Word: monsignors
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Church leaders say that closures are simply unavoidable; in addition to low attendance, the Springfield diocese faces an acute shortage of priests. "It was clear that of the three Catholic churches in Adams, two had to close," says Monsignor John Bonzagni, the diocese's director of pastoral planning. "We tried to make the best pastoral decision...
...long fight. "We are prepared to do what it takes," says David Aitken, 54, who used to ring the church bells. For the moment, at least, the diocese is treating its errant flock with patience. "Suffering the closing of your parish is like watching a parent die," says Monsignor Bonzagni. "If the parishioners at St. Stan's need to mourn this way, we will do nothing to interfere...
...Christmas morning, Monsignor Pios Cacha led a service in which Arabic hymns mingled with long, chanted prayers in Aramaic, and even a few tunes in English from the young mixed gender choir. "We wish you a Merry Christmas, We wish you a Merry Christmas," they sang to the accompaniment of a keyboard. As Cacha stood at the altar, his traditional sermon about Jesus and Bethlehem also mixed with pragmatic appeals for peace and reconstruction...
...Catholicism's point man on this shifting terrain is Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, 65, an erudite and affable Milanese bible scholar, whom Benedict plucked last year to head the Pontifical Council for Culture. Ravasi says the godless ideologies of the past century, for all their faults, at least forced man to confront hard choices about the destiny of humanity. Today's atheism, in contrast, is "weak and sick ... just as, in some ways, there is [also] a weak faith," Ravasi told TIME. "God isn't a relevant problem. The battle against religion isn't even necessary. In this way, there...
...addressed the Englaro case specifically. But his lieutenants were quick to respond after the Milan appeals court ruled last week that, in the absence of a living will, Englaro's "presumed desire" to not continue living by artificial means can be deduced from hearing from her loved ones. Monsignor Rino Fisichella, the influential president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, called the decision "de facto euthanasia." Another top Vatican bioethicist, Monsignor Elio Sgreccia, who'd spoken out in the Schiavo case, accused the Milan court of "interrupting a life, [which] is never within man's authority...