Christianity

Virgin of Charity unites all Cubans — Catholics, Santeria followers, exiled and back on the island

March 18, 2024

Ramon Nieblas fixed his tearful eyes on the small golden statue, a beloved icon of Cuba's patron saint. Whispering, he asked the Virgin of Charity of Cobre for a miracle: Please save his sick son.

"I came to pray for his health," said Nieblas, a Cuban living in Brazil who traveled thousands of miles to the basilica in eastern Cuba, a pilgrimage site nestled in the shadow of the Sierra Maestra mountains.

He sat in Mass, wrapping his arm around 26-year-old Hernando Nieblas, a physician undergoing treatment for leukemia. They were among the thousands who visit the...

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Thousands of churches will likely close down. What happens to all that real estate?

March 15, 2024

(RNS) — If experts were predicting that 100,000 libraries across the United States were likely to close in the next few decades, people would probably sit up and take notice. Certainly, if 100,000 school buildings were going to be empty in small and large communities, someone would be talking about it.

But the possible demise of thousands of churches? Crickets, said the Rev. Mark Elsdon, a Presbyterian minister, author and social entrepreneur who co-founded RootedGood, a nonprofit that works with churches on how to use their space.

Source: https://religionnews....

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BYU’s LGBTQ students spotlighted in new grassroots documentary

March 14, 2024

(RNS) — When, in 2020, Brigham Young University’s Provo, Utah, campus erupted in rainbow-colored protests after the school quietly removed — then reaffirmed — its ban on “homosexual behavior,” David Sant was a closeted queer BYU student afraid to join the fray.

But now, as the director of the new documentary “A Long Way From Heaven,” Sant is spotlighting BYU’s treatment of LGBTQ students who, like him, felt pressured to stifle parts of their identity at the flagship school of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Source: https://religionnews.com/2024...

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Many Christian voters in US see immigration as a crisis. How to address it is where they differ.

March 7, 2024

MIAMI (AP) — Christian voters and faith leaders have long been in the frontlines of providing assistance to migrants — but when it comes to support for immigration policies, from border security to legalization options for migrants already in the U.S., priorities diverge broadly.

Both President Joe Biden and GOP challenger Donald Trump ...

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How Hakeem Jeffries’ Black Baptist upbringing and deep-rooted faith shapes his House leadership

February 28, 2024

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stood together at the annual National Prayer Breakfast — an opportunity, in the words of one introductory speaker, to “put our political differences aside.”

Such differences are vast between Johnson, a staunchly conservative Republican, and Jeffries, a hero to liberal Democrats. But at the prayer breakfast earlier this month, they collegially took turns reading Scripture — evoking how their shared Christianity confronts evil.

It was a fleeting moment of unity for...

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A look at the Christian Nationalist beliefs of Alabama's Supreme Court chief justice

February 26, 2024

More has become known about the Alabama chief justice's ties to a far-right Christian Nationalist movement that played a major role in the Jan. 6 riot. The movement aims to assert Christian supremacy.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2024/02/26/1234005086/a-look-at-the-christian-nationalist-beliefs-of-alabamas-supreme-court-chief-just Read more about A look at the Christian Nationalist beliefs of Alabama's Supreme Court chief justice

Nun who advises the Pope says he wants female deacons

February 14, 2024

ROME – A Spanish nun who has participated in recent meetings of Pope Francis’s top advisory body has said that while women’s priestly ordination is currently off the table, the pontiff is supportive of the female diaconate.

Speaking to the news agency Europa Press, Spanish nun and theologian Linda Pocher said, “There is no reflection on the priestly ordination of women in the Catholic Church,” but the pope “is very much in favor of the female diaconate.”

Source: https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2024/02/nun-who-advises-the-pope-says-he-wants-female-deacons

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Parishes turn former convents into affordable housing for teachers

February 12, 2024

Claire McManmon did not become a Catholic school educator for a massive paycheck, but she also hoped she wouldn't have to scramble to cover rent. 

So when the 28-year-old's sister and brother-in-law encouraged her to move from the Midwest to San Jose, California, she was hesitant. The average monthly cost of a one-bedroom apartment in the notoriously pricey Silicon Valley is more than $2,400. 

"That would be hard to budget for any teacher, much less a Catholic school teacher," McManmon told NCR. 

Source: https://www.ncronline.org/news/...

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Meet the Vatican’s AI mentor

February 12, 2024

 

Friar Paolo Benanti is shaping how to control artificial intelligence in Rome and the Vatican.

Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/meet-the-vatican-ai-mentor-diplomacy-friar-paolo-benanti-pope-francis/?utm_source=Pew+Research+Center&utm_campaign=c98fc4a511-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_02_14_03_13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-c98fc4a511-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

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