Word: rome
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Just as the archdiocese of Boston was contemplating filing for bankruptcy last week to cope with the estimated 450 civil sex-abuse suits against it, two top Vatican officials were pointing fingers elsewhere. German Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, perhaps the most powerful policymaker in Rome besides the Pope, told a Catholic news wire that the U.S. sex-abuse scandal was an "intentional, manipulated...desire to discredit the church" by the media. The conservative Ratzinger offered a virtual Vatican seal of approval for recent comments by two Latin American Cardinals--each considered possible papal successors--who also blamed the pedophilia crisis...
...AWARDED. PEDRO ALMODOVAR, 51, Oscar-winning Spanish director; a clutch of top prizes at the 2002 European Film Awards, including best European director and screenwriter, for his provocative drama Talk to Her; in Rome. Revolving around two women rendered comatose and the men who love them, the movie is considered Almodovar's finest work, though it failed to make Spain's foreign language entry for the last Academy Awards...
...RESIGNED. BERNARD LAW, 71, Cardinal of the Boston Archdio-cese; as the city's archbishop following a meeting with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican; in Rome. Law is the highest-ranking Catholic leader to step down in the wake of a series of sex scandals that have plagued the church...
Here, Law encountered a problem. By virtue of his both moral and practical representation of his archdiocese and of Rome, Law has a dual responsibility. It seems to many that the obvious and reflexive response to learning that a priest was abusive to children would be to inform the police. Yet I am unconvinced that those priests who have made confession with the cardinal, or other priests within court documents, deserve any fewer religious entitlements than do the laity who repent immoral acts that happen to be criminal. Ordinarily, any ordained Catholic would be defrocked for breaking the seal...
...morally-guided and interested only in following Catholic theology. He has exercised extreme pragmatism in some cases, including entangling himself in financial matters—the most secular of all things. In the past week, he has given the archdiocese permission to proceed with Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings. In Rome, he is currently discussing this prospect. Yet, the total damages from the settlements in the abuse scandal equate to 10 percent of the Boston Archdioceses’ assets. Though much of these assets are tied into property, which may be difficult to liquidate, there is quite simply no reason...