Yahoo! News: Religion News

---

• Catholic church slams Israel razing of its property
• Mortar round hits Vatican embassy in Damascus
• Religious leaders rally against proposed pipeline
• Man who pleaded guilty to murders motivated by religious delusions, hearing told
• Vatican issues global questionnaire on modern families
• Israel: Paula Abdul, jet-lagged, ditches Jerusalem holy site for private religious ceremony
• Global survey on family, gays, won't change doctrine -Vatican
• Mortar shell hits Vatican embassy in Damascus
• Mortar hits Vatican embassy in Damascus, no casualties
• Why atheists are starting their own global church

Catholic church slams Israel razing of its property Posted: 05 Nov 2013 12:33 PM PST The head of the Roman Catholic church in the Holy Land protested Tuesday against Israel's demolition of a church-owned property in annexed east Jerusalem, saying it eroded chances for peace. "This act is against the law, against justice and against humanity, against any ideology upon which peace can be built and increases segregation and hate," Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fuad Tawwal told journalists at the site of the demolition. Israeli security forces and bulldozers arrived at the house at 5:00 am (0300 GMT) on Monday with a previously unseen demolition order, claiming it had been built without a permit, according to its residents -- a family of 14. But Tawwal said the property, on Jerusalem's southeastern edge close to the West Bank city of Bethlehem, had been standing since before 1967, when Israel seized Arab east Jerusalem in the Six-Day War.

Mortar round hits Vatican embassy in Damascus Posted: 05 Nov 2013 12:21 PM PST DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A mortar round slammed into a building housing the Vatican's embassy in the Syrian capital Tuesday, but no injuries were reported, witnesses and a spokesman said.

Religious leaders rally against proposed pipeline Posted: 05 Nov 2013 11:29 AM PST A group of Catholic nuns who successfully redirected the route of a proposed pipeline off their land are joining other religious leaders who say their faith has prompted them to oppose the ongoing project. ...

Man who pleaded guilty to murders motivated by religious delusions, hearing told Posted: 05 Nov 2013 10:07 AM PST HALIFAX - A forensic psychiatrist says a mentally ill man who has pleaded guilty to murdering two Halifax men in 2007 believed he was a god-like figure on a mission to cleanse the world of sinners.

Vatican issues global questionnaire on modern families Posted: 05 Nov 2013 08:51 AM PST The Vatican on Tuesday launched an unprecedented worldwide consultation on modern families including same-sex couples as part of Pope Francis's drive to reform the Catholic Church. A questionnaire has been sent to bishops around the world asking them for detailed information about the "many new situations requiring the Church's attention and pastoral care". Religious watchers said the 39 questions were unusual because of their non-judgemental, practical nature in what could be a signal of greater openness and increased pastoral care regardless of a believer's background. On remarried divorcees, who under the current rules are not allowed to receive Holy Communion in a Catholic church, the questionnaire asks: "Do they feel marginalised or suffer from the impossibility of receiving the sacraments?"

Israel: Paula Abdul, jet-lagged, ditches Jerusalem holy site for private religious ceremony Posted: 05 Nov 2013 07:51 AM PST JERUSALEM - Israel's Tourism Ministry says Paula Abdul has scaled back a Bat Mitzvah ceremony that she'd originally planned to hold at Judaism's holiest site.

Global survey on family, gays, won't change doctrine -Vatican Posted: 05 Nov 2013 07:44 AM PST By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Catholics should not expect quick changes in Church rules against divorce, contraception and gay marriage even if most of them express dissenting views in a global survey, Vatican officials said on Tuesday. The Vatican has sent a 39-question survey to dioceses around the world before an extraordinary meeting of bishops, known as a synod, on the theme of the family, scheduled for October 2014. For the first time in preparation for such a meeting, the Vatican has asked bishops to share the survey widely with parish priests and for them to seek the views of their parishioners. "It is not a question of public opinion," he said, adding that the synod would discuss how to find solutions to difficult pastoral situations "within the doctrine that we already have".

Mortar shell hits Vatican embassy in Damascus Posted: 05 Nov 2013 05:44 AM PST DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A mortar shell slammed into a Damascus building that houses the Vatican's embassy on Tuesday, eyewitnesses said, in what was the latest of a string of assaults on foreign diplomatic missions in the Syrian capital.

Mortar hits Vatican embassy in Damascus, no casualties Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:15 AM PST The Vatican Embassy in Damascus was hit by mortar fire on Tuesday but there were no casualties, a Vatican spokesman said. The mortar hit a wing of the embassy that is currently not being used," said Father Ciro Benedettini said from the Vatican City. We stayed inside and we were very afraid," Monsignor Giorgio Chazza told Reuters in Beirut. Rebels fighting to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad regularly launch mortar fire at government-held areas inside Damascus.

Why atheists are starting their own global church Posted: 05 Nov 2013 12:15 AM PST Read more on this story.

You are subscribed to email updates from Religion News Headlines - Yahoo! News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610