Religion and Faith

Rare legal twist pits one diocese against another
The Diocese of New Ulm is suing another diocese and a religious order, accusing both of sending a priest to New Ulm in the early 1980s without telling the diocese that the priest had a long history of being accused of child sexual abuse.
Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps Sr. dies
The Rev. Fred Phelps Sr., whose tiny Westboro Baptist Church has protested outside the funerals of fallen soldiers and celebrities to spread its views about homosexuality and abortion, has died, according to news reports. He was 84.
Ramsey County Judge John Van de North ordered church leaders to provide the documents by March 31 to attorneys for a man who said he was abused as a child by the Rev. Thomas Adamson in the mid-1970s. The deadline is two days before his attorneys will question Archbishop John Nienstedt under oath about his handling of abuse claims. Most of the documents will not be sealed.
'A pope for all' keeps Catholics guessing
A year ago today, the world's 1.2 billion Catholics got their first Jesuit pope and the first from the global south. Taking the name Francis, he soon became one of the world's most popular newsmakers.
Rev. Stan Maslowski tells a story of sex, theft and grace
A Twin Cities priest whose sexual urges led him to steal church funds and serve time in the Hennepin County workhouse is calling on his archdiocese to face the clergy sexual abuse crisis more openly.
Archdiocese suspends capital campaign, OKs some parish fundraising
In a letter to pastors and parish administrators Thursday, the archdiocese said a small number of parishes with significant debt would move ahead in what was once hoped to be a wider capital campaign effort.
Italian publisher launches Pope Francis fan magazine
Published by ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's media empire and looking much like a typical supermarket tabloid, Il Mio Papa includes a pull-out centerfold of a smiling, cassock-clad Francis.
In a three-page order issued Wednesday, Chief Judge Edward Cleary denied requests by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona to block depositions of Nienstedt and former vicar general Kevin McDonough.