Religion

The New York Times reports: The pontiff’s image was everywhere. On cardboard cutouts adorned with flower necklaces, on glittery banners, on stickers. Romans came to the Pride parade on Saturday dressed like Francis, wearing papal hats and T-shirts that read, “There is never too much frociaggine,” a reference to an offensive slur against gay men that the pope has been …

Axios reports: U.S. Catholic bishops apologized Friday for the Catholic Church’s part in fostering “a history of trauma” on Indigenous children at church-run boarding schools where priests sexually abused students. It’s an official acknowledgment of the church’s past abuse against Indigenous children as the extent of widespread abuses inflicted on Native children over many decades has come into sharper focus. …

The Washington Post reports: Southern Baptists, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, voted on Wednesday to oppose the use of in vitro fertilization. The vote was an indication that ordinary evangelicals are increasingly open to arguments that equate embryos with human life, and that two years after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, “fetal personhood” may be the next front for …

USA Today reports: Dr. Tony Evans, a well-known evangelical Texas pastor, has stepped down from leadership at his church. In a statement posted Sunday to the church’s website, Evans, the senior pastor at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, said he is stepping down due to an unnamed “sin.” “The foundation of our ministry has always been our commitment …

The Guardian reports: Pope Francis has apologised for using an offensive slur during a discussion with bishops about admitting gay men into seminaries, saying he “never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms”. The apology followed reports in the Italian press on Monday that, during the discussion in Rome last week, the pontiff, 87, had said there was …

Reuters reports: Pope Francis used a highly derogatory term towards the LGBT community as he reiterated in a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops that gay people should not be allowed to become priests, Italian media reported on Monday. La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, Italy’s largest circulation dailies, both quoted the pope as saying seminaries, or priesthood colleges, are already …

The Christian Post reports: Pope Francis drew scorn and accusations of heresy on social media Sunday for maintaining during his recent “60 Minutes” interview that the human heart is “fundamentally good.” Responding to interviewer Norah O’Donnell’s question regarding what gives him hope when he looks at the world, the pontiff said “everything,” and then went on to list examples of …

The Daily Beast reports: Pope Francis on Sunday railed against conservative bishops in the United States who oppose his efforts to revitalize the Catholic Church. When quizzed by CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell over the issue on Sunday’s 60 Minutes, the 87-year-old provided an unexpected response. “You used an adjective, ‘conservative,’” Pope Francis said. “That is, conservative is one …

NBC News reports: Supernatural events like visions of the Virgin Mary and statues weeping tears of blood have for centuries stirred the faithful — and controversy for the Catholic Church. In the age of social media, unverified claims can spread rapidly around the globe, so on Friday the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued new guidelines radically …

From a new study on church attendance: To date, most studies on religion have relied on surveys where respondents self-report their worship, potentially limiting the reliability of results. In this paper, the author uses anonymized location data from smartphones to provide a descriptive analysis of religious worship attendance in the United States. Seventy-three percent of people step into a religious …

The Christian Post reports: In a revelation that appeared to some as almost as unusual as his announcement of the suicide of his wife, Mica Miller, Pastor John-Paul Miller of Solid Rock at Market Common in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, said he tried to raise her from the dead but it didn’t work. “I’ve been down to the body about …

Janet Mefferd writes for the Christian Post: Some of what this crowd promotes is commendable, such as opposition to abortion, attacks on the family and LGBT ideology, and biblical positions that Christians largely support. But scratch the surface of the Christian morality speeches and the picture grows darker. Although the factual details are too voluminous to list here, this movement …

Bloomberg Law reports: A gay teacher saw his sex bias win against a Catholic high school overturned Wednesday by the Fourth Circuit, which said because he played a “vital role as a messenger” of the faith, he was a “minister” excepted from the protections of federal sex discrimination law. Charlotte Catholic High School teacher Lonnie Billard’s appeal is the latest …

The Christian Post reports: The late evangelist Billy Graham will take his place next week among 200 Americans honored with a statue in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Graham’s statue will be unveiled next Thursday during an 11 a.m. ceremony that will be attended by musician Michael W. Smith, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. and other congressional representatives. The …

The Christian Post reports: In what at least one critic has dismissed as the Dunning Krueger Effect in action, Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, claims there is no such thing as mental illness. MacArthur, who is also the president of The Master’s College and Seminary, called mental illnesses “noble lies” while speaking during a …

The Christian Post reports: The United Methodist Church General Conference voted to drop a ban on funding LGBT advocacy groups and removed a required punishment for pastors who officiate gay weddings after thousands of theologically conservative congregations left the mainline Protestant denomination in the last two years. The change was among the bulk of legislation approved by a vote of …

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: Driving marked police cruisers and dressed in business attire, Louisiana State Police agents arrived at the headquarters of the Archdiocese of New Orleans to serve an unprecedented search warrant that demands officials turn over all records related to a decades-long clergy sex abuse crisis. Three investigators from the agency’s Special Victims Unit entered the Walmsley …

The Christian Post reports: Televangelist and prosperity gospel preacher Jesse Duplantis, who has an estimated net worth of around $20 million, has called poverty a “curse” and says his wealth — which includes a private jet and a 40,000-square-foot mansion in Louisiana — comes from being “blessed” by God. “Let me give you a prime example why I don’t care …

The Holland Sentinel reports: The Satanic Temple of West Michigan announced in March they’d been scheduled to give the meeting’s prayer April 23. The meeting drew one of the largest crowds the board has seen since Ottawa Impact commissioners took office in January 2023. Hundreds gathered in the lobby and in front of the Fillmore Complex. Many stood in small …

The Christian Post reports: Pastor Gene Jacobs of Real Life Ministries Silver Valley, who was found dead in a mountainous area south of Pinehurst, Idaho, on Tuesday evening, died from an apparent “self-inflicted gunshot wound,” local police said as his church continues to mourn their loss. While the church noted that an investigation into the pastor’s passing was ongoing, a …