Faith – Winnipeg Free Press

JOHN LONGHURST / FREE PRESS Archbishop Murray Chatlain

Archbishop urges Catholics to learn about Indigenous spirituality

John Longhurst 3 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

Roman Catholics will benefit by taking time to learn more about Indigenous spirituality, the head of the Archdiocese of Winnipeg says.

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The Latest: Trump says Iran ‘wants to make a deal’ but the Islamic Republic denies any talks

The Associated Press 17 minute read Preview

The Latest: Trump says Iran ‘wants to make a deal’ but the Islamic Republic denies any talks

The Associated Press 17 minute read Updated: 5:17 PM CDT

U.S. President Donald Trump extended his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, saying the U.S. will hold off striking Iranian power plants for five more days.

Trump said U.S. envoys have been holding talks with a “respected” Iranian leader, and Iran wants “to make a deal.” Iranian officials denied any such negotiations, and declared that the American leader had backed down “following Iran’s firm warning.”

Relief ripped through financial markets Monday as oil prices eased following severe losses prior to Trump’s announcement. Financial markets have had vicious swings, both up and down, since the war began because of uncertainty about how long it may last.

Trump also said the U.S. would seek to retrieve Iran’s enriched uranium and end its nuclear program as part of a deal, telling reporters: “We want to see no nuclear bomb, no nuclear weapon. Not even close to it.”

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Updated: 5:17 PM CDT

Smoke and flames rise from an Israeli airstrike that hit the Qasmiyeh Bridge near the coastal city of Tyre, Lebanon, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Pope Leo moves Father Flanagan of Boys Town fame closer to possible sainthood

Peter Smith And Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Pope Leo moves Father Flanagan of Boys Town fame closer to possible sainthood

Peter Smith And Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: 1:55 PM CDT

Pope Leo XIV put the Rev. Edward Joseph Flanagan a step closer to possible sainthood Monday as he proclaimed the “heroic virtues” of the founder of Boys Town, a Nebraska home for at-risk youths that gained national renown and inspired an Oscar-winning biopic performance.

With Leo's proclamation, the priest commonly known as “Father Flanagan” is now officially declared “venerable.” Later steps on a possible path of sainthood would include beatification and ultimately canonization.

Omaha Archbishop Michael McGovern said he is “overjoyed” with the news.

“We continue to pray that he will one day be beatified and ultimately declared a saint,” the archbishop said in a statement. “In the meantime, may we work to affirm the dignity of every person created in God’s image by serving the poor, the abandoned and the vulnerable, especially at-risk youth.”

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Updated: 1:55 PM CDT

FILE - Boys Town students hold portraits of Boys Town founder Father Edward Flanagan outside St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha, Neb., Feb. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

A rare look inside the Sistine Chapel for a private concert about angel encounters

David Biller, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

A rare look inside the Sistine Chapel for a private concert about angel encounters

David Biller, The Associated Press 4 minute read Yesterday at 5:25 PM CDT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s Sistine Chapel hosted a concert Sunday evening, debuting a composition focused on interactions with angels found throughout the Bible.

The Vatican sometimes hosts concerts in the chapel for visiting musicians and other special occasions. But the events are always invite-only, and it is extremely rare for photojournalists to receive access.

“I have to make an awkward announcement,” Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster, said before the show, then told the roughly 200 attendees, mostly native English speakers, that they couldn't use their phones to film or photograph the premiere. Guests included Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney and the UK's former Prime Minister Theresa May.

The 70-minute oratorio, “Angels Unawares,” is comprised of 12 pieces, each representing a story drawn from the Bible. Sir James MacMillan composed it using texts by Robert Willis, the former Dean of Canterbury who passed away in late 2024, not long after completing the work.

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Yesterday at 5:25 PM CDT

Conductor Harry Christopher, center, with tenor Matthew McKinney, left, soprano Elizabeth Watts, second from left, and The Sixteen present Angels Unawares byJames MacMillan in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

People ‘bathe’ in nature to get respite from chaotic news cycle

Allen G. Breed, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

People ‘bathe’ in nature to get respite from chaotic news cycle

Allen G. Breed, The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: 8:38 AM CDT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — For two hours, Claire Jefferies wanted to get away from the war in Iran and the rising gas prices and just commune with nature. And, so, she treated herself to a little forest bathing.

“When I’m here, it’s almost like a protective bubble around me," the human resources director said amid oaks and flowering magnolias at the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, North Carolina. "It provides a shield.”

The Sunday morning session was led by certified forest therapy guide Shawn Ramsey. Jingling a tiny brass bell, she called her dozen or so charges to gather for meditation, breathing exercises and to commune with nature.

“I invite you to really spend the next 10 minutes just exploring this area," she said, her own eyes closed. "Really focusing on your breath, on your footsteps. All the natural sounds around you. Maybe the manmade sounds, too. Thinking about the forest’s natural rhythm and how are part of that here in this urban, forested environment.”

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Updated: 8:38 AM CDT

Alan Mintz smells a crushed conifer twig during a

Syrian authorities’ new limits on alcohol sales in Damascus spark backlash

Omar Sanadiki, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Syrian authorities’ new limits on alcohol sales in Damascus spark backlash

Omar Sanadiki, The Associated Press 4 minute read Yesterday at 10:20 AM CDT

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Crowds of Syrians rallied Sunday to protest authorities' efforts to limit the sale and consumption of alcohol in Damascus, reflecting rising anxiety in the cosmopolitan capital that Syria’s new Islamist government may threaten long-held secular freedoms.

Hundreds of residents from a range of religious sects poured into a grassy square in Bab Touma, a Christian neighborhood in Damascus, chanting “Syrians are united!” and brandishing signs that urged the government to safeguard personal liberties and religious minorities.

“This is not about whether we want to drink alcohol, this is about personal freedom,” said Isa Qazah, a 45-year-old sculptor from the area who joined the protest along the medieval stone lanes near Damascus' Old City. "We have come here to defend an idea."

Heavily armed security forces surrounded the protesters. The demonstration passed without incident.

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Yesterday at 10:20 AM CDT

Protesters hold signs during a demonstration against against new alcohol restrictions that limit sales largely to Christian areas in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, March 22, 2026.(AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Israeli settlers smash cars and set fires in the West Bank as 4 Palestinians killed in Gaza

Sam Metz, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Israeli settlers smash cars and set fires in the West Bank as 4 Palestinians killed in Gaza

Sam Metz, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 5:43 PM CDT

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — At least 10 Palestinians were injured Sunday night in attacks in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers, who rampaged through nearby villages after holding a funeral for a settler killed in a car crash a night earlier.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the wounded in Deir al-Hatab included a 45-year-old man shot in the foot and a woman suffering from smoke inhalation. Videos obtained by The Associated Press show cars and homes set ablaze as army flares lit up the sky near the village east of Nablus and next to the Israeli settlement of Elon Moreh.

The arson and assaults in four Nablus-area villages on Sunday came a day after the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported simultaneous attacks in at least six communities overnight — the latest spates of violence in the occupied West Bank.

Sunday night's rampage came after mourners in the settlement of Elon Moreh held a funeral for Yehuda Sherman, an 18-year-old Israeli settler. Authorities said he was killed in a collision with a Palestinian vehicle in an area north of the villages attacked. Police said they were investigating the settlers’ claims that the collision was deliberate. Israel's military did not respond to questions about Sunday night's attacks.

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Updated: Yesterday at 5:43 PM CDT

This is a locator map of Israel and the Palestinian Territories. (AP Photo)

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Iran threatens to ‘completely’ close Strait of Hormuz and hit power plants after Trump ultimatum

Alon Bernstein, Sam Metz And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Iran threatens to ‘completely’ close Strait of Hormuz and hit power plants after Trump ultimatum

Alon Bernstein, Sam Metz And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 7:16 PM CDT

ARAD, Israel (AP) — The United States and Iran threatened to target critical infrastructure Sunday as the war in the Middle East, now in its fourth week, puts lives and livelihoods at risk throughout the region.

Iran said the Strait of Hormuz, crucial to oil and other exports, would be "completely closed” immediately if the U.S. follows up on President Donald Trump's threat to attack its power plants. Trump late Saturday set a 48-hour deadline to open the strait.

Israeli leaders visited one of two southern communities near a secretive nuclear research site struck by Iranian missiles late Saturday, with scores of people wounded. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a “miracle” no one was killed.

Netanyahu claimed Israel and the U.S. were well on their way to achieving their war goals. The aims have ranged from weakening Iran's nuclear program, missile program and support for armed proxies to enabling the Iranian people to overthrow the theocracy.

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Updated: Yesterday at 7:16 PM CDT

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men watch as Israeli security forces and rescue teams operate at the site hit by an Iranian missile in Arad, southern Israel, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

The Latest: New threats from Trump and Iran heighten risks to energy supplies

The Associated Press 23 minute read Preview

The Latest: New threats from Trump and Iran heighten risks to energy supplies

The Associated Press 23 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 11:07 PM CDT

President Donald Trump warned the U.S. will “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it doesn’t fully open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, prompting Tehran to say it would respond to any such strike with attacks on U.S. and Israeli energy and infrastructure assets.

Iranian missiles, meanwhile, struck two communities in southern Israel late Saturday, leaving buildings shattered and dozens injured in dual attacks not far from Israel’s main nuclear research center.

The developments signaled the war was moving in a dangerous new direction at the start of its fourth week. Trump — who is facing increasing pressure at home to secure the strait as oil prices soar — issued the ultimatum in a social media post while he spent the weekend at his Florida home.

The death toll from the war has risen to more than 1,500 people in Iran, more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 U.S. military members, as well as a number of civilians on land and sea in the Gulf region. Millions of people in Lebanon and Iran have been displaced.

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Updated: Yesterday at 11:07 PM CDT

Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect the crater left by an Iranian missile in Arad, southern Israel, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Syrian Kurds return home to celebrate Nowruz for the first time since exile

Ghaith Alsayed, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Syrian Kurds return home to celebrate Nowruz for the first time since exile

Ghaith Alsayed, The Associated Press 6 minute read Saturday, Mar. 21, 2026

AL BASOUTA, Syria (AP) — Abdul Rahman Omar fled his village in the Afrin district in northern Syria eight years ago as a Turkish offensive against Kurdish fighters swept across the area.

Now he is among hundreds of Kurds who have recently returned to Afrin. He joined neighbors in celebrating the spring festival of Nowruz for the first time since their return from exile, and for the first time after the government declared the celebration a national holiday.

Nowruz, the Farsi-language word for “new year,” is an ancient Persian festival that is also celebrated by Kurds in Syria, Turkey and Iraq as well as Iran. It is characterized by colorful street festivals and torch-bearing processions winding their way into the mountains. The 3,000-year-old festival is rooted in the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism and is marked by people across faiths including Zoroastrians, Muslims, Christians, Jews and those of the Baha’i faith as well as by millions in the diaspora.

Omar joined a row of young men and women in a line dance to a pounding beat Friday evening and then processed up into the hills above the village of al-Basouta. They hoisted torches and Kurdish flags and spelled out the word “raperin,” meaning “uprising” in Kurdish, with flames.

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Saturday, Mar. 21, 2026

Syrian Kurds hold lit torches as they celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, in the village of Basuta in the Afrin countryside, Syria, Friday, March 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Shia Islam plays powerful role in Iran’s determined resistance against U.S., Israel

John Longhurst 5 minute read Preview

Shia Islam plays powerful role in Iran’s determined resistance against U.S., Israel

John Longhurst 5 minute read Saturday, Mar. 21, 2026

Madeline Albright was the first woman to be Secretary of State in the U.S., holding that position from 1997 to 2001 under president Bill Clinton.

One thing she learned during her time as America’s top diplomat was the important role that religion played when making decisions about foreign policy.

“Religion has to be considered as we look at various conflicts,” she said. “Our diplomats have to understand the religious basis of these conflicts. In fact, they have to have training in religion. I would also make a point of the secretary of state having more religious advisers.”

Why do I bring up Albright now? Because the Trump administration, which is now at war against Iran, could have benefitted from her insight before launching its attack three weeks ago. Knowing more about the religious make-up of Iran would have helped them anticipate the regime’s fierce resistance during this conflict.

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Saturday, Mar. 21, 2026

Ebrahim Noroozi / The Associated Press files
Iranian women pray during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of Imam Ali, the first Imam of Shia Muslims, near Tehran.

Iran strikes near Israeli nuclear research center as Trump threatens attacks on Iranian power plants

Samy Magdy, Melanie Lidman And Jill Lawless, The Associated Press 8 minute read Preview

Iran strikes near Israeli nuclear research center as Trump threatens attacks on Iranian power plants

Samy Magdy, Melanie Lidman And Jill Lawless, The Associated Press 8 minute read Saturday, Mar. 21, 2026

CAIRO (AP) — Iranian missiles struck two communities in southern Israel late Saturday, leaving buildings shattered and dozens injured in dual attacks not far from Israel’s main nuclear research center, while President Donald Trump warned the U.S. will “obliterate” Iranian power plants if it doesn’t fully open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.

The developments signaled the war was moving in a dangerous new direction at the start of its fourth week.

Trump — who is facing increasing pressure at home to secure the strait as oil prices soar — issued the ultimatum in a social media post while he spent the weekend at his Florida home.

Trump said he’s giving Iran 48 hours to open the vital waterway or face a new round of attacks. He said the U.S. would destroy “various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!”

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Saturday, Mar. 21, 2026

A man prays over the graves of Hezbollah fighters killed, at Al-Hawraa Zaynab Cemetery during Eid al-Fitr in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Friday, March 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

The Latest: Israel intensifying attacks, Iran shows defiance as its nuclear site hit

The Associated Press 19 minute read Preview

The Latest: Israel intensifying attacks, Iran shows defiance as its nuclear site hit

The Associated Press 19 minute read Saturday, Mar. 21, 2026

Iranian missiles struck two communities in southern Israel late Saturday, leaving buildings shattered and dozens injured and in an attack not far from Israel’s main nuclear research center, as the war spun into a dangerous new direction.

The Iranian strikes came after Tehran’s main nuclear enrichment site at Natanz was hit earlier in the day.

Israel’s military said it was not able to intercept missiles that hit the southern cities of Dimona and Arad, the largest near the center in Israel’s sparsely populated Negev desert.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said more emergency crews were being sent to the scene.

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Saturday, Mar. 21, 2026

People take shelter in an Underground tunnel as air raid sirens signal a warning of incoming Iranian missiles in Jerusalem, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israel strikes Hezbollah’s civilian as well as military wings in an attempt to crush the group

Bassem Mroue, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Israel strikes Hezbollah’s civilian as well as military wings in an attempt to crush the group

Bassem Mroue, The Associated Press 6 minute read Friday, Mar. 20, 2026

BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli strike on a health center in southern Lebanon instantly killed 12 medical workers, seriously wounded one and left four missing under the rubble for hours.

The March 13 strike in the village of Burj Qalaouiyah, one of the single deadliest strikes in Lebanon since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2, targeted a center run by Hezbollah’s health arm, the Islamic Health Society, which has so far lost 24 members over the past two weeks.

Since the latest war began, Israel’s military has not only been targeting the group’s military assets but also its civilian institutions in an apparent attempt to weaken the Iran-backed group further and try to push its supporters away from it.

Hezbollah is a political party as well as an armed group, and its health and social service institutions have helped strengthen its base of support over the years.

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Friday, Mar. 20, 2026

File - Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes that struck a building housing Al-Manar channel studios in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, early on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)

Taylor Tomlinson’s Netflix special is too ungodly for many churches. This one welcomed her.

Kathryn Post, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Taylor Tomlinson’s Netflix special is too ungodly for many churches. This one welcomed her.

Kathryn Post, The Associated Press 6 minute read Friday, Mar. 20, 2026

(RNS) — “My iPhone started capitalizing the G in God again without asking me,” Taylor Tomlinson says in her latest Netflix stand-up special, gripping a mic beneath the ornate ceiling of Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “The robots are coming, and they love the Lord.”

Wearing a cross on her necklace and a long leather jacket, Tomlinson looked right at home in the vaulted sanctuary. But the comedian’s set, filmed in November and released on Feb. 24 with the title “Prodigal Daughter,” would be regarded as irreverent at best by most nondenominational Christian congregations. Filled with sexual themes, f-bombs and jokes about everything from foreskins to the crucifixion — “I hope I die in a way that looks good on jewelry,” she quips — it would rate as blasphemous in many.

But Tomlinson’s edgy content is exactly what made Fountain Street the perfect venue, church leaders say. The historic congregation is known for its support of abortion access, free speech and LGBTQ+ rights. It’s also an interreligious community that rejects specific doctrines.

“The charge that has been leveled against Fountain Street Church since the 1890s is that it’s not really a church,” said Fountain Street’s leader, the Rev. Nathan Dannison.

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Friday, Mar. 20, 2026

FILE - Taylor Tomlinson arrives at the 77th Directors Guild of America Awards on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello,File)

Patriarch Filaret, who fought for an independent Ukrainian Orthodox church, dies at 97

Peter Smith, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Patriarch Filaret, who fought for an independent Ukrainian Orthodox church, dies at 97

Peter Smith, The Associated Press 5 minute read Friday, Mar. 20, 2026

Patriarch Filaret of Kyiv — who worked for decades to establish an independent Ukrainian Orthodox church that was free from Moscow's religious authority, a schism that foreshadowed the Russia-Ukraine war — died Friday. He was 97.

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine announced his death, citing the “exacerbation of chronic diseases.”

Filaret had a more limited role in recent years as the cultural and religious divide between Ukraine and Russia widened into full-scale warfare. But his legacy includes a long and partially successful effort to gain recognition of an independent Ukrainian Orthodox jurisdiction.

“The person and numerous good deeds of the late Patriarch Filaret rightfully occupy a special place in the modern history of both the local Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Ukraine as a whole,” said Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kyiv, who leads the OCU.

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Friday, Mar. 20, 2026

March 23, 2026

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