22+ hour, 10+ min ago (983+ words) The Vatican had said Leo would observe a "brief moment of silent prayer" in the mosque, but he didn't Leo took his shoes off and, in his white socks, toured the 17th-century mosque, looking up at its soaring tiled domes and the Arabic inscriptions on its columns as an imam pointed them out to him. The Vatican had said Leo would observe a "brief moment of silent prayer" in the mosque, but he didn't. An imam of the mosque, Asgin Tunca, said he had invited Leo to pray, since the mosque was "Allah's house," but the pope declined. Later, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said: "The pope experienced his visit to the mosque in silence, in a spirit of contemplation and listening, with deep respect for the place and the faith of those who gather there in prayer." The Vatican then…...

1+ day, 1+ hour ago (983+ words) The Vatican had said Leo would observe a "brief moment of silent prayer" in the mosque, but he didn't Leo took his shoes off and, in his white socks, toured the 17th-century mosque, looking up at its soaring tiled domes and the Arabic inscriptions on its columns as an imam pointed them out to him. The Vatican had said Leo would observe a "brief moment of silent prayer" in the mosque, but he didn't. An imam of the mosque, Asgin Tunca, said he had invited Leo to pray, since the mosque was "Allah's house," but the pope declined. Later, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said: "The pope experienced his visit to the mosque in silence, in a spirit of contemplation and listening, with deep respect for the place and the faith of those who gather there in prayer." The Vatican then…...

1+ day, 14+ hour ago (293+ words) The trio ran away from the care home the Catholic Church sent them to "against their will" and broke back into their abandoned convent at Goldenstein Castle in Elsbethen Vienna (AFP) " Three rebel nuns in their 80s who made headlines after fleeing their care home to take back their Austrian convent are being allowed to stay in the nunnery "until further notice, church officials said Friday. The tumultuous story of runaway sisters Rita, 82, Regina, 86, and Bernadette, 88, defying the church hierarchy made headlines across the globe. The trio ran away from the care home the Catholic Church sent them to "against their will and broke back into their abandoned convent at Goldenstein Castle in Elsbethen near the city of Salzburg in September, with the help of supporters. The nuns" superior, Provost Markus Grasl of Reichersberg Abbey, repeatedly insisted the nuns had to…...

2+ day, 19+ hour ago (293+ words) The trio ran away from the care home the Catholic Church sent them to "against their will" and broke back into their abandoned convent at Goldenstein Castle in Elsbethen Vienna (AFP) " Three rebel nuns in their 80s who made headlines after fleeing their care home to take back their Austrian convent are being allowed to stay in the nunnery "until further notice, church officials said Friday. The tumultuous story of runaway sisters Rita, 82, Regina, 86, and Bernadette, 88, defying the church hierarchy made headlines across the globe. The trio ran away from the care home the Catholic Church sent them to "against their will and broke back into their abandoned convent at Goldenstein Castle in Elsbethen near the city of Salzburg in September, with the help of supporters. The nuns" superior, Provost Markus Grasl of Reichersberg Abbey, repeatedly insisted the nuns had to…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago (157+ words) Leo divulged his strategy playing the popular New York Times online game before fielding questions via videoconference about artificial intelligence, social media and the future of the Catholic Church. Leo was hooked up from the Vatican to speak remotely to the National Catholic Youth Conference, an annual Catholic rally held this year in Indianapolis, via a feed from U.S. Catholic broadcaster EWTN. After Leo's election in May, his brother John Prevost revealed that Leo plays Wordle every day and that the brothers compare notes, as many friends and family do. Leo was asked about his strategy at the start of Friday's Q&A, which was otherwise somewhat scripted. Playing along, Leo revealed "I use a different word for Wordle every day, so there's no set starting word." The simple, free online puzzle lets players guess a five-letter word in six tries…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago (157+ words) Leo divulged his strategy playing the popular New York Times online game before fielding questions via videoconference about artificial intelligence, social media and the future of the Catholic Church. Leo was hooked up from the Vatican to speak remotely to the National Catholic Youth Conference, an annual Catholic rally held this year in Indianapolis, via a feed from U.S. Catholic broadcaster EWTN. After Leo's election in May, his brother John Prevost revealed that Leo plays Wordle every day and that the brothers compare notes, as many friends and family do. Leo was asked about his strategy at the start of Friday's Q&A, which was otherwise somewhat scripted. Playing along, Leo revealed "I use a different word for Wordle every day, so there's no set starting word." The simple, free online puzzle lets players guess a five-letter word in six tries…...

2+ week, 2+ day ago (1022+ words) The videos drew millions of viewers on TikTok and sparked conversations across social media about what it means to love thy neighbour in today's America. Johnny Dunbar, the 69-year-old pastor of a small congregation in Kentucky, was the only person in the church office when the phone rang on a Friday morning two weeks ago. He picked up, having no idea his next conversation would be replayed millions of times across the internet. "I have a 2-month-old baby," said a young woman on the other end of the line. "And I ran out of formula last night. I was wanting to see if y'all could help with formula." Dunbar had been wondering how families in his Appalachian community would fare as some lost their food assistance because of the federal government shutdown; he had seconds to decide how to respond....

2+ week, 3+ day ago (584+ words) The pair were bringing humanitarian aid to Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa A Christian missionary father and his daughter were killed when a small plane bound for a hurricane relief mission in Jamaica crashed in a South Florida neighborhood. Christian ministry organization Ignite the Fire identified the two victims of the Monday morning crash as the group's founder, Alexander Wurm, 53, and his daughter Serena Wurm, 22. The pair were bringing humanitarian aid to Jamaica, according to the organization, when the Beechcraft King Air plane they were flying in crashed into a pond in a residential area of the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Coral Springs, narrowly missing homes. As of Tuesday morning, investigators had not reported any other victims. Ignite the Fire is "dedicated to empowering youth through missions and evangelism across the Caribbean," according to the organization's website. A statement on the…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago (597+ words) A joint statement from the Vatican and Canadian church described the pieces as a "gift" and a "concrete sign of dialogue, respect and fraternity." Pope Leo XIV gave the artifacts, including an iconic Inuit kayak, and supporting documentation to a delegation of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, which is expected to return them to individual Indigenous communities. A joint statement from the Vatican and Canadian church described the pieces as a "gift" and a "concrete sign of dialogue, respect and fraternity." The items were part of the Vatican Museum's ethnographic collection, known as the Anima Mundi museum. The collection has been a source of controversy for the Vatican amid the broader museum debate over the restitution of cultural goods taken from Indigenous peoples during colonial periods. Most of the items in the Vatican collection were sent to Rome by…...

2+ week, 4+ day ago (1022+ words) The videos drew millions of viewers on TikTok and sparked conversations across social media about what it means to love thy neighbour in today's America. Johnny Dunbar, the 69-year-old pastor of a small congregation in Kentucky, was the only person in the church office when the phone rang on a Friday morning two weeks ago. He picked up, having no idea his next conversation would be replayed millions of times across the internet. "I have a 2-month-old baby," said a young woman on the other end of the line. "And I ran out of formula last night. I was wanting to see if y'all could help with formula." Dunbar had been wondering how families in his Appalachian community would fare as some lost their food assistance because of the federal government shutdown; he had seconds to decide how to respond....