Tag Archives: religion

The Moscow Times reports: The walls of Russia’s new Orthodox cathedral dedicated to the Armed Forces will be decorated with the faces of President Vladimir Putin, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Soviet leader Josef Stalin, the MBKh News website reported Friday. The 95-meter Armed Forces cathedral, a symbol of close defense-church ties in Russia, is expected to open on May …

NBC News reports: Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body, the Council of Senior Scholars, urged Muslims worldwide to pray at home during Ramadan if their countries require social distancing, to curb the spread of the coronavirus, state news agency SPA reported on Sunday. “Muslims shall avoid gatherings, because they are the main cause of the spread of infection and shall remember …

The New York Post reports: In his last known in-person service on March 22, Bishop Gerald O. Glenn got his congregation at Richmond’s New Deliverance Evangelistic Church to stand to prove how many were there despite warnings against gatherings of more than 10 people. “I firmly believe that God is larger than this dreaded virus. You can quote me on …

The Jesuit magazine America reports: In a remarkable Easter Sunday letter to members of social movements around the world, Pope Francis, noting that the widespread suffering caused by the global coronavirus pandemic does not fall evenly, suggested that the crisis warranted the establishment of a universal basic income. He described it also as an opportunity for affluent societies to “downshift” …

The Christian Post reports: Seminaries have launched a hotline in which clergy can give prayers and last rites to people in the hospital over the phone, namely for coronavirus patients for whom access might be limited because of social distancing. Virginia Theological Seminary and General Theological Seminary launched “Dial-A-Priest”  this week through their joint project, the TryTank Experimental Lab. The …

Oakland’s Fox affiliate reports: Members of a central California church found themselves locked out of the bulding after the pastor originally kept his doors open, saying the shelter-in-place orders violated his freedom to assemble. But within the past week, the landlord of the Cross Culture Christian Center in Lodi, Calif. changed the locks, so congregants couldn’t enter the building for …

From a GoFundMe plea posted on Friday: With deep sadness and Broken Hearts we share with you that Karen Kolb Sehlke, a loving wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend to all that knew her, went to be with our Lord when she passed away unexpectedly Thursday April 2,2020. Karen became very sick and was admitted to the hospital near her …

Suburban Chicago’s Daily Herald reports: An estimated 43 people, more than half the people who attended a service March 15 at The Life Church of Glenview, are sick and at least 10 have tested positive for COVID-19, Pastor Anthony LoCascio [photo] confirmed Thursday evening. “A lot of people are sick,” said LoCascio, who says 11 days after starting to feel …

The Times of Israel reports: An Orthodox Israeli rabbi has claimed the spread of the deadly coronavirus in Israel and around the world is divine retribution for gay pride parades. An influential Sephardic rabbi, Meir Mazuz is the former spiritual leader of the defunct ultra-nationalist and homophobic Yachad party, and is head of the Kiseh Rahamim yeshiva in Bnei Brak. …

The Washington Post reports: D.C. officials on Monday urged hundreds who attended Christ Church Georgetown on several recent days to self-quarantine because of their exposure to the Rev. Timothy Cole, the church rector who is the first known coronavirus patient in the District. Cole tested positive for coronavirus Saturday and is hospitalized at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in stable condition. …

Reuters reports: An So-young had a gut feeling that the 31st person in South Korea to test positive for the coronavirus might be a member of the controversial religious sect she quit four years ago. What caught An’s attention was how health authorities were struggling to track the woman’s movements before she was tested. “That’s their culture, they have to …

The Jakarta Post reports: Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto has reiterated the importance of praying amid the country’s ongoing battle against China’s coronavirus (COVID-19), saying that the weary public should use religion as a guiding principle in turbulent times. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Terawan answered questions regarding his previous statements in which he suggested that prayers were among reasons …

The Washington Post reports: A Rhode Island priest is doubling down on his recent call to deny Communion to lawmakers who voted in favor of an abortion rights bill. After the Rev. Richard Bucci of Sacred Heart Church in West Warwick, R.I., drew a backlash with his initial announcement two weeks ago, the 72-year-old priest dug in, telling Rhode Island’s …

The Catholic News Service reports: Following consultations in Berlin last week, the chairman of the Marriage and Family Commission of the German bishops’ conference declared that the bishops agreed that homosexuality is a “normal form” of human sexual identity. “The sexual preference of man expresses itself in puberty and assumes a hetero or homosexual orientation,” Berlin’s Archbishop Heiner Koch [photo] …

Grand Rapids’ NBC News affiliate reports: A priest who admitted to holding a teen captive in a church janitor’s closet is headed to jail. In an Allegan courtroom Monday morning, Brian Stanley was sentenced to 60 days in jail with credit for two days served. He will also serve five years probation and must register as a sex offender for …

“The Church of England has publicly reaffirmed that marriage is between a man and woman—and that sex belongs only within heterosexual marriage. I appreciate the church taking this strong stand with the Word of God, which is truth. “I’m going to the UK in late May and will be holding a series of evangelistic outreaches going from Scotland all the …

The Guardian reports: The Church of England has stated that sex belongs only within heterosexual marriage, and that Christians in gay or straight civil partnerships should be sexually abstinent. Bishops have issued pastoral guidance in response to the recent introduction to mixed-sex civil partnerships, which says: “For Christians, marriage – that is, the lifelong union between a man and a …

Haaretz reports: The Jerusalem municipality has announced that it is embracing the position of Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit and will now allow signs sporting homophobic messages, which it had previously removed. The municipality stated its position at a hearing in the Jerusalem District Court over a petition filed by a religious Zionist group called Hazon (“vision” in Hebrew), which is …

The San Jose Mercury News reports: A pastor at a Lutheran church in San Mateo was arrested after allegedly delivering letters full of shooting threats to a San Carlos church where he was formerly a congregation member, authorities said. In four separate instances between Jan. 7 and Jan. 16, Paul Michaelson, 79, dropped off letters to the Holy Trinity Church …

Philadelphia’s CBS affiliate reports: A Luzerne County woman drove into the path of an oncoming vehicle as a way to test her faith, then exhibited no concern about the people who were injured in the crash, state police said. Bail was revoked this week for Nadejda Reilly, 31, of Drums, who is charged with aggravated assault and other offenses over …