Religion
/Health
Vatican excommunicates bishops of breakaway group, casting spotlight on Kansas town
A small northeast Kansas town is in the spotlight after the Vatican declared last week that it was excommunicating six Society of St. Pius X bishops, a day after four were consecrated without the pope’s approval.
St. Marys, a town of about 2,800, roughly 90 miles west of Kansas City, is home to a large population of followers of the SSPX, a ...Read more
Charlotte-area Catholic church among targets of Vatican's excommunication
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- As thousands of worshippers prayed in an open field in Écône, Switzerland on Wednesday, the ceremony came to an abrupt halt.
At the moment the priest elevated the host during the consecration — the most sacred moment of the Catholic Mass, when Catholics believe bread becomes the body of Christ — thunder cracked loudly ...Read more
These church members disagree on politics. Together they're wiping out medical debt
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Some issues, like immigration or student loans, are too divisive to unite Trinity Moravian Church.
"We've got quite a spread of political beliefs," said the Rev. John Jackman, who leads this 114-year-old red-brick church near Winston-Salem's old textile mills. Conservative Republicans sit with liberal Democrats. ...Read more
Pope Leo XIV celebrates immigrants in speech to Philadelphia crowd amid clash with Trump ahead of 250th anniversary
PHILADELPHIA — Addressing a Philadelphia crowd live from the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV called for a “recommitment” to American ideals.
The first U.S.-born pope delivered remarks virtually at an interfaith ceremony inside Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center on the eve of the United States’ 250th birthday to accept the center’s ...Read more
Miami Catholic schools wanted tighter security. DeSantis cut the funding
MIAMI — Gov. Ron DeSantis delivered the ax to a portion of the state budget dedicated to funding security measures in Miami-Dade County Catholic schools — and local Catholic leaders aren’t happy about it.
On Monday, DeSantis vetoed $15 million allocated for security grants for Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Miami, the total amount...Read more
San Francisco Archdiocese to pay $395 million to sexual abuse victims
The San Francisco Archdiocese will pay out nearly $400 million to survivors of clergy sexual abuse, encompassing 70 years of children falling prey to priests, lawyers announced Monday.
The settlement sets up a trust to compensate 530 survivors of childhood sexual abuse — all of whom are now adults — and establishes extensive child ...Read more
Commentary: Celebrating 250 years of no religious kings
On July 4, we will celebrate American independence from kings who ruled over both church and state. Two hundred and fifty years ago, the founders of this country put forward a bold and radical idea: that religious freedom is safest when the government neither controls religion nor is controlled by it.
The founders were not perfect; at the ...Read more
Miami archbishop urges prayers -- and pressure -- after Supreme Court's TPS ruling
MIAMI — Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, local leaders and Haitian immigrants condemned a Supreme Court decision on Thursday allowing the Trump administration to end deportation protections under Temporary Protected Status for over 350,000 Haitians and Syrians.
“These are people that are very nervous. They’re nervous about having to go ...Read more
Commentary: The pulpit is just one front in the US war against women
This month in Orlando, the Southern Baptist Convention — the largest Protestant denomination in America — took its first formal step toward barring women from preaching. Almost three-quarters of the voting delegates backed it. The millions of women who fill the pews every Sunday watched their own denomination move, by supermajority, to ...Read more
Catholic leaders urge DeSantis to halt record-setting Florida execution
MIAMI — Florida’s record-setting pace of executions has drawn renewed opposition from the Catholic Church, which is urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to halt the scheduled execution Thursday of a 74-year-old veteran.
The appeal comes as Florida continues an unprecedented run of executions under DeSantis, who oversaw a record 19 executions last year ...Read more
Minnesota faith leaders weigh AI's place in church life
The rise of artificial intelligence has Minnesota faith leaders wrestling with questions that feel both ancient and newly urgent: How should they respond to a force rapidly reshaping daily life?
And where is the line between using technology to, say, streamline church work and allowing it into relationships and spiritual practices long defined ...Read more
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