-based doctors’ group, said “the risk is not…

LAKELAND, Fla. (RNS) The thing that most surprised former President George W. Bush was not international crises like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, nor the resilience of the Iraqi insurgency, but rather the impact of prayers from the American people, he said. “The biggest surprise of the presidency was the calming effect of prayer by total…

WASHINGTON (RNS) In a break with Catholic hospital administrators, the nation’s top Catholic bishop says the health care reform bill “must be opposed” because it does not adequately ban federal funding of abortion. “The American people and the Catholic bishops have been promised that, in any final bill, no federal funds would be used for…

By FRANCIS X. ROCCA (RNS) When the Archdiocese of Munich admitted last Friday (March 12) to “serious errors” in the case of a priest suspected of molesting a child, it flatly exonerated the man who had served as archbishop at the time, Joseph Ratzinger. Ratzinger, of course, is now Pope Benedict XVI, and the scores…

(RNS) Nickels, dimes and quarters added up quickly last Christmas despite the economic slump as Americans donated a record $139 million to the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign. “America is an incredibly generous nation and philanthropy is alive and well, despite the current economic conditions impacting so many,” said Commissioner Israel L. Gaither, national commander…

WASHINGTON (RNS) Religious leaders hope to bring tens of thousands of activists to Capitol Hill next week to push Congress to act on immigration reform, but at least one study shows they may have to convince the pews before they can try to sway the politicians. The Sunday (March 21) “March for America” began with…

WASHINGTON (RNS) Catholic Charities of Washington has added language to a hiring letter for new employees explicitly requiring that they “not violate the principles or tenets of the Catholic faith.” Employees of the Archdiocese of Washington’s social service arm “are expected to act in ways that promote the best interest of our faith and church,”…

(RNS) While most Americans describe Easter as a religious holiday, less than half of U.S. adults surveyed link it specifically to the Resurrection of Jesus, a Barna Group study shows. Seven in 10 respondents mentioned religion or spirituality in their response to an open-ended question about how they describe what Easter means to them personally.…

THIMPHU, Bhutan (RNS) The Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan is the only nation that puts happiness at the core of public policy. But its thrust on a “Gross National Happiness”(GNH) index is not just a warm-and-fuzzy inheritance from Buddhism, but also integral to the nation’s cultural and political security. Bhutan’s fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, coined…
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