by Francis X. Rocca | Feb 21, 2011 | News
VATICAN CITY (RNS) No major Western European leader in recent years has been a more stalwart ally of the Roman Catholic Church than Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Berlusconi’s stands against euthanasia, living wills, in-vitro fertilization and domestic...
by Francis X. Rocca | Feb 10, 2011 | News
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Just in case Catholics are wondering if a new iPhone app might be able to forgive their sins, the Vatican has issued a clarification: No. “One may not speak in any sense of confessing via iPhone,” the Rev. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See...
by Francis X. Rocca | Feb 7, 2011 | News
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Controversies over bioethical standards at U.S. Catholic hospitals show the need for greater Catholic education for health care workers, Vatican officials said Thursday (Feb. 3). Church leaders said a new set of biomedical guidelines will be...
by Francis X. Rocca | Feb 7, 2011 | News
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI was once a card-carrying organ donor, but the offer expired when he assumed the papal throne, according to the Vatican. A donor card acquired by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in the 1970s “became ipso facto obsolete” with his...
by Francis X. Rocca | Jan 31, 2011 | News
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican announced a new initiative aimed at promoting dialogue between theists and atheists to be launched with a two-day event this March in Paris. The Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture will sponsor a series of seminars on the theme of...