Religion/ Spirituality

Pope Francis' sneaker game is about to be on point ... 'cause the pontiff just got some dope custom Nike Blazer kicks featuring his coat of arms -- and a one-of-a-kind wooden shoe box.

TMZ Sports has learned ... Father Jim Sichko wanted to gift Pope Francis something "special and unique" while visiting the Vatican this week ... and not the same ol' kinda present he gets all the time.

So, he hit up True Blue Customs out in Lexington, Kentucky a few weeks ago to put some kicks together for the Pope ... and they delivered!

The finished result are some Nike Blazer Mid 77' Vintage kicks painted white and yellow/gold -- the same colors as the Pope's flag -- and a detailed portrait of his coat of arms displayed on the sides.

The Pope's name is also painted on the back ... and they came with a custom wooden shoe box.

True Blue Customs says it only took 10 hours to make this exclusive package ... and it's going down as one of their favorite projects.

"Pretty crazy," True Blue Customs tells us about designing the Pope's gift.

"I've done shoes for tons of celebs over the years but hard to top this one."

It seems like the Pope loved the gesture .. 'cause the 85--year-old was all smiles when Father Jim hand-delivered them to him on Wednesday.

Gisele Bündchen is trying to feel better after separating from her husband Tom Brady ... visiting a spiritual healer to get back on track.

The supermodel paid Dr. Ewa a return visit Friday in Florida, sporting a prayer necklace and carrying a box from Amazon on her way into her spiritual intervention.

Ewa came armed with some Tupperware filled with yellow soup, and two cups.

Again, no wedding ring for Gisele ... she hasn't been spotted wearing it recently, but we should note -- she rarely wore the thing even before leaving Tom.

TMZ broke the story ... Gisele recently separated from Tom, declaring their marriage was over. She's been threatening to divorce him several times over the years, with football as the core issue.

Gisele's living in Miami while Tom plays another NFL season in Tampa ... and we've seen her hitting the gym a lot, even taking her kids to a workout amid her search for a divorce lawyer.

Two men have been charged in connection with an alleged armed robbery that took place in the middle of a church service which was stopped short while two men allegedly jacked some jewelry from the bishop during their live stream.

2 men from Brooklyn -- Juwan Anderson and Say-Quan Pollack -- were charged with armed robbery for their roles in the July 24 incident ... according to Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York on Tuesday.

Peace's statement reads, "As alleged, the defendants brought guns into a place of worship, stealing from two members of the clergy, and terrifying the congregation in the process" ... adding, "to commit such an act during a religious service is incomprehensible."

Peace notes a 3rd suspect is still at large.

The incident was caught on camera during the service's live stream ... showing Bishop Lamor Whitehead stopping mid-service and quickly getting on the ground -- as two men begin to take items off his person.

Whitehead tells TMZ ... "Today is the start of healing. We will let the justice system continue to work as I continue to do what God has called me to do."

The Church of Scientology had a serious issue with Tom Cruise while he was with "negative influence" Nicole Kidman ... this according to a former church officer that was once high up in the religion.

Mike Rinder's new book, "A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology," is peeling back the layers of the always-secretive world of Scientology ... and Mike's revealing a time when the Church began to drive a wedge between Tom and Nicole.

Mike claims the church got worried when Tom began ignoring calls from Church honcho David Miscavige ... while away filming Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" in London.

Miscavige was super worried he might lose his grip on Tom, so he sent a top exec to the UK to audit the actor -- meaning he'd be walked through the negativity in his life to become "clear" once again.

Mike claims Tom eventually returned to the fold, which caused a serious divide between him and Nicole. He says the Church was so threatened by Nicole's influence, they allegedly hired a PI to spy on her and tap her phone.

The Church denies the wiretapping claims ... telling Page Six, "Mike Rinder is an inveterate liar who seeks to profit from his dishonesty. He supports himself by orchestrating the harassment of his former Church and its leader through false police reports, incendiary propaganda and fraudulent media stories.”

The Brooklyn pastor who went viral for manhandling a woman during his church service says he and his family are the real victims ... and he's released security footage to prove his case.

Bishop Lamor Whitehead joined "TMZ Live" to explain his side of things after he came under fire for shoving a woman on Sunday, and removing her from the church. Previously, the only angle we'd seen was the live stream cam directed at the pulpit.

Whitehead says this new video shows the woman -- who appeared to be protesting the Bishop -- heading directly for his wife and 10-month-old baby while cursing at them.

We can't hear what she's saying on the security footage, Pastor Whitehead is insisting he felt the woman was a threat to his family ... and he adds the whole incident was set up by bloggers who take issue with the fact he's been known to hang with celebs.

In other words, he feels completely justified for getting physical especially because he feared she might have a weapon in a small purse that was under her arm.

He also says he never choked or scratched her, but he did grab her shoulder in order to escort her out to police ... despite her posting a huge scratch mark on her neck.

The Univ. of Oregon has issued an apology ... after some of its students were seen and heard chanting "f*** the Mormons" during the Ducks' game against BYU on Saturday.

The school released the mea culpa on social media on Sunday -- calling their fans' chants "offensive and disgraceful."

"These types of actions go against everything the university stands for, and it goes against the spirit of competition," the school said. "We can and will do better as a campus community that has no place for hate, bias or bigotry."

The chants broke out at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon following a Cougars touchdown in the second quarter of BYU's 41-20 loss ... with multiple people screaming the crass comments while clapping their hands.

Video shot by bystanders shows the chants were repeated at least one other time during the game.

Some fans in attendance were outraged -- and Utah's governor, Spencer Cox, slammed the Ducks supporters over it all following the game.

"Religious bigotry alive and celebrated in Oregon," he said on Twitter.

Cox later tweeted a heart emoji following Oregon's apology.

For its part, Oregon's student section -- dubbed the "Oregon Pit Crew" -- also tweeted an apology after the game, saying, "We do not condone or support any hateful speech directed towards one’s religion and are ashamed of those who participated."

A Brooklyn pastor was caught on video manhandling a woman during his Sunday service -- and while cops certainly responded to the scene ... it doesn't appear he's been arrested yet.

The guy's name is Bishop Lamor Whitehead, and he heads up the local chapter of the Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries in the Canarsie neighborhood of B-Town ... where things got handsy this weekend as he was delivering a live streamed sermon.

It's unclear what exactly precipitated this, but NYPD sources tell us ... there was an argument over somebody filming Whitehead/the service, and it boiled over with an alleged physical confrontation. That jibes with a YouTube video that captured the entire sequence.

Bishop Whitehead appears to get interrupted by someone out in the pulpit who's shouting, and he tells the congregation to let her record ... which escalates into him inviting her up.

He asks the woman if she wants to come up and deliver the word for him, and then starts telling the visitors to praise Jesus while speaking in tongues. When the woman finally does reach the altar, he grabs her by the head and appears to shove her out of frame.

Whitehead tells somebody to get her out of here, and says he felt threatened ... seemingly as justification for what he did. He then continues the service normally like nothing happened.

Now, cops responded, but we've learned Whitehead has yet to be booked or processed for this ... and at this point, it's unclear if he's going to be. Our law enforcement sources say if he hasn't been busted by now this late in the day, it's unlikely he'll get rung up, period.

What our sources tell us did happen, however, was that Whitehead and the alleged victim were brought to a precinct for further investigation. But, nothing appears to have come out of it from either end, at least for now. BTW, this is the same guy who was robbed mid-sermon earlier this summer ... which was also captured through his church's live stream feed.

Whitehead has responded ... claiming this woman, and apparently others, were sent in today to disrupt his service -- supposedly tied to litigation he's involved in. He claims the woman was actually threatening and beginning to charge his wife and baby daughter. He says he did what he had to do to keep them out of harm's way, and that he's got more video that'll show the full story. Whitehead insists he's pro-woman, and that the narrative's being twisted.

Shia LaBeouf is back from the brink of a terribly dark place, and he's crediting his latest project, "Padre Pio" ... saying the role and God pulled him back to the light.

Shia revealed he did some serious studies on Catholicism for his upcoming film ... talking about his journey to meet with Bishop Robert Barron of the Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.

He says he even prepped for the role of the Franciscan Capuchin friar by living in a monastery with other friars.

Shia admits he went into production at a rough point in his life -- as we reported, he was sued by his ex, FKA Twigs, in 2020 for sexual battery, and claims he felt suicidal. He says he told the Bishop, "I had a gun on the table. I was outta here. I didn't want to be alive anymore when all this happened."

However, he thinks his studies made him a lot more grateful to be alive, saying ... "It was seeing other people who have sinned beyond anything I could ever conceptualize also being found in Christ that made me feel like, 'Oh, that gives me hope.'"

He believes God was behind his whole realization, claiming he was "using my ego to draw me to him."

"Airplanes" rapper B.o.B is brushing off student protestors upset some of his past lyrics are being construed as anti-semitic.

Members of the University of Central Florida Jewish community have called for a boycott of his upcoming August 25 tour appearance for their Welcome Week … citing his 2016 flat-earther, Neil deGrasse Tyson-dissing track “Flatline” for its olive branch extended towards Holocaust denier David Irving.

Bobby Ray tells TMZ Hip Hop he doesn’t have any issues with any colors or creeds, and the show will go on as planned this week.

B.o.B says that particular time period was a weird one for him -- but he learned a lot through massive book consumption and traveling the globe.

He even considers himself a cancel culture survivor ... having taken lumps on social media for his deep philosophical dives.

The enigmatic rapper just released a 12-song album titled “Better Than Drugs” ... but says he’ll clarify his past flat-earthing and other conspiracy theories on a new song called “TED Talk” to be released on another project in the near future.

B.o.B acknowledges his mind is a strange one ... and says great artists such as Kendrick Lamar and Drake share his pain.

Novelist Salman Rushdie, who has received death threats for years because of his work, was just attacked and possibly stabbed during an event.

The author, who was formerly married to "Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi, was set to give a speech Friday at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. Reports say Rushdie was on stage, when someone jumped up and struck him multiple times. Reports say Rushdie was stabbed during the incident.

His current condition is unknown, but the attacker has reportedly been taken into custody.

Rushdie's novel, "The Satanic Verses," sparked tons of controversy in the 80's ... with the book getting banned from Iran for being deemed blasphemous, as it had references that mocked the Prophet Muhammad and Islamic culture as a whole.

In 1989, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini called on Muslims to kill the Indian-born writer and his publishers because of what he wrote.

DaBaby is playing antagonist with all his naysayers and haters in his new video titled “Tough Skin” … which probably best describes what his critics will need to stomach through the entire thing.

Directed by his longtime visionaries Reel Goats, DaBaby takes on the classic controversial image of being depicted on a cross akin to some guy named Jesus Christ, while rocking nothing but a loin cloth … or a diaper.

The alternate scenery also reenacts his time as a youth … having to fight at home and school for hierarchy, hence the tough-skinned rapper who is always dodging an altercation.

2022 alone has brought out several DB jaw-dropping moments … including shooting a home intruder in self-defense as well as engaging in a bowling alley brawl against the brother of singer DaniLeigh, the mother of one of his daughters.

For day one DB fans, the imagery shouldn’t come as much of a shock … his first rap name was Baby Jesus and he infamously dressed like a toddler at SXSW to make a name for himself (Spoiler alert, it worked 😎).

Britney Spears bashed a Catholic church in L.A., claiming they wouldn't allow her to get married there ... but now, the church is calling the singer out, saying she never even contacted them about a wedding.

If you missed it, Britney went on Instagram Wednesday, posting a pic from inside St. Monica Church and the caption, "This is where I originally wanted to get married during COVID. I wanted to go every Sunday." She continued, "Then 2 years later when I wanted to get married there they said I had to be catholic and go through TEST!!! Isn't church supposed to be open to all???"

However, a rep for the church tells us they've checked their records which show Britney's never personally visited the church or asked to have her wedding there ... but they do admit, at least one spouse in a wedding has to be Catholic, a ground rule across the board.

The rep tells us the pic Britney posted appears to be from a live stream, not a photo she took on her own. We're told the church knows the couple getting married in the photo ... and Britney was not in attendance for their wedding.

Billy Porter thinks the Supreme Court is going to strike down gay marriage just like abortion rights ... but he's got a feeling SCOTUS might stop short at Justice Clarence Thomas' interracial marriage.

We got Billy in NYC and asked how likely he thinks it is SCOTUS will keep rolling back the clock, and he believes nothing is safe when it comes to the highest court in the land.

Billy says SCOTUS is coming for pretty much everything and everybody, not just gays ... and the only thing not on the list is interracial marriage, for one specific reason.

BP's basically saying the fact Justice Thomas is married to a white woman, Ginni Thomas, is the only thing keeping interracial marriage from going the way of the dodo. Still, Billy's got a warning for Clarence.

We also asked Billy about GOP Congressman Glenn Thompson, who voted against protecting same-sex marriage ... then turned around and attended his gay son's wedding.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito put Prince Harry and other foreign leaders on blast for blasting him and 4 of his colleagues who overturned Roe v. Wade ... this after the Duke of Sussex likened the SCOTUS decision to the war in Ukraine.

Justice Alito spoke about religious liberty in Rome ... at a conference run by the University of Notre Dame Law School.

As he ticked off the public figures from foreign lands who criticized the opinion, he quipped with dripping sarcasm, "What really wounded me was when the Duke of Sussex addressed the United Nations and seemed to compare the decision, whose name may not be spoken, with the Russian attack on Ukraine"

He was referring to Prince Harry's speech at the UN last week ... where Harry listed numerous events that made 2022 "a painful year in a painful decade" -- with the Roe v. Wade decision and the attack on Ukraine front and center.

Jim Harbaugh -- fiercely against abortion -- says he'd be willing to raise the baby of any of his Univ. of Michigan football players, if they had an unplanned pregnancy, and the couple decided to have the baby.

"I've told [them] the same thing I tell my kids, boys, the girls, same thing I tell our players, our staff members," Harbaugh said on Saturday, "I encourage them if they have a pregnancy that wasn't planned, to go through with it, go through with it," Harbaugh told ESPN's Gene Wojchiechowski.

"Let that unborn child be born, and if at that time, you don't feel like you can care for it, you don't have the means or the wherewithal, then Sarah and I will take that baby."

The Wolverines head coach -- who signed a $36.7 million extension in February -- was the keynote speaker at a recent "Right To Life" event.

During the anti-abortion speech, 58-year-old Harbaugh spoke about having the "courage to let the unborn be born."

As for why he chose to speak out about the controversial topic, Jim says while it may be difficult, it's an incredibly important issue for America.

"I just think this issue of life, save a life, the abortion issue is one that is so big that it needs to be talked about," Harbaugh said.

"It's a life or death type of issue and I believe in and I respect people's views but let's discuss it because there's passion on both sides of this issue."

Kim Burrell, the gospel singer who came under fire for insensitive comments made in church, will NOT step down -- she'll be ministering again after deep introspection and counsel from her pastor.

Kim and Pastor Dr. Mike Freeman of Spirit of Faith Christian Center in Maryland, tell TMZ ... the backlash won't silence her, because she believes speaking to the congregation is her calling from God.

Rest assured, though, Kim knows she crossed a line last weekend ... and says Pastor Freeman, and others, will make sure she doesn't have a repeat performance.

ICYMI, Kim went viral for last weekend's sermon where she referred to people as "broke" and "ugly," among other tasteless labels. Kim says the remarks were made in "jest," but most folks on social media didn't buy that -- even after she put out a written apology.

Pastor Freeman explained why he's standing by Kim, telling us ... "We don't shoot the soldier we nurse them."

He insists church members want to surround the singer with love, instead of knocking her while she's down.

Since her gaffe in the pulpit, Kim has posted a remorseful video, saying she just wants folks to see her heart.