Roman Catholicism

Fetuses-aren't-people lawsuit: Colorado Supreme Court declines to hear the case

The Colorado Supreme Court has declined to hear a case in which Englewood-based Catholic Health Initiatives argued that it couldn't be held liable for the deaths of two unborn babies at one of its hospitals because fetuses are not people. The case was the focus of our recent cover story "The Meaning ... More >>

Beer meets confession at Theology on Tap

A priest walks into a bar. This isn't beginning of a joke. On Monday night, Reverend John Riley walked into Katie Mullen's Irish Restaurant and Pub for the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver's monthly Theology on Tap gathering. On loan from the Archdiocese of Arlington, Virginia, Reverend Riley, a ... More >>

Reader: The Sand Creek Massacre deserves more than this "zombie exhibit"

Photos: Pope Benedict resignation memes, Twitter Nation reaction

Due to concerns about his health and advanced age, Pope Benedict XVI has announced that he will resign at months end -- the first pontiff to do so since the 1400s. The news created a Pope-size explosion on Twitter, and meme makers are already busy as well. Below, see our favorite early tweets plus a ... More >>

Fetuses-aren't-people argument was "morally wrong," says Catholic hospital

Catholic Health Initiatives has acknowledged that it was "morally wrong" for its lawyers to argue in court that fetuses aren't people. As explained in our cover story "The Meaning of Life," the Englewood-based operator of 78 Catholic hospitals in seventeen states claimed that it couldn't be held lia ... More >>

Fetuses-aren't-people lawsuit: Bishops to review Catholic hospital's argument

Colorado's Catholic bishops say they will "undertake a full review" of a lawsuit in which Catholic Health Initiatives, an Englewood-based operator of 78 Catholic hospitals in seventeen states, has argued that it can't be held liable for the deaths of two unborn babies because fetuses are not people. ... More >>

Is a fetus a person? The Colorado Supreme Court may have to decide.

See also: Fetus = person? District court judges have come to different conclusions

Why do immigrants have better lives than me?

Nanni Moretti takes on the Vatican in We Have a Pope

Wanna keep track of your Catholic Lenten guilt? There's an app for that.

I'm hardly Catholic anymore. Still, I wear the idea of my Catholicism as a romanticized badge of honor, taking pleasure in the idea that I once was a part of something truly controversial -- and it wasn't even by choice. In fact, I'm only now able to write about being Catholic in the past tense be ... More >>

Greatest Mexican hits of 2011

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests coordinate protests with filing against Vatican

Big pics below.​Yesterday, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests accused the Vatican, as well as four officials, including Pope Benedict XVI, of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in the Hague. To draw more attention to this action, members of SNAP's Denver ... More >>

Charles Chaput: Advice for Denver archbishop as he takes on troubled Philadelphia archdiocese

Charles Chaput.​The appointment of Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput to succeed embattled Cardinal Justin Rigali as the Archbishop of Philadelphia is receiving mostly positive reviews in his new home city, at least thus far. That may say more about antipathy for Rigali, who critics accuse of fa ... More >>

It's a... miracle? Embattled painting of the Virgin Mary fellating Christ appears to weep blood

Rob Cancer's "Benedictrix/Coronation # 37."​The controversy surrounding the artist Rob Cancer's depiction of what many conservative Christians have protested as the Virgin Mary fellating Christ took a bizarre turn this week, when CONSTRUCT GalleryArtSpaceBlackBox, where the painting has been o ... More >>

Jersey Shore in Italy: Five disaster scenarios

Sorry about that priceless fountain, Italy. Eh, whaddaya?​The Jersey Shore's third season just wrapped up, and the crew is headed to Italy. In a statement last January, MTV announced that the show's fourth season will be shot in "the birthplace of the culture [the cast members] love and live b ... More >>

Our Lady of Guadalupe mural vandal is our Shmuck of the Week: Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

​Someone in the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver ordered that a mural of the Virgin Mary at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church be covered up two years ago. Or did they?

Katia Birge's case of alleged rape by a Catholic lay minister scheduled to go to trial in March

​ Last week, we wrote about the case of Katia Birge, who claims to have been raped by a Denver Catholic lay minister in 2008. Today, her father, attorney Tom Birge, called to dispute a statement made by the Archdiocese of Denver spokeswoman -- and to clarify other points.

Reader: If serial rapist's boss not liable, why blame Catholic Church for lay minister's abuse?

Chaput.​Melanie Asmar's post about Katia Birge, who claims to have been abused by a lay minister, kicked off a fiery debate about whether or not the Archdiocese of Denver, led by Archbishop Charles Chaput, bears any responsibility for this alleged crime. Among the most passionate items was pen ... More >>

Katia Birge's case of alleged rape by a Catholic lay minister: Does it signal new kind of abuse?

Chaput.​ SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is criticizing Catholic officials in Denver, including Archbishop Charles Chaput, for their handling of the Katia Birge case. Birge claims to have been raped by a Denver lay minister in 2008, when she was 25 years old.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church members fight to restore mural of Mexican patron saint

A now-covered painting.​This afternoon, a group of about thirty Catholics from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in North Denver marched into the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Denver. Their mission? To deliver a letter asking the archbishop for a third time to restore the church's mural of Ou ... More >>

Behold the foot-stomping alt-folk of the Legendary River Drifters

Denver archbishop to investigate controversial Legion of Christ

Sixty Legionnaires of Christ receive their ordination from Pope John Paul II in 1991.​The Legion of Christ made the wrong kind of headlines when it was revealed that the Catholic organization's founder, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, who died in 2008, had fathered children -- which means he ... More >>

Verily, we ask: What would Jesus do?

Angels & Demons

Kenny Be's Yard Arteology: Bathtub Bambi

The study of neighbors through their lawn ornaments... Figure 11. Jefferson: Silvery One-Eared Bathtub Bambi After ass-soaking and tornado shelter, the third most popular use of a clawfoot tub is in the commission of a yard shrine. With clawfoot legs removed, the bathtub is upended and buried h ... More >>

Shame and denial cross all borders

The Bob Beauprez robo-calls and the Solidarity Institute

Q&A with Scott Pomfret, author of Since My Last Confession

Denver Catholic Register Cuts Back on Publication Schedule

Wayne Laugesen Vs. Richard Baker: The Debate

Nut House

Devils in Disguise

Evil is a chilling documentary portrait of a pedophile priest and his pious protectors.

For God's Sake

The Thermals have fun with fundamentalism.

Trading Places

The Post moves staffers outside their comfort zones.

Best Place to Buy Poperphernalia

The Catholic Store

Habitat for Inhumanity

The story of the Magdalene asylums raises questions about the Catholic Church in Ireland.

The Message

The Pope's DJ

Flick Pick

Amen

Rome on the Range

The pending sale of Good Shepherd Elementary sticks close to home.

Joshua Needs Saving

Bringing the Savior to a small town doesn't guarantee salvation.

War and Remembrance

Father Jim Sunderland chose to spend his life as a middleman -- between killers and God.

Send in the Clown

Carl Kabat has a sacred mission that could land him in jail -- and outside the priesthood.

Soup With a Smile

Their mission is to help the homeless, but now the Catholic Workers are trying to keep a roof over their own heads.

Mouthing Off

The Fight of Their Lives

Dr. Warren Hern ranks high on the anti-abortionists' hit list. They're playing Ken Scott's song.

The Vision Thing

A local conference on apparitions of the Virgin Mary features a Medjugorje speaker. The critics hoot.

Bloodletting

Performance artist Cristofer Lix talks and sings about living with AIDS.

SET IN STONE

ROY NEAL FOUND HIS CALLING THROUGH TROWEL AND ERROR.

CHURCH PLEADS THE FIRST

THE ARCHDIOCESE GETS AN EX-TEACHER'S SUIT THROWN OUT ON CONSTITUTIONAL GROUNDS.

EXPERIENCE NOT NEEDED

DO TEACHERS GET BETTER WITH AGE? ASK THOSE WHO WERE LET GO AT MACHEBEUF HIGH.