Religion

The Associated Press release: For two years, New York temporarily set aside its usual time limit on civil lawsuits in order to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue churches, hospitals, schools, camps, scout groups and other institutions and people they hold responsible for enabling pedophiles or turning a blind eye to wrongdoing. That window closes Saturday, after more …

The Associated Press reports: Facebook already asks for your thoughts. Now it wants your prayers. The social media giant has rolled out a new prayer request feature, a tool embraced by some religious leaders as a cutting-edge way to engage the faithful online. Others are eyeing it warily as they weigh its usefulness against the privacy and security concerns they …

Jacksonville’s NBC News affiliate reports: A Jacksonville church pastor said in the last 10 days, six of his church members have died from COVID-19, and more of their members are currently in the hospital. Now the church is pushing to get as many people vaccinated as possible. Senior Pastor George Davis at Impact Church in Arlington told News4Jax on Friday …

Tulsa’s ABC News affiliate reports: The Rev. Wade Morris, 51, an evangelist who spoke across the country, died Tuesday morning after contracting COVID-19. He was a guest speaker at Falls Creek Youth Camp last month. Morris spoke at the Christian summer camp near Davis, Oklahoma during the week of July 5, according to Brian Hobbs, Communications Director of Oklahoma Baptists, …

The Christian Post reports: The leadership of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York has issued a memorandum saying that priests cannot grant religious exemptions to getting the COVID-19 vaccine. In a memorandum, Archdiocese Chancellor John P. Cahill informed all clergy and staff that there was “no basis for a priest to issue a religious exemption to the vaccine.” “Pope …

The Albany Times-Union reports: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany engaged in a decades-long cover-up of chronic child sexual abuse committed by its priests by employing practices described in a recent statement from former Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, who ran the diocese from 1977 to 2014. Hubbard’s statement, issued through his attorney in response to a series of questions from …

The Guardian reports: New Zealand has introduced legislation to ban conversion practices, saying the practice is harmful and has “no place in modern New Zealand.” “Those who have experienced conversion practices talk about ongoing mental health distress, depression, shame and stigma, and even suicidal thoughts,” the minister of justice, Kris Faafoi, said as he introduced the legislation on Friday. The …

NPR reports: Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked after a Vatican investigation confirmed he had sexually molested adults as well as children, has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenage boy during a wedding reception in the 1970s, court records show. Court documents obtained by The Boston Globe shows that McCarrick is charged with three counts of indecent assault …

Michigan Business reports: Campaign finance reports filed on Monday show the Lansing-based Michigan Catholic Conference, which bills itself as “the official voice of the Catholic Church in Michigan on matters of public policy,” has made $238,874.80 in direct and in-kind contributions to Citizens for Equality, Fairness and Justice, an organization formed in April that has actively opposed the LGBTQ initiative. …

El Paso’s NBC News affiliate reports: A 40-year-old man arrested for allegedly setting a West Side home on fire is charged with capital murder after his brother was killed in the incident. The El Paso Police Department says Philip Daniel Mills set fire to a residence located at 6001 Fandango Place on Thursday at 11:30 p.m. The affidavit claims Mills …

Reuters reports: Vatican City released its first real estate holding information on Saturday, revealing that it owns more than 5,000 real estate as part of its most detailed financial disclosure to date. This information was included in two documents from the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy Land (APSA), the 2020 consolidated financial statements and the first ever public …

Wichita Falls’ NBC News affiliate reports: A Vernon minister has been arrested after a 15-year-old girl told police she had sexual intercourse with him multiple times, according to an arrest affidavit. On July 1, an officer reportedly talked with the girl’s mother, who was searching for her at a motel. While at the motel, the officer spoke with Brian Pounds, …

The Christian Post reports: Chets Creek Church, a multi-campus Southern Baptist megachurch in Florida, was “shocked and devastated” to learn that former Southside campus pastor Jeff Bedwell was recently arrested for allegedly grooming and sexually molesting a young girl from the age of 12 until she turned 17. “Chets Creek was shocked and devastated to learn of the charges made …

The Washington Post reports: The top administrator of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops resigned after a Catholic media site told the conference it had access to cellphone data that appeared to show he was a regular user of Grindr, the queer dating app, and frequented gay bars. Some privacy experts said that they couldn’t recall other instances of phone …

New Haven’s ABC News affiliate reports: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Thursday. It is facing close to 60 sex abuse lawsuits, so the diocese of Norwich is seeking protection from federal bankruptcy laws. The Bishop assures his flock this will have a minimal impact on church activities. Advocates say it is not fair to …

The Roys Report reports: The United Methodist Church has seized the assets of a large congregation in Georgia whose pastor maintained a conservative stance on homosexuality and objected to being reassigned within the denomination. Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church, in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, has about 8,000 members and is one of the largest congregations in the North Georgia …

The Christian Post reports: A new survey reveals that the share of Americans who identify as religiously unaffiliated has declined slightly. However, more Americans still describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated than affiliate with any particular religious tradition. The term “nones” describes Americans who do not identify with a particular religion and includes atheists and agnostics. As noted by data compiled …

Reuters reports: Pope Francis greeted well-wishers on Sunday from the 10th floor balcony of his hospital room where he is recovering from major intestinal surgery. The pope, 84, stood for 10 minutes on the balcony of his special suite at Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, and thanked the crowd of at least 200 supporters for their prayers. Pope Francis said good …

Religion News Service reports: For Jehovah’s Witnesses, the pandemic has meant putting principles ahead of personal preferences. “Our preference is to meet together, to hug one another, to greet one another, to see each other’s smiles, but our principles won’t let us do that, not yet,” said Robert Hendriks [photo], U.S. spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses. For the second year, the …

Wichita’s ABC News affiliate reports: With 13 COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks and 23 overall, an AGK Ministries summer camp has been declared a cluster by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The KDHE and the Butler County Health Department are investigating the church camp that took place from June 21 to June 25 at the Wheat …