Leonardo Blair

Latest

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  Feb 14, 2022

  Thousands of baptisms conducted by Phoenix priest deemed invalid by Catholic Church

  Thousands of Catholics baptized into the faith by the Rev. Andres Arango, the former priest of St. Gregory Catholic Church in Phoenix, Arizona, will now have to redo their baptisms after Arango was found to have used an incorrect formula to carry out the sacrament.

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  Feb 9, 2022

  Venue Church Pastor Tavner Smith apologizes for ‘inappropriate relationship’ in return to pulpit

  Pastor Tavner Smith of Venue Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, confessed Sunday that he was involved in an “inappropriate relationship” and asked for his congregation's forgiveness as he returned to the pulpit after a brief sabbatical.

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  Feb 6, 2022

  When your faith makes you an enemy of the state

  It was July 20, 1999. Michael Yu, an accountant and Falun Gong practitioner remembers what happened in China well. Then Chinese President Jiang Zemin had declared millions of Yu’s fellow Falun Gong practitioners a threat to the government. A warrant was also issued for the arrest of Li Hongzhi who had founded the spiritual movement only seven years earlier in 1992.

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  Feb 4, 2022

  How big business is driving the Uyghur genocide in China

  Silence and ignorance from corporations have become "an emblematic problem" as governments push back on human rights abuses committed by the Chinese government amid the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

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  Feb 3, 2022

  Texas pastor allegedly killed by daughter during prayer session

  Pastor Gloria Jordan, the former leader of First Pentecostal Church in Wichita Falls, Texas, whose death authorities initially ruled to be natural causes, is now believed to have been killed by her daughter during a prayer session.

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  Feb 2, 2022

  Whoopi Goldberg suspended from ‘The View’ for saying Holocaust 'not about race'

  “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg was suspended by ABC News for two weeks after saying that the Holocaust was "not about race," sparking vociferous commentary on social media.

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  Feb 2, 2022

  Younger Evangelicals have a more ‘global mindset,’ broader interests in charitable giving: study

  When it comes to charitable giving, Evangelicals over 40 tend to focus more on domestic efforts and have formed preferences for what they want to support. For their younger counterparts, however, a new study shows donors have a more “global mindset” and a broader range of causes they want to support with their dollars.

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  Feb 1, 2022

  ‘Sweet’ Brooklyn pastor found murdered at home where son confessed: 'I slit her up'

  Tracey Sydnor, a beloved Brooklyn mother who was appointed as the administrative pastor of The Cathedral of Hope Upper Room Baptist Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant just over two months ago was found stabbed to death in her home Saturday. Her 40-year-old son admitted that he “slit her up,” the New York Police Department said.

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  Jan 31, 2022

  Brian Houston’s stepping down from helm of Hillsong rings hollow for some

  As Hillsong Church Global Senior Pastor Brian Houston announced Sunday that he is stepping down from his role for all of 2022 as he faces a criminal charge of allegedly concealing sex abuse committed by his father decades earlier, the significance of the move rings hollow for some who have legally tangled with the evangelical network over abuse.

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  Jan 31, 2022

  Venue Church struggles as Pastor Tavner Smith takes time off amid affair allegations

  Pastor Tavner Smith’s Venue Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is seeking volunteers as several worshipers and employees have left the once-popular megachurch amid allegations Smith was intimately involved with a church staffer while in the process of divorcing his wife, Danielle.