The Columbian

Churches & Religion

Pope Francis celebrates mass on the occasion of 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines, in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, March 14, 2021.

Vatican bars gay union blessing, says God ‘can’t bless sin’

March 15, 2021, 10:29am Churches & Religion

The Vatican decreed Monday that the Catholic Church won’t bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.” Read story

Rabbi Joseph Schwartz, left, and Ryan Eleazar use boiling water to kosherize equipment for the Hanan Products' kosher-for-passover production run Jan. 7 in Hicksville, N.Y.

Passover prep takes months

March 13, 2021, 6:04am Churches & Religion

On a food production floor on Long Island, steam rises from a blue metal barrel filled with scalding water for dipping cooking implements, and a worker runs boiling water through and over machinery. Zip ties are affixed to pipes and valves to avoid unwanted contaminants. Read story

Carmela Apolonio Hernandez, center, is pictured with her four children on the steps of the Germantown Mennonite Church in Pennsylvania, where the family has lived in sanctuary to avoid deportation.

Immigrant family to leave Philly church sanctuary

March 13, 2021, 6:04am Churches & Religion

An undocumented Mexican woman who has spent more than three years inside Philadelphia churches to avoid deportation is expected to leave sanctuary soon, after ICE officials confirmed she is no longer a priority for enforcement. Read story

Pope Francis speaks to journalists, Monday, March 8, 2021, while flying back to The Vatican at the end of his four-day trip to Iraq where he met with different Christian communities and Shiite revered cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. At right pope's spokesperson Matteo Bruni.

Pope weighed Iraq virus risk but believes God will protect

March 8, 2021, 10:28am Churches & Religion

Pope Francis said Monday he weighed the risks of a high-profile trip to Iraq during the coronavirus pandemic, but said he decided to go ahead with it after much prayer and belief that God would look out for the Iraqis who might get exposed. Read story

Pastor Damion Young, who contracted COVID-19 and still struggles with symptoms, poses for a portrait at his Vancouver apartment complex. Young worked as an Amazon truck driver, but has struggled to return to work because of long-term symptoms from COVID-19.

Vancouver Pastor Damion Young describes his long-haul struggles with COVID-19

March 7, 2021, 6:03am Churches & Religion

I was at work on Jan. 8, and I was coming down three flights of steps, and I just felt dizzy. I just felt like I couldn’t go anymore, and I didn’t understand why I felt that way. Read story

Women wait outside the Chaldean Cathedral of Saint Joseph, in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 6, 2021, where Pope Francis, depicted on a giant poster at their back, is concelebrating a mass. Earlier today Francis met privately with the country's revered Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Pope, top Iraq Shiite cleric deliver message of coexistence

March 6, 2021, 2:03pm Churches & Religion

Pope Francis walked through a narrow alley in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf for a historic meeting with the country’s top Shiite cleric Saturday, and together they delivered a powerful message of peaceful coexistence in a country still reeling from back-to-back conflicts over the past decade. Read story

Pastor Marshall Mitchell of Salem Baptist Church in Abington, Pa., got his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in December. He believes it's his spiritual duty to his congregation and community to take precautions to avoid COVID-19.

Virus strikes clergy as they comfort sick, dying

March 6, 2021, 6:04am Churches & Religion

The Rev. Jose Luis Garayoa survived typhoid fever, malaria, a kidnapping and the Ebola crisis as a missionary in Sierra Leone, only to die of COVID-19 after tending to the people of his Texas church who were sick from the virus and the grieving family members of those who died. Read story

Orthodox Church of Cyprus: ‘Satanic’ Eurovision entry must be yanked

March 6, 2021, 6:04am Churches & Religion

The Orthodox Church of Cyprus on Tuesday called for the withdrawal of the country’s controversial entry into this year’s Eurovision song contest titled “El Diablo,” charging that the song makes an international mockery of country’s moral foundations by advocating “our surrender to the devil and promoting his worship.” Read story

Operator selected for new homeless shelter near Vancouver Mall

March 5, 2021, 6:02am Churches & Religion

Catholic Community Services of Western Washington has been selected to operate a noncongregate shelter near Vancouver Mall for people who are unhoused. Read story

FILE - In this April 19, 2019 file photo, a gay pride rainbow flag flies along with the U.S. flag in front of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Prairie Village, Kan. Conservative leaders within the United Methodist Church unveiled plans Monday, March 1, 2021 to form a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church, with a doctrine that does not recognize same-sex marriage. The move could hasten the long-expected breakup of the UMC, America's largest mainline Protestant denomination, over differing approaches to LGBTQ inclusion.

United Methodist conservatives detail plan for split

March 1, 2021, 8:38pm Churches & Religion

Conservative leaders within the United Methodist Church unveiled plans Monday to form a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church, with a doctrine that does not recognize same-sex marriage. Read story