Weekend Attacks * Pope Tarzan? * Photography vs. God: Monday’s Religion News Roundup

Attacks at a Pakistan church and in Kenya mall left several dead. Pope Francis says he isn't Tarzan. A wedding officiant scolded photographers.

A couple was left visibly stunned after a wedding officiant scolded their photographer.
A couple was left visibly stunned after a wedding officiant scolded their photographer.

A couple was left visibly stunned after a wedding officiant scolded their photographer. (screenshot via YouTube)

A suicide bomb on a historic church in Pakistan killed at least 80 people on Sunday in one of the deadliest attacks on the Christian minority in Pakistan in years. The attendees were preparing to distribute food to the poor.

Gunmen stormed a popular high-end shopping mall in the Kenyan capital on Saturday, leaving nearly 70 people dead and more than 150 injured. According to reports, the attackers had ordered Muslims to leave the premises in an apparent attempt to target non-Muslims.


Over the weekend, Pope Francis denounced big business “idolatry of money” and told young people that he isn’t Tarzan. David Gibson offers 5 things we learned about Pope Francis from his blockbuster interview last week. Cardinal Timothy Dolan says Pope Francis is a breath of fresh air.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church has excommunicated a priest in Melbourne over his support for women priests and gays.

A wedding officiant left a couple visibly stunned when he scolded their photographer, saying ”This is not about the photography, this is about God.”

A Sikh Columbia University professor was attacked by 20 young men in East Harlem over the weekend.

A transgender theology professor has been asked to leave Azusa Pacific University, a California Christian college, after coming out.

After a crisis of faith, a former Methodist minister finds a new, secular mission at Harvard.

Christian author and speaker Henry Blackaby who went missing for more than 24 hours has been found, and his son has tweeted that he suffered a heart attack while driving.

Muslim leaders are trying to help young Muslims embrace their American experience without letting go of Islamic traditions.


U.S. asks Supreme Court to review Hobby Lobby’s birth control mandate challenge.

Salon says an Atheist megachurch is “perhaps the fastest growing church in the world.”

A Catholic nun, who said videos of the Syrian poison gas attacks were fake, has been lauded by supporters of the Syrian government and vilified by the opposition.

Sally Morrow has a video showing Buddhist monks construct an intricate sand mandala at Unity Temple in Kansas City, Mo.

A new United Nations report suggests “dramatic’’ progress in the fight against AIDS.

Here’s a helpful catalog of the works that shape the Jewish mind in America today from The Tablet.

Finally, learn more about a burqa battle, baby Messiah’s return and a bacon attack in this week’s religious freedom roundup.

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