Religion – Page 31 –

Notre Dame players celebrate beating Villanova in Rome on Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Villanova had Pope Leo’s support, but Notre Dame wins both games in Rome: ‘Once-in-a-lifetime experience’

By Andrew Dampf

November 1, 2026 at 2:43 p.m.

Villanova had the pope’s support and many more traveling fans. Notre Dame prevailed on the...

Christ United Methodist Church in Rockford member Mark West holds his necklace before church services on Sept. 27, 2026. The necklace was crafted from broken stained glass after a fire in February. "It gives me a connection to the church and to God. It shows that something that is broken can be resurrected," he said. (Ryan Rayburn/for the baiduhai)

A stained glass window of the crucifixion was shattered in a church fire. Worshippers transformed the broken pieces into symbols of renewal.

By Angie Leventis Lourgos

November 1, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

After a stained glass window of the crucifixion was destroyed in a church fire, worshippers...

(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...

The Crown of thorns inside the reliquary of the Crown of Thorns designed by French Artist Sylvain Dubuisson is seen in of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the monument, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

Today in History: Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris reopened to the public

By Associated Press

December 7, 2025 at 4:00 a.m.

On Dec. 7, 2024, the newly-restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was reopened to the public...

The Rev. Michael Woolf in front of a Nativity scene outside Lake Street Church of Evanston on Dec. 4, 2025. The Nativity scene depicts masked centurions wearing federal immigration agent vests, surrounding baby Jesus with Mary and Joseph. Woolf said someone likely stole the zip ties binding Jesus' hands and the respirator worn by Mary. (John J. Kim/baiduhai)

Evanston church’s Nativity scene depicted baby Jesus zip-tied by ICE agents

By Richard Requena

December 4, 2025 at 5:04 p.m.

Lake Street Church of Evanston depicted baby Jesus' hands zip-tied, Mary with a gas mask...

Pope Leo XIV arrives for a meeting with young people in the Square in front of the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch in Bkerke, Lebanon, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Pope Leo XIV sends message of support to southern Lebanon as he ends 1st foreign trip

By Bassem Mroue

December 2, 2025 at 3:26 p.m.

Pope Leo XIV prayed Tuesday at the site of a deadly 2020 Beirut port explosion...

Trinity Lutheran Church in Park Forest in 1957. (Trinity Lutheran Church)

Column: Former Park Forest President Ron Bean remembered; last gathering of Trinity Lutheran Church

By Jerry Shnay

December 1, 2025 at 2:30 p.m.

The death of Ron Bean, the first Black village president of Park Forest, closed a...

Worshippers visit Our Lady of Lebanon shrine in Harissa, north of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, as the sun sets over the Mediterranean Sea. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Pope Leo XIV’s visit highlights Christian resilience in Lebanon despite regional turmoil

By Bassem Mroue

December 1, 2025 at 8:39 a.m.

Over the past few decades, hundreds of thousands of Christians have left parts of the...

Pope Leo XIV talks to reporters aboard an aircraft on his way to Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (Andreas Solaro/Pool Via AP)

Pope Leo XIV doubles down on insistence for 2-state solution to resolve Israeli-Palestinian conflict

By Nicole Winfield

November 30, 2025 at 1:14 p.m.

Pope Leo XIV doubled down Sunday on the Holy See’s insistence on a two-state solution...

Pope Leo XIV and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Eastern Orthodox Christians leave after attending the Doxology at the Patriarchal Church of Saint George, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Pope Leo XIV calls on Lebanese leaders to be true peacemakers as he seeks to bring message of hope

By Nicole Winfield

November 30, 2025 at 11:20 a.m.

Pope Leo XIV landed in Lebanon on Sunday aiming to bring a message of hope...

Pope Leo XIV, center, visits the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Pope Leo XIV visits Istanbul’s Blue Mosque without praying as he focuses on unifying Christians

By Nicole Winfield

November 29, 2025 at 12:33 p.m.

Pope Leo XIV visited Istanbul’s iconic Blue Mosque on Saturday but didn’t stop to pray,...

Pope Leo XIV walks as he is welcomed upon his arrival at Esenboga International Airport in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, marking the beginning of his first foreign trip. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Pope Leo XIV encourages Turkey to be a force for stability and peace as he opens first foreign trip

By Nicole Winfield

November 27, 2025 at 10:56 a.m.

Pope Leo XIV opened his first foreign trip as pope to Turkey with a plea...

A visitor explores the “American Prophets” exhibit, Nov. 20, 2025, which is now open at the American Writers Museum in Chicago. (Terrence Antonio James/baiduhai)

Column: In ‘American Prophets,’ how writers feel about religion and spirituality

By Rick Kogan

May 22, 2026 at 7:46 p.m.

A new exhibit at American Writers Museum on Michigan Avenue has the words of Flannery...