Christianity

1st black priest in US, ex-slave, positioned for sainthood

June 13, 2019
Pope Francis on Wednesday deemed the first known black Roman Catholic priest in the United States to be “venerable,” positioning the former slave for possible sainthood. The pontiff’s designation of the Rev. Augustine Tolton as venerable, meaning the church intensely scrutinized his life and recognizes it as one of “heroic virtue,” puts Tolton two steps away from possible canonization, the Diocese of Springfield explained in announcing the designation.

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Former Lawyer Becomes First Black Female Episcopal Bishop In The South 

May 10, 2019
The Episcopal Church has ordained an African American woman to serve as a bishop in the South for the very first time. The Rev. Phoebe Roaf, 55, was officially consecrated as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee on Saturday. She is the fifth black female bishop in the history of the Episcopal Church. Born in Arkansas, Roaf is a fourth-generation Episcopalian. Her brother is former New Orleans Saints player Willie Roaf. The bishop told HuffPost that growing up, she never saw anyone who looked

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A Hopping Hotline Brings the Amish and Mennonites Together 

May 10, 2019
THE VOICE ON THE OPENING recording is so cheerful it could be a representative from the tourism board of some perpetually sunny Caribbean island.“Welcome to the Amish and Mennonite Conference Line! Use it for God’s glory!”The Line is a conference room-via-phone for speakers of Pennsylvania Dutch, a dialect of German brought to the United States by European immigrants beginning in the late 17th century and preserved today almost entirely by the Amish and Mennonites in the United States and Ontario, Canad

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New law requires professors in Washington to accommodate religious holidays 

May 2, 2019
A new state law makes it easier for college students to take time off for religious holidays. Gov. Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5166 into law on Monday (April 29), making Washington the first state requiring that institutions of higher education provide academic accommodations to students who need them for religious observances. This includes rescheduling exams and permitting absences, as long as the student notifies the professor of the needed accommodation within the first two weeks of class. College p

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For millennials, mysticism shows a path to their home faiths 

April 29, 2019
Anthony Graffagnino describes himself spiritually as both frustrated and curious. A Pentecostal turned Unitarian, the 28-year-old Graffagnino said he’s had his fill with “stale and dead expressions of faith that I saw really doing nothing to better the people around me or the world around me.” Discovering the Christian mystical tradition through the work of Franciscan friar Richard Rohr helped change that. “Father Richard’s work allowed an entryway into Christianity when I didn’t think there was any,” sa

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Man Caught Walking Into New York Cathedral With Full Gas Cans, Lighters: Police 

April 18, 2019
A 37-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday night after walking into St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City with two full gasoline cans, lighter fluid and lighters, police said. The incident occurred two days after a massive fire severely damaged the eight-century-old Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, causing global shock and sorrow. The blaze was most likely the result of an accident though a major investigation is under way. In New York, the man entered the Roman Catholic cathedral in midtown Manhattan j

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Is God really only calling single, celibate men to the priesthood?’ Why two men left 

April 11, 2019
Just a year after becoming a Catholic priest, Doug Langner said the loneliness started to creep in."You would go through times of (thinking), wouldn't it be nice to just share your day with someone else?" said Langner, who was ordained in 2008 after graduating from Illinois' Mundelein Seminary, and started to work in a Kansas City, Mo.-area parish. Soon he was the only priest assigned to his church, living alone in the rectory, which isn't uncommon as the Catholic Church faces a priest shortage that has f

Original Source: Lexington Herald
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Investigation Into ‘Suspicious' Fires That Destroyed Three Black Churches in Louisiana's St. Landry Parish 

April 11, 2019
A fourth church was also burnt down 200 miles away. All the three churches burned to the ground were mostly attended by African-American congregants. The first church to be destroyed by fire was St. Mary’s Baptist Church on March 26. Then a week later, just 10 miles away, the Greater Union Baptist Church burnt down. […]

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LDS Church Will Now Allow Baptism for Children of LGBTQ Parents 

April 8, 2019
The move came after 41 months Instituted in November 2015, Russell M. Nelson, the present church president, brought forward a policy which not only deemed same-sex couples as apostates but also forbade their children from all baptisms and baby blessings. About three and a half years have passed since then, and the intervening years were […]

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Pope Makes History By Tapping First African American Bishop To Lead Washington, D.C. 

April 4, 2019
Pope Francis named the first African-American to the Catholic Church’s most senior U.S. position on Thursday, seeking to end a period of upheaval in a job whose previous two occupants were caught in sexual abuse scandals. Former Atlanta archbishop Wilton Gregory, 71, was made new head of the Church in the U.S. capital Washington, D.C., and is also likely to become a cardinal eligible to vote in a conclave to elect the next pope after Francis. He would be the first African-American to hold the rank of card

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