Religion

South Carolina’s Rock Hill Herald reports: A youth leader at two South Carolina churches in York County has been charged with sex crimes involving children, according to sheriff’s office and court documents. William Pinckney Carpenter III, 62, of Chester, was arrested late Wednesday, records show. The allegations happened from 2016 to 2021 to children victims as young as 7, warrants …

Baton Rouge’s CBS News affiliate reports: A Missouri husband has been charged with first-degree murder for fatally shooting the man he says his wife was having an affair with, according to police. Matthew Dedmon, 47, is charged with first-degree murder for the death of Joe Newburn, 57. Dedmon told investigators he is a pastor at Heritage Baptist Church in Rogersville. …

The Associated Press reports: Police say someone busted into the altar at a New York City church, stole a $2 million gold relic and removed the head from a statue of an angel at some point late last week. The incident happened at St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church, known as the “Notre Dame” of Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood. The tabernacle, …

The Marysville Appeal-Democrat reports: The wife of a former Marysville police chief was arrested in Oklahoma after a federal grand jury indicted her on multiple counts, including fraud. On May 19, a federal grand jury in Sacramento returned an indictment against Chanell Easton, 36, of Oklahoma City with charges that included 22 counts of wire fraud and two counts of …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego, one of Pope Francis’ ideological allies who has often sparred with more conservative U.S. bishops, was named by the pope on Sunday as one of 21 new cardinals. Among his notable stances, McElroy, 68, has been one of a minority of U.S. bishops harshly criticizing the campaign to exclude …

The Associated Press reports: It took more than three centuries, but the last Salem “witch” who wasn’t has been officially pardoned. Massachusetts lawmakers on Thursday formally exonerated Elizabeth Johnson Jr., clearing her name 329 years after she was convicted of witchcraft in 1693 and sentenced to death at the height of the Salem Witch Trials. Johnson was never executed, but …

New Orleans’ Fox affiliate reports: A former Jesuit priest and non-profit director has been arrested a second time for sex crimes allegations, jail records show. Stephen Sauer is accused of taking lewd photos and videos of unconscious men and sexually abusing at least one victim. Sauer was removed from his position with the Arc of Greater New Orleans, an agency …

The San Jose Mercury News reports: Stephen Kiesle, the ex-Oakland priest and sex offender, allegedly admitted to drinking two beers before rolling his car over a curb and fatally striking a man who was walking home with his wife, court records show. Kiesle, 75, told an officer he drank “a homemade ale and a Pacifico” beer before driving his 2012 …

Mass Live reports: The Satanic Temple is hoping to raise one of its flags in front of Boston City Hall after the Supreme Court ruled Boston violated free speech rights when it refused to fly a Christian group’s flag. “Religious Liberty is a bedrock principle in a democracy, and Religious Liberty is dependent upon government viewpoint neutrality,” Lucien Greaves, cofounder …

The Christian Post reports: Only 6% of people in the United Kingdom identify as Christians while 42% say they are non-practicing Christians, but one in three non-Christians say they want to know more about Jesus Christ, according to the report of a new survey, Talking Jesus. As many as 70% of those who identify as Christians are white Brits, who …

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis gave a new mandate to his sex abuse advisory commission Friday, telling its members to work with bishops around the world to establish special welcome centers for victims and to audit the church’s progress on fighting abuse from its new perch within the Vatican. Francis warned that without more accountability from the church, the …

Jacksonville’s NBC News affiliate reports: A judge on Wednesday denied a request for bond for a Jacksonville pastor accused of abusing children for decades. Paul Dyal, 78, pastor of the Jacksonville Assembly of the Body of Christ on Old Kings Road, is charged with two counts of capital sexual battery on a child. The defense wanted him released on his …

CBS News reports: Toyota is again contributing to lawmakers who resisted certifying the official results of the 2020 presidential election, despite the Japanese automaker’s pledge last summer to halt such financial support. The company said at the time, “We are actively listening to our stakeholders and, at this time, we have decided to stop contributing to those members of Congress …

The Christian Post reports: Pastor David E. Taylor of Joshua Media Ministries International, who was once deposed for corruption, has purchased an $8.3 million mansion in Tampa, Florida, from Tampa Bay Buccaneers co-owner Darcie Glazer Kassewitz and her husband. The mansion, which has a 28,893-square-foot main house and a 2,620-square-foot guest house, was purchased with a $4.9 million mortgage from …

The Washington Post reports: In 2020, 56 percent of Americans who died were cremated, more than double the figure of 27 percent two decades earlier, according to the Cremation Association of North America (CANA). By 2040, 4 out of 5 Americans are projected to choose cremation over casket burial, according to both CANA and the National Funeral Directors Association. Other …

The Miami New Times reports: Since July of 2021, more than 200 books have been banned in various school districts across Florida, the state with the third-highest number of school book banning incidents in the U.S. With that in mind, local political stunt activist Chaz Stevens of Deerfield Beach has taken it upon himself to add another book to the …

The New York Daily News reports: New York City does not abide. A city worker can’t use his belief in the religion of Dudeism — born of the movie “The Big Lebowski” — as a legitimate reason for exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for municipal employees, according to internal Law Department emails. An unidentified staffer had their religious accommodation …

The Associated Press reports: A New Jersey Catholic diocese has agreed to pay $87.5 million to settle claims involving clergy sex abuse with some 300 alleged victims in one of the largest cash settlements involving the Catholic church in the United States. The agreement between the Diocese of Camden, which encompasses six counties in southern New Jersey on the outskirts …

The Dallas Morning News reports: A 32-year-old youth pastor was arrested on charges related to the sexual assault of a child, Mesquite police said Monday. Conner “Jesse” Penny, a Mesquite resident, was arrested April 5 after police received a report the day before regarding the sexual assault of a child. He faces one count each of continuous sexual abuse of …

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis opened Holy Week Sunday with a call for an Easter truce in Ukraine to make room for a negotiated peace, highlighting the need for leaders to “make some sacrifices for the good of the people.” Celebrating Palm Sunday Mass before crowds in St. Peter’s Square for the first time since the pandemic, Pope Francis …