Religion/ Spirituality

Three years before Wu-Tang affiliated rapper Andre Johnson (aka Christ Bearer) severed his penis -- he told TMZ all about his obsession with God.

We just dug up the 2011 video -- Johnson appears happy and optimistic, explaining his rap name Christ Bearer stems from God's influence. He told us, "God's everything. God's me. God's you. God is everywhere." He also calls RZA a "genius of life."

One talks about Jesus, the other just looks like him ... but on Palm Sunday, Pope Francis and Jared Leto were joined together through the incredible power of the selfie.

Pope Francis was in St. Peter's Square -- a massive plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City -- greeting fans following a service for more than 100,000 people.

Meanwhile in Jerusalem at Coachella, Leto posed for photos with his many followers during the weekend festival.

All these photos are missing is a donkey and some branches.

Founding KISS drummer Peter Criss insists he's NOT a raging anti-Semite, despite public accusations made by KISS guitarist Paul Stanley.

Stanley unloaded on Criss and another ex-band mate Ace Frehley in his new book "Face the Music: A Life Exposed," accusing the two of chronic anti-Semitic behavior back in the day. Stanley also accuses Criss of being a racist who enjoyed mocking waiters at Chinese restaurants.

But Criss tells TMZ, all of Stanley's claims are bogus.

Criss says he's always been a loving supporter of all religions, including the Jewish faith -- in fact, Criss tells us his favorite aunt was Jewish. He also denies being a racist in any way.

Rapper/pastor Mase put the word out his divorce is off and his marriage -- which has become the backbone of his empire -- is rock solid again. Problem is ... IT'S NOT TRUE.

TMZ has learned ... the divorce is FULL STEAM AHEAD. We broke the story ... Mase filed for divorce back in January and it looked really nasty. He was asking for full custody of the 2 kids he had with wife Twyla. But weeks later he dropped the divorce case.

TMZ did some digging ... and found the day after Mase filed in Atlanta ... Twyla filed for legal separation in San Diego. Mase filed his response by amping things up ... asking for a full-blown divorce.

What's more in Mase's San Diego legal docs ... he claims they've been separated since MAY, 2012. That means for 2 years Mase and Twyla engaged in a giant charade, sermonizing and selling books about marriage while they weren't really together.

NFL legend Rosey Grier is being sued for allegedly sexually assaulting his female neighbor -- who claims the 81-year-old shoved his hands down her pants and groped her genitals ... this according to legal docs obtained by TMZ Sports.

Mase intends to keep preaching in his church ... while he's rapping about extramarital sex -- and it's all part of his plan to spread the word of God to the hip-hop community ... a plan sparked by Michael Jackson's death.

TMZ broke the story ... worshipers at Mase's Atlanta church think he's turned his back on his congregation to go back to laying down sinful tracks like "Tricky Situation" ... with lyrics like: "I get the honey moaning, you marry her. She said she comin' home, don't you hurry her."

But sources close to Mase say he doesn't see any issue doing both jobs ... because he's really using his street cred to infiltrate hip-hop and ultimately plans to bring rappers closer to Christ.

Like a "Mission: Impossible" agent ... for Jesus.

Churchgoers tell us Mase has said his renewed spiritual calling was motivated by Michael Jackson's death -- and he feels he could have saved MJ if he'd been around to council him.

We don't know if anyone in church is buying this, but it's what Mase is preaching.

Pastor/rapper Mase is a fake who has committed blasphemy by using the holiness of the church to advance his very unholy rap agenda ... so claim many of the worshipers at his house of worship.

Some of the worshipers tell TMZ ... they believe Mase is living a double life, spending as much time in the studio with hardcore rappers as in the church. And they say his messages from the pulpit drip in hypocrisy, because what he raps about is exactly the opposite.

One of the things that set parishioners off ... the TMZ story that Mase -- who built both his church and his fortune on his marriage -- secretly filed for divorce in January and then withdrew the legal docs a few weeks later.

Some of the parishioners tell us Mase has been going on and on about the virtues of marriage even after the TMZ post, never addressing his own failures ... and they're fed up.

There's talk now about refusing to fund the church ... that's how bad things have become.

And something new to piss off worshipers ... Mase is featured on a new song -- "Tricky Situation" -- about a man who brags about banging a woman who's already engaged.

Former "American Idol" star Syesha Mercado dropped her manager like a bad habit as soon she landed a big gig doing "The Book of Mormon" ... allegedly stiffing him out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mercado -- who finished third on Season 7 -- is being sued by former manager Fred Crawford, who picked her up as a client not too long after her stint on "Idol."

Crawford claims Mercado agreed to fork over 20% of whatever she made in the entertainment industry. Crawford says he helped her land the "Book of Mormon" deal ... for which she earned $40,000 a month.

But Crawford claims right after the ink dried Mercado cut off all communication and never paid him a cent. He's suing for his "Mormon" cut -- roughly $300,000.

Crawford has a big problem ... the deal, he says, was never committed to writing.

How's this for ironic -- rapper-turned-pastor Mase -- who built a lucrative church and related business partly on his secrets to a successful marriage -- secretly filed for divorce from his pastor wife.

TMZ has obtained Mase's divorce filing in Georgia dated January 2nd, citing irreconcilable differences with Twyla Betha. And it sounded nasty ... Mase asked for full custody of their two kids and even wanted HER to pay HIM child support.

He claims they separated August 2013 -- after 12 years of marriage.

But just over a month later -- the day before Valentine's Day -- Mase inexplicably had a change of heart, filing to dismiss his divorce petition.

The fiasco is priceless -- if you look at the website for Mase's El Elyon International Church in Atlanta ... the entire thing is built around his successful relationship with his wife. The two even hawk their "successful marriage" book series called "What Do You Do After I Do?"

And the book description is perfect: "In this series, Mason and Twyla Betha share keys to build a marriage that will last a lifetime."

Define "lifetime."

We reached out to the Mase and his church ... radio silence.

Joanna Krupa says the only reason the Dalai Lama didn't change her life is because -- despite anything you've seen her do and say -- she's "All about Jesus."

JK was leaving Sur restaurant last night when she tried to explain why she dissed Dalai last month ... by professing her love for JC, but made a major slip up in the process.

Joanna attempts to say she can't wait to see the new movie, "Son of God" -- but you gotta hear how it comes out of her mouth.

The actor who stars as Jesus in the movie "Son of God" is going to hell for his next role ... he was just cast as THE DEVIL in a new TV show ... and his faithful Christian fans may not be forgiving.

Diogo Morgado -- aka "hot Jesus" -- has been cast as the ultimate bad guy in a new CW show, "The Messengers" ... although the network's mum on the new hire.

Production sources tell us Morgado will be playing a Devil-like character ... but the exact nature of the role is being kept on the DL because "Son of God" filmmakers fear the Christian faithfuls who are also prospective moviegoers may rise in protest. But, TMZ knows he's Satan-adjacent.

Lil Boosie was released early by prison officials because of his good behavior behind bars ... but Boosie's friend Webbie thinks the rapper was really sprung by a much higher power than the warden.

Webbie hails from Louisiana, just like Boosie, and tells TMZ it was the hand of God that opened the prison doors -- "I told Boo that God has a plan. He got my brother free."

Part of God's plan ... according to Webbie includes laying down tracks -- he says now that LB is sprung ... they're going straight into the studio to start making music together again.

Webbie says he plans to surprise Boosie at home in Baton Rouge ... and then the whole town's gonna celebrate Boosie's freedom.

Question: What do Phil Jackson and the Dalai Lama talk about when they get together?
Answer: "Tibetan stuff."

That's what Phil told TMZ Sports yesterday when we asked him about the quality time he spent with his holiness in Los Angeles last week.

"I didn't give him any Zen advice ... he gave me all that Tibetan stuff. It was wonderful."

Jim Carrey was also in the room when Phil met with Mr. Lama at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. There's also a photo of Lama appearing to bless Eva Longoria that night.

Smooth, Dalai ... smooth.

There's a reason the Dalai Lama preaches against people seeking riches ... he doesn't have to because he gets lots of freebies ... and not without a dose of guilt.

Dalai's camp tried to squeeze a private jet company into giving him a free jet ride or at the very least a STEEP discount.

Here's what we know. The Dalai Lama was in L.A. last Friday and needed to fly to Minneapolis. His people contacted ZephyrJets to book a flight.

Dalai's people sent an email to ZephyrJets, saying another jet company flew their leader from San Francisco to L.A. gratis, and they wanted to see what Zephyr could do for them on the next leg.

The email says they were asking "a few friends" if they could get a jet for free, but they wanted a backup plan in case the friends didn't come through. They made it clear they didn't want to pay the $44K price tag.

In another email -- sent before their freebie pitch -- Dalai's people greased the wheels with Zephyr by playing the Lama card: "Yes the Dalai Lama will be very grateful."

We don't know how the Dalai Lama got to Minneapolis or what, if anything he shelled out. But it sounds like it was a divine flight.

Joanna Krupa gets the tingles around hunky guys -- the Dalai Lama ... not so much.

The "Real Housewives of Miami" star somehow got an invite to the lunch in L.A. where the Dalai Lama spoke about compassion for humans and animals.

But while the message of enlightenment and inner peace may have moved some in the crowd of celebs -- which included Jim Carrey, Sharon Stone, Eva Longoria and a bunch of others -- Joanna wasn't struck by any spiritual epiphany.

She tells TMZ, "Overall was an amazing once in a lifetime experience. It didn't change me but motivated and made me even more anxious to build my animal rescue to become a huge success and be a leader."

So suck it, housewife bitches.