Churches & Religion

FILE - A person stands on the porch of the international headquarters of the Satanic Temple in Salem, Mass., Oct. 24, 2016. Someone threw an explosive device onto the porch of The Satanic Temple in Massachusetts at a time when no one was inside, and the device and damage it caused were not found until nearly 12 hours later, police said. No injuries were reported. State police bomb technicians ensured that the device was no longer a danger, police said in a news release Monday, April 8, 2024.

Explosive device thrown onto porch of Satanic Temple in Massachusetts, no injuries reported

April 9, 2024, 8:51am Churches & Religion

Someone threw an explosive device onto the porch of The Satanic Temple in Massachusetts at a time when no one was inside, and the device and damage it caused were not found until nearly 12 hours later, police said. No injuries were reported. Read story

Pope Francis touches a photograph of a child as he meets with Ashley Waxman Bakshi, right, and other relatives of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas, at the Vatican, Monday, April 8, 2024. Israel sent troops to Khan Younis in December, part of its blistering ground offensive that came in response to a Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 into southern Israel. Israeli authorities say 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and roughly 250 people taken hostage.

Pope marks 6-month anniversary of Hamas attacks by meeting with relatives of hostages

April 9, 2024, 8:23am Churches & Religion

Pope Francis met Monday with relatives of hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, marking the six-month anniversary of the attack in southern Israel with an hourlong audience. Read story

The prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, presents the declaration ‘Dignitas Infinita’ (Infinite Dignity) during a press conference at the Vatican, Monday, April 8, 2024.

Vatican blasts gender-affirming surgery, surrogacy and gender theory as violations of human dignity

April 8, 2024, 7:22am Churches & Religion

The Vatican on Monday declared gender-affirming surgery and surrogacy as grave violations of human dignity, putting them on par with abortion and euthanasia as practices that reject God’s plan for human life. Read story

Sam Bawamia, right, and Mona Mahmoud make tea for attendees of an interfaith iftar at the Muslim Education Center in Morton Grove, March 17, 2024.

Muslim women push Chicago community to join green Ramadan: ‘We are the caretakers of the Earth’

April 7, 2024, 6:00am Churches & Religion

On a recent Sunday evening, a group of Muslim women huddled around a hot beverage dispenser. They watched as one woman mixed cardamom tea, anise seed, cinnamon, ginger and different kinds of milk. Read story

FILE - Mariela Castro, director of Cuba’s National Center for Sexual Education, waves from a convertible classic car during a parade marking the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, in Pinar Del Rio, Cuba, May 17, 2018. For years, the movement for LGBTQ+ rights has been proudly led by Cuba’s best-known advocate for gay rights: Mariela Castro, daughter of former President Raul Castro and niece of his brother Fidel.

LGBTQ-inclusive church in Cuba welcomes all

April 6, 2024, 5:07am Churches & Religion

Proudly wearing a rainbow-colored clergy stole and a rainbow flag in her clerical collar, the Rev. Elaine Saralegui welcomed all to her LGBTQ+ inclusive church in the Cuban port city of Matanzas. Read story

Historic Tacoma church could be razed

For more than 125 years, Mason United Methodist Church has served a prominent role in North Tacoma’s Proctor neighborhood. Now, facing an economic shortfall coupled with a dwindling and aging congregation, its pastor has ambitious plans to raze the building and construct a mixed-use housing and community center in its… Read story

Pope exposes confidential details of past conclaves and settles scores with Pope Benedict XVI’s aide

FILE - Pope Francis salutes Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, left, at the end of a consistory in the St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, on Feb. 22, 2014. Pope Francis has exposed the political “maneuvers” to sway votes during the past two conclaves and denied he is planning to reform the process to elect a pope in a new book-length interview published Tuesday April 2, 2024.

Pope Francis has exposed the political “maneuvers” used to sway votes during the two most recent elections of popes, while denying he is planning to reform the process for future conclaves, in a book-length interview published Tuesday. Read story