Pentecostal
La Luz Del Mundo ex-member sues, alleging decades of trafficking, sexual abuse
By Alejandra Molina and Bob Smietana — February 13, 2020
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — At a news conference, Sochil Martin, 33, detailed the sexual abuse she says she endured within the church.
La Luz del Mundo will continue to host US ceremony while leader remains in jail
By Alejandra Molina — January 24, 2020
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — The Mexico-based La Luz del Mundo is holding its most sacred ceremony in February in events across the U.S. while its leader remains in a Los Angeles jail after he was arrested and charged with numerous sex crimes.
Trump launches ‘Evangelicals for Trump’ by visiting megachurch led by a Latino pastor
By Alejandra Molina — January 3, 2020
(RNS) — El Rey Jesús Global, or King Jesus International Ministry, is led by Guillermo Maldonado, who is a member of the ‘Evangelicals for Trump’ coalition.
Church that prayed to resurrect girl from the dead is moving on with memorial service
By Alejandra Molina — December 23, 2019
(RNS) — Bethel Church announced Friday (Dec. 20) that the two-year-old child it prayed to resurrect from the dead, "hasn't been raised."
Lion of Judah church straddles Boston’s two worlds
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald — April 12, 2019
BOSTON (RNS) — For the last 30 years, Ivy League-educated Pentecostal pastor Roberto Miranda has been fighting Boston's demons as leader of Congregación Leon de Juda.
In Kenya, Pentecostal Christian moms tell husbands that girls are as good as boys
By Tonny Onyulo — November 16, 2018
BUNGOMA, Kenya (RNS) — Traditional culture here demands that women bear sons, but religious leaders say it's time for people to see that in God's eyes, both genders have equal worth.
Congolese Pentecostals see Denis Mukwege, Nobel Prize-winning doctor, as a ‘blessing’
By Bob Smietana — October 18, 2018
(RNS) — The doctor has dedicated his award to women all over the world harmed by conflict and suffering violence every day.
As Cuba backs gay marriage, churches oppose the government’s plan
By Maria Isabel Alfonso — September 17, 2018
(The Conversation) — Christian leaders are taking advantage of a rare public debate to mobilize Cubans against a proposed constitutional reform that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Lightning kills 15 worshippers in Rwanda, as government cracks down on unsafe churches
By Lauren Markoe — March 13, 2018
(RNS) — The strike occurred as the Rwandan government continues to shut down houses of worship it deems unsafe and dissenters accuse it of trampling on religious rights.
Rwanda closes hundreds of churches and arrests pastors
By Lauren Markoe — March 7, 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — The move, allegedly for building safety, hygiene and noise violations, is prompting allegations that the government of President Paul Kagame is trampling on religious freedom in the tiny East African nation.
In Brazil, religious gang leaders say they’re waging a holy war
By Robert Muggah — November 3, 2017
(THE CONVERSATION) — The expression 'evangelical drug trafficker' may sound incongruous, but in Rio de Janeiro, it’s an increasingly familiar phenomenon.
40 years after his death, Elvis Presley’s trilogy of baptisms enhances his immortality
By guest — August 10, 2017
(USA Today) — Multiple baptisms aren't uncommon in the American South, where beliefs and practices vary widely, even within various Christian denominations.
Partial decriminalization of abortion in Brazil provokes ire of religious right
By Yonat Shimron — December 1, 2016
RIO DE JANEIRO (RNS) Brazil is home to the world's largest Catholic and Pentecostal population. It also has the highest incidence of abortion, the great majority clandestine.
Charismatic movement gains as Church of England sputters
By Trevor Grundy — March 29, 2016
CANTERBURY, England (RNS) Hundreds of Pentecostal and charismatic churches draw young, black, Asian and mixed-race Brits.
Honduran cardinal warns against aborting Zika fetuses
By David Gibson — February 4, 2016
(RNS) The remarks by Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga are a sign that Catholic leaders in Latin America are worried that fetal abnormalities caused by the virus will be used as leverage to ease the region's generally strict abortion laws.
