Those Anglican Hitlers in Africa

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:02 pm By tmatt

An Episcopal bishop could not find a more natural place to preach than on National Public Radio. Long ago, witty commentators called the Episcopal Church the “Republican Party at prayer.” Today, “NPR at prayer” would be more like it. So Bishop Charles Bennison of Philadelphia picked a great place to air his views about current tensions between his church’s hierarchy and Third World Anglicans, especially Africans. While it’s true that African churches are much larger than the Episcopal Church, he... Read more

The Gospel According to the Gospel According to books

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:02 pm By tmatt

As author of “The Gospel According to The Simpsons,” Mark Pinsky is well aware that there are no sacred cows in Springfield. So sooner or later he expects to see Lisa Simpson walk into the family room reading a book that claims to have found theological gems in some ridiculous animated series. The book will be called “The Gospel According to Itchy and Scratchy” or maybe “Smirk On: The Spiritual Journey of Krusty the Clown.” Homer will, of course, mock... Read more

Edgy Orthodoxy 4 Seekers

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:02 pm By tmatt

One of the Rev. Dwight Moody’s favorite perks as dean of the Georgetown College chapel is that he is free to spend most Sundays exploring other churches in Lexington, Ky. That’s how the Baptist preacher ended up in St. Andrew Antiochian Orthodox Church in a cloud of incense, trying to figure out what the worshippers were chanting, why they rarely sat down and when the 9 o’clock service was going to end so that the 10 o’clock service could begin.... Read more

Pulpits, pews and CEOs

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:02 pm By tmatt

Anybody who knows anything about religion knows that people in pulpits have a different view of the world than people in pews. Years of data and front-line reports have yielded two clich? The first is that most ministers in the old mainline Protestant churches are more liberal on matters of doctrine and morality than their people. And the second is that most evangelical and fundamentalist pastors are more conservative than their people. “There’s actually a lot of truth in both... Read more

Years on the God Beat, part 2

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:03 pm By tmatt

The Korean businessman had answered all of Aly Colon’s questions. Still, a good journalist often senses when something is missing. So Colon went back, probing to learn why this man was so anxious to heal the rift between Koreans and their black customers. Yes, the bloody Los Angeles riots had left him shaken. Was there anything else? “I want you to know that I’ve been telling you the truth,” the man said, back in 1996. “But there is one thing... Read more

20 years on the God beat, part one

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:56 pm By tmatt

Lou Grant had a problem. Actually, the city editor on this classic TV comedy had two problems. First of all, the Los Angeles Tribune had lost its religion editor and nobody wanted the job. Second, Grant needed to ditch the lazy, tipsy, no-good reporter Mal Cavanaugh. Then Grant saw the light. He summoned Cavanaugh and told him he was the new religion editor. He could look forward to years of talking theology with clergy over lunch. “That stinks! Before you... Read more

Bleeping Baptists pray for bleeping Ozzy

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:56 pm By tmatt

British tabloid veteran Dan Wooding knows a good headline when he hears one. Here a good one for grocery checkout racks: “Churches pray for the Osbournes.” Or even better: “Bleeping Baptists asked to pray for the Bleeping Osbournes.” That second headline is true, minus the “bleeping” parts. The media juggernaut led by Ozzy “The Prince of Darkness” Osbourne and his wife Sharon is back in the news, with mom and dad renewing their marriage vows before a flock of family,... Read more

Layers of Catholic denial

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:56 pm By tmatt

Every day the headlines and cartoons seem to get worse. Every night stand-up comics crank out more nasty one-liners. So it’s sad, but not shocking, that a Catholic priest told the Boston Globe about a partygoer who dressed up as a pedophile priest at Halloween. It’s open season. Even though priests know they shouldn’t take it personally, it’s hard not to, said Father Donald Cozzens, a veteran Catholic educator who led a graduate seminary in Ohio. “It’s hard to imagine... Read more

For God’s sake, let’s tell the truth

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:56 pm By tmatt

Archbishop John Foley was speaking to an audience of Catholic communications officers and editors, so he made sure that he didn’t bury his most important statement. The first principle of dealing with the news media, he told a Vatican conference in 2001, was simple: “Never, never, never tell a lie.” Then the president of the Pontifical Office for Social Communications offered more advice that would prove to be prophetic. “Truth will always come out,” he said. “Failure to tell the... Read more

Merry tropical Christmas

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:57 pm By tmatt

At first light, the little ones would sneak out of bed to look for telltale signs of night visitors bearing gifts. Cookies and milk? Most children in these Hispanic homes gathered hay or fresh grass before sundown and left it with water in clear sight. Camels get hungry and thirsty, you know, especially when traveling long distances on tropical nights. Members of these families would have exchanged a few gifts on Dec. 25, at the Feast of the Nativity. As... Read more