Category: Religion

Same-sex civil unions now in effect in Illinois

by Ted Regencia, posted in Community, Lifestyle, Politics, Religion

AOL-Patch.com
June 01, 2011

By Ted Regencia

(Photo Credit: Carla Shaw)

SKOKIE, Ill — Carla Shaw and Karen Behen have been together for 19 years. The couple have known each other since childhood. But it was not until years later that they decided to become partners.

In between, Shaw got married and had two children. She later divorced her now-deceased husband, who she said was supportive of her relationship with another woman. Her two grown sons have also welcomed Behen, she noted.

On June 2, Shaw and Behen of Decatur will make it official at a mass ceremony planned at Millennium Park in downtown Chicago.

To read the full story, please visit AOL-Patch.com in Skokie

World to End on May 21? Skeptics Not Buying It

by Ted Regencia, posted in Community, Religion

AOL-Patch.com
May 20, 2011

By Ted Regencia

SKOKIE, Ill — If faithful listeners of the Christian broadcasting network Family Radio are to be believed, then the organizers of the Skokie Festival of Cultures picked the wrong date to kickstart the festivities on Saturday.

On that day, May 21, 2011, the world will come to an end, according to the Christian group Project Caravan, which has been crisscrossing the U.S., including the Chicago area, to spread its message. It is a claim widely received with skepticism if not outright dismissal from other religious and scientific communities.

“The end of the world is almost here,” Project Caravan proclaims on its radio station, its billboards, its leaflets and its website. “The bible guarantees it.”

Five months of natural disaster will commence on May 21, and earthquakes will cause widespread death among nonbelievers, while the believers will be saved from damnation and punishment.

To read the full story, please visit AOL-Patch.com

Arab-American Scholars: Mubarak’s Time is Up

by Ted Regencia, posted in Community, Politics, Religion

Patch.com
Feb. 01, 2011

Text by Ted Regencia

SKOKIE, Ill — As opposition groups in Egypt prepare to mount a million-person march on Tuesday, two professors of Middle Eastern studies at Oakton Community College’s Skokie campus say the time has come for President Hosni Mubarak to end his 30-year reign.

Egyptian-born Jaleh Sherbini and Middle East political analyst Ribhi I. Salhi said given the current political atmosphere, quitting is Mubarak’s only option. Staying in power, they added, is like “committing suicide.”

“It is time for him [Mubarak] to leave,” said Sherbini, whose family still lives in Cairo. “I would think that he would not only be committing suicide by deciding to stay. He has reached a point where no matter what he does, people are not willing to accept him anymore.”

“The heat is on, and the house is burning,” noted Salhi, a graduate of the University of Jordan and an expert on Muslim societies and cultures. “Mubarak has to understand that the time is up. I think in a couple of days, Mubarak is going to give up the ball.”

Continue reading “Arab-American Scholars: Mubarak’s Time is Up” →

Gay Civil Union Now Legal in Illinois

by Ted Regencia, posted in Community, Politics, Religion

Balitang America and Patch.com
Jan. 31, 2011

Text and video by Ted Regencia


CHICAGO — In what is seen as a victory for the gay rights movement, Gov. Pat Quinn signed today, January 31, a landmark legislation that recognizes same-sex unions in Illinois.

Quinn signed the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act before an excited crowd at the Chicago Cultural Center.

“Today is an important day in the history of our state because today we are showing the world that the people of Illinois believe in equality for all,” said Governor Quinn.

Continue reading “Gay Civil Union Now Legal in Illinois” →

Harvard grad finds inspiration in Haiti

by Ted Regencia, posted in Community, Religion

Patch.com
Jan. 12, 2011

By Ted Regencia

SKOKIE, Ill — As Haiti marks the anniversary of the deadly 2010 quake that claimed at least 220,000 lives, a Skokie lawyer and humanitarian worker is appealing for direct help to rebuild one community in the struggling Caribbean nation.

Rosalie Selinger Murphy, chairwoman of the Sharing Committee at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Evanston, said even with small donations, Chicagoans can make a difference in the lives of children and adults at St. Anne Parish in Limonade, Haiti.

While her work is centered on education and microfinance, Murphy told Skokie Patch that the effort to help the community recover from last year’s devastating magnitude 7 earthquake has been complicated by the recent cholera epidemic.

“Many people have died. That [cholera] has spread throughout the country. It’s very serious and people are very frightened,” said Murphy, who visited  northern Haiti in September shortly before the outbreak. Continue reading “Harvard grad finds inspiration in Haiti” →

Skokie rabbi rails at Obama’s terrorism policy

by Ted Regencia, posted in Community, Politics, Religion

Patch.com
Nov. 01, 2010

Text and photos by Ted Regencia

SKOKIE, Ill — Three days after the failed attempt to ship explosive materials from Yemen to two Chicago synagogues, a senior rabbi of the Skokie-based Ezra-Habonim Jewish Congregation is calling out the Obama administration for its counterterrorism policy.

“We need the U.S. administration to understand we are in a battle vs islamic extremism,” Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg wrote in an e-mail sent to Skokie Patch on Sunday.

Ginsburg, who heads the conservative reconstructionist congregation, cited a Washington Post article that reported President Barack Obama’s advisers were planning to drop terms like “Islamic radicalism” from a document outlining national security strategy.

According to the newspaper story, the move is an effort to emphasize “that the U.S. does not view Muslim nations through the lens of terrorism.”

Continue reading “Skokie rabbi rails at Obama’s terrorism policy” →

Amid Qur’an controversy, Muslims celebrate Eid

by Ted Regencia, posted in Community, Politics, Religion

AOL-Patch.com
September 11, 2010

Text and photos by Ted Regencia

SKOKIE, Ill — Friday marks the first full day of Eid al-Fitr, a three-day feast celebrating the end of Ramadan, a month-long period of prayer and fasting for Muslims.

Amid twin controversies over the threat of Qur’an burning in Florida, and the planned construction of the Cordoba House mosque in New York, Skokie-area Muslims thronged to the Muslim Community Center (MCC) in Morton Grove to reflect and celebrate.

Niles North student Zohra Raja, 16, and younger sister Sara, 13, were in a lively mood as they emerged from prayer. The Raja sisters, whose family comes from Lahore, Pakistan, were looking forward to getting together with relatives to share “lots of spicy food” and receive monetary gifts from elders.
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Couples for Christ in the US splits up

by Ted Regencia, posted in Community, Politics, Religion

PINOY Newsmagazine/GMANews.TV/Inquirer.net
August 2007

Text and photos by Ted Regencia


CHICAGO — In a struggle often described in biblical terms, the Couples For Christ (CfC), one of the biggest Catholic lay organizations in the Philippines, with membership in 160 countries, announced that it has split into two, with the larger segment remaining as CfC.

“It is with a heavy heart that I relay to you the Joint Statement of Frank Padilla and the CfC International Council declaring the split,” Ricky Cuenca, CfC USA Country Coordinator, said in a letter to CfC members in the US.

This developed as Cuenca urged dissenters “to stop all these negative emails, accusations and personal attacks on certain leaders and all other conduct unworthy of Christian leaders.

Like Joshua, today we crossed the river Jordan under the continuing guidance of the Lord,” Cuenca told the members of CfC. “Just like most of you, I had agonized and struggled with the conflict within CfC.”
Continue reading “Couples for Christ in the US splits up” →

Dead Filipino priest named in Chicago sex abuse case

by Ted Regencia, posted in Community, Religion

PINOY Newsmagazine/Philippine News
April 2006

By Ted Regencia

CHICAGO — In an effort to stem an ongoing abuse controversy, the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago released on March 21 the result of an investigation, which named 55 diocesan priests who are facing “substantiated allegations” of abuse.

One of them is now deceased Filipino priest Fr. Albert Tanghal.

The names of the priests are listed in the archdiocese’s website http://www.archidiocese-chgo.org. Details of the allegations, which date as far back as 1950, were not made public.

At the Tuesday press conference, Francis Cardinal George endured sharp questions by the media, and offered his apology, “for the tragedy of allowing children to be in the presence of a priest against whom a current accusation of sexual abuse had been made.” “I am most truly sorry,” the cardinal said on TV.

Fr. Tanghal, who was ordained in 1991, was last known to have served St. John Vianney Parish, located in the northwest Chicago suburb of Northlake, and which has a significant number of Filipino churchgoers.
Continue reading “Dead Filipino priest named in Chicago sex abuse case” →