Beyond Belief

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Kansas City

Focus on ‘Spotlight’ Film Recalls Local Church Crisis

On Dec. 10, 2004, a few months before Robert W. Finn became bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, I interviewed him for The Kansas City Star about the challenges he might face when he replaced the much-loved Bishop Raymond Boland. Finn was coadjutor bishop at the time. Neither Finn nor I, of…

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‘Die Moving Forward.’

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on Jan. 12, and has been updated with video from the event. Click on the play button above to hear part of the keynote speech from the Rev. Dr. Gary V. Simpson, senior pastor of the Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, New York. Who knew that the…

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Making Buddhism Matter, in KC

“Come inside.” Lama Chuck Stanford is standing just inside Kansas City’s Rime Buddhist Center on a frosty Sunday morning in late December, urging the morning’s volunteer greeter to come in from the cold. She can welcome people once they come indoors, he says. It’s what other greeters do. As visitors arrive to the entryway of the…

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Year’s End Brings Changes for KC’s Rime Buddhist Center

As the year ends, Lama Chuck Stanford is departing his role as leader of Rime Buddhist Center, and he made his final public appearance in that role early this morning, at the Center’s annual New Year’s Eve “World Peace Meditation.” [For much more on this story, see our multimedia update] Members of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, representing more…

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U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver

KC Community Shows Support for Muslim Neighbors

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver held a holiday party and interfaith rally Sunday to show support for Kansas City’s Muslim community.

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Interfaith Group Seeks to Welcome, Not Shun, Syrian Refugees

Responding to calls for a halt to the settlement of Syrian refugees in the United States, an ad hoc group of Kansas City faith groups, organized under the name “People of Faith for Peace,” held a rally Sunday at the Liberty Memorial. About 100 people braved the afternoon’s rainy weather and answered the organizers’ call…

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Climate Change: Why Pope Francis Considers It a Crisis

As the United Nations climate change summit wraps up this weekend in Paris, three local groups sponsored a gathering at Queen of the Holy Rosary Church in Overland Park to discuss Pope Francis’s call for action on the environment (Laudato Sí), and to learn what action they can take locally to combat global warming. The Kanza…

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A Turkey in Good Faith

Ahsan Latif, a devout Muslim from Lawrence, Kansas, understands people’s misconceptions about Muslims. He also understands how events like the Paris shootings can paint his faith in a negative light for anyone watching the disturbing images on television. “Most people have never even met a Muslim,” Latif said. On a recent Saturday morning, Latif is…

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