VATICAN CITY (RNS) — After nearly 50 days of a nation-wide lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Italian government is beginning to outline “Phase Two,” which will allow the opening of some businesses and freedom of movement for currently home-bound citizens — but which will not allow Masses.

The leading coalition in Italy has decided that starting May 4, citizens will be able to leave the house freely without documentation and hold small weddings and funerals. Restaurants and other shops will open at half-capacity in mid-May; nothing has yet been said about gyms, cinemas and parks.

But what emerged from the consultation between governments and private entities is that religious gatherings and Masses will remain forbidden, at least for the time being.

The Italian prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, told reporters in a press conference on Sunday (April 26) that this was the result of “rigidity” within the scientific and technical committee charged with preventing the spread of the pandemic.

The news came as a blow for Italian Catholic bishops, who had consulted with the government for weeks to ensure that their religious freedom be respected as soon as the virus was under control.

“The Church has accepted, with sorrow and a sense of duty, the limitations imposed by the government to address the health emergency,” read a note by the Italian Episcopal…

A Louisiana pastor who was given an ankle bracelet and ordered by a judge not to preach in-person during a statewide quarantine violated the order Sunday, telling his congregation it’s a “dirty rotten shame when you’re hiding in America.”

For weeks, Rev. Tony Spell of Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, La., has gained national headlines due to his refusal to follow a statewide ban on mass gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He was arrested last week for allegedly threatening to run over a protester in a church bus. Spell said he was innocent. He subsequently was released, but a judge ordered him to wear an ankle bracelet and “refrain from any and all criminal conduct, including but not limited to strictly abiding by the all emergency orders issued by the Governor of the State of Louisiana,” The Advocate newspaper reported. The judge placed him under house arrest. 

Spell, who lives about 50 yards from Life Tabernacle, walked to the church Sunday and delivered a sermon, just as he has in previous weeks.

Spell had planned on turning himself into the jail after the service Sunday, but District Attorney Hillar Moore III told The Advocate that law enforcement was too busy working on a shooting to pursue the matter. 

Judge Fred Crifasi, who placed Spell under house arrest, said a hearing on whether the pastor violated the order will be held when the court opens…

Federal prosecutors have been ordered to monitor state and local coronavirus restrictions to determine if any could be “violating the constitutional rights and civil liberties of individual citizens.” 

The order, issued by Attorney General William Barr, came Monday, the same day a group of Pennsylvania business owners appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to temporarily block that state’s order that shuttered their companies.

Under the terms of the memo sent by Barr, the federal Justice Department’s civil rights division and the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan will lead the monitoring effort to determine if any of the orders go too far, Fox News reported.

“If a state or local ordinance crosses the line from an appropriate exercise of authority to stop the spread of COVID-19 into an overbearing infringement of constitutional and statutory protections, the Department of Justice may have an obligation to address that overreach in federal court,” the memo read.

One group of Pennsylvania business owners already believe the order in their state is causing “substantial, unprecedented damage to the economy” and is seeking an immediate stay of the order, according to SCOTUSblog.com. The petitioners—Friends of Danny Devito (a candidate committee not related to the actor with the same name), Kathy Gregory, B&J Laundry, LLC, Blueberry Hill Public Golf…

JOS, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Muslim Fulani herdsmen on Wednesday and Thursday (April 22-23) killed two people, kidnapped another and burned down a church building that included the pastor’s home in attacks on predominantly Christian areas in north-central Nigeria, sources said.

Two people were also wounded in the attacks in southern Kaduna state that burned 25 houses, said Luka Binniyat, spokesman for the Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU), an umbrella body uniting predominantly Christian ethnic groups in the region.

“This and many other savageries on our communities in recent times affirm the fear that, for our vulnerable communities, the danger posed to our existence and well-being by the coronavirus pandemic is less grim than the perennial murderous acts of armed herdsmen,” Binniyat said in a press statement.

Fulani herdsmen attacks on Wednesday (April 22) in Atang village, near Gidan Waya in Godogodo chiefdom of Jema’a County, began with gunshots at about 10 p.m., he said.

“After the pandemonium, it was discovered that the invaders had kidnapped Mr. Emmanuel Iliya Atang, son of the chief of Godogodo chiefdom,” Binniyat said. “Emmanuel, 47, is married with two children.”

The abductors have asked for 30 million naira (US$76,565) in ransom, he said.

On Thursday (April 23), armed herdsmen attacked Kujeni village in Kajuru County, killing Geoffrey…

A Massachusetts church’s virtual service was disrupted this week by “Zoombombers.”

Tabernacle Congregational Church, a United Church of Christ church in Salem, was streaming its online worship service Sunday when someone interrupted their stream with a racist video.

According to The Christian Post, the rogue stream included footage of a Ku Klux Klan meeting with a cross burning and audio with a racist lyrics and comments. 

Rev. Joe Amico, pastor at Tabernacle, told The Christian Post, that the “Zoombombers” “kept asking our host to share the screen and as soon as she denied and kicked one off another zoomed in until she ended the meeting.”

Amico said they reported the incident to the Salem police liaison to the City of Salem No Place for Hate Committee.

The church service will now only allow access to the service via a dedicated email list.

“We feel badly because we had been having visitors join our worship. Now folks have to contact us for the link and be vetted by how they know us,” he said.

The FBI is also investigating the case.

“Zoom bombing” has become prevalent as people are using the online video conferencing service for work and other meetings.

In March, the FBI’s Boston office warned about the problem.

“The FBI has received multiple reports of conferences being disrupted by pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language,” an FBI…

A new petition on the White House’s website calls for President Trump to declare places of worship as “essential” during national emergencies. The petition comes as many municipalities have cracked down on the few churches who are trying to meet in person during the COVID-19 epidemic. 

The petition claims that “The closure of churches and the suspension of Religious Liberty is a direct violation of our Constitutional Rights as Americans and a power the people of the United States are not willing to concede to the government on a federal, state, or local level.” Additionally, it says that the “DECLARATION AND CLASSIFICATION of these institutions as “ESSENTIAL” IS MERELY A FORMALITY as these rights have ALREADY BEEN DECLARED in the FIRST AMENDMENT of the BILL OF RIGHTS.”

As Christian Headlines previously reported, only 3 percent of churches were planning on meeting in person on Easter Sunday. The churches who have violated stay at home orders or bans on large gatherings have faced consequences. Earlier this month, Kentucky State Police took down the license plate numbers of those who attended services at Maryville Baptist Church and placed flyers on their windshields instructing them to self-quarantine. On Fire Christian Church in Louisville won a temporary restraining order against Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer so they could hold drive-in services, though May…

The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), is arguing for the release of federal prisoners amid the COVID-19 pandemic and is using God’s Word as her rationale.

In an interview with MSNBC host Joy Reid on Sunday, Pelosi was asked if future COVID-19 relief legislation will include the release of prisoners, The Blaze reports.

Pelosi offered the parable of the sheep and goats, in response.

“In our caucus, we are very devoted to the Gospel of Matthew,” Pelosi responded before quoting the allegory.

“‘When I was hungry, you fed me. When I was homeless, you sheltered me. When I was in prison, you visited me,’ and so this for us is part of our value system,” she said.

The parable, found in Matthew 25:31-46, explains how “sheep and goats” will be separated at the final judgment. 

In considering the context of the parable, a contrast is noted between the sheep and the goats.

Jesus refers to the “sheep” as believers in Christ who received “eternal life.” The “goats”

are people who will receive “eternal punishment.”

Social justice advocates are known to use this parable to assert Jesus’ demand to care for those who are vulnerable or marginalized. This is the context in which the House Speaker cited the parable.

Pelosi went on to note that the House Judiciary Committee is currently working on a plan that would allow for the release of some federal prisoners “who…