Latest Religion News
Greek city marks 80th anniversary of Auschwitz train convoy
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Greece’s second-largest city, Thessaloniki, commemorated on Sunday the 80th anniversary of the departure of the first train convoy for the Auschwitz camp. Officials, led by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, marched from Eleftherias ("Freedom")...
Pope Benedict XVI's aide acknowledges criticism over memoir
ROME (AP) — The longtime secretary to Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged Sunday that his tell-all memoir, published in the days after Benedict’s death, had been criticized for casting Pope Francis in an unfavorable light, but insisted that some of the polemics were more about anti-Benedict...
Pope offers prayer for earthquake victims in Ecuador, Peru
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis offered prayers Sunday for the victims of an earthquake that shook vast swaths of territory in Ecuador and parts of Peru. During his weekly Sunday noon blessing, Francis recalled that the 6.8-magnitude temblor caused “death, injuries and heavy...
Pope promotes 'humanitarian corridors' for asylum-seekers
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis met Saturday with thousands of refugees and charity groups hosting them in Italy as he sought to promote legal migration routes to Europe as an alternative to smuggling operations that he said have turned the Mediterranean Sea into a “cemetery.” ...
Vatican closes embassy in Nicaragua after Ortega's crackdown
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican said Saturday it had closed its embassy in Nicaragua after the country's government proposed suspending diplomatic relations, the latest episode in a yearslong crackdown on the Catholic Church by the administration of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. ...
Mormon Church gives water to boost imperiled Great Salt Lake
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Donating a small reservoir's worth of water rights to Utah's Great Salt Lake. Replacing grass with rocks and water-wise landscaping around neatly manicured churches. Reducing water use by more than one-third outside the headquarters in Salt Lake City's Temple Square. These...
2nd Vatican official says pope OK'd ransom payments for nun
VATICAN CITY (AP) — A second high-ranking Holy See official told a Vatican court on Friday that Pope Francis had authorized spending hundreds of thousands of euros in ransom payments to try to free a nun who was kidnapped by al-Qaida-linked militants in Mali. Archbishop Edgar Pena...
Librarian fired for 'unkind pushback' at conservative event
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A library director in Tennessee has been fired after the actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron accused him of “unkind pushback” to visiting celebrities during a conservative event last month, officials said. Sumner County Mayor John Isbell told The...
Vatican unveils new ethnographic display of Rwanda screens
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican Museums officially reopened its African and American ethnographic collections Thursday by showcasing intricately restored Rwandan raffia screens that were sent by Catholic missionaries to the Vatican for a 1925 exhibit. The display at the Anima Mundi...
Pope sought to lose 'as little as possible' in London deal
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis gave clear indications to get out of a disastrous London real estate deal by saying the Vatican must “start over and lose as little money as possible," an exit strategy that eventually involved paying off a broker 15 million euros, the Holy See’s No. 3...
