That’s according to a news story from the Catholic News Service. 

The news service is reporting that the Vatican just published its rules for verifying Marian apparitions.

“More than 1,500 visions of Mary have been reported around the world, but in the past century only nine cases have received church approval as worthy of belief,,” the news service said in its report.

Read more here: ”Vatican publishes rules for verifying Marian apparitions”

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

An iPod Vatican tour program being unveiled this week.

The Associated Press is reporting that the Holy See’s pilgrim agency is offering visitors to the Vatican museums an iPod which has a Vatican tour application designed to guide them through the vast, historic museums that draw tons of people every day.

Apparently, it’s a pilot program. It’s free, the AP reports. Visitors must leave their passport or some other similar document in exchange for the iPod, for security purposes.  Then they are free to roam the museums with their trusty iPod guide in hand.

Read more about it here: Vatican tour meets technology 

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

The Associated Press reports that the pontiff  fielded questions during a Good Friday broadcast on Italian TV.

According to the report, the questions were pre-selected. One came from a Japanese girl who asked the pope about suffering in the world. 

Read the story below.

The Associated Press: Pope on TV: Pontiff answers questions on Good Friday

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

It seems the Vatican has initiated a more formal countdown of sorts. It has launched a new Facebook page focusing on the upcoming beatification of Pope John Paul II (pictured in AP Photo): 

http://on.fb.me/eJMIYp.

Also clips of Pope John Paul II may be seen on the Vatican’s YouTube channel for beatification:  www.youtube.com/johnpaul2

The beatification ceremony is slated for May 1 and is expected to draw many, many of the faithful to Rome.

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

The shortage of priests has brought the priests’ celibacy requirement to the fore again. Catholic priests are forbidden to marry but the USA Today report ponders whether the pope (pictured) would consider eliminating that prohibition to solve the priest shortage.

The Sunday Oklahoman features a story about the priest shortage in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. In the story, the Rev. William Novak, vocations director for the archdiocese, shares his thoughts about the impact the celibacy requirement may be having on men considering the priesthood.

Check out the Sunday Oklahoman for his comments.

To read the USA Today story, click here: Might Pope Benedict Consider Married Priests Again?

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

No start date has been set as yet, according to the magazine.

I predit that folks interested in this touchy topic will be waiting in anticipation of how the cable channel will  approach the subject.

One tidbit that EW writer James Hibbard included in his Inside TV column did catch my eye. Hibbard writes that people involved with the new show, to be called “The Exorcist Files,” have had access to the Vatican’s case files on exorcism.

The column made me think back to last fall when I was researching information for my Oct. 15 story about exorcism. The topic came up when a Satanist church rented a public room at the Civic Center Music Hall where they performed what they called a “satanic exorcism.”

I do believe I’m going to watch this new show since my curiousity has now been piqued.

Read EW’s Inside TV column for more information: “Exclusive: Discovery, Catholic Church team for exorcism series.”    

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor 

The new site is www.TruthAboutAngelsAndDemons.com.

“Just as academic institutions and other groups are using the momentum of ‘Angels & Demons’ and the scientific issues it highlights to provoke discussion, Westminster Theological Seminary stands strong and is committed to educating individuals about spiritual and historical truths, in addition to science, as it relates to the book and film,” Vern Poythress, professor of New Testament interpretation at Westminster and an expert on the intersection of science and religion, said in a news release.

Many universities around the nation and overseas are launching discussions to address the truth behind the scientific claims central to the suspense in the book and film.

Westminster launched the new Web site on May 13, hoping to help people ”sift through the mix of fact and fiction woven into the novel and film and encourage conversation,” leaders said.

 The site contains articles on issues related to religion and science and seeks to provide answers to such questions as: “Is the Bible true?” “Can science answer the ultimate questions?” and “Is there evidence that God created the Earth?”

“Angels & Demons” premiered May 15 and is based on a novel by Dan Brown.

In 2006, Westminster launched a similar online response to  l”The Da Vinci Code,” another novel-turned-movie by Brown.

“Westminster commends the scientific community for its strong response and conversation surrounding the film and joins in the pursuit of truth,” Peter Lillback, president of Westminster, said in a statement.

 ”We hope our site is a catalyst for people of faith to be better equipped to engage in spiritual conversation generated by this significant media and cultural event.”

Westminster Theological Seminary has campuses in Philadelphia, Dallas, New York and London.

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

Now another of Brown’s book’s is being brought to the big screen.

It’s “Angels & Demons” and it features actor Tom Hanks once again portraying ”Code” central character Robert Langdon.

I don’t know how this movie will fare at the box office. I do know that the Catholic Church is not a fan of the film,  just like it wasn’t a fan of “Code.”

Actually there were people from other Christian faith traditions besides the Catholic Church that did not like the issues raised in the earlier book-turned-movie, mainly the assertion that Jesus may have been married to Mary Magdalene and fathered a child with her.

Anyway, the Catholic Church forbid “Angels & Demons” director Ron Howard from filming in Catholic churches in Rome.

Speculation and talk of the movie is picking up steam as its U.S. premiere nears.

I saw Howard interviewed on “Entertainment Tonight” and wondered how close the film’s U.S. premiere was to Easter, which is April 12.

The premiere is set for May 15, just as “Code” premiered in May.

Watch a trailer for the film here: “Angels & Demons” 

And just FYI, I saw a publicity photography of Hanks and other stars taken in the St. Marta Church in Rome, which is described as a “deconsecrated church.” That means it is no longer used for worship. I am wondering if Howard and crew were allowed to film in those types of churches instead of churches where worship services currently take place. 

(AP PHOTO above: Actor Tom Hanks, left, Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer, center, and director Ron Howard, right, pose during a photocall to promote their new film “Angels & Demons” at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Meyrin near Geneva, Switzerland on Feb. 12.)

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

A congratulatory telegram was sent to President Barack Obama from Pope Benedict.

The Religion News Service reports that the pople sent the telegram urging Obama to “promote understanding, cooperation and peace among the nations.”

The pope said he hoped that Obama’s leadership would foster the “building of a truly just and free society, marked by respect for the dignity, equality and rights of each of its members, especially the poor, the outcast and those who have no voice.”

“I pray that you will be confirmed in your resolve to promote understanding, cooperation and peace among the nations, so that all may share in the banquet of life which God wills to set for the whole human family,” Benedict wrote.

The RNS reports that according to Vatican protocol, the pope sends greetings to all new heads of state when they take office.

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

The Vatican has found that new technology like the iPhone has some definite advantages.

According to the Associated Press, the Vatican is endorsing new technology that brings the book of daily prayers used by priests straight onto iPhones.

The Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Social Communications has given its approval of the iBreviary, an iTunes application created by an Italian priest, the Rev. Paolo Padrini, and an Italian Web designer, the AP reports.

The application includes the Breviary prayer book — in Italian, English, Spanish, French and Latin and, in the near future, Portuguese and German. Another section includes the prayers of the daily Mass, and a third contains various other prayers.

Padrini’s proceeds are to go to charity.

(Above: AP Photo)

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor