Religion – Page 21 –

(From right) Villanova basketball player Jasmine Bascoe along with Villanova President Peter M. Donohue presents Pope Leo XIV with a basketball in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Oct. 31, 2026, during an audience with some 7,000 university representatives ahead of the Eternal City Tip-Off, a men’s and women’s college basketball doubleheader in Rome on Nov. 1. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Leo tells Villanova and Notre Dame basketball teams that he is neutral, but ‘Prevost has another opinion’

By Andrew Dampf

October 31, 2026 at 8:26 a.m.

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday told the basketball teams from his alma mater, Villanova, and...

Students from St. John Of The Cross School pack up nonperishable food items during the Parish’s annual food drive Oct. 24 in Western Springs. (Hank Beckman/Pioneer Press)

St. John of the Cross food drive draws 450 volunteers, donations from across Western Springs

By Hank Beckman

October 31, 2026 at 5:01 a.m.

St. John of the Cross Parish continued its decades-long tradition at its annual Harvest Saturday...

Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope says ‘most urgent’ challenge facing AI race is need for institutional ethical framework

By Associated Press

October 30, 2026 at 3:08 p.m.

Pope Leo XIV on Friday told a Vatican gathering of artificial intelligence researchers and experts...

St. Joseph Church, located at 440 Joliet St. in downtown Dyer, was established in 1867. (Anna Ortiz/Post-Tribune)

Parish members mobilize to save historic Dyer church

By Anna Ortiz

April 6, 2026 at 3:11 p.m.

For members of Dyer's St. Joseph Catholic Church, they're committed to their fight to save...

Pope Leo XIV sprinkles holy water with a bunch of hyssop sprigs as he presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo urges peace in first Easter Mass as Christians celebrate in Jerusalem, Gaza and Tehran

By Colleen Barry

April 5, 2026 at 10:20 a.m.

Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Easter Mass as pontiff with a call Sunday to...

The Rev. Jerome Kish, new priest at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Yorkville, uses magic to help teach Scripture, including the story of the Resurrection. (Denise Crosby/The Beacon-News)

Column: New Yorkville priest combines magic with ministry

By Denise Crosby

April 5, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

The Rev. Jerome Kish says he uses magic "as a teaching moment rather than a...

Children run into the auditorium for the Easter egg hunt during an Easter extravaganza at New Life Covenant Church Southeast in Chicago’s Grand Crossing neighborhood on Saturday, April 4, 2026. (Josh Boland/baiduhai)

Hundreds of children attend Easter egg hunt at a South Side church

By Laura Turbay

April 4, 2026 at 6:43 p.m.

About 1,200 parents registered for the Easter event Saturday at the New Life Covenant Church...

Church members including Joy Shahabi, from left, Narjes Delacai and Fereidoon Tadayyon greet each other during services on Palm Sunday, March 29, 2026, at Kheimeh Molaghat, in Addison. The nondenominational church has a predominantly Iranian American congregation. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

At Easter time, local Iranian Christians pray for regime change and freedom of worship as war rages in their homeland

By Angie Leventis Lourgos

April 4, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

As a small Persian church in the western suburbs prepares for Easter, its members hope...

People dressed as the women of Jerusalem sing along 18th Street during the annual Good Friday Via Crucis procession in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood on April 3, 2026. (Josh Boland/baiduhai)

Photos: Annual Good Friday Via Crucis procession

By Josh Boland

April 3, 2026 at 3:23 p.m.

Annual Good Friday Via Crucis – or Way of the Cross – procession in Chicago’s...

Children dressed as disciples of Jesus and an angel walk on 18th Street during the annual Good Friday Via Crucis procession in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood on April 3, 2026. (Josh Boland/baiduhai)

Annual Way of the Cross draws crowds on Good Friday in Pilsen

By Laura Turbay

April 3, 2026 at 3:13 p.m.

Hundreds of people attended the Via Crucis in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood on Good Friday, straining...

Pope Leo XIV attends the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Catholic Good Friday, Friday, April 3, 2026 (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV to carry cross for entire procession, the first pontiff to do so in decades

By Associated Press

April 3, 2026 at 1:44 p.m.

Pope Leo XIV will personally carry the wooden cross through all 14 stations of the...

The Rev. Kenneth J. Anderson, pastor of St. John Henry Newman Parish in Evanston, has been asked to step away from handling parish finances after the Archdiocese of Chicago said questions arose. (Claire Murphy/Pioneer Press)

Evanston pastor removed from managing church’s finances after ‘serious concerns’

By Claire Murphy

April 3, 2026 at 3:05 p.m.

Evanston's St. John Henry Newman Catholic Rev. Kenneth Anderson will step down from financial management...

Pope John Paul II makes a brief appearance in the court yard of Holy Name Cathedral after the Chicago Symphony concert on Oct. 5, 1979, in Chicago. (James Mayo/baiduhai) published on Oct. 19, 1979.

Folder Description: Pope John Paul II

Folder Extended Description: Trips U.S. Chicago 1979 Groups

Title: JOHN, PAURL II PORPE TRIPS U.S CHICAGO 1979 GROUPS

Subject: JOHN PAUL II, POPE

Today in History: John Paul II dies

By Associated Press

April 2, 2026 at 3:30 a.m.

On April 2, 2005, John Paul II, the Polish pope born Karol Józef Wojtyła, died...