http://www.mail.com/subjects/1562-christianity.html Mail.com - the best personalized free web-based Email en en http://sec-s.uicdn.com/mail.com/2.20/img/mailcom_logo_rss.png http://www.mail.com/subjects/1562-christianity.html http://www.mail.com/news/world/1763736-vatican-austerity-donated-nativity-scene.html VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican has happily accepted a donated Nativity scene for St. Peter's Square this Christmas after a previous setup costing €550,000 ($717,000) was exposed by the embarrassing scandal over leaked Vatican documents. Monsignor Giuseppe Sciacca, the No. 2 administrator of the Vatican city state, told reporters Thursday that the Vatican... Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:14:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1763736-vatican-austerity-donated-nativity-scene.html 2012-12-13T13:14:00Z http://www.mail.com/business/economy/1763678-spanish-botched-fresco-artist-sells-work-ebay.html MADRID (AP) — The 80-year-old Spanish artist who became famous because of her botched restoration of a Christ fresco in a small-town church is auctioning one of her works on eBay for charity. Celia Gimenez's oil painting "Las Bodegas de Borja" ("Borja's Wine Cellar"), was fetching €620 ($808) Thursday, doubling its starting price after 31 bids. The sale c... Thu, 13 Dec 2012 11:06:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/business/economy/1763678-spanish-botched-fresco-artist-sells-work-ebay.html 2012-12-13T11:06:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1761824-del-man-sues-boy-scouts-mormons-sex-abuse.html PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Delaware man sued the Boy Scouts of America and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Wednesday over childhood sexual abuse committed by the scoutmaster at his church-sponsored troop. Melvin Novak filed the lawsuit in state court in Philadelphia, charging that newly released Boy Scout "perversion files" support his claim... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 20:52:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1761824-del-man-sues-boy-scouts-mormons-sex-abuse.html 2012-12-12T20:52:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1761586-egypt-court-christian-3-years-blasphemy.html CAIRO (AP) — A Cairo court on Wednesday convicted a Coptic Christian blogger who shared an anti-Islam film on social networking sites and sentenced him to three years in prison for blasphemy and contempt of religion. The case of Alber Saber is one of several seen by rights advocates as a campaign led by Egypt's ultraconservative Islamists to curb free exp... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:33:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1761586-egypt-court-christian-3-years-blasphemy.html 2012-12-12T16:33:00Z http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1761400-oreilly-strikes-war-christmas.html NEW YORK (AP) — Deck the halls and man the battle stations. The fight has resumed. I'm referring, of course, to the so-called War on Christmas, a yearly call to arms by those whose Christmas cheer is under siege. Or so they claim ... fear ... and warn. This annual uproar may have escaped the notice of some Christmas observers. ... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:51:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1761400-oreilly-strikes-war-christmas.html 2012-12-12T15:51:00Z http://www.mail.com/scitech/news/1760634-pope-hits-1m-mark-tweets-dear-friends-.html VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI hit the 1 million Twitter follower mark on Wednesday as he sent his first tweet from his new account, blessing his online fans and urging them to listen to Christ. In perhaps the most drawn out Twitter launch ever, the 85-year-old Benedict tapped the screen of a tablet brought to him at the end of his general audience... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 14:55:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/scitech/news/1760634-pope-hits-1m-mark-tweets-dear-friends-.html 2012-12-12T14:55:00Z http://www.mail.com/business/economy/1760420-putin-rejects-foreign-advice-democracy.html MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday angrily rejected what he described as attempts to enforce foreign patterns of democracy on Russia and vowed to preserve the nation's identity against interference from abroad. Putin's speech was his first state-of-the nation address since winning a third term in March's election despite a wave of massive... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:40:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/business/economy/1760420-putin-rejects-foreign-advice-democracy.html 2012-12-12T12:40:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1760354-china-revokes-shanghai-catholic-bishops-title.html BEIJING (AP) — In a fresh challenge to Vatican authority, China has revoked the title of a new Catholic bishop in Shanghai who outraged Chinese officials by immediately dropping out of the government agency that oversees the country's officially sanctioned church, religious officials said Wednesday. Ma Daqin, who was jointly named for the post in a rare c... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 09:56:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1760354-china-revokes-shanghai-catholic-bishops-title.html 2012-12-12T09:56:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1760582-vandals-spray-hate-graffiti-jerusalem-church.html JERUSALEM (AP) — Vandals have spray-painted "Death to Christianity" and "Jesus, son of a whore" on a Greek Orthodox monastery in Jerusalem. The overnight attack on the Monastery of the Cross was the latest in a series of vandalisms of Christian holy sites. Extremist Jews sympathetic to Israel's settlement movement are suspected. Israeli police spokesman M... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 09:25:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1760582-vandals-spray-hate-graffiti-jerusalem-church.html 2012-12-12T09:25:00Z http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1759356-popes-sensitive-side-revealed-childrens-book.html VATICAN CITY (AP) — A children's picture book about the goldfish pond at the pope's summer residence reveals a side of him few may know. Every day while Pope Benedict XVI is on vacation at Castel Gandolfo south of Rome, he feeds the goldfish after praying by a nearby statue of Mary, tossing them pieces of bread. The little-known factoid was revealed in "T... Tue, 11 Dec 2012 20:20:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1759356-popes-sensitive-side-revealed-childrens-book.html 2012-12-11T20:20:00Z http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1758114-british-government-to-legalize-same-sex-marriage.html LONDON (AP) — The British government announced Tuesday that it will introduce a bill next year legalizing gay marriage — but banning the Church of England from conducting same-sex ceremonies. Equalities minister Maria Miller said the legislation would authorize same-sex civil marriages, as well as religious ceremonies if religions decide to "opt in." "I f... Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:57:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1758114-british-government-to-legalize-same-sex-marriage.html 2012-12-11T16:57:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1755348-judge-turn-la-priest-files-to-court.html LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge on Monday ordered the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to turn over to the court the top-secret files it has kept for decades on dozens of priests accused of sex abuse, bringing the documents closer to public scrutiny. The order by Superior Court Judge Emilie Elias came five years after more than 550 alleged victims rea... Mon, 10 Dec 2012 22:10:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1755348-judge-turn-la-priest-files-to-court.html 2012-12-10T22:10:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1755308-famed-architect-6-months-drug-smuggling.html SAN DIEGO (AP) — A highly acclaimed architect was sentenced Monday to six months in prison for trying to enter the U.S. with nearly 13 pounds of cocaine hidden in his minivan's battery. A federal judge ordered the unusually light punishment after Eugenio Velazquez claimed drug traffickers threatened to kill him if he refused to carry drugs for them. Velaz... Mon, 10 Dec 2012 21:53:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1755308-famed-architect-6-months-drug-smuggling.html 2012-12-10T21:53:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1754424-tijuana-architect-was-unlikely-drug-courier.html SAN DIEGO (AP) — Eugenio Velazquez doesn't fit the mold of the down-on-his luck, uneducated, underemployed courier who ferries drugs to the U.S. for Mexican drug cartels. The dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico belongs to Tijuana's elite, equally at ease on both sides of the border. He lives in a modest, suburban San Diego neighborhood and had a flourishi... Sun, 09 Dec 2012 16:51:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1754424-tijuana-architect-was-unlikely-drug-courier.html 2012-12-09T16:51:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1752940-long-disdain-jamaica-1st-patois-bible.html KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — When English teacher Faith Linton first proposed translating the Bible into Jamaica's patois tongue in the late 1950s, most people who heard the idea shook their heads. Some on the deeply Christian island believed it was sacrilegious. Others opposed it because the unique mixture of English and West African languages was widely dis... Sat, 08 Dec 2012 15:08:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1752940-long-disdain-jamaica-1st-patois-bible.html 2012-12-08T15:08:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1750836-pope-shores-up-papal-household-leaks-scandal.html VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI moved Friday to shore up the papal household in the aftermath of the Vatican's leaks scandal, naming his trusted secretary to also run the office that organizes his schedule. German Monsignor Georg Gaenswein replaces American prelate James Harvey, who was recently made a cardinal, as papal household prefect. The prefe... Fri, 07 Dec 2012 13:46:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1750836-pope-shores-up-papal-household-leaks-scandal.html 2012-12-07T13:46:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1740820-mob-storms-belfast-city-hall-uk-flag-vote.html DUBLIN (AP) — A Protestant mob stormed into the grounds of Belfast City Hall and clashed with police Monday night after the council voted to remove the British flag from the building for most of the year. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said five of their officers and two security guards were injured during the hour-long melee outside city hall. Th... Mon, 03 Dec 2012 23:28:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1740820-mob-storms-belfast-city-hall-uk-flag-vote.html 2012-12-03T23:28:00Z http://www.mail.com/scitech/news/1739224-pope-joins-tweeting-masses-with-pontifex-handle.html VATICAN CITY (AP) — Benedict XVI, the pope known for his hefty volumes of theology and lengthy encyclicals, is now trying brevity — spreading the faith through his own Twitter account. The pontiff will tweet in eight languages starting Dec. 12 using his personal handle (at)Pontifex, responding live to questions about faith during his weekly general audien... Mon, 03 Dec 2012 21:20:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/scitech/news/1739224-pope-joins-tweeting-masses-with-pontifex-handle.html 2012-12-03T21:20:00Z http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1736282-pope-greets-clowns-acrobats-circus-to-town.html VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI greeted thousands of clowns, acrobats, puppeteers and even a pair of lion cubs on Saturday as the circus came to town for an unusual papal performance. Benedict clapped and watched amused as circus workers flipped, flopped, juggled and twisted before him in what the Vatican has called a historic audience to make stree... Sat, 01 Dec 2012 13:48:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1736282-pope-greets-clowns-acrobats-circus-to-town.html 2012-12-01T13:48:00Z http://www.mail.com/entertainment/music/1731040-court-bans-video-pussy-riots-performance.html MOSCOW (AP) — The video of punk band Pussy Riot's performance in Russia's main cathedral is extremist and must be removed from the web, a Moscow court ruled Thursday. Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky court banned the video of the group's February performance, ordering it and three other videos to be removed from all websites. Prosecutors began looking into the Pus... Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:47:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/entertainment/music/1731040-court-bans-video-pussy-riots-performance.html 2012-11-29T13:47:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1728726-texas-to-seize-warren-jeffs-polygamist-ranch.html AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas wants ownership of Warren Jeffs' massive ranch where prosecutors say the convicted polygamist sect leader and his followers sexually assaulted dozens of children, the state attorney general's office said Wednesday. A judge will determine whether to grant the state control of the nearly 1,700-acre property owned by the Fundamenta... Wed, 28 Nov 2012 23:09:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1728726-texas-to-seize-warren-jeffs-polygamist-ranch.html 2012-11-28T23:09:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1728374-egypt-court-sentences-8-to-death-prophet-film.html CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian court convicted in absentia Wednesday seven Egyptian Coptic Christians and a Florida-based American pastor, sentencing them to death on charges linked to an anti-Islam film that had sparked riots in parts of the Muslim world. The case was seen as largely symbolic because the defendants, most of whom live in the United States, are ... Wed, 28 Nov 2012 20:14:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1728374-egypt-court-sentences-8-to-death-prophet-film.html 2012-11-28T20:14:00Z http://www.mail.com/entertainment/music/1728868-rastafarianism-grows-jamaica-long-disdain.html BULL BAY, Jamaica (AP) — The robed Rastafarian priest looked out over the turquoise sea off Jamaica's southeast coast and fervently described his belief that deliverance is at hand. Around him at the sprawling Bobo Ashanti commune on an isolated hilltop, a few women and about 200 dreadlocked men with flowing robes and tightly wrapped turbans prayed, faste... Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:43:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/entertainment/music/1728868-rastafarianism-grows-jamaica-long-disdain.html 2012-11-28T16:43:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1728832-awareness-enforcement-help-reduce-child-sex-abuse.html NEW YORK (AP) — Increased public awareness of how child predators operate, along with better law enforcement and policies to protect children, may be helping to reduce child sex abuse despite this year's headlines about cases connected to institutions like Penn State, the Boy Scouts and the BBC. A recent report from the University of New Hampshire's Crime... Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:32:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1728832-awareness-enforcement-help-reduce-child-sex-abuse.html 2012-11-28T16:32:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1722340-pope-tells-cardinals-to-lured-power.html VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI has told his six new cardinals to resist the allure of power and instead be like Jesus and focus their work on spreading the Christian faith. Benedict celebrated a Mass on Sunday in St. Peter's Basilica with the cardinals he formally elevated a day earlier. The six hail from Colombia, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, the Phil... Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:42:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1722340-pope-tells-cardinals-to-lured-power.html 2012-11-25T12:42:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1720906-pope-elevates-6-cardinals-to-choose-successor.html VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI responded to criticism that the club of churchmen who will choose his successor is too Eurocentric, elevating six new cardinals from Colombia, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, the Philippines and the U.S. during a formal ceremony Saturday. Benedict welcomed the prelates into the College of Cardinals during a short, hour-long ... Sat, 24 Nov 2012 17:13:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1720906-pope-elevates-6-cardinals-to-choose-successor.html 2012-11-24T17:13:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1718344-uk-politician-wants-vote-women-bishops.html LONDON (AP) — The Church of England should hold another vote on women bishops as soon as possible, its representative in the House of Commons said Thursday, while some members suggested stripping the church of its exemption from sex-discrimination laws. Legislation to permit women to become bishops was blocked in the church's governing General Synod on Tu... Thu, 22 Nov 2012 14:03:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1718344-uk-politician-wants-vote-women-bishops.html 2012-11-22T14:03:00Z http://www.mail.com/sports/other/1718326-imams-priests-play-soccer-match-bosnia.html ZENICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — A soccer match between Muslim imams and Catholic priests has helped raise funds for a new kindergarten in Bosnia. More than 4,000 people paid 1 euro ($1.30) to watch the game in the central town of Zenica on Wednesday night, cheering "Bosnia, Bosnia" and celebrating whoever scored. The Catholics won 5 -3. The match, organ... Thu, 22 Nov 2012 10:58:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/sports/other/1718326-imams-priests-play-soccer-match-bosnia.html 2012-11-22T10:58:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1716898-public-meetings-fights-prayer-drag.html WASHINGTON (AP) — It happens every week at meetings in towns, counties and cities nationwide. A lawmaker or religious leader leads a prayer before officials begin the business of zoning changes, contract approvals and trash pickup. But citizens are increasingly taking issue with these prayers, some of which have been in place for decades. At least five la... Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:51:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1716898-public-meetings-fights-prayer-drag.html 2012-11-21T18:51:00Z http://www.mail.com/business/economy/1716706-catholic-organization-sues-danish-game-maker.html COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Opus Dei, the elite and powerful organization within the Roman Catholic Church, is suing a Danish publisher for alleged trademark violations involving a card game titled "Opus Dei. Existence After Religion." Public hearings in the suit began Wednesday, and Opus Dei spokeswoman Joanna Engstedt told The Associated Press that Dema ... Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:57:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/business/economy/1716706-catholic-organization-sues-danish-game-maker.html 2012-11-21T15:57:00Z