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Shelia Poole/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Most United Methodists in Georgia plan to stay with the denomination

Religion / Religious News /

ATLANTA — The Rev. Sharon Coley grew up Southern Baptist but found her spiritual home among United Methodists.

And that’s where the pastor of Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church-Summerville plans to stay “until I draw my last breath.”

For Coley, it’s about the mission of creating disciples for God, serving outside the walls of the ...Read more

Jonathan Pitts/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Methodists overwhelmingly vote to allow the departure of 23 churches over LGBTQ+ issues

Religion / Religious News /

BALTIMORE -- In a move their leader described as both “emotional” and “a very serious matter within the life of the church,” delegates of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church voted Thursday to approve the disaffiliation of 23 congregations over questions around how the denomination should handle LGBTQ+ ...Read more

Amanda McCoy/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS

Fort Worth bishop dismisses Carmelite nun accused of breaking chastity vow with priest

Religion / Religious News /

FORT WORTH, Texas — A nun accused of breaking her vow of chastity with a priest from outside the Diocese of Fort Worth has been dismissed from the Order of Discalced Carmelites.

Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach has 30 days to appeal the decision, according to a decree of dismissal from the diocese. She oversaw cloistered nuns at the ...Read more

Sara Nevis/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

California bill would allow Sikhs to ride motorcycles without a helmet

Religion / Religious News /

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sikhs and other people whose faith requires them to wear a turban or patka could soon be allowed to ride motorcycles in California without a helmet as mandated by state law.

The state Senate this week voted to grant a religious exemption for the headwear. The measure, Senate Bill 847 from Sen. Brian Dahle, a Bieber ...Read more

Sex abuse survivors dreaded priest's return to KC. They weren't told he never arrived

Religion / Religious News /

Survivors were outraged last fall when they learned that a retired Wyoming bishop and former Kansas City priest facing numerous sexual abuse allegations would be moving back to the Kansas City area.

And now, The Star has learned, Bishop Joseph Hart did not move back to the metro area after all — bringing more outrage to the survivors who were...Read more

Amanda McCoy/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS

Vatican gives Texas bishop authority to investigate report that nun broke chastity vow

Religion / Religious News /

FORT WORTH, Texas — The Vatican issued a decree Wednesday giving Bishop Michael Olson governing authority over a Carmelite monastery in Arlington embroiled in a legal battle against the bishop and the Fort Worth Catholic Diocese.

Bishop Michael Olson is investigating allegations that the Reverend Mother Superior Teresa Agnes Gerlach violated ...Read more

Heather Charles/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Commentary: I received restorative justice from the Catholic Church after surviving clergy abuse

Religion / Religious News /

I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by clergy in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Bringing justice to abuse survivors is a main goal of the attorney general’s efforts, and I certainly agree with that. I hope to add to that conversation by introducing a key element of justice for survivors that I think is missing in the conversation.

I am a ...Read more

Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Survivors: Illinois AG's report on clergy sex abuse is more detailed and transparent than Maryland's

Religion / Religious News /

A new report by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office on sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in that state is too long for most readers to absorb in a day or two, but that didn’t stop Liz Murphy from zeroing in on what she most wanted to find out.

Murphy, an abuse survivor who lives in Baltimore, flipped through the report’s 696 pages one ...Read more

Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Latest report on clergy sex abuse within Catholic Church gives 'voice to survivors'

Religion / Religious News /

The 11-year-old boy was an altar server at St. John Vianney in west suburban Northlake during the early 1960s, when a popular priest began inviting him out to dinner, drive-in movies and even sleepovers at the rectory.

His parents were pleased.

“Where could you be safer?” they remarked at the time.

The Rev. Thomas Francis Kelly offered ...Read more

Sabrina LeBoeuf/The Baltimore Sun/TNS

In latest fallout from Baltimore Catholic Church sex abuse report, some of those identified leave their roles

Religion / Religious News /

BALTIMORE — The director of the Maryland State Boychoir has resigned after he was identified as one of the 156 Catholic Church staff named in a Maryland Attorney General’s Office report on child sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

The Baltimore Sun on Friday named Frank T. Cimino Jr. as one of 10 alleged abusers whose names were ...Read more

PAUL J. RICHARDS/Getty Images North America/TNS

Archbishop of St. Louis closes 35 parishes, reassigns 155 priests in Catholic church reorganization

Religion / Religious News /

SHREWSBURY, Mo. — The Archbishop of St. Louis will close 35 parishes and reassign 155 priests in the most sweeping reorganization of the Catholic church in St. Louis history.

After 18 months of waiting, Catholics learned on Saturday the fate of their priests and parishes in the downsizing of the archdiocese called "All Things New."

The ...Read more

Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Editorial: Attorney general's report on Catholic clergy child sex abuse lays out a shameful chapter in Illinois history

Religion / Religious News /

The Illinois attorney general’s gut-wrenching 696-page report on Catholic clergy child sex abuse in Illinois is illustrated, incongruously but perhaps necessarily, with aspirational images of the Prairie State: cornfields at sunrise, the shimmering waters of Lake Michigan, sunsets over lakes and barns, gorgeous stained glass windows.

But the...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Hundreds more Illinois Catholic clerics abused children than had been reported, AG report says

Religion / Religious News /

CHICAGO — Hundreds more Catholic clerics abused children in Illinois than were previously reported by church leaders, according to a scathing 700-page report released Tuesday by the Illinois Attorney General’s office following a roughly four-year investigation.

State investigators revealed the names and details of 451 Catholic priests and ...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Hundreds more Illinois Catholic clerics abused children than had been reported, AG report says

Religion / Religious News /

Hundreds more Catholic clerics abused children in Illinois than were previously reported by church leaders, according to a scathing 700-page report released Tuesday by the Illinois Attorney General’s office following a roughly four-year investigation.

State investigators revealed the names and details of 451 Catholic priests and religious ...Read more

Algerina Perna/The Baltimore Sun/TNS

Fact check: What the Baltimore Catholic archdiocese is saying about the Maryland attorney general's report

Religion / Religious News /

BALTIMORE -- Archdiocese of Baltimore officials, particularly Archbishop William Lori, have responded in recent weeks to a report by the Maryland Attorney General’s Office on child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church with interviews, an FAQ and messages to parishioners across Central and Western Maryland.

After a similar report was published ...Read more

Tzogia Kappatou/Dreamstime/TNS

Missouri bill on Gov. Parson's desk would allow public schools to teach electives on the Bible

Religion / Religious News /

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the waning hours of the legislative session, Missouri lawmakers passed a bill long-sought by a pair of Christian lawmakers that would allow public schools to offer elective courses on the Bible.

The legislation, filed by state Sen. Karla May, a St. Louis Democrat, allows public schools and public charter schools to offer...Read more

Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Editorial: Catholic Church cover-up continues; Baltimore Archdiocese still protecting those accused of wrongdoing

Religion / Religious News /

The Baltimore Archdiocese insists it’s a changed institution. The rampant sexual abuse of children and accompanying cover-up within the Catholic Church dating back to the 1940s — revealed this spring in a lengthy attorney general’s report that redacted some of the names of the guilty — could not happen today, officials claim. “For ...Read more

Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Catholic archbishop reverses parish transfer of priest identified in AG's investigation

Religion / Religious News /

BALTIMORE — Monsignor J. Bruce Jarboe, recently identified as one of the high-ranking Catholic clerics cited in an attorney general’s investigation into how the church handled child sex abuse cases, will not transfer to a prominent Towson parish as planned.

Archbishop William Lori told parishioners Friday that instead of moving in July to ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Possible miracle at Connecticut church being investigated by the Vatican

Religion / Religious News /

HARTFORD, Conn. — The results of an investigation into the reports of a possible miracle at Thomaston’s St. Thomas Church have been sent to the Vatican.

On March 5, the Rev. Joseph Crowley, pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish, which includes St. Thomas, reported that during Holy Communion a lay person distributing hosts had found that the...Read more

Lucy Luginbill/Lucy Luginbill/TNS

Light Notes: Mother's coffee cup still fills my heart with warm memories

Religion / Religious News /

On a shelf in my kitchen sits a pastel-pink coffee cup that appears to be empty. But in my mind, it’s filled to the brim with warm memories.

I can still remember the smile this gracefully decorated gift brought to my late mother’s face on Mother’s Day, her favorite day of the year. She was getting on in years back then — didn’t need a...Read more