Benedict issues statement asserting that Jesus established ‘only one church’
LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches.
Benedict approved a document from his old offices at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that restates church teaching on relations with other Christians. It was the second time in a week the pope has corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 meetings that modernized the church.
On Saturday, Benedict revisited another key aspect of Vatican II by reviving the old Latin Mass. Traditional Catholics cheered the move, but more liberal ones called it a step back from Vatican II.
Benedict, who attended Vatican II as a young theologian, has long complained about what he considers the erroneous interpretation of the council by liberals, saying it was not a break from the past but rather a renewal of church tradition.
In the latest document — formulated as five questions and answers — the Vatican seeks to set the record straight on Vatican II’s ...   more »

By: Jim Meyer
President Bush may follow in the footsteps of his brother Jeb and convert to Catholicism, several European papers are reporting.
In the wake of the president’s visit to see Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, Italian newspapers, citing Vatican sources, said Bush was open to the idea of converting to Catholicism.
The Italian newspaper Il Foglio referred to such talk about Bush’s possible conversion and stated that “anything is possible, especially for someone reborn like Bush.”
Noting that Tony Blair converted to Catholicism after leaving office as Britain’s prime minister last year, the paper also stated that “if anything happens, it will happen after he finishes his period as president, not before. It is similar to Blair’s case, but with different circumstances.”
President Bush welcomed Pope Benedict XVI warmly when he visited the U.S. in April. And Vatican watchers noted that Bush met privately with the pontiff in the private gardens of the Vatican last Friday — an unprecedented place for the Pope to meet a head of state. Typically, the Vatican gardens are used by the Pope for private reflection.
A Vatican spokesman said the Pope used the unusual locale to reciprocate for the “warmth” Bush ...   more »

Dialogue is the best way to move forward, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah said recently as Muslim scholars led by Saudi Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh endorsed his call for opening a dialogue with people of other faiths at the start of a historic three-day summit at the Royal Al-Safa Palace.
The king started his address with a prayer to Almighty Allah for the determination and strength to take up the Islamic mission of cordial dialogue with other faiths even if the other side is hostile. The king cited Chapter 16, Verse 125 of the Holy Qur'an: "Invite to the Way of the Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious." The king said in his opening speech that those amidst Muslims that hold extremist ideologies have compounded the challenges faced by Islam.
"The enemies of Islam target the salient goals of Islam such as tolerance and justice. That is why your brother invited you to assemble here in order to find ways to counter the challenges of isolation, ignorance, narrow vision and convey to the world the broad Islamic messages based on humanitarian principles and away ...   more »

'Biggest danger is to religious
conscience of business owners'
By Bob Unruh
When a Christian pastor in Canada wrote a commentary on the Bible's perspective on homosexuality, a government commission ordered him to renounce his faith and apologize. When a family-owned photography studio in New Mexico refused, on religious grounds, to take pictures at a same-sex ceremony, the fine for such "discrimination" was $6,600. Now the experts say Colorado is joining in the repression of the practice of Christianity.
Bill Ritter
"Getting beyond the bathroom and locker room issue, the biggest danger this law poses is to the religious or moral consciences of small business owners who may object to doing business with people whose lifestyle they do not want to promote," Bruce Hausknecht, a spokesman with Focus on the Family, told WND about Colorado's new law, SB200.
WND reported earlier when the chief of Focus on the Family, James Dobson, criticized Gov. Bill Ritter for signing the law because of its dangerous implications for anyone who provides a "public accommodation" because they no longer will be able to discriminate based on sexual orientation or even "perception."
"Who would have believed that the Colorado state legislature and its governor would ...   more »

'Ugly truth' from public districts should 'alarm' parents
By Sterling Meyers
Inaccurate textbooks, parents' rights being violated, sex education that goes too far. Found in schools in a Third World nation or a repressive Islamic society? Nope. Right here in the good ol' United States of America.hat's what Steve Baldwin and Karen Holgate, the authors of "From Crayons to Condoms: The Ugly Truth about America's Public Schools," have documented.
They've assembled a long list of horror stories about the nation's public schools, from the teachers, students and parents who have witnessed them. The book, released today, will be the subject of discussion when the authors are interviewed by Fox's Sean Hannity on Hannity Radio at 2 p.m. Eastern and on Hannity and Colmes TV at 9:50 p.m. today
American schools are "not just rife with bizarre, inaccurate textbooks and failed teaching practices – they encourage classroom activities that produce dangerous, even deadly results," they say.
Baldwin, a former California state legislator and the current director of the Council for National Policy, and Holgate, an advocate for national educational reform, believe that public schools "can be saved" if "parents are ready to fight for their children every step of the way."...   more »