NST Online Top Stories - Google News
NST Online Top Stories - Google News |
| Vatican denies swirling rumors as pope prepares to step down - CNN Posted: 23 Feb 2013 09:08 AM PST  Pope Benedict XVI waves in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican in December 2012. Benedict, 85, announced on Monday, February 11, that he will resign at the end of February "because of advanced age." The last pope to resign was Gregory XII in 1415. HIDE CAPTION Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Rome (CNN) -- The Vatican sought Saturday to tamp down rumors involving sex, money and gay priests that have been swirling in the Italian media and have been linked by some to Pope Benedict XVI's decision to resign. The strongly-worded denial came on the eve of the pope's last Angelus blessing, expected to draw huge crowds of the faithful, before he stands down on Thursday. Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone said it was "deplorable" that as the time for the Roman Catholic cardinals to elect a new pope approaches, a rash of "often unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories" has appeared. Such unfounded stories "cause serious damage to persons and institutions," he said, and are an attempt to influence the cardinals' free will in the election "through public opinion." Opinion: There's more to the Catholic Church than the pope Bertone did not address the specific claims that were first published in La Repubblica, the country's largest circulation daily newspaper, on Thursday and Friday. The newspaper stories center on an investigation last year by three cardinals into a scandal involving leaks from the Vatican. La Repubblica, citing unnamed sources familiar with the investigation, alleged that the investigation revealed a series of scandals involving sex, money and power that touch cardinals, priests and lay people that work in the Vatican. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi declined to comment on La Repubblica's article in a media briefing on Thursday. CNN Senior Vatican Analyst John Allen, also a correspondent with the National Catholic Reporter, suggested in a piece written Friday that unsourced speculation about a shadowy "gay lobby" within the Vatican should be taken with a grain of salt. But, he said, while he doesn't know for sure if the three cardinals did investigate networks based on sexual orientation, "frankly, it would be a little surprising if they hadn't" -- given past scandals that have become public concerning clergy involved in homosexual activities. The pope may well have been worn down by the "cumulative impact of the various meltdowns over the last eight years," Allen said. "However," he added, "it's probably a stretch to draw a straight line between all of this and Benedict's resignation. For the most part, one has to take the pope at his word: He's stepping aside because he's old and tired, not because of any particular crisis." The pontiff will leave office at 8 p.m. on February 28, two-and-a-half weeks after he shocked the Roman Catholic world by announcing his resignation. The Vatican has said a new pope will be in place for the Church's Easter celebrations on March 31. Benedict on Saturday concluded a week-long spiritual retreat, held to mark the Lenten period. Addressing the clergy who had joined him, he thanked them "not only for this week, but for these past eight years that you have carried with me -- with great skill, affection, love and faith -- the weight of the Petrine ministry," referring to the papacy. Benedict also met with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Saturday, an encounter described by the Vatican as "particularly warm and cordial." The pontiff is considering changing the Vatican constitution to allow a vote for his successor to begin before March 15, Lombardi said Wednesday. Existing rules say the Roman Catholic Church's cardinals should start voting on a replacement from 15 to 20 days after the papal throne becomes vacant. With Benedict due to depart on February 28, the cardinals' conclave ordinarily would start no sooner than March 15. But Lombardi has said that because Benedict was leaving the papacy through resignation rather than death, the Vatican would explore the possibility of selecting a new pope sooner than normally prescribed. The so-called "Vatileaks" scandal last year led to the pope's butler, Paolo Gabriele, being convicted on charges of leaking private papers from the Vatican in a high-profile trial and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Although Gabriele was pardoned weeks later by the pope, the whole affair -- which revealed claims of corruption in the church's hierarchy -- was damaging to the Vatican's reputation. The latest media allegations, despite the strenuous Vatican denials, may add to the pressure for reform. CNN's Hada Messia and Ben Wedeman reported from Rome, and Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. |
| Sequester and public opinion? Advantage Obama. (+video) - Christian Science Monitor Posted: 23 Feb 2013 08:12 AM PST With just days until the 'sequester' and its automatic spending cuts kicks in, President Obama seems to have the advantage with high poll ratings and a message seen as more compelling. President Barack Obama speaks about the sequester as he stands with emergency responders, a group of workers the White House says could be affected if state and local governments lose federal money as a result of budget cuts. Charles Dharapak/AP A batch of recent headlines gives an indication of where things stand in the Obama-Republican face-off over sequestration and the automatic government spending cuts that could kick in next Friday. Skip to next paragraph' +
google_ads[0].line2 + ' Subscribe Today to the Monitor Correspondent Liz Marlantes with insights into the politics behind the impending spending cuts. "GOP losing sequester blame game" "Democrats' Economic Narrative Still Trumps GOP's" "Poll: President Obama approval highest since '09" "President Obama's popularity surges to three-year high" "Congress Approval Holding Steady at 15 percent." RECOMMENDED: Sequester 101: What happens if $85 billion in cuts hit on March 1 Polls and pundits aren't everything, of course. Most Americans this weekend likely are far more interested in Sunday night's Oscar extravaganza. And most would likely agree with Atlantic associate editor Matthew O'Brien when he writes – with as much truth as irony – on the magazine's web site: "There is nothing more tedious in the world today than the sequester. The word itself sounds like a prescription sleeping aid." There is, after all the gnashing of teeth over the "fiscal cliff" last month, a bit of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" here for most people. Still, if the sequester kicks in, thousands of federal workers could be furloughed, some national park programs could be curtailed, and things could be "very painful for the flying public," as Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood warned Friday. The sequester no doubt will dominate the Sunday morning TV news shows as Republicans and Democrats angle for rhetorical advantage over the sequester's $85 billion in budget cuts this fiscal year, split evenly between defense and non-defense programs. At the moment, that advantage seems to be with President Obama and the White House. Just to flesh out those headlines cited above…. Bloomberg News put it starkly this week: "President Barack Obama enters the latest budget showdown with Congress with his highest job-approval rating in three years and public support for his economic message, while his Republican opponents' popularity stands at a record low." Specifically, 55 percent of those polled by Bloomberg last week approve of Obama's performance in office, his strongest level of support since September 2009. But only 35 percent have a favorable view of the Republican Party, the lowest rating over the same period. The GOP's brand slipped six percentage points in the last six months, the poll shows. Asked who is more to blame for "what's gone wrong" in Washington, those surveyed picked Republicans over Obama 43-34 percent. Similarly, Gallup finds public approval of Congress – just 15 percent – is "at the low end of the historical spectrum." It's not great news for either party, but Democrats have a slight edge in public approval – 19 percent to 12 percent for the GOP. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Top Stories - Google News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
