Catholicism

On Easter, Pope Benedict XVI spoke out against both creationism and evolution, or so it looked anyway. About the biblical account of Genesis, he said, "It is not information about the external processes by which the cosmos and man himself came into being. " So much for literal creationism. But then he seemed to take a swipe at science, proposing that mankind cannot be just another product of evolution. "It is not the case that in the expanding universe, at a late stage, in some tiny corner of the cosmos, there evolved randomly some species of living being capable of reasoning and of trying to find rationality within creation, or to bring rationality into it. " Many biologists beg to differ: Evolution isn't completely random, they say, and neither is it geared to produce humans.

NEW YORK - Kathleen Turner is as confused as anyone about the heavenly detour her roles have taken lately. She's making her first appearance as a Roman Catholic nun when the play "High" opens Tuesday on Broadway. And, in a divine bit of coincidence, the actress best known for "Body Heat" and "Romancing the Stone" also stars as a suburban mom striving to be named Catholic Woman of the Year in a film opening at the same time at the Tribeca Film Festival. "For some reason this year it's my year of Catholicism.

It is time for those who are not Catholic to suspend their efforts to explain what Catholicism is to those of us who are Catholics - as many in the media attempted to do during the latest popery festival. I had a (friendly) argument with Sam Donaldson on ABC. He had always understood, he said, that Catholicism is a list of doctrines and rules that you have to accept to be Catholic. If you don't accept them, then you're not a Catholic. Kind of an extended loyalty test. Wrong! I understand his problem.

Consider how the lilies of the field grow; they neither toil nor spin . . . Therefore, do not be anxious saying what shall we eat? or what are we to put on? But seek first the kingdom of God and his justice and all these things shall be given you besides. - Matthew 6:28-33 Coopers & Lybrand has helped us to see clearly the realities and challenges of operating our schools. - Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua The struggle between the priests and the money changers has changed little since Biblical times, except for a refinement in some Christian sects where - to save time, one supposes - the priest and the money man tend to be the same person.

Ashes and Lenten sacrifice were the mood at St. Monica's Roman Catholic Church in South Philadelphia yesterday as parishioners bitterly lamented the imminent departure of their pastor, the Rev. Paul Quinter. "There was just a gasp through the whole church when he told us on Sunday," Elizabeth Lanza, 51, recalled as she entered the church for an Ash Wednesday prayer service. "People were in tears. " Many said Father Quinter had transformed the mood and spirit of the large parish in the 20 months since he became its pastor.

After 19 years as a Lutheran pastor, the Rev. Philip Johnson had grown disenchanted with Protestantism. "There comes a time, if you're Catholic, to be Catholic," the newest priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden said Wednesday at his home in Sewell. Dressed in his 11-day-old Roman collar and black clerical garb, Johnson, 59, was explaining the appeal of Catholicism's traditionalist ways when a middle-aged woman emerged from the kitchen. "Here you go, Hon," said Johnson's wife, Janet, handing him a glass of Coke.

SOME WOMAN'S "ordination" into the Catholic priesthood has op-ed writer Christine Flowers outraged. "Why do we treat only Catholicism as a work-in-progress?" she asks. Perhaps she should attend the synods, conventions and conferences where Protestants regularly re-examine their beliefs. And if "religion is not run by referendum," then could she steer me to where I can get me some extra wives and concubines? She calls the ordination "a travesty" and "an assault on Catholicism.

The Rev. George A. Stallings Jr. brought his revised brand of Catholicism to Philadelphia yesterday, teaching a morning-long Bible class at the Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church in Center City because the suspended priest is forbidden to preach or lead services on archdiocesan property. Father Stallings, 41, one of the most well-known black Catholic priests in the United States, was suspended in July by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington for establishing an independent African-American congregation called Imani Temple, from the Swahili word for faith.

IWOULD like to address letter-writer Michael Lawler's comment about Pope John Paul II and "famine-ravaged Africa": Poverty and starvation are not the results of Catholicism or a pope's disapproval of contraception; they occur because of corrupt governments and misallocation of resources. Just to use our own country as an example, the Economic Research Service introduced a 1995 study in which it was reported that the U.S. alone wasted about 96 billion pounds of food each year, about 27 percent of the food produced.

Incense fills the sanctuary. Candles burn in the name of the seven African powers. Believers beat drums and chant songs. In the center, the high priest sacrifices goats and chickens. It is all part of an elaborate voodoo ceremony to give thanks to the spirits or cast off evil. For followers, it is a powerful force. Voodoo is an elaborate religion that mixes aspects of Catholicism with ancient African rituals brought to Haiti by slaves. It has variations throughout the Caribbean, South America and the United States.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI began his eighth year as pope Tuesday after spending the waning days of his seventh driving home his view of the Catholic Church, with a divisive crackdown on dissenters and an equally divisive opening to a fringe group of traditionalists. The coming year may see more of the same as the Vatican gears up to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 church meetings that reshaped the Catholic Church and are key to understanding this papacy and Benedict's recent moves to quell liberal dissent and promote a more conservative brand of Catholicism.

I realized that we were in a rough primary-election season when the martyred president of my youth was dragged from his grave and used as a campaign foil by one of the candidates. Rick Santorum has said that reading John Kennedy's speech about the separation of church and state made him feel like throwing up. Tough campaign talk from a tough guy - with a weak stomach. Kennedy was a flawed man, but Catholic schoolboys like me didn't know it when he was alive. Since those innocent days, most of us have figured out that there are more than a few flawed people out there, many of whom can be spotted in the mirror in the morning.

GUANAJUATO, Mexico - Pope Benedict XVI worked to build the future of Mexico's church by reaching out to children Saturday as tens of thousands of teenagers streamed into a vast, shade-starved park to camp out overnight ahead of a gigantic papal Mass. Benedict awoke to the predawn serenade of two dozen youths from a Guadalajara church group who sang him a traditional folk song after getting as close as security would allow to the college in Leon, where the pontiff is staying during his three-day visit to Mexico.

OUIDAH, Benin - In a basilica built in the heartland of Africa's Voodoo religion, Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday announced a treatise outlining the role of the Roman Catholic Church on the continent, explaining how the faith can help address Africa's chronic wars and interact with indigenous practices. The immediate backdrop for the release of the 87-page guide for the faithful in Africa was the soaring basilica in this coastal town, a symbol of the church's roots on the continent.

NEW YORK - There's a new reality show star on the tube Sunday night. Suehaila Amen doesn't drink, prays daily, and wears a head scarf in public to preserve her modesty. I don't think we're at the Jersey Shore anymore, Snooki. Suehaila is one of the cast members of TLC's new series All-American Muslim . While most of the women on the show, set in Dearborn, Mich., choose to wear the hijab (traditional scarf), there are some startling exceptions. Glamorous blonde Nina Bazzi, for instance, appears to have wandered over from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills set by mistake.

Charlotte Ann Conaway was described by those who knew her as a "social butterfly. " That was because she had a passion for entertaining and treating friends and family with her gourmet cooking skills. Besides party guests, Char, as she was called by family and friends, favored a great-nephew, Zachary Tyler Coates, with her special homemade pound cake every birthday. "Her love of baking could be tasted in every bite of her original delicacies," her family said. Charlotte Conaway, a 28-year employee of the Social Security Administration and a devoted churchwoman, died June 26 after a lengthy illness.

Mention World War I, and most people will likely think of trench warfare in Europe. They likely will not think of the Pacific Ocean. But the conflict triggered by the assassination on June 28, 1914, of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was indeed a global conflict, fought on sea as well as land. Drexel University history professor Eric Dorn Brose thinks historians have missed the boat by not paying enough attention to what went on in the Pacific during World War I. The conventional view, he says, is that "this was a kind of sideshow, not a particularly important aspect of the war. I think it was more important to the outcome of the war than has been realized.

On Easter, Pope Benedict XVI spoke out against both creationism and evolution, or so it looked anyway. About the biblical account of Genesis, he said, "It is not information about the external processes by which the cosmos and man himself came into being. " So much for literal creationism. But then he seemed to take a swipe at science, proposing that mankind cannot be just another product of evolution. "It is not the case that in the expanding universe, at a late stage, in some tiny corner of the cosmos, there evolved randomly some species of living being capable of reasoning and of trying to find rationality within creation, or to bring rationality into it. " Many biologists beg to differ: Evolution isn't completely random, they say, and neither is it geared to produce humans.

There are two types of plays about Catholicism: the ones with silly nuns, and the ones with serious nuns. Montgomery Theater's Hail Mary! , by Tom Dudzick, has much silliness, but wants desperately to fall on the serious side of that divide. Mind you, this isn't Doubt , John Patrick Shanley's exploration of patriarchy and power in the church. Dudzick isn't concerned with contemporary scandals or controversies, and dismisses them with one densely packed sentence referring to Catholicism's troubles with pedophilia, the Holocaust, abortion, you name it. He takes the safer route, asking, via a trio of nuns, one friendly, feisty priest, and a gentleman caller, all gathered in a classroom for this instructive purpose: What Would God Do?

NEW YORK - Kathleen Turner is as confused as anyone about the heavenly detour her roles have taken lately. She's making her first appearance as a Roman Catholic nun when the play "High" opens Tuesday on Broadway. And, in a divine bit of coincidence, the actress best known for "Body Heat" and "Romancing the Stone" also stars as a suburban mom striving to be named Catholic Woman of the Year in a film opening at the same time at the Tribeca Film Festival. "For some reason this year it's my year of Catholicism.