Alicia Parlette, 28, passed away yesterday, five years after her devastating diagnosis of sarcoma. a type of cancer. As I mentioned in my blog post last week, tens of thousands of readers had followed her emotional first-person series, Alicia’s Story, in the San Francisco Chronicle, which began in 2005 and continued as a blog through 2007. Beliefnet readers…

Catholic News Agency reports that British and Welsh bishops have apologized for their handling of the Catholic Church’s clergy sex abuse scandal, while also asking Catholics to pray for Pope Benedict during the four Fridays of May. Those Friday prayers will be observed in a spirit of “reparation and atonement.” The message seems aimed at…

Coincidentally, two separate Washington D.C. events have just rescinded invitations to conservative Christian clergy, in response to public outcry over each man’s previous statements. In brief: –Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, who formerly headed the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy, will no longer be leading a Latin Mass this Saturday, in Pope Benedict’s honor, at the Basilica in Washington. He has been disinvited…

Looks like the media spotlight and global campaigning by groups like Amnesty International has succeeded in saving Ali Hussain Sibat, the Lebanese TV psychic sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for “witchcraft” after being arrested by the country’s religious police during a pilgrimage. The Associated Press reports that Sibat’s attorney has gotten assurances that the father of five will not…

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