Clergy & Congregations
Zimbabwe police rescue 251 children used as labor and find graves in religious sect compound raid
By Farai Mutsaka — March 14, 2024
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Apostolic groups that infuse traditional beliefs into a Pentecostal doctrine are popular in the deeply religious southern African country.
3 Egyptian Coptic church monks are killed in an attack at a monastery in South Africa
By Gerald Imray — March 14, 2024
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The attacks in Egypt have subsided recently amid tighter security around Christian places of worship in the Muslim-majority country.
Utah Legislature expands ability of clergy members to report child abuse
By Hannah Schoenbaum — March 1, 2024
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Religious leaders who report abuse still will not be required to testify.
Anti-immigrant pastors may be drawing attention – but faith leaders, including some evangelicals, are central to the movement to protect migrant rights
By Brad Christerson, Robert Chao Romero, and Alexia Salvatierra — February 26, 2024
(The Conversation) — Religious beliefs can provide motivation, hope and endurance in the long and often discouraging task of mobilizing people for social change.
Mexican church officials have helped arrange a truce between 2 warring drug cartels
By Fabiola SÁnchez — February 26, 2024
MEXICO CITY (AP) —This is the latest in a series of attempts by bishops and priests to get cartels to talk to each other in hopes of reducing bloody turf battles.
Faith leaders renew push for ‘accurate’ Black history education in Florida
By Adelle M. Banks — February 23, 2024
(RNS) — Training sessions in Tallahassee and in Orlando will feature curriculum companies whose products could enhance those wishing to teach Black history in schools and churches.
Retired Catholic bishop charged with sexual offenses in northwest Australia
By Rod Mcguirk — February 22, 2024
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A Vatican investigation into child sexual abuse allegations against Saunders began in 2022.
Woman who says she was abused spiritually and sexually by a once-famous Jesuit demands transparency
By Nicole Winfield — February 22, 2024
ROME (AP) — The Jesuits kicked Marko Rupnik out of the order last year after he refused to respond to allegations of spiritual, psychological and sexual abuses by about 20 women.
Despite reforms, victims say church’s in-house processes to handle sex abuse cases retraumatizes
By Nicole Winfield — February 21, 2024
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Despite new church laws to hold bishops accountable and promises to do better, the Catholic Church’s in-house legal system and pastoral response to victims has proven incapable of dealing with the problem.
The Vatican’s problematic process to address clergy sex abuse cases, explained
By Nicole Winfield — February 20, 2024
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Five years ago this week, Francis convened an unprecedented summit of bishops from around the world to impress on them that clergy abuse was a global problem and they needed to address it.
Turkey will stop sending imams to German mosques – here’s why this matters
By Brian Van Wyck — February 16, 2024
(The Conversation) — The Turkish government started sending imams to Germany in the 1980s, but under a new agreement, imams will be trained in Germany instead.
Catholic bishops in Mexico say they negotiated for possible peace accord with drug cartel leaders
By Fabiola SÁnchez — February 16, 2024
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Drug cartels and gangs in Mexico don't just sell or smuggle drugs; they extort money from nearly every line of business in territories they control.
Israel complains after Vatican denounces ‘carnage’ and disproportionate response in Gaza
By Associated Press — February 15, 2024
ROME (AP) — The Israeli Embassy to the Holy See called the comments by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, “regrettable.”
How Texas church shooter bought rifle despite mental illness and criminal history is under scrutiny
By Jim Vertuno and Juan A. Lozano — February 14, 2024
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Police did not say whether the AR-15 was purchased retail, which would have required a background check if bought from a federally licensed firearms dealer, or a private sale, which would not.
Peace pilgrimage takes up war in Gaza as a civil rights issue
By Yonat Shimron — February 13, 2024
(RNS) — Many Black Americans view the Palestinian cause in the context of the African American experience of oppression. This has on occasion strained relations with American Jews.
