The Columbian

Churches & Religion

Pope Francis, flanked by Mons. Guido Marini, the Vatican master of liturgical ceremonies, waves to faithful and pilgrims after he delivered the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for 'to the city and to the world' ) Christmas' day blessing from the main balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2019.

Pope offers hope against darkness in Christmas Day message

December 25, 2019, 9:13am Churches & Religion

Pope Francis offered a Christmas message of hope Wednesday against darkness that cloaks conflicts and relationships in large parts of the world from the Middle East to the Americas to Africa. Read story

FILE - In this Oct. 21, 1998 file photo, Ram Dass, best known for the 1971 bestseller "Be Here Now," smiles during an interview at his San Anselmo, Calif., home. The 1960s counterculture spiritual leader and early LSD proponent died, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019 at his home in Maui, Hawaii. He was 88.

Baba Ram Dass, spiritual guru and LSD pioneer, dies at 88

December 23, 2019, 8:47am Churches & Religion

Baba Ram Dass, the 1960s counterculture spiritual leader who experimented with LSD and traveled to India to find enlightenment, returning to share it with Americans, has died. He was 88. Read story

Pope Francis exchanges greetings with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, left, on the occasion of the pontiff's Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia, in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019.

Pope denounces ‘rigidity’ as he warns of Christian decline

December 21, 2019, 8:44pm Churches & Religion

Pope Francis warned Saturday that “rigidity” in living out the Christian faith is creating a “minefield” of hatred and misunderstanding in a world where Christianity is increasingly irrelevant. Read story

Amish, refugees share meals, bridge gap between cultures

December 21, 2019, 6:05am Churches & Religion

The only Amish man in the room stood by a window and stroked his long beard, listening to a Somalian refugee talk about his new life in America. Ivan Beiler’s family ate chicken pot pie and stuffed grape leaves at a nearby table with a family that had fled Syria.… Read story

EVERGREEN HIGHLANDS: The Seton Catholic High School Concert Band and Seton Choir performed a holiday concert at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Dec.

Seton band and choir perform holiday concert

December 21, 2019, 6:03am Churches & Religion

The Seton Catholic High School Concert Band and Seton Choir performed a holiday concert at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Dec. 11. Read story

The Rev. Shanan Jones delivers a sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

Survey shows sermon variation

December 21, 2019, 6:00am Churches & Religion

One of America’s most famous sermons, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” probably took Jonathan Edwards close to an hour to deliver in 1741. Today, most white Protestant pastors wouldn’t dare keep people in the pews that long. Read story

In this Monday, Dec. 9, 2019 photo, Monsignor John Kennedy, the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith discipline section, speaks during an interview on the terrace of the section's offices at the Vatican. "We're effectively seeing a tsunami of cases at the moment, particularly from countries where we never heard from (before)," Kennedy said, referring to allegations of abuse that occurred for the most part years or decades ago.

‘Tsunami of cases’: Clergy abuse strains secretive tribunal

December 20, 2019, 2:45pm Churches & Religion

The Vatican office responsible for processing clergy sex abuse complaints has seen a record 1,000 cases reported from around the world this year, including from countries it had not heard from before — suggesting that the worst may be yet to come in a crisis that has plagued the Catholic… Read story

Pope Francis celebrates a Mass for the Philippine community of Rome, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican to Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019.

Pope removes shroud of secrecy from clergy sex abuse cases

December 17, 2019, 8:58am Churches & Religion

Pope Francis abolished the use of the Vatican’s highest level of secrecy in clergy sexual abuse cases Tuesday, responding to mounting criticism that the rule of “pontifical secrecy” has been used to protect pedophiles, silence victims and prevent police from investigating crimes. Read story

FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2013 file photo, Rev. Shanan Jones delivers a sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. According a study released on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019 by the Pew Research Center, the median length of U.S. sermons in April and May was 37 minutes. Catholic sermons were the shortest, at a median of just 14 minutes, compared with 25 minutes for sermons in mainline Protestant congregations and 39 minutes in evangelical Protestant congregations. Historically black Protestant churches had by far the longest sermons, at a median of 54 minutes.

How long is the sermon? Study ranks Christian churches

December 16, 2019, 2:45pm Churches & Religion

How long should a sermon be? Read story

FILE - In this April 21, 2019, file photo, bloodstains a Jesus Christ statue at the St. Sebastian's Church after a blast in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. On Easter Sunday, April 21, bombs shattered the celebratory services at two Catholic churches and a Protestant church in Sri Lanka.

Houses of worship attacked with deadly frequency in 2019

December 15, 2019, 6:00am Churches & Religion

On Dec. 1, a band of assailants opened fire on worshippers at a small-town Protestant church in Burkina Faso, an impoverished West African country where the Christian minority is increasingly a target of attacks. The victims included the pastor and several teenage boys; regional authorities attributed the attack to “unidentified… Read story