OKLAHOMA CITY (RNS) Driving to his downtown clothing business, Hans Herman Thun finds it impossible to ignore the beggars. They catch his attention with handwritten, cardboard signs such as “Homeless and hungry,” “Anything helps! God bless” and even “I’ll be honest — I could really use a beer.” Thun, a self-described born-again Christian, works as a tailor for prominent customers such as University of Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops. The owner of Hans Herman Custom Tailors said he does his best to help those in need. “If I’ve got money, and it’s easy for me to get over and give them money, I do,” Thun said. “What the Lord taught me is, I have a responsibility to give. What they choose to do with the money is between them and the Lord, and he can work with them in regards to stewardship.” But in Oklahoma City and major cities across the nation, elected officials increasingly are passing ordinances that crack down on panhandling. Typically, these ordinances make it a … [Read more...]

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Donald Trump is known as a climate change skeptic with a short attention span for reading, especially if the text isn’t about him. But Pope Francis is a man of faith who lives in hope, and during the first, highly anticipated meeting between these two world leaders with sharply contrasting visions the pontiff gave the president three documents, including his landmark encyclical underscoring the perils of global warming. “I will be reading them,” Trump promised Francis when the pope presented the gifts to the president after 30 minutes of private talks at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on Wednesday morning (May 24). Francis also gave the president a small sculptured olive tree and told him through the interpreter that it symbolized peace. “It is my desire that you become an olive tree to construct peace,” the Argentine-born pope said, speaking in his native Spanish through an interpreter. Trump responded: “We can use peace.” In a statement … [Read more...]

ROME (RNS) Nine Catholic organizations from around the world have announced they are divesting their savings from coal, oil and gas companies in a joint bid to fight climate change. Religious orders and dioceses from the U.S. and Italy made the announcement Wednesday (May 10), ahead of international negotiations due this month on implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change. Their announcement comes amid reports that President Trump has delayed a decision to withdraw from the Paris accord until after the Group of Seven meeting in Sicily on May 26-27. During his presidential campaign, Trump vowed to cancel U.S. participation in the accord, which obliges countries to slash their greenhouse gas emissions to keep global temperatures from rising to catastrophic levels. That agreement was signed by former President Obama, who was in Milan, Italy, this week at a forum on climate change and food availability. “We wish to emphasize the urgency of the climate crisis and deepen … [Read more...]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (USA Today) A 112-year-old pipe organ in the sanctuary of a now-closed church needs a new home. The $500,000 instrument is in good condition and free — if you can pay $10,000 to $30,000 to remove it from the old West Nashville United Methodist Church and reassemble it. But the trouble is that the 1905 George Kilgen & Son pipe organ isn’t alone in needing to be relocated. About 450 other organs are available across the USA, and demand is slight, said Executive Director John Bishop of the Boston-based Organ Clearing House, which helps save high-quality pipe organs from abandonment or destruction. “If I have 450 organs listed and I can place 20 a year, I’m doing very well,” Bishop said. The glut of organs up for grabs is in part a consequence of declining church membership across denominations, he said. Fewer people in the pews can lead to low bank balances and church closures. Whenever a church closes, staff determine what items in the church may be … [Read more...]

(RNS)President Trump has signed an executive order gutting enforcement of a law known as the Johnson Amendment. In his remarks before the signing Thursday (May 4), the president said: “Under my administration, free speech does not end at the steps of a cathedral or a synagogue or any other house of worship. … We are giving our churches their voices back.” What is the Johnson Amendment and why were many religious leaders eager to see it scrapped — while many others wanted it preserved? What is the Johnson Amendment? The Johnson Amendment is a 1954 law signed by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower and named for then-Texas Sen. Lyndon Johnson. Johnson was not interested in religious organizations when he proposed — and pushed through in typical Johnson heavy-handed fashion — the amendment, but he was hoping to silence two nonprofit groups campaigning against him as “a closet Communist.” The Johnson Amendment prohibits registered 501(c)(3) organizations — which include some … [Read more...]

(RNS) President Trump’s new religious liberty executive order is being hailed by supporters, including some evangelical leaders who say he is following through with promises to them. The order not only eases a health care mandate against religious “conscience-based objections” but also reduces enforcement of partisan politicking in the pulpit. But critics ready to challenge the order, issued on Thursday (May 4) — the National Day of Prayer  — have been joined by some conservatives who are saying the order doesn’t go far enough. Here’s a sampling of the praise and the protests: Ralph Reed, chairman, Faith and Freedom Coalition “By ending the Obamacare mandates that violate the religious faith of the Little Sisters of the Poor and other faith-based nonprofits, this executive order lifts a cloud of fear over people of faith and ensures they will no longer be subjected to litigation, harassment and persecution simply for expressing their religious beliefs.” Jon O’Brien, … [Read more...]