LOS ANGELES — California on Monday lifted its limits on indoor worship services in the face of U.S. Supreme Court rulings that struck down the coronavirus public health mandates. California Says Indoor Gatherings Still 'Strongly Discouraged' However, the state Department of Public Health guidelines still said indoor gatherings were “strongly...
1,200 California Pastors Say They’ll Reopen Churches May 31
SACRAMENTO — More than 1,200 California pastors say they will resume in-person services on May 31 in defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. Newsom has gradually allowed some businesses to reopen as the state's number of virus-related hospitalizations has flattened. But...
US Says California Order Discriminates Against Churches
LOS ANGELES — The head of the federal Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division told Gov. Gavin Newsom Tuesday that his plan to reopen California discriminates against churches. In a letter to the governor, Eric S. Dreiband said that despite a coronavirus pandemic “that is unprecedented in our lifetimes,” Newsom should...
US Judge Denies Bid to Open California Churches in Pandemic
SACRAMENTO — A federal judge on Wednesday said he will deny a bid by three Southern California churches to hold in-person church services during the pandemic, saying that government's emergency powers trump what in normal times would be fundamental constitutional rights. U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal in Los Angeles said...
Arrests at LA Church Allege Marriage, Immigration Fraud
LOS ANGELES — Federal agents raided a Philippines-based church in Los Angeles Wednesday in a human trafficking investigation that led to arrests of three church leaders in what prosecutors said was a decades-long scheme to trick followers into becoming fundraisers and arrange sham marriages to keep them in the U.S....
Minister: Texas Gunman Grew Angry in Past Over Cash Requests
WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas — The man who opened fire inside a Texas church, killing two people before being shot to death, visited the church several other times this year and was given food but got angry when officials refused to give him money, the minister said. Keith Thomas Kinnunen, 43,...
Armed Congregants Kill Gunman Who Shot 2 at Texas Church
WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas — A gunman who killed two people during a Texas church service was fatally shot within seconds by armed congregants, said state officials, who hailed the state's gun laws that allow weapons in places of worship. More than 240 people were in the West Freeway Church of...
Pennsylvania Dioceses Paid $84M to 564 Clergy Abuse Victims
Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic dioceses have paid nearly $84 million to 564 victims of sexual abuse, a tally that’s sure to grow substantially in the new year as compensation fund administrators work through a backlog of claims, according to an Associated Press review. Seven of the state’s eight dioceses launched victim...
Visalia Catholics Think Big, and It's a Wonderful Thing
It’s Christmas, and there’s no room at any of your town’s existing inns. You can’t open additional inns because you’re already running short of innkeepers. What to do? People in Visalia — who have a spirit rare in any season — might suggest building a bigger inn. This is a...
Catholic Bishops Approve New Sex-Abuse Reporting Hotline
BALTIMORE — U.S. Catholic bishops voted Wednesday to create a new national sex-abuse hotline run by an independent entity, a decision that represents one of the church's most tangible steps yet in confronting its sex-abuse crisis. The hotline, which would field allegations that bishops committed abuse or covered it up,...