Churches & Religion

COVID-19 deaths of Serbian clerics highlight virus worries

November 21, 2020, 1:05pm Churches & Religion

As coronavirus cases surge globally, the COVID-19 deaths of two senior Serbian Orthodox Church clerics — one who died weeks after presiding over the funeral of the other — are raising questions about whether some religious institutions are doing enough to slow the spread of the virus. Read story

COVID-19 restrictions impact the Catholic Church

November 21, 2020, 6:07am Churches & Religion

Restrictions put in place by Oregon and Washington’s governors to slow the spread of COVID-19 will impact every aspect of life, habits and traditions. Read story

FILE - In this July 29, 2013 file photo, Pope Francis answers reporters questions during a news conference aboard the papal flight on the journey back from Brazil. Pope Francis' famous quip "Who am I to judge?" , en route home from his first papal trip, could go a long way toward explaining his initial attitude toward Theodore McCarrick, the defrocked and disgraced American cardinal who was the subject of a two-year Vatican investigation that was released last week on Nov.

AP Analysis: ‘Who am I to judge?’ helps explain pope’s view

November 18, 2020, 2:45pm Churches & Religion

Pope Francis’ famous quip “Who am I to judge?” could go a long way toward explaining his initial attitude toward Theodore McCarrick, the defrocked and disgraced American cardinal who was the subject of a two-year Vatican investigation that was released last week. Read story

FILE - In this Nov. 14, 2011, file photo, then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick prays during the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' annual fall assembly in Baltimore. U.S. Catholic bishops are holding their annual fall assembly virtually this week with the Vatican's recent report on the rise and fall of disgraced ex-Cardinal McCarrick one of their main topics for discussion. Released last week after a two-year investigation, the report found that three decades of bishops, cardinals, and popes dismissed or downplayed reports McCarrick shared his bed with seminarians.

Takeaways from Vatican’s McCarrick report as U.S. bishops meet

November 17, 2020, 10:30am Churches & Religion

U.S. Catholic bishops are holding their annual fall assembly virtually this week with the Vatican’s recent report on the rise and fall of disgraced ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick one of their main topics for discussion. Read story

Faith leaders prayed for peace ahead of election

November 14, 2020, 6:05am Churches & Religion

Faith leaders in Clark County and beyond called for peace ahead of the Nov. 3 election at a small gathering on Nov. 2 at Esther Short Park. “There were approximately 14 people from different faith communities — Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, Baháʼí, Lutheran, United Methodist, Quaker, Unitarian, United Church of Christ… Read story

New cardinal remembers roots

New Archbishop of Washington, Wilton D. Gregory, participates in his Installation Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, on May 21, 2019, in Washington, D.C.

Wilton Gregory wasn’t raised Catholic and didn’t come to the faith until he was in sixth grade attending a Catholic grammar school. Now, he’ll serve as one of the top leaders of the global Catholic church community after being named a cardinal by Pope Francis. Read story

Pope Francis vows to end sexual abuse after McCarrick report

FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2001 file photo, U.S. Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, D.C., shakes hands with Pope John Paul II during the General Audience with the newly appointed cardinals in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican. McCarrick was one of the three Americans on a record list of 44 new cardinals who were elevated in a ceremony at the Vatican on Feb. 21, 2001.

Pope Francis pledged Wednesday to rid the Catholic Church of sexual abuse and offered prayers to victims of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a day after the Vatican released a detailed report into the decadeslong church cover-up of his sexual misconduct. Read story

Vatican faults many for McCarrick’s rise, spares Francis

FILE - In this Sept. 23, 2015 file photo, Pope Francis reaches out to hug Cardinal Archbishop emeritus Theodore McCarrick after the Midday Prayer of the Divine with more than 300 U.S. bishops, at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington. On Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020, the Vatican is taking the extraordinary step of publishing its two-year investigation into the disgraced ex-Cardinal McCarrick, who was defrocked in 2019 after the Vatican determined that years of rumors that he was a sexual predator were true.

A Vatican investigation into former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has found that a series of bishops, cardinals and popes downplayed or dismissed reports of sexual misconduct with seminarians, and determined that Pope Francis merely continued his predecessors’ handling of the predator until a former altar boy alleged abuse. Read story