WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court said Monday it will decide another clash between religion and gay rights, this time involving Philadelphia's refusal to contract with Catholic Social Services over the group's refusal to place foster children with same-sex couples.

The court agreed to hear an appeal from religious-rights advocates who argue that ...Read more

Gravity can really pull you down. Gravity is serious, or frightening, or critical, or dignified.

Gravitation is a natural pull on things; it can be attractive, but not in a way you might think. You can grave or engrave (sculpt or inscribe) a piece of wood or stone. Gravity has a certain heaviness to it, because it comes from a Latin word for "...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Rev. Mike Lotzer became pastor of a Burnsville, Minn., church in 2017, and quickly discovered its Facebook page was wildly -- and strangely -- popular.

"There was a steady stream of people (posting) who wanted to connect to the Illuminati," said Lotzer, referring to an ancient secret society that remains a hot topic among ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- A 32-year-old man filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony and an ex-priest who was returned to parish duties even after admitting to molesting children.

Mahony went on to reassign Michael Baker to several other Roman Catholic parishes, where he abused more boys, many of them ...Read more

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis did not endorse a proposal to let married men serve as priests in the Amazon region, in what would have been a special exception to a long-standing celibacy rule for clergy.

The exception, albeit limited to the Amazon region, would have likely enraged traditionalists, who already see Francis' papacy as too liberal. ...Read more

"Don't be discouraged by your incapacity to dispel darkness from the world; light your candle and step forward."

This wisdom from contemporary Hindu spiritual teacher Amma hangs on my fridge as a constant reminder of how to live in this troubled world.

For at least 100 years writers have used some version of the proverb "It is better to light ...Read more

DETROIT -- Since its formation in 1836, no woman or openly gay priest has ever been elected to lead the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan.

That changed Saturday, when the Rev. Bonnie Perry was ordained and consecrated as the body's 11th bishop, overseeing more than 16,000 baptized members across the state.

She succeeds the Right Rev. Wendell N. ...Read more

If you could be anywhere right now, where would that be? Would you rather be someplace else?

Recently, I asked that question to open a sermon. Uh-oh.

Because what if your honest answer, even during church is, "Yes, I'd rather be at the football game!" Or, "I'd rather be on a cruise, or in the mountains, or at the Oregon Coast -- reading, ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- A Muslim organization is calling on the Minnesota Catholic Conference to repudiate a sermon by a Rice County priest in which he describes Islam as the "greatest threat in the world" both to the United States and Christianity itself.

The Rev. Nick VanDenBroeke, pastor of the 100-year-old Church of the Immaculate Conception in ...Read more

"Tis the season!" was said over and over during December.

"To everything there is a season. ..." said the wise one in ancient Holy Scripture (and wrote Pete Seeger nearly six decades ago).

"Four Seasons" describes many things from a hotel chain to a symphony by Vivaldi.

Aside from a term for spices, season is mostly used in two ways related ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- While Nelson Perez was a priest in Philadelphia more than a decade ago, he often came to confess his sins at the Shrine of St. John Neumann, the fourth bishop of Philadelphia, whose body is entombed inside the shrine in the city's Northern Liberties section.

At the time, Perez had no idea -- he'd one day succeed Neumann himself....Read more