Articles by Duke Helf

Sukkot is one of the most joyous holidays on the Jewish calendar, a seven-day period known as the “season of our rejoicing” that follows shortly after the solemnity of Yom Kippur. Read more

A week ago, Father Geoffrey Farrow stood before his Roman Catholic parishioners in Fresno and delivered a sermon that placed him squarely at odds with his church over gay marriage. Read more

As a young boy in Poland before World War II, Karol Jozef Wojtyla possessed an uncommon warmth for an often reviled group of outsiders – Jews. Read more

A watchdog group that advocates the separation of church and state has filed complaints with the Internal Revenue Service against seven churches, including one in Orange County, where pastors on Sunday endorsed presidential candidates or delivered political sermons – defying a federal ban on campaigning by nonprofit groups. Read more

Setting the stage for a collision of religion and politics, Christian ministers from California and 21 other states will use their pulpits Sunday to deliver political sermons or endorse presidential candidates – defying a federal ban on campaigning by nonprofit groups. Read more

The dancing rabbis are whirling around the stage of the Chabad “To Life” Telethon, unmistakably Hasidic in their thick beards and black coats. Read more

California’s six most senior Episcopal bishops today unanimously declared their opposition to a constitutional amendment on the statewide November ballot that would ban same-sex marriage. Read more

A year-old legal agreement requiring the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to release confidential personnel records of priests accused of sexual abuse has been thrown into limbo by the departure of a retired judge selected to vet the documents. Read more

Long Beach police were seeking the public’s help today to identify a woman who nearly drowned late last week while swimming in the ocean near the Belmont Shore section of Long Beach. Read more