The number of people searching for "prayer" on Google in March was higher than at any time in the last five years. As deaths from COVID-19 mounted and places of worship closed across the globe, the intensity of searches grew right along with the fear.

The findings from a Danish researcher are a poignant reminder that the social distancing ...Read more

Even with the world on hold, spring hasn't broken tradition at our house.

Outside there are yellow daffodils, tender blades of grass greeting the fence, and the air is pristine. But inside our home it's a different story -- a tale I saw clearly this week in the middle of the "stay at home" mandate.

It seems dust "bunnies" have been happily ...Read more

CANBERRA, Australia -- Cardinal George Pell, who is serving a six-year jail sentence for child sex abuse, has been successful in his bid to overturn his conviction in the Australian High Court.

Pell, 78, will be released immediately Tuesday after more than 400 days behind bars.

The judgment was handed down by Chief Justice Susan Kiefel in a ...Read more

MIAMI -- The Passover Seder table at the Luri house is usually festooned with Kosher wine, matzoh and bitter herbs.

The most important part of their holiday dinner: About 30 family and friends.

But the Luris -- along with Jewish families in South Florida and around the world -- are rethinking how to celebrate the springtime holiday that ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Amid stories that several megachurch pastors in recent weeks have defied calls to cancel gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump tweeted this weekend that he would be "tuning in" Sunday to listen to Greg Laurie, a Southern California megachurch pastor, online.

And so, from his empty Riverside campus at Harvest...Read more

MIAMI -- The archbishop of the largest Catholic archdiocese in Florida has told parishioners there will be no services during Holy Week. Leaders in Orthodox Jewish communities across the state have pleaded with their communities to not allow relatives to travel to Florida for Passover. The pastor of a Hillsborough County mega-church who was ...Read more

On a cloudy day in a thick forest near Mount Fuji, I found myself facing a fear beyond anything I had ever experienced. This wasn't just fear for me, it was fear for my family. What had I done to them?

I walked the narrow mountain track, my heart pounding, my stomach in a knot.

At age 33, I had been appointed as a missionary to Japan by a ...Read more

BEIRUT -- Paying no attention to the tenets of social distancing, the abaya-shrouded women -- no masks or gloves among them -- crowded into the Baghdad square surrounding the shrine to Imam Musa Kadhim.

"I invite China, Italy and Iran," one of the women said to a journalist from a satellite news station. "Those are the three biggest countries ...Read more

"Do not worry, do not be anxious" are messages found repeatedly in Christian scripture. Say that to me and it's like saying "don't think about elephants"! But I've come to realize the difference between concern and worry.

Concern leads me to constructive action. Worry or anxiety is just the hamster wheel. Round and round I go, exhausting myself...Read more

Don't panic! This is good news, although a bit delayed and totally embarrassing.

The other day while in a two-week self-quarantine from travel and coronavirus concerns, I realized that I could either dust or organize Christmas letters and cards ... I can barely say this ... dated 2016-19. Not that I was bored after alphabetizing the spice ...Read more

Do you ever get caught in an inward and endless loop of, "What if?" -- "What if my health ... What if my kids ... What if my parents ... What if my plans ... What if a robber breaks in and ... ?"

Same.

Since anxiety sneaks around in human hearts like a common thief seeking to steal joy, we need to guard against its intrusions. But how?

There'...Read more

ATLANTA -- Pope Francis named Gregory John Hartmayer of Savannah as the seventh archbishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Hartmayer, served as the bishop of Savannah and will succeed Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, who served as Atlanta's archbishop from January 2005 to May 2019.

On the Diocese of Savannah's Facebook page, Hartmayer posted that ...Read more

MIAMI -- Lucy Jackson has always enjoyed the camaraderie and the rituals of her Catholic religion. So much so, she regularly goes to two churches near her Kendall, Fla., home: St. Thomas The Apostle Catholic Church or John Neumann Catholic Church.

"If I want to sleep in longer, I go to St. John at 1," she laughs.

But one cherished ritual has ...Read more

CHICAGO -- As hospitals, schools and businesses prepare to deal with the spread of coronavirus, the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago released guidelines for parishioners concerned about the potential spread of the disease.

Effective immediately, all priests, deacons, altar servers and ministers in parishes in the archdiocese must wash their ...Read more