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‘AI Jesus' avatar tests man's faith in machines and the divine
Researchers and religious leaders have released findings from an intriguing two-month experiment through art in a Catholic chapel in Switzerland. An avatar of “Jesus” on a computer screen — tucked into a confessional — took questions by visitors on faith, morality and modern-day woes, and offered responses based on Scripture.
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Pope to make late Italian teenager Carlo Acutis first millennial and digital saint on April 27
Pope Francis will make late teen Carlo Acutis the Catholic Church’s first millennial and digital saint next year.
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Pope wraps troubled Belgium visit with comments on abortion, women and abuse
Pope Francis has doubled down on his traditional views on abortion and women during his in-flight press conference coming home from Belgium. He has praised Belgium’s late King Baudouin as a “saint” for having abdicated for a day in 1990 rather than sign legislation legalizing abortion. Francis said: “You need a politician who wears pants to do this.” Francis drew...
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Francis will be only the second pope to visit Singapore, one of the wealthiest nations
When Pope Francis arrives Wednesday in Asia’s financial powerhouse Singapore for the last leg of a four-nation tour, he is expected to bring his message of unity and hope to one of the world’s richest nations.
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Pope Francis enters Papua New Guinea's remote jungles with humanitarian aid and toys
Pope Francis has arrived in the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea. He landed in Vanimo, on the northwest coast of the country, with a ton of humanitarian aid to deliver to the missionaries and faithful who live there.
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Pope Francis is the headliner at a comedic conclave that includes Jimmy Fallon
Stephen Colbert, Jim Gaffigan, Conan O’Brien, Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg and Tig Notaro are also on the Pope’s guest list for the Vatican fun-fest.
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Pope apologizes after being quoted using vulgar term about gay men in talk about ban on gay priests
Pope Francis has apologized after he was quoted using a vulgar term about gay men to reaffirm the Catholic Church’s ban on gay priests.
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Survivors of church sex abuse share stories in bankruptcy court in presence of archbishop of Baltimore
Archbishop William E. Lori sat quietly Monday as six men and women stood in court and spoke of surviving violent and sometimes years-long sexual abuse at the hands of priests and staff employed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore. One woman said her abuse began in first grade. Another said a priest routinely threatened her with a gun and once held…
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Survivors of abuse address archbishop of Baltimore in bankruptcy court
Some men and women abused at the hands of priests told their stories of survival in court Monday as part of the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s bankruptcy proceedings. The church filed for bankruptcy last fall just days before a Maryland law took effect that allows survivors to sue regardless of when their abuse happened. Investigative Reporter Tracee Wilkins and the News4...
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Vatican blasts gender-affirming surgery, surrogacy and gender theory as violations of human dignity
The Vatican has declared that gender-affirming surgeries and surrogacy are grave violations of human dignity.
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Pope overcomes health concerns to preside over a blustery Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square
Pope Francis has rallied from respiratory problems to lead some 60,000 people in Easter celebrations and make a strong appeal for a cease-fire in Gaza and a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine. Francis presided over Easter Sunday Mass in a flower-decked St. Peter’s Square. He then delivered a heartfelt prayer for peace in his annual roundup of global crises,...
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Christians mark the start of Holy Week in DC area and around the world
Many services on Palm Sunday included prayers for peace amid conflicts around the world. News4’s Derrick Ward reports.
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Maryland AG pushes back against church challenge to Child Victims Act
In a court filing, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown pushed back against the Archdiocese of Washington’s motion dismiss a class-action lawsuit filed under the Child Victims Act. Investigative Reporter Tracee Wilkins and the News4 I-Team have been following the legal battle.
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Pope calls for universal ban on surrogacy after comparing it to human trafficking
In a speech to his diplomatic core on Monday, Pope Francis compared surrogacy to human trafficking and called for a universal ban on the practice. “I deem deplorable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child.”
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Pope Francis denounces the weapons industry as he makes a Christmas appeal for peace in the world
Pope Francis delivered his annual Christmas Day speech from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica to the throngs of people in the piazza below.
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Catholic priests can now bless same-sex couples, Vatican announces
The Vatican said Monday that Pope Francis had approved Catholic priests to bestow blessings to people in same-sex relationships.
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‘Accept responsibility': Survivor behind lawsuit against Washington Archdiocese wants closure
A Maryland man behind a class action lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Washington said the assault he endured as a child by a priest caused decades of substance abuse, shame and depression. “From age 15 until I was 40 … I used alcohol to cope with the pain, but all that did was turn me into an alcoholic,” said the…
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Survivor suing Washington Archdiocese says assault as a child led to decades of substance abuse, depression
Investigative Reporter Tracee Wilkins and the News4 I-Team sat down with a man behind a sex abuse lawsuit that triggered the Archdiocese of Washington to challenge Maryland’s Child Victims Act.
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Washington Archdiocese challenges Maryland's Child Victims Act
The Archdiocese of Washington is seeking to overturn the Maryland law that allows survivors of child sex abuse to bring forward claims no matter when the abuse happened, the News4 I-Team learned. Depending how courts decide, the Child Victims Act could affect survivors of abuse across the state, and not just those abused in church. The Archdiocese of Baltimore said…
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What Archdiocese of Baltimore bankruptcy proceedings mean for survivors of abuse
Here are four of the big issues the News4 I-Team and legal experts say they’re watching as the Archdiocese of Baltimore bankruptcy process unfolds.