A new Vatican document has denounced plastic surgery, calling it "aggressive" and saying it threatens "the feminine identity, showing a refusal of the body." The same document also lumps in abortion with female genital mutilation and rape as things that harm women, just in case you were worried the Vatican was… » 1/30/15 11:30am 1/30/15 11:30am

The American bishops of the Catholic Church assembled in Baltimore this week for their annual meeting. And they were clucking and fluttering like a bunch of hens, trying to calm the tizzy kicked up by Pope Francis and his kindler, gentler approach to the culture wars. » 11/10/14 6:50pm 11/10/14 6:50pm

On Monday, #chillpope kicked off a big two-week Vatican summit about the Catholic family. Popping by to speak to the gathering were Ron and Mavis Pirola, an Australian couple with 55 years of marriage under their belts, who informed the assembled celibates that, yeah, sex matters. A lot. » 10/07/14 5:20pm 10/07/14 5:20pm

Francis has a rep as the Chillest Pope, but he's not lightening up when it comes to the command to go forth and multiply. The CEO of the Catholic Church does not approve of the childfree lifestyle, and he insists you should raise kids, not pets. » 6/03/14 10:40am 6/03/14 10:40am

A group of Italian women have written a letter to Pope Francis, asking for an end to the Catholic Church's requirement of celibacy for priests. Their reason? They say they've all been in (or would like to be in) secret relationships with men of the cloth. » 5/19/14 1:30pm 5/19/14 1:30pm

Cool pope Pope Francis is so cool (HOW COOL IS HE?) that he recently said he'd be willing to baptize aliens from outer space if they ever touch down on Earth looking to be saved. » 5/13/14 5:50pm 5/13/14 5:50pm

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the current Archbishop of New York, thinks it's totally okay for private companies like Hobby Lobby to categorically deny their female employees insurance coverage for birth control, because "By Lord, all you have to do is walk into a 7-11 or any shop on any street in America and have access to… » 4/21/14 3:15pm 4/21/14 3:15pm

This evening, New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan wondered in her "journal" (blog) whether the Times should have devoted more coverage to the annual "March for Life" in Washington D.C., happening this year for the 41st time. She quotes an email from one "Francis H. Hoffman": » 1/23/14 8:54pm 1/23/14 8:54pm

The new issue of Vanity Fair features a story called "The Secret Gay Life of the Vatican: Inside a Hidden Netherworld of the Catholic Church." While the full piece is not online, there's an excerpt on the VF website with two really great quotes. » 10/31/13 4:00pm 10/31/13 4:00pm

Just as cool merchandise is to blame for the crime of shoplifting, so too are children to blame for the sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of Catholic clergy for decades. At least, if you ask one influential Catholic archbishop. » 10/24/13 3:50pm 10/24/13 3:50pm

Pope Francis, the hippest, most bro'd down Pope since Pope Brad the Chill (not a real pope), just did a long interview with an Italian newspaper — and it was the stuff of right wing nightmares. During the interview, the head of the Church stopped just short of chiding modern church leaders who are "obsessed" with… » 9/19/13 2:30pm 9/19/13 2:30pm

Here's an increasingly familiar story: a group of business-owning grown ups who believe things about birth control that are scientifically wrong has lost a lawsuit against the federal government. Related: How much time and money are anti-birth control zealots wasting filing lawsuits they keep losing? I'd be pretty… » 9/18/13 4:40pm 9/18/13 4:40pm

Catholics who click on to the pope's Twitter feed on Catholic World Youth Day — a week-long event* that starts on July 22 — will gets an "indulgence", which is basically a get out of purgatory free card. The more you get, the faster you get the heck out of that hell-ish hole and straight up to the big dog's ice cream… » 7/17/13 11:30pm 7/17/13 11:30pm

In a move that should surprise only those being cryogenically unfrozen after decades in suspended animation, the Catholic Church is officially okay with gay dudes marrying women and leading frustrating, unfulfilling lives of unpleasant sex. Their reasoning? When a penis and vagina — sorry, man and woman — get… » 6/19/13 3:15pm 6/19/13 3:15pm

Nobody seems quite certain of how many saints there actually are, but the Catholic Exchange estimates it at about 810, not counting those currently being considered for sainthood or only got halfway there. » 6/15/13 1:00pm 6/15/13 1:00pm

There's a ton of amazing talent in David Bowie's music video for "The Next Day": Bowie, for one, but also Gary Oldman and Marion Cotillard, reunited after The Dark Knight Rises. But the video itself is a dismally on-the-nose, been-there-done-that critique of organized religion. NSFWish for breasts and blood. » 5/12/13 5:18pm 5/12/13 5:18pm

About 80% of nuns in the United States are members of an umbrella organization called Leadership Conference of Women Religious. This organization devotes the bulk of its efforts to helping the poor and less fortunate, probably like Jesus would have wanted. The last pope did not like the Leadership Conference and the… » 4/18/13 7:15pm 4/18/13 7:15pm

Earlier this week, we reported on "Alexis," the 10th grader who was asked to withdraw from Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax, Virginia for texting a topless photo as "a dare" to two male friends on the lacrosse team she managed. According to Alexis and her mother, the boys who shared her sext with the entire… » 4/12/13 5:00pm 4/12/13 5:00pm