Religion

The Associated Press reports: The young crowd at a Nashville nightclub was ready to dance under the strobe lights to a throbbing mix of hip-hop, rap and Latin beats. But first they gathered to pray and praise God. The rules were announced on the dance floor by a mic-carrying emcee to more than 200 clubgoers blanketed by thick smoke machine …

The New York Times reports: Ghana’s Parliament on Wednesday passed a bill that imposes jail terms on people who identify as L.G.B.T.Q. or organize gay advocacy groups, measures that Amnesty International called among the harshest on the African continent. The legislation, if signed into law by President Nana Akufo-Addo [photol, would mean that people convicted of identifying as gay could …

Religion News Service reports: A new report released Wednesday (Feb. 28) found that roughly 3 in 10 Americans express some sympathy for Christian nationalism, with its greatest popularity concentrated in the Southeast and Upper Midwest. The findings appear in a study from the Public Religion Research Institute, which probed public support for Christian nationalism as part of a broader survey …

The Christian Post reports: With play-by-play announcers, color commentary, a referee, and a stage covered in AstroTurf, the Crossroads pulpit resembled Allegiant Stadium more than any church on Sunday morning as Senior Pastor Brian Tome and Pastor Alli Patterson sported football jerseys as they took the stage for the “pregame” coin flip. After Tome wins the flip, the referee asks, …

Courthouse News reports: David Miscavige, the second and current head of the Church of Scientology, is a hard man to find. Plaintiffs in two separate cases are trying to serve Miscavige with complaints and summons, but the religious leader has proved elusive. On Thursday, a Superior Court judge agreed to a request by Miscavige’s lawyers to quash a summons — …

Reuters reports: Pope Francis said in an interview published on Monday that Africans were a “special case” in the opposition of bishops and many other people in the continent to homosexuality. But he said he was confident that, except for Africans, critics of his decision to allow blessings for same-sex couples would eventually understand it. “Those who protest vehemently belong …

NPR reports: When Americans are asked to check a box indicating their religious affiliation, 28% now check ‘none.’ A new study from Pew Research finds that the religiously unaffiliated – a group comprised of atheists, agnostic and those who say their religion is “nothing in particular” – is now the largest cohort in the U.S. They’re more prevalent among American …

The Denver Post reports: Speaking to online followers Aug. 22, 2022, Rev. Eli Regalado had a divine message. “It was last October that the Lord brought this cryptocurrency to me. He said, ‘Take this to my people for a wealth transfer.’ It has been confirmed a hundred times since,” the pastor said, according to a lawsuit filed in Denver this …

The Christian Post reports: The CEO of Covenant Eyes, a subscription-based porn accountability software, warned that pornography is demonic and urged churches to do more to address the scourge that he said has become a “civilizational crisis.” Ronald DeHaas, who founded Covenant Eyes in 2000 when he had two teenage sons and saw the gathering storm during the early days …

The Washington Post reports: The effort to try Theodore McCarrick on charges of criminal sex assault ended Wednesday in a Wisconsin courtroom when the former archbishop of Washington was deemed incompetent because of dementia. McCarrick, 93, had been charged with sexual assault in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor, in connection with accusations of fondling an 18-year-old family friend at a …

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis called Monday for a universal ban on what he called the “despicable” practice of surrogate motherhood, as he included the “commercialization” of pregnancy in an annual speech listing threats to global peace and human dignity. Saying a child is a gift and “never the basis of a commercial contract,” he called for a global …

Alaska Public Media reports: A former Ketchikan church leader was sentenced to 20 years in prison with 30 more suspended by a local judge last week, in a high-profile case of child sexual abuse. Earlier this year, 72-year-old Dwight “Chris” John was charged with 14 counts of first-degree, second-degree and third-degree sexual abuse of a minor, as well as three …

CBS News reports: Cleveland Police say they got a lead from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of child sexual abuse material online. Their detectives got a search warrant for Richard Sentell’s home. Sentell was arrested on Tuesday for Sexual Exploitation of a Minor with greater than a hundred images. Sentell is the pastor at Cornerstone Church of …

The Christian Post reports: Days after denouncing an unverified report casting innuendo about his sexuality and accusing him of being a frequent participant at sex parties hosted by Sean Combs, popularly known as Diddy, televangelist T.D. Jakes called his accusers “liars” on Sunday and noted that even “if everything was true, all I got to do is repent sincerely from …

The New York Daily News reports: The NYPD is investigating disturbing bomb threats emailed to synagogues throughout the city on Christmas Eve Day, though the messages appear to be a hoax, cops said Sunday. Police described the threat as “not credible” but added, “we will continue to deploy resources to houses of worship around the city.” “These emails appear to …

Bloomberg News reports: Pope Francis on Monday blasted the weapons industry and its “instruments of death” that fuel wars as he made a Christmas Day appeal for peace in the world and in particular between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica to the throngs of people below, Francis said he grieved the “abominable attack” …

The Confraterity of Catholic Clergy writes: Sinful behavior and disordered inclinations can never be blessed or condoned. Even the appearance of endorsement of any moral evil must be avoided at all cost lest one infer that the one giving the ‘blessing’ is also a formal cooperator in evil, which is always forbidden. The distinction that individuals can be blessed without …

Posted to the Family Research Council’s website: A Roman Catholic cardinal is claiming that Christ would be imprisoned in today’s Western society for His position on sex, marriage, and gender. Appearing on GB News America on Sunday, German Cardinal and former head of the Vatican’s doctrine office Gerhard Müller addressed the threat that transgender ideology poses to the family. “Christ …

Lexington’s ABC affiliate reports: A former Lancaster pastor last week agreed to a plea deal to drop 12 charges of sexual abuse of children in exchange for pleading guilty to one charge. Thomas Wall on Dec. 8 pleaded guilty to one count of sexual abuse of a child, according to Garrard County court records. In 2022, Wall was arrested and …

Oak Hill, West Virginia’s ABC affiliate reports: The now former lead pastor of Mount Hope Christian Church has been arrested on charges of patronizing a minor victimized by sexual servitude. Elbert Eugene Goins, known as Buddy Goins, was arrested on December 8 in Beckley. According to the criminal complaint, he had been talking to an adult about having sex with …