Religion News
Chicago-based Lutheran group elects first woman as presiding bishop
The Chicago-based Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on Wednesday elected the first woman to lead the nation's largest Lutheran...
Jean Bethke Elshtain, 1941-2013
Jean Bethke Elshtain didn't seek out controversies. She simply wanted people to consider the consequences of their actions.
Holocaust survivor donates Torah in memory of parents, husband
The number on Marge Fettman's left arm is too blurred to read, but the 88-year-old Holocaust survivor knows it by heart: "21,880," she says.
Accused clergyman was sent to Argentina, Chicago-based religious order says
A Chicago-based religious order on Thursday acknowledged sending a clergyman accused of inappropriate behavior to Argentina, the same day...
Change sought to ban guns in houses of worship
When Illinois lawmakers approved a concealed carry law this month, they preserved absolute bans for a variety of public spaces, including...
In the long run, minister decides that jogging across the U.S. is worth it
Former suburban megachurch pastor Steve Spear declared years ago that his sneakers were made for walking, not running. Even when someone...
In midst of Ramadan, Chicago-area Muslims urged to boycott dates linked to Israel
Just as the Prophet Muhammad broke his daily fasts 1,400 years ago with the taste of a date, Muslims today end their daily abstention during...
Missionary child abuse, long unspoken of, emerges from the shadows
They followed their parents to remote regions of the world to preach the Gospel. But in recent years, dozens of adults, known in evangelical...
Hospital system tells victims group accused former priest has retired
Advocate Health Care has disclosed that a former Roman Catholic priest removed from ministry 20 years ago for a substantiated allegation...
Andrew Greeley, priest, scholar, novelist, friend, laid to rest
His final farewell unfolded as if he had choreographed every song and step. With people in the pews belting out the Celtic hymn "Lord of the...
100 Buddhas rise from vacant lots
Some believe the solution to neighborhood violence is increased police presence and arrests. For others, it's teaching parents how to...
Andrew Greeley, Chicago priest and best-selling novelist, dies at 85
A best-selling novelist, renowned sociologist and outspoken commentator on all things Roman Catholic, the Rev. Andrew Greeley lived many...
Religious orders differ from dioceses on abuse procedures
Even after settling a multimillion-dollar lawsuit last week that accused nearly a dozen men of abuse at Brother Rice, St. Laurence and Leo...
Christian Brothers settle suit with 400 sex abuse victims
The Roman Catholic religious order that runs Brother Rice High School in Chicago and St. Laurence High School in Burbank didn't want Brother...
Illinois business urges federal court to lift contraception mandate
Lawyers for two Roman Catholic-owned companies in Illinois and Indiana argued before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on...
Chicago Jesuits hid sex crimes
Internal church records released Tuesday show that Chicago Jesuits consciously concealed the crimes of convicted sex offender Donald McGuire...
Chicago's first archbishop was 'good prelate, good man'
When the president of All Hallows College in Ireland saw the regal man on the framed canvas, he knew the portrait buried in a Dublin...
Cardinal, other faith leaders call for repeal of water fee
Cardinal Francis George has long preached about the dangers of secularization and the American government's failure to recognize religious...
Men allege abuse, sue religious order in Cook court
Unable to get restitution in federal bankruptcy court, 31 Chicago-area men have filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court, accusing the...
Chicago offers compromise on water bill exemptions for nonprofits
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago aldermen have proposed a compromise to religious leaders who say that paying their water bill after decades...
Orthodox bishop resigns amid sexual misconduct scandal
Unable to overcome the disgrace of a sexual misconduct accusation, Bishop Matthias, head of the local diocese for the Orthodox Church of...
French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran sees great value in interreligious dialogue
French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran has given many lectures, speeches and homilies during his years of Vatican diplomatic service. But most of...
A priest's faith in church resurrected
One day last September, the Rev. Frank Latzko, pastor of St. Teresa of Avila Roman Catholic Church in Chicago, decided to take a walk and...
Stations of the 'L': Catholic Chicagoan crisscrosses city on trains and reflects on Christ's journey to the cross
There's nothing extraordinary about Aidan Gillespie's daily commute on the No. 50 bus down Damen Avenue. Perhaps that's why the Roman...
Chicagoans studying at Rome seminary inspired to bring history home
— Chris Kerzich of Bedford Park had moved to Washington to enter politics when former Pope Benedict XVI came to the nation's capital...
Files reveal depth of abuses at Joliet Diocese
The Joliet Diocese readily admitted that David Rudofski was sexually abused during his first confession at St. Mary Catholic Church in...
George: New pope 'will be changed by the office'
— Pope Francis continued on Tuesday to remind his flock of the duty to protect all of creation and embrace the poor.
The world comes together during wait for new pope
Eight years ago, I dashed down a narrow winding street along with the rest of Rome to meet the next pope.
Some fellow cardinals well-known to George
— Many of the 115 cardinal electors to be sequestered inside the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday didn't know each other when they headed for...
Chicago cardinal asks 'for your prayers' before conclave to select pope
Across the Eternal City on Sunday, cardinals celebrated Mass at their titular parishes — a reminder that they are here not because...
George brings a missionary's viewpoint to the conclave
The 115 Roman Catholic cardinals who are about to elect the next pope took different roads to Rome.
As papal conclave draws near, American cardinals grow silent
A day after Chicago's Cardinal Francis George extolled the virtues of communication during the pre-conclave process, the American...
George: Any ties to sexual abuse could disqualify papal candidate
ROME — Days before Pope Benedict XVI resigned and Roman Catholic cardinals descended on Rome to select his successor,...