Christianity

Religious Groups Support Mormon Temple Plans

January 8, 2001

Source: The Boston Globe

On January 8, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "Catholics, Protestants, and Jews yesterday welcomed a Supreme Court decision upholding the right of Mormons to build a giant temple in Belmont, saying the decision guarantees continued freedom for religious groups in Massachusetts." Many religious groups were watching the case, in which neighbors asked to have the temple bulldozed, arguing that allowing the temple "violated a constitutional prohibition against the government establishment of religion."

"At stake in the...

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Catholic Congregation Celebrates Diversity

January 8, 2001

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On January 8, 2001, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "voices in a multitude of languages joined in prayer Sunday for unity and cultural tolerance at the annual observance of National Migration Week at St.Pius V Church." 500 to 600 worshippers heard multiple languages in celebration of National Migration Week, which was "established by the National Council of Catholic Bishops to recognize the contribution every individual and every culture makes to the community." Rev. Mike Lydon, priest at St. Pius, said the...

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Growing Numbers of Hispanic Converts to Islam

January 7, 2001

Source: The Washington Post

On January 7, 2001, The Washington Post reported the conversion of thousands of Latinos nationwide to Islam. Hispanics are "the country's fastest-growing ethnic group," and Islam is "the nation's fastest-growing religion." There are 1 billion Muslims worldwide, and "the Muslim population in the United States is estimated at more than 4 million, nearly six times the number in 1970." The American Muslim Council, an advocacy group in Washington, estimates that 25,000 of these are Hispanic. "The largest communities are in New York...

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Pilgrims Seek Cure for Ailments in Church's Sacred Dirt

January 7, 2001

Source: Star Tribune

On January 7, 2001, the Star Tribune reported on the Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico, which has begun to attract "the devout, and the merely curious" from all over the globe. Sometimes called the American Lourdes, a town in France which is known as a place of healing, this 200-year-old adobe church's dirt is considered sacred because it "was expressly built on land where a crucifix mysteriously appeared nearly 200 years ago." Within lies "a small, shallow pit called 'el posito,' or Little Healing Well." Pilgrims wait in lines for...

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Armenian Americans Christians Celebrate Christmas in Armenian Tradition

January 7, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On January 7, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported the celebration of Christmas by thousands of Armenian Christians in southern California on January 6. They "and some other Eastern churches recognize Jan. 6, not Dec. 25, as Christ's birthday." There are an "estimated 300,000 to 400,000 Southern California Armenians," most of whom "welcomed Saturday as a chance to reconnect with their church, culture and motherland." Armenian Christianity has most of the elements of its Western counterpart, but "the traditions are practiced in...

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Episcopalians and Lutherans Celebrate New Alliance

January 7, 2001

Source: The New York Times

On January 7, 2001, The New York Times reported that, "after more than three decades of debate, the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America inaugurated an alliance...that will allow them to share clergy members, churches and missionary work." Each "church will retain its own structure and worship style," but the contract, "Called to Common Mission," "brings together two denominations that have long been separated by fundamental differences over the role and authority of bishops." The alliance was celebrated...

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Observance of Epiphany Spreads Among Christian Denominations

January 6, 2001

Source: The Denver Post

On January 6, 2001, The Denver Post reported on the increasing observance in the United States of the Christian holiday Epiphany, "which commemorates the visit by the Magi, or wise men, to the newborn Jesus." Also called the Festival of Lights, Epiphany "means appearance or manifestation, and in the Christian view it means the bodily appearance of the divine." Said the Rev. Tom Troeger, "for the first 300 years of Christianity, followers celebrated both Christ's birth and the Epiphany on the same...

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Crowds Expected for Celebration of Epiphany

January 6, 2001

Source: St. Petersburg Times

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/

On January 6, 2001, the St. Petersburg Times reported on this year's celebration of Epiphany, "one of the holiest days of the year in the Greek Orthodox Church." Because it falls on a Saturday, as many as 30,000 people, about twice the usual number, are expected in Tarpon Springs, FL. The ceremony at Spring Bayou is "the largest of its kind in the Western hemisphere" and "commemorates the baptism of Jesus Christ...

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Episcopalians and Lutherans Celebrate New Alliance

January 6, 2001

Source: Dallas Morning News

On January 6, 2001, the Dallas Morning News reported on the "Called to Common Mission" agreement between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church. The agreement "will allow the two churches...to swap clergy and share mission projects." The agreement was ratified by Lutherans in 1999 and by Episcopals in 2000.

Armenians Celebrate Christmas and Anniversary of Armenia's Conversion to Christianity

January 6, 2001

Source: Daily News (New York)

On January 6, 2001, the New York Daily News reported on American Armenians' celebration of Christmas this year. "Armenians celebrate it Jan. 6 because they use both lunar and solar calculations to set dates for religious holidays....Millions of other Christians - almost all members of Eastern Orthodox churches established after a split with Rome in the 11th century - celebrate Christmas tomorrow, but "for most Christians, Jan. 6 is...the Epiphany, which, depending on church doctrine or tradition, celebrates the three kings'...

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Christian Unity Week Celebrates Unity of Different Denominations

January 6, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On January 6, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported on Christian Unity Week, which begins Jan. 18 with a concert in Orange County. "The unity week will feature eight days of prayer and two programs designed to bring together Christian denominations." The Times calls the event "a promising truce in the bitter near-1,000-year family squabble between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches....The Great Schism of 1054 between the Roman Catholic church in the West and the Orthodox church in the East...

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Proposed School Calendar Changes Accommodate Jewish Holidays

January 6, 2001

Source: The Tampa Tribune

On January 6, 2001, The Tampa Tribune reported that Hillsborough County's proposed 2001-2002 school calendar "includes a day off in September coinciding with the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. The calendar also shows a spring break from March 25 to April 1, 2002, which would span both Easter and Passover." Jewish parents call the proposed changes to the calendar "a step in the right direction." Phyllis Rogoff, a Jewish parent who served on the district's calendar committee, said the changes...

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Archbishop reaches out to immigrant parishioners

January 5, 2001

Source: The Washington Post

On January 5, 2001, The Washington Post reported on the "newly installed Roman Catholic Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick...as the new spiritual leader of a half-million Washington area Catholics. An estimated 4,000 parishioners and dignitaries attended" the Mass of Installation to welcome him to the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. "From the altar, McCarrick looked down on one of the nation's most diverse group of Catholics...Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Pope John Paul II's...

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New Year's Traditions of the Black Community

January 1, 2001

Source: The Boston Globe

On January 1, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that every New Year's Eve African-Americans crowd churches in celebration of "Watch Night," a tradition that, according to oral tradition, "dates back to Dec. 31, 1862, the night before the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. That evening slaves gathered at churches to stay awake through the dawn for protection and inspiration. They literally watched the night pass until they were free." The celebration of Watch Night varies from church to church: many pastors in the South,...

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Pact Celebrates Unity of Lutheran and Episcopalian Churches

January 1, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On January 1, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that a unity agreement between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will be formally signed on Saturday at the Washington National Cathedral. The Called to Common Mission pact "allows members of the two denominations to receive communion in each other's churches and call either an Episcopal priest or a Lutheran minister their pastor." The agreement stems from the recognition that "both denominations have more in common than not....

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