Churches & Religion

FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 25, 2020 file photo, Cardinal Angelo Becciu looks down as he meets the media during a press conference in Rome. The Vatican's criminal tribunal on Saturday, July 3, 2021 indicted 10 people, including a cardinal, and four companies on charges including extortion, abuse of office and fraud in connection with the Secretariat of State's 350 million-euro investment in a London real estate venture. Also indicted was another once-powerful Holy See official, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who helped engineer the initial London investment when he was the chief of staff in the Secretariat of State.

Vatican indicts 10, including cardinal, in London deal

July 3, 2021, 5:46pm Churches & Religion

A Vatican judge on Saturday indicted 10 people, including a once-powerful cardinal, on charges including embezzlement, abuse of office, extortion and fraud in connection with the Secretariat of State’s 350 million-euro investment in a London real estate venture. Read story

Sri Venkateswara Temple devotees and volunteers carry a deity back into the temple June 27 during Maha Kumbhabhishekam, a five-day Hindu rededication ceremony in Penn Hills, Pa. Built in the 1970s, the Sri Venkateswara Temple is the oldest major Hindu temple in the country.

A timely rite of rejuvenation: Oldest major U.S. Hindu temple was built in 1970s

July 3, 2021, 6:00am Churches & Religion

When throngs gathered to rededicate the oldest major Hindu temple in the United States, there was poignance — prayers for continued recovery from the pandemic that struck many loved ones in India — and the elation of coming together after more than a year of restrictions. Read story

The Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, second from left, the head of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Aram I, third from left, Pope Francis, fourth from left, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, firfth from left, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East for the Syriac Catholic Church, Ignatius Youssef III Younan, right, arrive in St. Peter's Basilica to attend a prayer for Lebanon at the Vatican, Thursday, July 1, 2021.

Pope, Lebanese Christian clerics pray for end to crisis

July 1, 2021, 8:49am Churches & Religion

Pope Francis welcomed Lebanon’s Christian patriarchs to the Vatican on Thursday for a day of prayer amid fears that the country’s descent into chaos is further imperiling the Christian presence in the country, a bulwark for the church in the Middle East. Read story

FILE - In this June 6, 2021 file photo, Pope Francis speaks from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican to a crowd of faithful and pilgrims gathered for the Sunday Angelus noon prayer. On Wednesday, June 30, 2021 Canada's Catholic bishops said Pope Francis has agreed to meet in December with Indigenous survivors of the country's notorious residential schools amid calls for a papal apology for Catholic Church's role in the abuse and deaths of thousands of native children.

Pope, Canada Indigenous to meet amid demand for apology

June 30, 2021, 5:03pm Churches & Religion

Pope Francis has agreed to meet in December with Indigenous survivors of Canada’s residential schools amid calls for a papal apology for the Catholic Church’s role in the abuse and deaths of thousands of native children. Read story

Pope Francis shakes hands with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as they meet at the Vatican, Monday, June 28, 2021. Blinken is on a week long trip in Europe traveling to Germany, France and Italy.

Pope voices ‘affection’ for Americans as he meets Blinken

June 28, 2021, 8:39am Churches & Religion

Pope Francis expressed his “affection” for the American people as he met at length Monday with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, with the latter declining to delve into “domestic politics” when later asked if the two discussed a campaign by U.S. bishops to deny Communion to Catholic politicians like… Read story

Mormons, NAACP work on new projects

The Rev. Amos C. Brown, right, President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, center, and Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, left, attend a news conference June 14 in Salt Lake City. Top leaders from the NAACP and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced $9.25 million in new educational and humanitarian projects as they seek to build on an alliance formed in 2018.

Top leaders from the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced $9.25 million in new educational and humanitarian projects Monday as they seek to build on an alliance formed with the NAACP in 2018 as part of the faith’s efforts to improve race relations. Read story

Trudeau says Pope Francis should apologize on Canadian soil

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits a memorial at the Eternal Flame on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, that's in recognition of discovery of children's remains at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday Canadians are “horrified and ashamed” by their government's longtime policy of forcing Indigenous children to attend boarding schools — institutions where hundreds of unmarked graves have now been found. Read story

Activists: Vatican is ‘meddling’ in Italy’s LGBT rights law

FILE - In this Friday, May 7, 2021 filer, Italian lawmaker Alessandro Zan paints a bench in the colors of the rainbow, in Milan, Italy. The Vatican has formally opposed proposed Italian legislation that seeks expand anti-discrimination protections to people who are gay and transgender, along with women and people with disabilities, the leading Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported on Tuesday. Activists immediately denounced Vatican meddling in the Italian legislative process as "unprecedented. Italian politicians and activist groups reacted strongly to what they see as an attempt to derail the so-called Zan Law, named for a Democratic Party lawmaker and gay rights activist Alessandro Zan.

The Vatican has formally opposed a proposed Italian law expanding anti-discrimination protections to the LGBT community, a leading Italian newspaper reported Tuesday. Activists immediately denounced the move as “unprecedented” Vatican meddling in Italy’s legislative process. Read story