WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Except for the stained-glass windows, much of the inside of Temple Israel is now unrecognizable.

Flooring that was once inside the large West Bloomfield synagogue has been removed, revealing the building's concrete foundation. The seats inside the sanctuary are gone, too. And pipes usually hidden in the ...Read more

Pope Leo XIV’s apology for the Roman Catholic Church’s sins of slavery is long overdue. With that apology must come atonement.

Last week, Leo apologized for the Holy See’s role in legitimizing slavery and for having failed to condemn it for centuries, calling the Vatican’s record “a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot ...Read more

In the heart of the Bible Belt, a small Methodist college graduated its final class in May 2024, shutting its doors after 168 years.

Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama, was a Christian private liberal arts school that counted among its graduates members of Congress, famous musicians, Pulitzer Prize winners and the former ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The Survivors Committee wants some of its more prominent sexual abuse claims against the Archdiocese of Baltimore moved from federal bankruptcy court to Maryland civil court — a move that, if approved, would increase the church’s liability exposure by millions of dollars.

Testimony began Tuesday on the committee’s request to...Read more

ROME — Before Brandon Johnson was mayor of Chicago, he was a pastor’s kid.

That was a label he once again applied following his much-hyped meeting with Pope Leo XIV last week, one that he has played up to fortify how constituents connect his spiritual roots with his progressive politics.

“Who would have thought that a middle school ...Read more

ROME — Fresh off the glow of his summit with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, Mayor Brandon Johnson signaled Friday that Chicago could be due for another street or landmark christened after a pontiff.

In a sit-down interview with the Tribune, Johnson said the first American pope deserves to be formally recognized in his hometown, though he said ...Read more

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called his meeting with Pope Leo XIV “a tremendous honor,” referring to himself as “someone who has relied upon my faith to guide me in decisions that I make, and even when those decisions are not always as well received.”

In May 2025, Robert Francis Prevost — born in Bronzeville and raised in south ...Read more

ROME — Mayor Brandon Johnson invited Pope Leo XIV to celebrate Mass in Grant Park next year during a much-awaited meeting Thursday afternoon in Vatican City, where the son of a pastor and chief executive of the pope’s hometown said the two bonded over their advocacy for migrants, descendants of slavery and the city of Chicago — intracity ...Read more

ROME — Mayor Brandon Johnson invited Pope Leo XIV to Grant Park next year and delivered him a key to the city during their much-awaited meeting Thursday afternoon in Vatican City, where the son of a pastor and chief executive of the pope’s hometown was surely eager to play up their shared roots.

After emerging from the historic Vatican ...Read more

ROME — A White Sox-emblazoned kippah. A Chicago sanctuary city pin. Bottled giardiniera. But not a Cubs hat.

Those are some of the several personal items Chicago leaders have said they will hand-deliver to Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, when Mayor Brandon Johnson will lead a delegation to the Vatican in his biggest international trip so far.

The ...Read more

The San Diego Islamic Center is typically a bustling crossroads, with kids in school, the faithful coming to pray and others simply taking part in cultural activity.

But these days, the site is busy for another, much darker reason. The community is mourning. An ever-growing pile of bouquets of lilies, daisies and sunflowers and notes sits at ...Read more

The gunmen who killed three people at the San Diego Islamic Center left behind a 75-page document that preached hate, anti-Islam and antisemitism and promoted violence and chaos, law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told the Los Angeles Times.

The manifesto was titled “The New Crusade: Sons of Tarrant” and made reference ...Read more

The gunman who killed three people at the San Diego Islamic Center left behind a 75-page document that preached hate, anti-Islam and antisemitism and promoted violence and chaos, law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told the Los Angeles Times.

The manifesto was titled “The New Crusade: Sons of Tarrant” and made reference ...Read more

The gunman who killed three people at the San Diego Islamic Center left behind a 75-page document that preached hate, anti-Islam and antisemitism and promoted violence and chaos, law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told the Los Angeles Times.

The manifesto was titled “The New Crusade: Sons of Tarrant” and made reference ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — To San Diego and the world, Amin Abdullah, 51, is the heroic San Diego Islamic Center security guard who stood between children, teachers and death. He alerted the school of the threat just before he was fatally shot by two San Diego teenagers in what is being investigated as a hate crime.

But to Hawaa Abdullah, Amin Abdullah was ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The two gunmen who opened fire at a San Diego mosque on Monday, killing three people, had met online, where they were radicalized and left behind a hate-filled manifesto, authorities revealed Tuesday.

According to a witness, the pair were “fully armored” and rushed toward the entrance with handguns and rifles before a ...Read more

NEW YORK — The NYPD is bulking up patrols around city mosques in the wake of the fatal shooting outside an Islamic center in San Diego, police said Tuesday.

More cops will be found around city mosques, and local precincts will be increasing patrols going past these houses of worship, even though there are no specific threats to the city’s ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Investigators believe that two teens who killed three people at San Diego’s largest mosque before fatally shooting themselves had been radicalized online, where the two became virtual friends before meeting up in person, authorities said Tuesday.

A manifesto had been recovered, and the incident is being investigated as a hate ...Read more