In the News

… For progressive advocates such as Kate Conmy, Pope Francis has upended the landscape. Conmy, assistant director of the Women’s Ordination Conference, said his broad tone has renewed interest from Catholics who had given up on such changes as women being ordained but also tamped down the intensity of liberals who suddenly want a less-demanding…
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Studies and statistics suggest that young, progressive Catholics have lost interest in the church. But one visit to a monthly potluck of young adult Catholics in Washington, D.C., may leave you questioning that theory. Born out of the 2012 Call to Action national conference, the idea for the gathering was created when Kate Conmy, Margaret…
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Pope Francis is celebrating his first Christmas as pope at the Vatican. He’s had quite a year. Time Magazine hailed him as the People’s Pope when they named him Person of the Year. And this week, NBC called the pope’s question “Who am I to judge?” the most powerful phrase of the year. NPR’s Nathan…
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WASHINGTON – The Women’s Ordination Conference expressed its disappointment Monday with Pope Francis for keeping the door closed to women’s ordination into the priesthood. The WOC “is deeply discouraged to learn of Pope Francis’ remarks regarding women’s ordination,” Executive Director Erin Saiz Hanna said in a communique. “We cannot limit the role of women in…
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(CNN) – Perhaps it’s fitting that the pope’s first news conference was held onboard an airplane. Since Monday morning his comments have soared around the globe at high speed. His remarks on homosexuality filled many Catholics with hope, especially those longing for the church to accept gays and lesbians more openly. But they also discouraged others,…
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Pope Francis has issued unusually candid remarks about LGBT people, saying they should not be marginalized in society, but maintaining that homosexual acts are a sin under Catholic teaching. While on a flight back from Brazil, the pope responded to a reporter’s question about a supposed "gay lobby" at the Vatican. Pope Francis: "Everyone writes about the…
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Dan Rodricks 6:56 p.m. EDT, July 31, 2013 I actually thought the cool new pope would have something cool and new to say about one of the things that make it hard to be a Roman Catholic: the church’s refusal to allow women to serve as priests. Pope Francis has all the makings of a revolutionary. In…
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USA Today: Six months ago Pope Francis was a relatively unknown Catholic archbishop who rode the bus to work, cooked his own meals and often spent his days off visiting the slums of Buenos Aires. Today people hang on his every word. That’s in part because of his role as leader of more than a…
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Pope Francis Supports Nun Crackdown, Quashing Hope for a Kinder, Gentler Pope This week the Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis supports an ongoing crackdown on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a group that represents about 80 percent of nuns in the United States. A year ago, under the leadership of Pope Benedict, the Congregation for…
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The Vatican announced this week that bus-riding, foot-washing Pope Francis supports his predecessor’s crackdown on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an umbrella organization that represents 80 percent of nuns in the United States. Like Pope Emeritus Benedict, Francis believes that the nuns focus too much on serving their communities around issues of health care and economic justice and too…
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