Religion
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Commentary: The role of religion in presidential elections
Although attention in the presidential campaign now focuses on COVID-19, the economy, the Supreme Court and health care, it is important not to lose sight of the critical role that the faith factor will play in the election outcome. Indeed, after downplaying the role of religion in the 2016 campaign, observers were stunned when GOP nominee ...Read more
They stand in the gap between the community and cops
SAN DIEGO - The message a friend sent Pastor Byron Richardson was urgent: Get to La Mesa, Calif. A protest there could get ugly. Come help broker peace.
Just days earlier, on Memorial Day, George Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Protests were held across the country. In San Diego County, ...Read more
Federal judge rules in favor of COVID-19 religious restrictions in Brooklyn Diocese lawsuit
NEW YORK - A Brooklyn federal judge offered sympathy but no support for a Diocese of Brooklyn lawsuit seeking to avoid state-imposed COVID-19 restrictions on Mass attendance.
U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee, in a six-page Friday night ruling, upheld Gov. Andrew Cuomo's crackdown on religious services in several sections of Brooklyn and Queens ...Read more
In unprecedented year, Black pastors carry extra burden
ORLANDO, Fla. - As the Rev. Terence Gary stepped onto the stage at The Experience Christian Center to give a guest sermon last Sunday, about one-third of the 250 chairs in front of him were covered in black cloth so that attendees would sit socially distanced from each other.
About 60 masked people watched him. Three women in white lab coats - ...Read more
Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, facing multiple sexual abuse lawsuits, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
NEW YORK - The beleaguered Diocese of Rockville Centre, facing dozens of sex abuse lawsuits, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Thursday.
The Long Island Catholic diocese - one of the largest in the country - said the bankruptcy filing was necessary to move forward while managing litigation costs, settlements with sexual abuse survivors and ...Read more
Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, facing multiple sexual abuse lawsuit, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
NEW YORK - The beleaguered Diocese of Rockville Centre, facing dozens of sex abuse lawsuits, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Thursday.
The Long Island Catholic diocese - one of the largest in the country - said the bankruptcy filing was necessary to move forward while managing litigation costs, settlements with sexual abuse survivors and ...Read more
Cardinal George Pell, cleared of child sex abuse allegations, will reportedly return to Vatican
Cardinal George Pell is expected to return to the Vatican Tuesday for the first time in three years after an Australian judge overturned his conviction on five counts of child sexual abuse in April.
Pell, the former Vatican treasurer, is returning in the middle of a scandal over finances, just days after Cardinal Angelo Becciu was fired from ...Read more
COVID took a harsh toll on South Florida houses of worship. A priest and 2 pastors died
MIAMI - Like many things since the coronavirus pandemic took hold, South Florida houses of worship have had to make dramatic changes. In the Miami Archdiocese, parishioners don't hold hands as they recite the Lord's Prayer, pews are emptier and the holy water has been put away.
The archdiocese also says that in the earlier days of the pandemic ...Read more
Minnesota bishop-elect resigns after allegation of sexual abuse
MINNEAPOLIS - A Rapid City, S.D., priest who was set to become the next Catholic bishop of Duluth has resigned following an allegation that he sexually abused a minor in the 1980s in South Dakota.
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop-elect Michel Mulloy, the Diocese of Duluth said Monday in a statement posted on its website.
The...Read more
Navy cancels Catholic Masses at Sand Diego-area bases while other religious services continue
SAN DIEGO - Catholic Masses at San Diego-area Navy bases have ended because the Navy, in what it says is a cost-cutting move, has declined to renew its contracts with Catholic priests, and there are not enough Catholic chaplains on active duty to fill the void.
Protestant services on bases, which are led by active duty chaplains, will continue,...Read more
Pope set to travel for first time since pandemic began
Pope Francis is preparing to visit Assisi next month, on his first trip outside Rome since Italy was put in a strict coronavirus lockdown in early March.
On Oct. 3, the day before the Feast of St. Francis, the pope will travel to the small central Italy town to sign a new encyclical, the Vatican announced Saturday.
Assisi is located about 110 ...Read more
Editorial: Religious freedom is not a license to ignore civil rights laws
During the term it completed in July, the Supreme Court decided several important cases involving religious liberty and one that expanded legal protection for gay Americans. In the term that begins next month, the justices will hear a case that purportedly pits those two interests against each other. But the real question in the case is simpler:...Read more
La Luz Del Mundo leader held on all counts of rape, child pornography and sex trafficking
LOS ANGELES - One after another, the agents from the California Department of Justice took the witness stand and related what the teenage girls and young women had told them: Naason Joaquin Garcia, the leader of La Luz Del Mundo, an international church headquartered in Mexico, had raped them.
After five days of testimony, Los Angeles Superior ...Read more
Faith leaders fight their own trauma as they minister to families of those killed in Chicago violence
CHICAGO -- There he stood again, centered in his pulpit, trying to make sense of yet another life lost to violence in Chicago's streets.
Dressed in a gray pinstripe suit, the Rev. Ira Acree glanced at his notes, then skimmed the crowd searching for the right words to comfort the grieving eyes staring back at him.
"Her life mattered," Acree ...Read more
Agent details child rape, pornography case against La Luz Del Mundo church leader
LOS ANGELES -- Since the day he stepped off a private jet at Los Angeles International Airport and was arrested last June, Naason Joaquin Garcia, the leader of an international church headquartered in Mexico, has been held on charges of raping children and possessing child pornography, among other felonies.
The case against Garcia, whose ...Read more
Baha'is say racial justice is 'an integral part of our faith'
AUSTIN, Texas -- Aliyah Marandiz, who grew up a member of the Baha'i faith, said that her religion influences her actions, her perspective and how she treats other people, much the same way any religion would.
Yet while many religious communities are grappling with how to talk about race in the wake of recent protests against racism and police ...Read more
Archdiocese of Detroit bars 2 LGBTQ Catholic groups
DETROIT -- For more than 45 years, Dignity Detroit has been a haven for LGBTQ Catholics looking to practice their faith in a respectful space for those with different sexual orientations.
The group held Masses in Detroit with the help of several Catholic priests, including even some bishops who would preside over their services, first held at ...Read more
Trump 'is so much anti-life,' Kentucky Catholic bishop says in abortion discussion
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The Rev. John Stowe has long been critical of President Donald Trump, and the Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Lexington did not hold back in recent comments about what it means to be pro-life.
In a live video chat July 31 with the International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs, Stowe said Trump is "so ...Read more
Judge hikes bail for La Luz del Mundo leader to $90 million
LOS ANGELES -- A judge on Thursday set bail at $90 million for the leader of La Luz del Mundo church, all but ensuring that the religious leader, Naason Joaquin Garcia, will remain jailed as he awaits trial on charges of raping children and possessing child pornography, among other crimes.
The bail amount, set by Los Angeles Superior Court ...Read more
Could COVID-19 inspire the faithful? Scholars predict spirituality surge in our future
During the Black Death, which originated in Asia and terrorized Europe from 1347 to 1352, artists captured the macabre zeitgeist with depictions of mocking skeletons wielding scythes and leading townsfolk to their painful deaths.
Between 25 million and 30 million people perished, and, historians say, the medieval mind blamed the plague's boils ...Read more
Popular Stories
- Commentary: The role of religion in presidential elections
- They stand in the gap between the community and cops
- La Luz Del Mundo leader held on all counts of rape, child pornography and sex trafficking
- In unprecedented year, Black pastors carry extra burden
- Federal judge rules in favor of COVID-19 religious restrictions in Brooklyn Diocese lawsuit
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