Religion/ Spirituality

Pope Francis went from Pontiff to Good Samaritan on a dime, after a police officer fell off her horse during a procession in Chile.

The Pope was in Iquique, Chile to urge the country to end its ongoing conflict with the Mapuche people -- the indigenous people of Chile -- when the incident occurred.

The Pope got off the Popemobile and stood by the cop until an ambulance arrived.

The Vatican says the woman "received words of consolation from the Holy Father."

She was taken away in the ambulance and her condition is unknown, although the Vatican stated she was conscious the entire time.

The daughter of former Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke allegedly yelled at a woman, "Hurry up, Jew" ... and then bashed her son with a purse.

She was arrested ... and there's video of the crazy aftermath.

The woman who wound up in cuffs is 29-year-old Jacqueline Kent Cooke -- her dad owned the NFL team from '61 to '97. He also owned the Lakers from '65 to '79. The family is rich as hell.

Fast-forward to New Year's Eve when Cooke allegedly got pissed off while waiting for her coat at Caravaggio restaurant in Manhattan ... and yelled at the 77-year-old woman in front of her, "Hurry up, Jew. I got places to be."

The situation escalated and the woman's son -- 52-year-old Matthew Haberkorn told the NY Daily News he followed Cooke and her boyfriend outside to confront them about the comments.

That's when Cooke allegedly struck Haberkorn with her glass purse -- causing 2 lacerations on his head.

The video begins right after the alleged purse strike ... you can hear Matthew say, "She just f*cking hit me!"

Cooke responds, "You called me a f*cking bitch. You called me a c*nt."

Matthew fired back, "You called me a f*cking Jew.”

Cooke then tries to tackle him to the ground. She fails. Cooke's boyfriend yells out, "What are you doing? You're throwing a woman on the floor."

Matthew responds, "I didn't f*cking touch her."

One last reminder 2017 totally sucked -- the most photographed Jesus ever didn't make it to Christmas ... TMZ has learned.

Family members tell us the man known as West Hollywood Jesus died Dec. 13 after a brief hospitalization in L.A. for pulmonary issues.

WeHo Jesus, real name Kevin Short, was a mainstay up and down Hollywood Boulevard, and famously posed for pics with countless tourists over the years. If you've been, you know there are multiple Batmans and Supermans, but only one Jesus. And now he's gone. Again.

WeHo Jesus was 57 ... 20 some years more than the O.G. made it.

Of course, WHJ didn't have Pontius Pilate on his ass.

RIP JESUS

Rabbi Shmuley isn't giving Lorde a pass for what he calls "the height of bigotry" ... and has one question for her -- What did Israel ever do to you?

We got Michael Jackson's old pal on Manhattan's Upper West Side, and asked him about the singer's recent decision to cancel her show in Israel ... while keeping 2 concert dates in Russia. He's still very fired up about it.

Shmuley thinks Lorde's joined a movement seeking the "economic annihilation" of Israel, and though he doesn't call her an anti-Semite ... he believes she needs to be more responsible as an influential celeb.

In case you don't think he's serious ... the Rabbi took out a full-page ad blasting Lorde for boycotting Israel while ignoring Putin's beyond-checkered past with human rights.

11:50 AM PT -- A Delta spokesperson tells TMZ ... "As a global airline that brings people across the world together every day, Delta values diversity in all aspects of its business and has zero tolerance for discrimination." We're told Delta condemns the allegations in the suit and will defend itself against them.

Delta Air Lines doesn't just treat Jewish people unfairly, it also punishes its flight attendants who are friendly with them ... according to a new suit.

Four Delta flight attendants from New York -- with work experience ranging from 10 to 40 years -- are suing the airline for what they call "a pattern of intentionally discriminating and retaliating against ethnically Jewish, Hebrew and/or Israeli employees and passengers" ... specifically on the flight they worked from NYC to Israel.

Among the allegations of rampant anti-Semitism -- Delta fired a female flight attendant in March 2017 because she was Jewish, but tried to say it was because she missed a flight ... even though she was granted FMLA leave for a medical emergency.

Another female flight attendant -- who's not Jewish -- claims she was suspended without pay and demoted because she shared her Delta "Travel Companion" pass with a Jewish friend. Delta allegedly claimed the flight attendant didn't know her travel companion so she violated company policy, but she claims she's been friends with the man for 40 years. She alleges Delta investigated her and took away her travel benefits simply because her pass was given to a Jewish person.

Other allegations include being passed up for deserved promotions and a "hostile" and "intimidating environment" on the Israel flight.

Betcha didn't know Tom Glavine was a huge Catholic antiques collector!!

Well ... he WAS a huge antiques collector, but the Hall of Famer is parting ways with some of his beloved historic items ... and now they're hitting the auction block!!

TMZ Sports spoke with Charles Pharr -- owner of Four Seasons Auction Gallery -- who says Glavine and his wife are looking to move into a new house and wanna get rid of some extra stuff.

Some of the notable items include:

French cabinet -- estimated $1,600

Church offering podium -- est. $1,000

7 Gothic chairs previously owned by Cher (yes, you read that correctly) -- est. $3,000

Executive office chair -- est. $500

18th century door Jesus painting -- est. $800

Not only would the winning bidders get the cool stuff, Pharr took advantage of the opportunity to create some really unique sports memorabilia and had Glavine sign his autograph on each item.

Lorde has a funny way of picking and choosing countries in which to perform -- she canceled her show next year in Israel ... but kept her tour dates in Russia.

Lorde pulled the plug Sunday in reaction to backlash over her upcoming Tel Aviv concert next June, with some fans saying she shouldn't support what they call "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians.

President Trump recently recognized Jerusalem as Israel's new capital, and stirred up a new wave of controversy in the region.

Lorde said in a statement, "i've received an overwhelming number of messages & letters and have had a lot of discussions with people holding many views, and i think the right decision at this time is to cancel the show." She adds ... "i pride myself on being an informed young citizen ... but I'm not too proud to admit i didn't make the right call on this one."

Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez are working things out in couples therapy because of a fight over Hailey Baldwin ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to Hillsong Church tell us Justin has been trying to make amends lately as part of his renewed faith ... and decided to do that with Hailey. We're told he reached out to clear the air over their brief relationship and sour breakup.

Next, as part of his new "open and honest" approach to life, Justin told Selena about his convo with Hailey -- and let's just say it went over like a fart in church. We're told she wasn't thrilled with him being in contact with an ex ... and that's when they decided to give Christian couples therapy a try.

Our sources say they've been going for about a week now, and as we've reported, it's not sitting well with Selena's mom.

Beliebers probably noticed JB's been posting more words of wisdom lately ... it's a good bet he's picking 'em up in therapy.

Cardinal Bernard Law -- the disgraced Boston archbishop at the helm during the Catholic church's sex abuse scandal, and prominently portrayed in the Oscar-winning movie "Spotlight" -- is dead.

The Vatican made a one-sentence announcement, "Cardinal Bernard Law died early this morning after a long illness." Law, who died in Rome Wednesday, was forced to resign as archbishop in 2002 after the Boston Globe's investigative reporting revealed he covered up for pedophile priests.

Law, who was never criminally prosecuted, was promoted to archbishop in 1984 by Pope John Paul II. That same year, a bishop brought forward concerns about a priest molesting kids. Law re-assigned that priest to another parish where the molestation continued.

The scandal and the Globe's investigation was the plot of "Spotlight."

Law was 86.

Pope Francis might've committed a cardinal sin on his birthday -- blowing out a candle on a 13-foot pizza instead of a cake.

His Holiness turned 81 on Sunday and was treated to a 13-foot pizza with a single candle. Cool pic and all, but candles belong on pastries! A cupcake would've sufficed. That's a rule, right?

The kiddos seemed to be diggin' the bday bash -- even though someone at the Vatican couldn't even spring for pepperoni or sausage. Just cheese, Pontiff??!

Roy Moore's spokesman was a deer in the headlights when he got into a brief, but epic, debate with CNN's Jake Tapper about Muslims swearing on Bibles.

Ted Crockett was a guest on Tapper's show Tuesday when Tapper asked him why Moore doesn't believe Muslims can serve in Congress. Crockett fired off a shaky explanation related to Muslims and the Bible -- but, when Jake dropped some legal knowledge on him ... there was super awkward silence. Like, biblical.

Things got even more uncomfy when it came to the topic of homosexuality.

Less than 2 hours to cast your vote, Alabama!

Here's the thing, Justin Bieber could probably kick your ass.

We know it's tough to come to terms with, but if you don't believe us just check out this video of the Biebs throwing punches after church.

You know he looks fast. Admit it.

Before you act too shocked, remember Justin used to train quite a bit with his (ex?) friend Floyd Mayweather, who once told TMZ Sports that if JB wanted to, he could seriously be a boxing star.

Bieber put on his little display earlier this week after a Hillsong Church service ... and his quick hands look up-to-date to us.

Watch how you talk to Selena.

Lil Pump got a Catholic elementary school in serious trouble with the Archdiocese of L.A. because it wrongfully allowed the rapper to film himself smoke weed, drink lean and hold bags full of kush for his "Gucci Gang" music video.

Blessed Sacrament School is where the insanely popular video -- amassing 244 million views on YouTube -- was filmed, but there was a huge problem ... the school never told its bosses at the Archdiocese about the video or what would be in it.

A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of L.A. tells TMZ ... the school failed to follow filming policy and procedures, which are extremely strict at all of its schools and parishes.

The Archdiocese had zero clue Lil Pump would be rolling up to the school's parking lot in a Lamborghini with a blunt in one hand and double-cupping in the other.

It gets worse ... he slaps a teacher with a bag of pot in the school's hallway and he serves his video classmates sizzurp. The Archdiocese says it's looking into the matter. We reached out to the school for comment, but so far no word back.

We've seen this before -- Fetty Wap filmed similar scenes at a Paterson, NJ high school ... resulting in the principal getting suspended.

Adult Swim's prayers have been answered ... the "Black Jesus" lawsuit is no more. Amen.

A judge dismissed the suit a writer named Saint Solomon filed against AS. He claimed their show ripped off his short story, "Thank You, Jesus" -- which also features an African-American Messiah.

In the docs -- obtained by TMZ -- the judge spells it out pretty clearly -- the tales of 2 Christs aren't similar at all ... other than the lead characters being black.

Yes, both works had the idea of making Jesus black, but as the judge said, "Ideas are not protected by copyright."

As we reported ... Solomon wanted $75 million from Adult Swim. No dice.

Courtney Stodden, of all people, has a hot take on President Trump recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and it's tied directly to her deep roots ... in Christianity.

We got Courtney leaving church Avalon in Hollywood Wednesday night, and she's down with Trump's historic decision in the Middle East. Her reasoning is a little vague, but it's definitely got something to do with Jesus.

Of course, the territorial beef is between Jews and Muslims, but dare we say it ... we think we understand Courtney's point: Jerusalem's a big deal for Christians too.

Either way, she's on board and offers the Prez a reluctant high-five.

Katy Perry and the Archdiocese of L.A. just won $15 million.

Katy had a deal to buy a convent from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. It's unclear, but it looks like Katy want to use the convent as a home. Thing is, a restaurant owner named Dana Hollister claimed she had already bought the convent from 2 nuns.

The Archdiocese went to the nuns and said they had no right to sell the property. That launched a 2-year battle over who had the right to sell the property.