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A scene in the film “Oppenheimer,” in which the physicist is quoting a Bhagavad Gita verse while making love, has upset some Hindus. The information commissioner of the Indian government, Uday Mahurkar, said in an open letter the scene was a “direct assault on religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus” and alleged that it amounted to “waging a war on the Hindu community.” He also said that it almost appeared to be “part of a larger conspiracy by anti-Hindu forces.” It is hard to say how many Hindus were offended by the Gita quote in a sexually charged scene, but ...

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LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Pope Francis visited a once-troubled and crime-plagued neighborhood in Portugal’s capital on Friday to draw attention to the charitable side of the Catholic Church and to press his case for a church that goes to the peripheries and welcomes everyone. Francis continued his busy schedule in Portugal, hearing confessions of some young people who were in Lisbon for World Youth Day, the big Catholic festival, and then having a festive pasta and steak lunch with others. Later Friday, he was presiding over the solemn Way of the Cross procession recreating ...

Parents, faith leaders and education group sue to stop US’s first public religious school

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A group of parents, faith leaders and a public education nonprofit sued Monday to stop Oklahoma from establishing and funding what would be the nation’s first religious public charter school. The lawsuit filed in Oklahoma County District Court seeks to stop taxpayer funds from going to the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 last month to approve the application by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City to establish the school, and the board and its members are among those listed as ...

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LISBON, Portugal (AP) — When a panel of experts read aloud some of the harrowing accounts they had collected from recently discovered victims of child sex abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church, the country’s senior bishops squirmed in the auditorium’s front-row seats. During a live television broadcast, the experts reported in February that at least 4,815 boys and girls had been abused since 1950, most aged 10-14. Before the stunning findings, senior Portuguese church officials had maintained there had been only a handful of cases of clergy sex abuse. They lost even more ...

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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A recent Saturday evening Mass at Sagrada Familia parish had all the hallmarks of a neighborhood worship service, from prayers for ill and deceased members to name-day wishes for two congregants in the pews. But it also featured security checks to get in and curious tourists peering down to take photos of the worshippers from above. The regular Mass is held in the crypt of modernist architect Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece church, one of Europe’s most visited monuments. With tourism reaching or surpassing pre-pandemic records in Barcelona and across ...

Pope Francis names 21 new cardinals, including prelates based in Hong Kong and Jerusalem

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday announced he has chosen 21 new cardinals, including prelates from Jerusalem and Hong Kong — places where Catholics are a small minority — as he continues to leave his mark on the body of churchmen who will select his successor. The pope announced his picks during his customary weekly appearance to the public in St. Peter’s Square, saying the ceremony to formally install the churchmen as cardinals will be held on Sept. 30. Among those tapped are several prelates holding or about to assume major Vatican posts, including the archbishop from ...