Religion

LA Pastor Charged With Shooting Son-In-Law Cop

Los Angeles’s Fox affiliate reports: An alleged fight between family members in Harbor City ends with an off-duty Los Angeles County deputy getting shot and a pastor in handcuffs. FOX 11 has learned Tuesday that the suspected gunman was Gordon Mueller, a pastor at Believers’ Victory International Church in Carson. Mueller is being charged with the attempted murder of the …

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Christianists Ramp Up Push For Public School Prayers

The Washington Post reports: A month has passed since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Washington state football coach who knelt at midfield to pray and was joined by student-athletes. The court wrote, in a 6-3 decision, that Bremerton High School assistant coach Joseph Kennedy’s prayers were protected by the Constitution’s guarantees of free speech and religious exercise, …

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NYC Pastor Robbed Of $400K In Jewelry Mid-Sermon

The New York Daily News reports: Three thieves were caught on tape barging into a Brooklyn church on Sunday where controversial bishop Lamor Whitehead — an ally to Mayor Adams — was preaching and snatched $400,000 worth of jewelry off of him and his wife. Whitehead, the Rolls-Royce-driving bishop, was preaching at Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministry on Remsen Ave. …

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Pope Arrives In Canada To Apologize For Abuses

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis began a fraught visit to Canada on Sunday to apologize to Indigenous peoples for abuses by missionaries at residential schools, a key step in the Catholic Church’s efforts to reconcile with Native communities and help them heal from generations of trauma. Francis flew from Rome to Edmonton, Alberta, where his welcoming party included Canadian …

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Archdiocese Sells 43 Properties To Pay Abuse Victims

The Christian Post reports: A Canadian court has approved the sale of 43 Catholic Church properties as part of a financial settlement with victims of sex abuse, with more sales expected to come later. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s, based in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, will sell the properties, including 13 church properties, after the …

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LA Youth Pastor Pleads Guilty To Sex Assault Of Teen

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: A former youth program minister at First Baptist Church in Covington pleaded guilty in 22nd Judicial District Court on Monday to felony second-degree battery and a misdemeanor count of sexual battery, both stemming from the abuse of a girl who belonged to the church youth group in the early 2000s. Darrell Jay English, 50, could …

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RI Priest Facing Child Porn Charges Gets Arrested Again

Providence’s CBS affiliate reports: A former Providence priest already facing federal child pornography charges has been arrested again and is being returned to Rhode Island for violating the conditions of his release. The Rev. James Jackson was arrested in Kansas on Friday, according to a court filing. Danielle Thomas, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Kansas, said in …

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FL Pastor Arrested Mid-Grindr Hookup With Teen Boy

Flagler Live reports: Alphonso Joseph, a 48-year-old Palm Coast resident and pastor associated with several Bunnell churches and spiritual organizations, was arrested Friday and charged with molesting a 15-year-old boy in a vehicle on the Matanzas Woods Golf Course. Joseph himself may have inadvertently attracted sheriff’s deputies to the area: the 911 center had received a noise complaint late the …

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Police: NH Pastor Failed To Register As Sex Offender

Yahoo News reports: A New Hampshire man who police said was working as a pastor at a Georgetown church owned by his wife has been charged with failure to register as a sex offender in Massachusetts. Steven Newman, 56, was arraigned July 13 in Haverhill District Court on the charge. Police said Newman is registered in New Hampshire as a …

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Youth Pastor Found Guilty On Five Counts Of Child Rape

Madison’s CBS News affiliate reports: A man who worked as a youth pastor at a church in Madison was found guilty Thursday night of five felony counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child. A jury reached its verdict in the case against Glen Uselmann, 63, just before 8 p.m. Thursday after just over four hours of deliberations, online court …

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Pastor And Wife Charged With Sexual Assault Of Minors

The Toronto Star reports: A former pastor and his wife were arrested on Tuesday after two women say they were sexually assaulted as minors, said York Regional Police. The couple from Grimsby, Ont., 64-year-old Raymond Swash and 61-year-old Sandra Swash, face several historical sexual assault charges involving minors as young as 13 years old when they were members of the …

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Recently Imprisoned Cardinal Sued By Choirboy’s Father

The BBC reports: The father of a choirboy who prosecutors alleged was sexually abused by Cardinal George Pell has launched a lawsuit against the cleric and the Catholic Church. The man is seeking damages for mental injury that he suffered after learning of the allegations, his lawyers said. In 2018 Cardinal Pell was convicted of abusing two choirboys in the …

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Texas Pastor Charged With Sex Abuse Of Nine Year-Old

Corpus Christi’s NBC affiliate reports: William C. Robinson, a pastor working for Chi Alpha Campus Ministries in Corpus Christi, was booked in the Nueces County Jail early Monday morning. Robinson is charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony. The arrest affidavit states that allegations were made against Robinson during a forensic interview. Sexual contact with the …

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WV Town Of Huntington Bans Ex-Gay Torture Of Minors

Charleston’s ABC affiliate reports: On Monday night, Huntington City Council voted to ban conversion therapy in city limits for children under 18. Huntington joins Charleston, Morgantown and Wheeling as the other cities in West Virginia to outlaw the practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender. These are practices that have been considered abusive by medical and mental …

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Megachurch Pastor Blames Satan For His Embolism

The Christian Post reports: Megachurch Pastor John Gray has been hospitalized with a life-threatening pulmonary embolism he called an “illegal transaction from Hell” as his wife, Aventer, is urging his followers to bombard Heaven with prayers so her husband can receive a “miracle” from God. Gray, 49, who leads Relentless Church, which has campuses in Greenville, South Carolina, and Powder …

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Moonie Church Likely Motive In Abe’s Assassination

Reuters reports: The mother of the man arrested for the killing of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is a member of the Unification Church, the head of its Japanese arm said on Monday. Tetsuya Yamagami, an unemployed 41-year-old, has been identified by police as the suspect who approached Abe and opened fire during a campaign speech on Friday. Yamagami …

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Pope Denies Rumors That He’ll Soon Resign [VIDEO]

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis has dismissed rumors he plans to resign anytime soon and that he hopes to visit Moscow and Kyiv after traveling to Canada later this month. Francis also told Reuters in an interview published Monday that the idea “never entered my mind” to announce a planned retirement at the end of the summer, though he …

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Elon Musk Has Vatican Audience With Pope Francis

The Associated Press reports: Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose $44 billion bid to buy Twitter remains in limbo, used the social media platform to announce he had met with Pope Francis. “Honored to meet @Pontifex yesterday,” Musk tweeted of the Friday afternoon audience, alongside a photo showing Musk, Francis and four of Musk’s teenage children. Francis frequently meets with high-profile …

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Maine Diocese Hit With Abuse Suits Under New Law

The Associated Press reports: The first lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland since Maine took away a limitation on claims of child sexual abuse were filed on Thursday. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed a law last year that allowed victims to bring civil lawsuits about older abuse cases. Abuse survivors previously could not bring lawsuits if they experienced …

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Gallup: Belief In God Dips To New Low For US Adults

Gallup reports: The vast majority of U.S. adults believe in God, but the 81% who do so is down six percentage points from 2017 and is the lowest in Gallup’s trend. Between 1944 and 2011, more than 90% of Americans believed in God. Gallup’s May 2-22 Values and Beliefs poll finds 17% of Americans saying they do not believe in …

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