Alejandra Molina

Alejandra Molina is a National Reporter covering Latinos and religion in the West Coast. She is based in Los Angeles. Previously, she was a reporter for the Southern California News Group where she covered cities, immigration, race and religion for newspapers like The Orange County Register, The Press-Enterprise in Riverside and The Los Angeles Daily News.

All Stories by Alejandra Molina

Jack Hayford, prominent Pentecostal pastor in Southern California, has died

By Alejandra Molina — January 9, 2023
(RNS) — Hayford authored more than 50 books and composed hundreds of songs, including the widely known 'Majesty.'

Jewish teachings greet Los Angeles drivers in billboard campaign

By Alejandra Molina — January 6, 2023
(RNS) — The billboards come at a time when cases of antisemitism are on the rise around the country.

Faith leaders hold prayer vigils to mark second anniversary of Jan. 6 insurrection

By Alejandra Molina — January 5, 2023
(RNS) — Christian leaders are serving witness against the ‘unholy’ and ‘political’ ideology of Christian nationalism that they say ‘helped inspire the deadly attack on the Capitol.’

In court ruling, Sikh recruits can attend USMC training while keeping beards and turbans

By Alejandra Molina — December 23, 2022
(RNS) — 'No one should have to choose between serving God and country,' said Eric Baxter, an attorney with a religious liberty legal group that is representing the Sikh recruits.

Faith-based groups on border unswayed after lawmakers’ call to investigate them

By Alejandra Molina — December 22, 2022
(RNS) — ‘The gospel compels us to do so. If that’s unpopular with certain members of Congress, so be it,’ said Anthony Granado with Catholic Charities USA.

Black atheist leaders quit Black Nonbelievers over alleged misconduct by president

By Bob Smietana and Alejandra Molina — December 20, 2022
(RNS) — Mandisa Thomas said she mishandled a ‘personal situation’ during a recent cruise held by the prominent Black secular group.

Religious liberty concerns raised as Texas governor seeks to investigate groups helping migrants

By Alejandra Molina — December 15, 2022
(RNS) — ‘The reality is that the majority of the work that is done on the border, the humanitarian work, the reception of refugees and migrants, is done by faith-based organizations,’ said Dylan Corbett, executive director of Hope Border Institute.

Not only Catholic churches celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

By Alejandra Molina — December 12, 2022
(RNS) — The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, on Dec. 12, marks the appearance of Mary to St. Juan Diego, an Indigenous man, on a hill of Tepeyac in Mexico in 1531. The brown-skinned Virgin, patron saint of Mexico, is honored during this time with Masses and other celebrations outside the church.

SPU board members seek dismissal of lawsuit over LGBTQ exclusion

By Alejandra Molina — December 9, 2022
(RNS) — The lawsuit, board members say, is an effort to 'intimidate and punish leaders of a religious institution for the exercise of protected First Amendment rights.'

US leaders gather to discuss rights of nonreligious people across the world

By Alejandra Molina — December 9, 2022
(RNS) — 'Discrimination against the non-religious is often caused, not by a desire to hurt atheists, but by the desire to help one or more religions,' according to a new report by Humanists International.

HBO’s ‘Unveiled: Surviving La Luz Del Mundo’ centers victims in ‘cult’ sex abuse scandal

By Alejandra Molina — December 6, 2022
(RNS) — The new three-part series delves into the history and growth of La Luz del Mundo and focuses on the former members coping with the trauma of the church.

14 Northern California clergy, religious linked for first time to Catholic sex abuse scandal

By Alejandra Molina — December 1, 2022
(RNS) — A window for filing new lawsuits under a 2019 California law for decades-old abuse will close Dec. 31.

Across the US, Native Americans are fighting to preserve sacred land

By Alejandra Molina and Emily McFarlan Miller — November 29, 2022
(RNS) — ‘It’s important that we unify, and we work together, and share the teachings to protect our sacred areas because once God, once our sacred and holy places are gone, we will no longer exist. Our religion will be gone forever,’ said one Native American activist.

‘After School Satan Club’ at California elementary school stirs controversy

By Alejandra Molina — November 22, 2022
(RNS) — After School Satan Clubs are sponsored by The Satanic Temple, a nontheistic religious organization based in Salem, Massachusetts, that pushes for the separation of church and state.

Apaches get rehearing in fight to preserve Oak Flat, a sacred site in Arizona

By Alejandra Molina — November 17, 2022
(RNS) — ‘The government protects historical churches and other important religious landmarks, and our site deserves no less protection,’ Apache Stronghold founder Wendsler Nosie Sr. said.
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