Churches & Religion

Philadelphia's Archbishop Charles Chaput, right, stands next to Pope Francis as they pose for a photo with a delegation from Philadelphia at the end of the pontiff's weekly general audience in St.

Ahead of pope’s visit to US, some friction over LGBT issues

August 24, 2015, 5:00pm Churches & Religion

The World Meeting of Families, the central religious event of Pope Francis' first visit to the United States, is intended to convey a message of love and joy as it seeks to promote church teaching on marriage. Yet four weeks away from its opening in Philadelphia, friction is mounting as… Read story

Eileen Granat serves kosher hot dogs at the Bagel On! Fun Fair on Sunday in the Barberton area.

Bagel On! Kol Ami spreads wide its doors

August 23, 2015, 5:00pm Churches & Religion

BARBERTON -- Robyn Eskenazi Gray moved to Vancouver a couple of years ago from upstate New York, and since then the culturally Jewish woman said she's been curious about the Jewish community in Clark County. Read story

Bill Case, of Columbia, S.C., holds a fan bearing the image of former President Jimmy Carter while waiting in line to enter Maranatha Baptist Church for Sunday School class Sunday in Plains, Ga.

Carter’s cancer fight reinvigorates message

August 23, 2015, 5:00pm Churches & Religion

PLAINS, Ga. — The Sunday school lesson was familiar: When your burden grows heavy, ask God for strength. But the message carried a more powerful and personal meaning than usual because of who delivered it: Jimmy Carter. Read story

Associated Press files
Pope Francis poses for a photo this month as he arrives in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for an audience with altar boys and girls. Democrats and Republicans are looking forward to Francis' remarks to Congress next month.

Pope certain to challenge U.S. lawmakers

August 21, 2015, 5:00pm Churches & Religion

WASHINGTON — A political pope is sure to seize his opportunity when he addresses a political body. So both Democrats and Republicans are looking forward to Pope Francis' remarks to Congress next month — and bracing for them, too. Read story

Mormon women named to 3 councils

August 19, 2015, 5:00pm Churches & Religion

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Mormon church for the first time has appointed women to three high-level church councils previously reserved only for men -- a move scholars and Latter-day Saint feminists say marks a small, but noteworthy step in an ongoing push to increase visibility and prominence of women… Read story

Lord’s Gym back with programs for kids, more

Much has been repaired and updated, but the exterior sign hasn't changed: New Life Friends Church still hosts the Lord's Gym in what used to be Uncle Milt's Pipe Organ Pizza Company.

Rev. Jamie Kingsbury meant to close Lord's Gym for three quick months. The pause ended up being 18 months long. But that turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because it allowed the host facility, New Life Friends Church, the breathing room it needed to consider its mission, its… Read story

AP poll: Minority of US Catholics know pope’s climate views

Pope Francis, flanked by pilgrims from Argentina, poses for pictures during his weekly general audience, in the Pope Paul VI hall, at the Vatican on Wednesday.

NEW YORK — A new survey has found fewer than half of U.S. Roman Catholics said they knew of Pope Francis' bombshell encyclical on curbing climate change — and only a fraction of those heard about it from the pulpit — in the month after he released the document with… Read story

Security zones to go up ahead of pope’s visit

City workers remove an abandoned bike from a rack Thursday in Philadelphia.

PHILADELPHIA -- The U.S. Secret Service will restrict public access to a heavily traveled section of downtown Philadelphia for more than 30 hours before Pope Francis lands in the city next month — time officials said the agency needs to build security fencing and set up metal detectors. Read story