3+ week, 6+ day ago (314+ words) PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio " Northeast Ohio drivers are getting motivated by a mission from Holy Name High School in Parma Heights to spread positivity and kindness beyond its school walls. Their way of getting attention is electronic billboards. " "For us, it's more than a marketing technique. It really is for us to show the importance of what we're trying to do here and to share with the community and be part of the community. We've been here for 111 years," said Holy Name President Shelbrey Blanc. " You've probably seen them on local highways or busy roads. The electronic billboards include messages such as "keep going, don't give up," or "breathe, you got this," and "you're stronger than you think." "One of the many messages we hope to pass on is that life is hard, but when you have these moments of faith…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago (1044+ words) KIRTLAND, Ohio " The following is part one of our five-part series: "Bloodline and Blind Faith: Untold Stories of the Kirtland Cult Killings," a look at the 1989 Kirtland cult killing of the Avery family by Jeff Lundgren and his followers." HOW TO WATCH ON WKYC+: 'Bloodline and Blind Faith: Untold Stories of the Kirtland Cult Killings' Jeff Lundgren grew up in Missouri, in a home defined by strict faith and a controlling, abusive father. "It was a lonely life. I had few playmates and I had few friends," Lundgren once admitted. Eventually, he realized force brought power. "I was very proud of myself the day I was finally big enough," he recalled of fighting back against his father. "He [Jeff's father] said, "I'm going to take you back to that fence,' and I stood up, looked him in the eye and…...

2+ week, 5+ day ago (297+ words) The alleged incident occurred during a papal audience Oct. 29, at the entrance to St. Peter's Square. The audience that day was dedicated to marking the anniversary of a 1965 declaration on the church's relations with Jews and other non-Christians. The alleged victims were part of an international Jewish delegation attending the papal audience, during which Pope Leo XIV reaffirmed Catholic-Jewish relations and vowed to fight antisemitism. One of the Swiss Guards hissed the phrase "Les Juifs," or "the Jews" in French, as they passed, Govrin said in a written statement. "We were totally shocked," she added. "Such an incident of Jewish hatred inside the Vatican?! In contrast to the Pope's important words strongly condemning anti-Semitism and calling for collaboration and peace?!" Govrin said her colleague turned to the guard and said, "You said "Les Juifs'," to which the guard replied, "No,…...

2+ day, 7+ hour ago (1804+ words) Pope Leo XIV marks a high point of his his first foreign trip to Turkey with a pilgrimage to the site where early Christian church leaders met 1,700 years ago under the auspices of the Roman Emperor Constantine to host the Council of Nicaea. Leo will pray with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, at the site of the A.D. 325 gathering, now the town of Iznik, and sign a joint declaration in a show of Christian unity. The unprecedented gathering of at least 250 bishops from around the Roman Empire during the first council established the first version of the Nicene Creed, a statement of faith that millions of Christians still recite each Sunday. Eastern and Western churches were united until the Great Schism of 1054, a divide precipitated largely by disagreements over the primacy of the pope. The American…...

2+ week, 5+ day ago (697+ words) The vote serves as a barometer for the bishops" priorities. In choosing Coakley, they are doubling down on their conservative bent, even as they push for more humane immigration policies from the Trump administration. Coakley was seen as a strong contender for the top post, having already been elected in 2022 to serve as secretary, the No. 3 conference official. In three rounds of voting, he beat out centrist candidate Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, who was subsequently elected vice president. Coakley serves as adviser to the Napa Institute, an association for conservative Catholic powerbrokers. In 2018, he publicly supported an ardent critic of Pope Francis, Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigan, who was later excommunicated for stances that were deemed divisive. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has often been at odds with the Vatican and the inclusive, modernizing approach of the late…...