Catholic Church

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Same-sex marriage “jeopardizes freedom rather than expands it,” and “endangers our religious liberty and the right of conscience," according to Bishop Joseph Tyson, the Catholic bishop of Yakima, Wash. [ Read more → ]

After releasing poll data showing a 10-point increase in support for same-sex marriage among Illinoisans, the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University released new data Monday showing a majority of Illinois Catholics also approve of gay and lesbian unions. [ Read more → ]

Just two days after penning an op-ed in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune in which he wrote that “same-sex unions may not affect my marriage specifically, but it will affect my children," Baltimore Ravens center (and former Minnesota Viking) Matt Birk reiterated his opposition to marriage equality in a video supporting Minnesota's proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. [ Read more → ]

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield, Illinois, is warning that the Democratic Party has endorsed “intrinsic evils” and consequently, voters who back Democratic candidates have put their eternal salvation at risk. [ Read more → ]

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota's 400,000 Roman Catholic households are scheduled to receive a letter this week from all of the state's bishops, urging them to donate money for television ads asking voters to say yes to a constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage. [ Read more → ]

While Cardinal Timothy Dolan prayed at the Democratic Convention against my family and for the unborn, a Catholic leader in Kansas City, Bishop Robert W. Finn, was convicted of covering up the crimes of a pedophile priest, Rev. Shawn Ratigan, who liked to take nude pictures of the barely born... [ Read more → ]

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio -- A group of gay university alumni and allies is challenging the Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, over its inclusion of homosexuality in its course on "deviant behavior." [ Read more → ]

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The state of Washington has advised the Catholic diocese in Yakima, Wash., that its plans to conduct a special collection to benefit the campaign to defeat the state's marriage equality law is illegal under the state's campaign finance laws. [ Read more → ]

WASHINGTON -- Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, and one of the Catholic Church’s leading voices against marriage equality, has been tapped by the Democratic party to deliver the closing prayer at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte next week. [ Read more → ]

SAN DIEGO -- The Rev. Salvatore Cardileone, the bishop of Oakland who was named by Pope Benedict XVI last month to become the Archbishop of San Francisco, was arrested in San Diego early Saturday on a charge of driving while under the influence. [ Read more → ]

SAN FRANCISCO -- A local gay recovery group will not be holding its annual fall fundraiser in the social hall of the Castro neighborhood's Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church after officials said that no drag queens would be allowed. [ Read more → ]

SAN FRANCISCO -- Salvatore Cordileone, a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and one of California's leading opponents of same-sex marriage, was named was named Archbishop of San Francisco by Pope Benedict XVI on Friday. [ Read more → ]

With all due respect because I am not attempting to disrespect anyone of the Catholic faith, if we compared the two entities, just who has less credibility when it the harming of children: An entity pushing a bad study while it’s not covering up the activities of priests exploiting children as sex objects, - or - same-sex couples, many who open their homes to children who need love and support? [ Read more → ]

EDINBURGH, Scotland -- The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland and the most senior Catholic in the United Kingdom has declared “war on gay marriage” pledging to spend another £100,000 in its campaign against equal marriage rights for same-sex couples in Scotland. [ Read more → ]

Minnesota's "City Pages" takes a closer look at Minneapolis-St. Paul Archbishop John Nienstedt and his crusade against gay marriage -- but increasingly, his flock of Minnesota Catholics isn't following. [ Read more → ]

If there is one thing that irks me, it is having the Roman Catholic Church preach to me about sexual morality. It is a religious sect led by a virulently homophobic Pope that goes out of its way to trash my family. Yet, my family hasn’t spent a cent defending itself against nonexistent charges of child rape, while the Vatican has spent $2.5 billion on legal fees, prevention programs, and settlements relating to the sexual abuse of minors. [ Read more → ]

MOORHEAD, Minn. -- A elementary school teacher at a Catholic school in Moorhead, Minn., said Friday that she was asked not to return for the fall semester because she had questioned the Catholic Church’s position on same-sex marriage. [ Read more → ]

TORONTO -- A dispute over the use of the term "gay-straight alliance" in Ontario schools has prompted the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto on Monday to accuse Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's administration of making “religious freedom . . . a second-class right.” [ Read more → ]

Churches across the state of Maine will pass the collection plate at Sunday services on Father's Day to raise funds for the lead group opposing the state's November ballot initiative seeking to legalize same-sex marriage. [ Read more → ]

DES MOINES, Iowa -- An agreement has been reached between the Catholic Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, and The Eychaner Foundation, a gay rights advocacy group, to allow an openly gay student to be presented with his scholarship award during the upcoming graduation ceremony. [ Read more → ]