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Pope Francis (real name: Jorge Mario Bergoglio) has shaken up the Catholic church with some plain speaking about faith and about life in the 21st century. He has had an impact on other faiths, as well. Welcome to “pope envy.” I first encountered the term in an essay by Jana Riess, a liberal Mormon writer. “I’ve delighted in seeing this beautiful revitalization of hope in the Catholic Church,” Riess wrote, “but I’ve also felt twinges of (an admittedly un-Christian) envy.” Why wouldn’t a Mormon, or anyone for that matter, envy the un-self-conscious spiritual leadership of a prelate who warns nuns...

An ecumenical group of religious historians and other scholars will convene at the University of Notre Dame’s McKenna Hall on Dec. 5-6 (Thursday-Friday) for a conference titled “Catholics and Mormons: A New Dialogue.” The conference will explore relationships among Catholics and Mormons as their churches are increasingly allied in common social, political and relief efforts. Its themes will include “The Lay of the Land: Contemporary Mormonism and Catholicism,” “Catholicism and Mormonism in Historical Context,” “Revelation: Scriptures, Traditions, and Authoritative Teachings” and “Theologies of Encounter, Unity, and Diversity.”

The Most Rev Justin Welby said the Cross has been trivialised and ceases to shock or challenge people. Archbishop Welby wrote that the symbol should represent the ‘deepest encounter and radical change’ for Christians. He added: ‘For those early Christians it was a badge of shame. ‘Today it is more commonly seen as a symbol of beauty to hang around your neck. ‘As a friend of mine used to say, you might as well hang a tiny golden gallows or an electric chair around your neck.’ In a foreword to a book which will be published in the run-up to...

A former Mormon bishop in Riverside County is expected to serve three years in prison for sexually assaulting two teenage girls who attended a Menifee church, prosecutors said. Todd Mitchell Edwards, 49, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts related to the assault of the teens, ages 16 and 18, as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, said John Hall, a spokesman for the Riverside County district attorney's office. The counts were sexual battery and sexual penetration with a foreign object. In addition to the prison time, Edwards will also have to register as a lifetime sex offender as part...

It really is a small world after all, even at Mormon devotionals in mid-western Indiana. The BYU football team gave its traditional pre-game fireside message Friday at a packed house that included Notre Dame football legend Rudy Ruettiger and former BYU basketball coach Steve Cleveland. Ruettiger attended with his friend and Latter-day Saint Bishop Randy Garn, and told The Universe he was looking forward to seeing the Fighting Irish and Cougars play more often over the next several years. BYU football players Bronson Kaufusi and Skye Povey talk with Notre Dame legend Rudy Ruettiger at the team’s traditional pre-game fireside...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — When the BYU and Notre Dame football teams compete in South bend, Indiana Saturday, it will bring together two unique schools that share a faith-based approach that makes them different from other schools. Father John I. Jenkins has been president of Notre Dame since 2005. In a rare interview, he discussed running a faith-based school in a secular world. "There is no great virtue in being just like everybody else," Rev. Jenkins said. "If you are different, and can embrace that, you can make a difference. If you fail to be different, who cares? Everybody can...

Following the distribution of the Jesus Christ/Joseph Smith DVD last month, there have been many conversations and opinions published online regarding the Christian outreach effort. One exchange took place on the Salt Lake Tribune’s public forum. A Catholic woman, who believes in “love and charity to all” wrote to express her dismay over the DVD distribution, ending her letter with a kind hope that Latter-day Saints had been able to enjoy their Church’s General Conference despite the “sport” engaged in by “anti-Mormons.” Perhaps this was not the most charitable and loving letter “to all” in consideration of the nature of...

TAMPA — It's rollicking, risqué and oh, so irreverent. So if you're a member of good standing of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, how do you react to “The Book of Mormon,” the blockbuster musical that makes a mockery of your religion? You embrace it. “Even bad publicity can turn into good publicity,” said Mark Cusick, president of the Florida Tampa mission of the LDS church. “We're looking at it as an entry point to tell people what our religion is all about. The idea is you've seen the play, now read the book.” So don't look...

Borrowing an ancient Hebrew word from an Old Testament text, one of America’s leading evangelical Christian scholars told nearly 2,000 young Mormons at Utah Valley University Friday that his faith and their faith, often at odds with each other through the years over doctrinal disparities, “need to find ways we can work together” to find “shalom,” or peace. “God has placed us in the world, in this nation, and calls us to seek the shalom together,” said Dr. Richard J. Mouw, president emeritus of the Fuller Theological Seminary and noted author of such books as “Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in...

Thousands of Hawaiians missed school and work, waited in line to testify as their cars were towed, endured daily rule changes by lawmakers and otherwise battled uphill to provide state representatives with more than 50 hours of testimony that mostly opposed a same-sex “marriage” bill. Lawmakers ignored them, voting for the “gay” agenda anyway. But they may not be able to ignore the next step. WND has learned of a plan to request a temporary restraining order preventing the law from taking effect, pending a trial on what voters meant in a 1998 vote on marriage. Prior to the vote...

He used to be named Muhammad, and changing his name to Tito led to him being imprisoned in Egypt for 15 years. Tito Momen, as he is now known, is a UVU student. He spoke to a group of about 250 students and others who took the time Wednesday to hear about his experiences. As he and Jeff Benedict, co-author of the book "My Name Used to be Muhammad," spoke, the audience members were nearly silent as they heard of his trials and experiences. That the name change is the title of the book is significant. It was that action...

What a horrifically EXPONENTIAL amazing time is just before us in which the world of today is absolutely oblivious to (1 Thess. 5:2-3). The Day of the Lord is at hand in which the godlessness, lawlessness and violence of man will reach its EXPONENTIAL zenith (2 Thess. 2:2:8-12, Rev. 6-19)! What is amazing is that the very world leaders we see today raging and conspiring against Israel and Almighty God's RIGHTEOUSNESS most likely will be the very ones who will give their power and authority to the upcoming beast (aka- Anti Christ - 2 Thess. 2:3-12, Rev. 13, 17:12-17). These...

CEBU CITY, Philippines — When calamity strikes, charity crosses religions. This was the case with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, popularly known as the Mormon Church, joining hands with the Roman Catholic Church to distribute relief goods to earthquake victims in Bohol. The Latter-day Saint (LDS) Charities, the Mormon Church’s humanitarian arm, has vowed to help Catholics rebuild their Spanish-era churches that were destroyed by the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Central Visayas on Oct. 15

A Roman Catholic scholar and former philosophy and religion professor has released a new book that defends Mormonism as "one of the youngest branches on the Christian tree," and claims that Christians can learn from the Mormon religion. Stephen H. Webb, former 25 year professor of religion and philosophy at Wabash College and author of the book, Mormon Christianity: What Other Christians Can Learn From the Latter-day Saints, told The Christian Post that, among other things, "Mormon theology teaches us to think of matter in new and creative ways." "Traditional theology teaches that matter is lifeless, without the soul it's...

Two suspected terrorists are being held in Kosovo after a Nov. 3 attack on two American women serving as missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A total of six men were arrested Nov. 5 in connection with an alleged terrorist plot "inspired by extreme Islamist ideology." Two of the six are suspects in the investigation of the attack on the LDS missionaries, a senior police official involved with the investigation told the Associated Press. The attack took place in Pristina, Kosovo's capital. "We can confirm two sister missionaries were beaten in Kosovo and have been moved...

Police in eastern Idaho say they're investigating after vandals defaced three Mormon churches in the small town of Chubbuck. Gov. Butch Otter condemned the vandalism in a written statement released Sunday. Here is the governor's full statement: "Defiling or defacing houses of worship — of any faith or denomination — is an attack not just on religious beliefs or even our law, but also on our culture and our values. It disturbs the sanctuaries of our spiritual well-being. These are not merely the acts of misguided individuals. They speak to a more fundamental disregard for sacred places, social order and...

Whole articleWhile Africa is one of the fastest growing areas of converts for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, proselyting and maintaining over 900 congregations is just part of the impact the Church has in these countries. In the last ten years alone the LDS church has: ·Distributed nearly 40,000 wheelchairs as well as trained people to construct a wheelchair from basic bicycle parts. ·Aided more than 130,000 Africans with their vision treatment program. Volunteer ophthalmologists assist medical care providers around the world with training and equipment to treat simple vision problems. · Been able to provide access...

<p>The Mormon church stands to own nearly 2 percent of Florida by completing a deal to buy most of the real estate of the St. Joe Co. for more than a half-billion dollars.</p> <p>The megapurchase was announced jointly Thursday by a corporate representative of church, which owns the nearly 295,000-acre Deseret Ranches in Central Florida, and by the real-estate and timber business, which has built several communities along the Panhandle coast.</p>

SALT LAKE CITY — Politico reported Wednesday night that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members are changing their views on gay rights. The church reacted Thursday evening by issuing a statement that indicated its doctrine about traditional marriage has not changed... ..."As the church has said before, elected officials who are Latter-day Saints make their own decisions and may not necessarily be in agreement with one another or even with a publicly stated church position..." "...On the question of same-sex marriage, the church has been consistent in...

OREM — Missionaries who return early from their service need additional help from ward members and clinical professionals to cope, a new study says. Kris Doty, Ph.D, chair of the Department of Behavioral Science at Utah Valley University and a clinical therapist, led a team of students in studying the effects of a missionary’s early return on their faith and lives. Doty found that 74 percent of participants had feelings of failure and 65 percent were uncomfortable in social settings due to early release... The 348 study participants were males and females, ages 20-29, who returned early from the mission...