Vatican denounces Avatar movie
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican newspaper and radio station have called the film “Avatar” simplistic, and criticized it for flirting with modern doctrines that promote the worship of nature as a substitute for religion.
L’Osservatore Romano and Vatican Radio dedicated ample coverage to James Cameron’s big-grossing, 3-D spectacle. But the reviews were [...]

Vatican Bank probed for money laundering
ROME – A probe has been opened by Rome magistrates to determine whether the Vatican bank, the Istituto Opere di Religione (IOR), violated Italian laws against money laundering.
The probe is focusing on one or more accounts IOR opened with Unicredit, Italy’s biggest bank, through which some 60 million euros transited [...]

I usually don’t find her funny, but this was amusing.

Pope blames atheists for global warming
The Pope blames atheists for global warming. Pope Benedict is claiming atheists are responsible for the destruction of the environment. The Pope made the claims in a recent speech given at the Vatican. The claim is a puzzling attack on atheism that frankly makes little sense.
Excerpt from the Pope’s speech:
“Is [...]

Catholic Church is living with one foot in Hell
Understandably distracted by our own little crisis of trust, we have perhaps not taken in the apocalyptic import of a bigger one across the Irish Sea.
Perhaps it is a vague sense that we knew it all; perhaps reluctance to engage with the horrid details of the Ryan [...]

Vatican defends Brazil excommunication
A senior Vatican cleric has defended the excommunication of the mother and doctors of a nine-year-old girl who had an abortion in Brazil after being raped.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, head of the Catholic church’s Congregation for Bishops, told the daily La Stampa on Saturday that the twins the girl had been carrying [...]

Vatican official calls atheist theories ‘absurd’

ROME – A Vatican cardinal said Tuesday that the Catholic Church does not stand in the way of scientific realities like evolution, though he described as “absurd” the atheist notion that evolution proves there is no God.
Cardinal William Levada, head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, [...]

Vatican reveals secrets of worst sins
The Apostolic Penitentiary, or “tribunal of conscience”, has been shrouded in secrecy ever since it was established by Pope Alexander III in 1179 and until now has never provided details of the cases it scrutinises.
They are considered so heinous by the Catholic Church that [...]

 Isn’t it great when religion and politics mix?
Italian government near collapse after Vatican ‘plot’

The Vatican has been accused of trying to bring down the Italian government after a Catholic minister abandoned Romano Prodi’s coalition government, leaving it facing collapse.
The prime minister was forced to call a vote of confidence after Clemente Mastella, the former justice [...]

In case any of you religious moderates out there were wondering, this is when your money goes when you donate to your local church. Reading stories like this makes me feel like I just received a lobotomy. What the fuck is wrong with people who insist on brining back the dark ages? They were shit [...]