Rev. Miriam Gentle is the pastor at Northwest United Protestant Church in Richland, Wash. (Credit: Anna King / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 3:27) Read Religious leaders east of the Cascades in […]Read More
After a contentious debate, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has voted to move forward with a process that could call into question the eligibility of politicians like President Joe Biden to receive Communion.Read More
Pope Francis expressed sorrow Sunday for the gruesome discovery of a mass grave in Canada containing the remains of hundreds of Indigenous children. The remains were found at a boarding school for Indigenous Canadians, operated by Catholic clergy.Read More
Pope Francis on Tuesday issued a major revision of Catholic Church laws regulating clerical sex abuse, fraud and the attempt to ordain women. It is known as an apostolic constitution with the title, Pascite Gregem Dei, or "Tend the Flock."Read More
Pope Francis is taking additional steps to crack down on corruption at the Vatican by decreeing that all bishops and cardinals be tried if they are suspected of criminal behavior. This marks the second time in two days that the pope has worked to hold top church officials accountable for their actions.Read More
The Roman Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex marriages, no matter how stable or positive the couples' relationships are, the Vatican said on Monday. The message, approved by Pope Francis, came in response to questions about whether the church should reflect the increasing social and legal acceptance of same-sex unions.Read More
Pope Francis has touched down in Iraq for the first-ever papal visit to the predominantly Muslim country, beginning a four-day visit in Baghdad, where yellow and white Vatican flags and likenesses of the pontiff flutter above hastily weeded traffic circles.Read More
Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was produced in part through the use of cell lines derived from an aborted human fetus. In a statement released this week, leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said that this feature of the vaccine raises questions about its permissibility.Read More
The second Roman Catholic president in American history is a devout man who makes no secret of the importance of faith in his life. President Joe Biden is a regular churchgoer, often quotes St. Augustine and carries a rosary that belonged to his late son Beau. In one of the first images released of him in the Oval Office, a photo was visible behind his desk showing him Read More
Joe Biden is only the second Catholic president of the United States. He's also a supporter of abortion rights — a position at odds with official teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.Read More
Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., is among 13 church leaders elevated to cardinal at a ceremony at the Vatican on Saturday.Read More
The report on the former archbishop of Washington, Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked last year, states that Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI were aware of the accusations of sexual misconduct.Read More
A man used a knife to kill three peopel at the church. The mayor of Nice calls it an attack on Christianity.Read More
A 28-year-old priest is charged with sexually abusing an altar boy over a five-year period in a Vatican City youth seminary. Another priest, the former rector, is charged with covering up the abuse.Read More
Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., is among 13 church leaders who will be elevated to cardinal at a ceremony at the Vatican next month.Read More
"What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered," the pope said in an interview in the film Francesco, which premiered Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival.Read More
In a statement Tuesday to the public radio Northwest News Network and the Associated Press, the executive director of the lieutenant governor's office, Kristina Brown, said Democrat Cyrus Habib began his leave on Sept. 1 and notified both Inslee and Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig at that time.Read More
When young composers explore old musical formulas, exciting things can happen. Mass for the Endangered is a contemporary twist on an ancient tradition. Read More
An investigation by KQED shows that Jesús Antonio Castañeda Serna, a former Catholic priest in the Diocese of Yakima, had been accused before and has moved from the Catholic Church to the Anglican Church and then to another religious group without undergoing complete background checks — or any at all.Read More
Some see government bans on large public gatherings as attacks on religious freedom when they are applied to houses of worship.Read More
Kennedy Catholic High School President Mike Prato was placed on leave following the "forced" resignations of two teachers who were open with administrators about their same-sex engagements. The Archdiocese of Seattle sent out a memo Tuesday afternoon announcing Prato's leave.Read More
The Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy, a sign of the century-old organization's financial instability as it faces some 300 lawsuits from men who say they were sexually abused as scouts.Read More
The surprise move is seen as a rebuke to Pope Francis, who is weighing whether to allow older, married men to be ordained in some South American countries, where a shortage of priests is acute.Read More
Pope Francis recently opened the door to the possibility of women as deacons in the Catholic Church. Some women have sought official recognition for the ministries they already perform.Read More
Researchers combed Vatican archives to find records of how ancient church policies restricting whom one could marry shaped Western values and family structures today. Read More
The French filmmaker first wanted to make a documentary about an accused pedophile priest. But the victims convinced him that fiction would reach more viewers. It's called By the Grace of God.Read More
Even before the synod began, traditionalists were angered by the suggestion that, to offset a shortage of priests in the Amazon, married men might be ordained to serve in remote communities.Read More
The AARP has filed a lawsuit on behalf of workers at a defunct Catholic hospital in upstate New York, saying hundreds lost their pensions unfairly. And there are similar cases around the country.Read More
The papal decree also sets up new procedures to hold more-senior church authorities such as bishops accountable for committing abuse or for covering up the crimes of others. Read More
President Macron said he wants to see Notre Dame rebuilt within five years. Hundreds of millions of dollars were raised toward that effort one day after a fire damaged the cathedral.Read More
Not surprisingly, when Pope Francis summoned more than 100 bishops to a meeting in Rome to address the "Protection of Minors in the Church," the announcement raised expectations that it could mark a turning point in the Church's lagging response to the ongoing clergy abuse crisis. The three-day meeting begins Thursday.Read More
Theodore McCarrick rose to power as a cardinal and archbishop of Washington, D.C. He became the most senior Catholic Church official in modern times to lose clerical status.Read More
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, the Roman Catholic Church is being forced to confront evidence that clergy have sexually abused nuns.Read More
The Catholic Church has been roiled by revelations about clergy abuse in dioceses across the country in 2018. It began with a Pennsylvania grand jury report in August that detailed decades of abuse.Read More
Two Gonzaga University vice presidents have resigned amid fallout from the Catholic order of Jesuits shuffling priests accused of sexual abuse. The Jesuits, Frank Case and Pat Lee, served in leadership capacities at Gonzaga, and both previously led the Jesuit order in the Northwest, formerly called the Oregon Province.Read More
Gonzaga University President Thayne McCulloh said in a written statement to faculty, staff and students that he knew Jesuit priests accused of sexual abuse were living in a Jesuit residence on campus, but he had not been aware that any of them might be a threat to students.Read More
A 20-month investigation shows the extent the Catholic Church's order of Jesuits, aka Society of Jesus, used Northwest Native reservations and Alaska Native communities to shuffle clergy with credible accusations of sex abuse. Instead of being prosecuted or removed from ministry, many were sent to other remote assignments, and housed in a retirement community on the Read More
The Seattle Archdiocese has paid nearly $7 million to settle claims by six men that former priests abused them when they were children. The men said the archdiocese “knew or should have known that the priests posed a danger to children” and failed to protect them.Read More
Politically conservative Catholics criticize Francis for being pro-migrant, anti-capitalist and less rigid in doctrine than predecessors. The cleric sex abuse scandals have emboldened these critics.Read More
On Sunday, Oct. 14, 38 years after his assassination, Romero will be canonized as a Catholic saint. Known to his followers as Monseñor (Monsignor), Romero was a champion of human rights at a time when El Salvador was on the brink of civil war.Read More
Two months ago, a Pennsylvania grand jury detailed how Wuerl learned of credible abuse allegations against priests under his supervision — and still gave the men new parish assignments.Read More
The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, will meet in Rome with Pope Francis and other church leaders to discuss further investigations into abuse.Read More
A panel of lay advisers to U.S. Catholic bishops sees a "systemic problem" in the church that can only be addressed independently of Catholic authorities.Read More
Pope Francis said the failure to address abuse remains "a source of pain and shame for the Catholic community." His visit comes at a time when the church's influence is greatly diminished.Read More
