Churches & Religion

Protesters hold signs Sept. 24 across from St. Francis High School in Wheaton, Ill., calling for recognition of nontraditional personal pronouns used by queer and transgender students.

Catholic schools face protests

October 9, 2021, 6:02am Churches & Religion

Ora Amber, a 16-year-old ex-Catholic, stood across the street from St. Francis High School in suburban Chicago lofting a yellow, white, purple and black flag that represents people whose gender identity is outside the male/female binary. Read story

Pope Francis receives German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, in his Library at the Vatican, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021.

Merkel meets pope and receives farewell tribute from Draghi

October 7, 2021, 8:20am Churches & Religion

Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Thursday with Pope Francis and Italian Premier Mario Draghi, who paid tribute to her “calm, determined” leadership even during difficult years for Europe and the common currency. Read story

Pope Francis listens to speeches during his weekly general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021.

Pope expresses ‘shame’ at scale of clergy abuse in France

October 6, 2021, 8:12am Churches & Religion

Pope Francis expressed “shame” for himself and the Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday for the scale of child sexual abuse within the church in France and acknowledged failures in putting the needs of victims first. Read story

Commission president Jean-Marc Sauve, left, hands copies of the report to Catholic Bishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the Bishops' Conference of France (CEF), during the publishing of a report by an independant commission into sexual abuse by church officials (Ciase), Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, in Paris. A major French report released Tuesday found that an estimated 330,000 children were victims of sex abuse within France's Catholic Church over the past 70 years, in France's first major reckoning with the devastating phenomenon.

French report: 330,000 children victims of church sex abuse

October 5, 2021, 8:28am Churches & Religion

An estimated 330,000 children were victims of sex abuse within France’s Catholic Church over the past 70 years, according to a report released Tuesday that represents the country’s first major accounting of the worldwide phenomenon. Read story

People attend The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' twice-annual church conference Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, in Salt Lake City. The Utah-based faith has repeatedly encouraged its 16 million members worldwide to limit the spread by getting vaccines and wearing masks. The conference is taking place again without full attendance due to the pandemic. For the first time in two years, though, leaders were back at the faith's 20,000-seat conference center, with several hundred people watching in person.

Mormon president thanks members for following COVID guidance

October 2, 2021, 12:54pm Churches & Religion

The president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints kicked off a twice-annual conference Saturday by urging members to listen to the faith’s leaders when they seek “pure truth” and expressing gratitude for those who have followed church guidance, which has been to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Read story

Pope: No place for politics in Biden Communion flap

Pope Francis speaks with journalists on board an Alitalia aircraft enroute from Bratislava back to Rome, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021 after a four-day pilgrimage to Hungary and Slovakia.

Pope Francis said Wednesday that Catholic bishops must minister with “compassion and tenderness,” not condemnation, to politicians who support abortion rights and warned that clerics shouldn’t let politics enter into questions about receiving Communion. Read story

Pope questions vaccine skeptics, including cardinals

Pope Francis said Wednesday he didn’t understand why people refuse to take COVID-19 vaccines, saying “humanity has a history of friendship with vaccines,” and that serene discussion about the shots was necessary to help them. Read story