Jeff Diamant
Jeff Diamant is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Jeff Diamant
Monks Find a Home _ and a Hope _ in an Urban Neighborhood
By Jeff Diamant — August 14, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service NEWARK, N.J. _ The thin stream of blood extended the length of the sidewalk running by the Catholic monastery’s front door, trickled around the corner and ended midway down the block. The friars who live inside assumed a gunshot victim had collapsed. The monks gathered that night last summer and […]
Gay Lutheran Clergy Out Themselves in Hopes of Changes
By Jeff Diamant — August 9, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The Rev. Robert Kriesat, 68, never hid his relationship with his male partner from his congregants, even though his denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, mandates celibacy for gay ministers. His bishops have never punished him; in fact, he said, they have been supportive. Still, he said he […]
The Gospel According to J.K. Rowling
By Jeff Diamant — June 22, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) I had never read a Harry Potter book until three months ago, when a hopeful editor buttonholed me with a plea: Would I, the newspaper’s religion reporter, write about religious imagery in the series? We reporters don’t freely turn down editors’ assignments, so a force-feeding of all six books […]
Five Years Later, Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal Lingers On
By Jeff Diamant — June 12, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service NEWARK, N.J. _ In 2004, the Rev. Gerald Sudol believed he would be kicked out of the Catholic priesthood after a man accused him of sexual abuse two decades ago and the Archdiocese of Newark signed a five-figure settlement with the man’s family. Fast-forward two years. A canonical trial acquitted […]
At 68, Grandfather Starts New Life as a Catholic Priest
By Jeff Diamant — May 25, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service ROCKAWAY, N.J. _ After three blissful Italian vacations, the striking scenery of Italy’s Amalfi Coast had settled snugly into Carmen Buono’s memory. Glorious sunsets off the hotel balcony in Sorrento, the woman he loved _ his wife, Barbara _ at his side. Then, in 2002, at age 63, Buono returned […]
Nazi Translator a Last Living Witness to History
By Jeff Diamant — May 19, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service TENAFLY, N.J. _ Most people know what they know about high-ranking Nazi leaders from books, articles and documentaries. Richard Sonnenfeldt, an American Jew who now lives on Long Island, learned about them face-to-face. As chief interpreter for prosecutors at the Nuremberg Trials 61 years ago, he came to know the […]
Giving Hope _ and Cash _ to Clergy Abuse Victims
By Jeff Diamant — May 5, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service NEWARK, N.J. _ In 1964, at age 13, Kevin Waldrip was molested by a Catholic priest in Newark. Two decades later the perpetrator, the Rev. Richard Galdon, was sentenced to 25 years’ in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing several boys. He died in 2000. But Waldrip says he […]
New Look at the Quran Ignites Debate on Wife-Beating
By Jeff Diamant — April 27, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service NEWARK, N.J. _ A new rendition of the Quran, which has a gentler take on marital relations than usually seen in English translations, has hit a nerve among Muslims. The controversy is over both a single verse and the qualifications of the Muslim woman who translated the new version, “The […]
Groups Say `Fundamentalist’ Safety Drill Was Improper
By Jeff Diamant — April 7, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. _ A public safety drill at a New Jersey school has caught the ire of several conservative Christian groups and pastors around the country who are charging local police and school officials with anti-Christian bias. The groups are demanding formal apologies because mock gunmen in the drill […]
Jewish Ritual Baths Attracting New Interest
By Jeff Diamant — March 6, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service LIVINGSTON, N.J. _ They used to be everywhere there were Jews. Mikvahs, ritual purification pools used by observant Jewish women, have been considered so important to Jewish communities that even a sacred Torah could be sold to build one. But the practice of “going to the mikvah” _ which involves […]
How Much Swilling Fulfills Jewish Law to Drink on Purim?
By Jeff Diamant — March 3, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Two? Four? Seventeen? How many glasses of wine, or shots of whiskey or vodka, is an observant Jew to drink Sunday (March 4) for the festive holiday of Purim? That sacred Jewish writings demand at least some alcoholic indulgence on this day, there is no doubt. The best-known passage […]
N.J. Bishop Boldly Goes Where No Bishop Has Gone Before
By Jeff Diamant — February 14, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service NEWARK, N.J. _ How’s this for an eclectic resume? John J. Myers: archbishop of Newark and co-author of “Space Vulture.” Myers, the 65-year-old conservative spiritual leader of 1.3 million Roman Catholics, achieved every aspiring author’s dream by landing a book contract. He co-wrote a science-fiction novel with longtime friend and […]
Defiant Catholics Leave the Church, Keep the Faith
By Jeff Diamant — January 19, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) She grew up Roman Catholic, but like millions of others, Rebecca Ortelli came to disagree with church teachings on contraception, communion and priestly celibacy, among other things. Many like-minded Catholics drift away from the church or join other denominations. But Ortelli, 57, wanted to maintain both her Catholic identity […]
New IRS Rules Demand Receipts for Church Donations
By Jeff Diamant — January 9, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The next time you toss bills into the church collection plate, you might want to ask the usher for a receipt. New federal rules for the 2007 tax year _ which took effect Jan. 1 _ forbid tax deductions for charitable donations unless the taxpayer can prove the donation […]
Publishers Try to Make the Good Book an Easier Read
By Jeff Diamant — December 27, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A few years ago, on the theory that many readers of the Bible don’t have any idea what a manger is, the American Bible Society replaced the word in a new edition with the phrase “feed box.” The change never caught on. All you have to do is sing […]
