Religious News From Around the Web February 15, 2021

Cuomo’s Church Limitations Tossed Out, U.S. Catholic Schools Enrollment Drop, Jehovah’s Witness Sentenced to 7 years Prison in Russia, SCOTUS Lets Stand Alabama Decision to Require Chaplain in Death Chamber, Seven Amazing Temples from Around the World (Photos)

Cuomo’s Church Limitations Tossed Out

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had last year ordered limits on indoor prayer services to 10 people in areas where the virus was spreading fastest and to 25 people in other areas within hot spots. But after the U.S. Supreme Court sided with houses of worship challenging such restrictions, and so U. S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, reversed her former decision upholding restrictions and blocked New York’s restrictions with a permanent injunction.

U.S. Catholic Schools Enrollment Drop
U. S. Roman Catholic schools’ enrollment dropped 6.4 percent from the previous academic year amid the pandemic and economic stresses — the largest single-year decline in at least five decades, according to Catholic education officials. More than 200 schools closed or consolidated and parents’ difficult paying tuition of more than $5,000 for grades K-8 and $10,000 for secondary schools, and the difficulty for many parents of paying tuition fees that average more than $5,000 for grades K-8 and more than $10,000 for secondary schools, according to the National Catholic Educational Association. But the strict injunction against public money for religious education will soon be challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court in the wake of Espinoza v Montana Department of Revenue.

Jehovah’s Witness Sentenced to 7 years Prison in Russia

In 2017 Russia banned Jehovah’s Witnesses as “an extremist organization” and has 46 members in prison and more than 25 under house arrest. The latest case is 63-year-old Alexander Ivashin who was sentenced to seven years in prison for holding religious discussions with friends in another city by video link.

SCOTUS Lets Stand Alabama Decision to Require Chaplain in Death Chamber
The Supreme Court recently let stand a ruling that halted the execution of an Alabama inmate unless the state allowed his pastor to be present in the death chamber.
The inmate, Willie B. Smith III, a Christian, sought to have his pastor, Robert Paul Wiley Jr., provide him with spiritual guidance and comfort his lawyers wrote “including by holding his hand, praying with him in his final moments and easing the transition between the worlds of the living and the dead.”

Seven Amazing Temples from Around the World (Photos)
Photos from some of the most beautiful temples from around the world including: Meenakshi Temple India, Wat Rong Khun Thailand, Abu Simbel Egypt, Kinkakuji Japan, Paro Taktsang Bhutan, Temple of Heaven China, Lotus Temple India,