Religion

Mary Nevans-Pederson
Dubuque Telegraph-Herald
LA MOTTE, Iowa — The first dedication was with holy water. The second was with tears.
When Holy Rosary Catholic Church was established in 1893, church leaders sprinkled holy water around the sanctuary of the fine brick edifice. Now 119 years later, the church building was dedicated as the newest church for Iglesia Ni Cristo (Filipino for Church of Christ). During the two-hour-long ceremony, church leaders and the faithful shed copious tears of piety, ecstasy and religious fervor.

For more than a decade, Pentecostal Bishop T.D. Jakes has lived in the shadow of a Time magazine cover that asked, “Is this man the next Billy Graham?”

That was a loaded question, because of tensions behind the scenes between the multimedia Dallas superstar and many mainstream Christian leaders.
 

Fred Hanson
The Patriot Ledger
BRAINTREE, Mass. — As he recovered from triple bypass surgery, Rabbi Van Lanckton found his calling. “It was a real showstopper,” Rabbi Lanckton said of his surgery in 2001. “It was a chance to reflect on life.”

By Rachel Zoll
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Parents upset by the admission policy at a parochial school. Clergy and parishioners at odds over use of their building. A priest resisting a transfer to another parish.

It was once assumed that disagreements like these in the Roman Catholic Church would end one way: with the highest-ranking cleric getting the last word.

But that outcome is no longer a given as Catholics, emboldened following the clergy abuse scandals that erupted a decade ago this month, have sought another avenue of redress.