Religion/ Spirituality

Pope Francis is way too kneedy ... he eats too much pasta, and his doctors want him to drastically change his diet ... from A to Ziti.

The pasta-loving Pontiff's being advised to lose at least 4 lbs to help ease his sciatica and avoid a trip to the operating table, and now pasta and pizza are off the table ... according to The Sun.

It's not just carbs ... the Pope's also being told to steer clear of cakes. His doctors reportedly want him to chow down on fruits, vegetables, fish and olive oil, complemented by small bowls of rice.

Imagine telling his holiness to eat more greens. Wonder what his mother's thinking from up above.

Pope Francis has apparently been getting plump, and it's taking a toll on his body and changing the way he operates ... he reportedly sat during Thursday's meeting with cardinals, apologizing for not being able to speak standing up and blaming his sciatica.

The good news for Francis ... he should be fine if he eats healthier and follows his doctors' advice.

An Idaho woman showed up to a city council meeting dressed in what she described as Muslim attire, as an example of the lengths she says she goes to just to avoid wearing a mask.

This went down Monday in the city of Lewiston, where council members opened the meeting with public comments ... which brought forth a throng of angry citizens, many of whom were griping about local mask mandates and restaurant shutdowns, claiming it was illegal.

Eventually, this woman -- who ID'd herself as Katie Dugger -- stepped up to the podium ... wearing a bright purple headdress that she later said she got in Peru, but apparently used in public to get out of putting on face covering.

Watch for yourself ... it's bonkers. Basically, Dugger says in order for her to go to school in-person, this is what she has to wear to get by without any hassle, passing herself off as a Muslim. She even wraps the fabric around her face like a burka, to bring her point home.

She isn't using the religious liberty argument ... she claims her aversion to mask-wearing is all about childhood trauma 🤷🏽‍♂️.

Sen. Raphael Warnock's come a long way since he was last at the U.S. Capitol  ... and he's letting everyone know he's there to stay a bit longer this time.

The Georgia Senator and Reverend just posted a powerful tweet reflecting on his journey -- which was capped off by winning a runoff election against Kelly Loeffler earlier this month.

Warnock shared a photo of himself arriving to work at the Capitol, saying ... "The last time I was here in 2017, Capitol police were escorting me to central booking for leading a non-violent protest of an immoral budget."

He adds ... "This time they just had to show me to my office."

It's true -- Warnock, along with other pastors -- got arrested in July 2017 in the Russell Senate Office building for leading a peaceful protest against the proposed budget and efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

He was handcuffed by Capitol Police as he and the others were singing and praying. Warnock said at the time it was a small price to pay to bring attention to those who would suffer.

The Reverend was booked, fined and released, but later added ... "As a pastor, I believe that the national budget is not just a fiscal document, but a moral document. It reflects what we believe and who we are for one another. And if this mean spirited budget were an EKG, it would indicate that America has a heart condition."

The NY Jets made history with their head coaching hire Thursday night ... they inked a deal with Robert Saleh, reportedly making him the NFL's 1st-ever Muslim head coach.

According to Muslim civil rights advocacy group CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) ... no other Muslim had been given the role in the league's history prior to Saleh's hiring.

"We welcome this development as another sign of the increasing inclusion and recognition of American Muslims in our diverse society," CAIR spokesperson Ibrahim Hooper said.

41-year-old Saleh -- who was born in Michigan but has family roots in Lebanon -- has been a straight-up hell of a coach since he was promoted to defensive coordinator in San Francisco.

In fact, many NFL pundits have already praised the Jets for the hire ... saying what Saleh did with the 49ers the past four seasons makes him a safe bet to succeed in New York.

Saleh's 49ers' defensive groups have been consistently some of the best in the NFL ... and stars like Richard Sherman praised him after the Jets made the hiring official this week.

"The @nyjets got a great one!" Sherman said on Twitter. "Congrats to them!"

The guy who authorities say was the one wearing a "Camp Auschwitz" hoodie during the Capitol riots has been arrested ... TMZ has confirmed

Robert Keith Packer was busted Wednesday morning in Newport News, VA and he's been charged with knowingly entering restricted grounds and disorderly conduct. He'd already drawn outrage for his hoodie, flippantly referencing the Nazi concentration camp where more than 1 million Jews were killed during World War II.

As if that wasn't disturbing enough ... the back of the hoodie also had the word "Staff" emblazoned on it. The bottom of his hoodie had the words, "Work brings freedom" ... a rough translation of "Arbeit macht frei" ... words inscribed on the concentration camp gates.

This apparently is not the first time Packer's run into trouble with the law. According to CNN, Packer's criminal history includes 3 convictions for driving under the influence and a felony conviction for forging public records.

The authorities say Parker was among hundreds who stormed the Capitol in a failed coup last week.

Andrew Yang's decision to run for mayor of New York City has brought one of his more unusual political positions back to light -- he's against circumcision.

If you don't recall ... Yang made headlines as a Democratic presidential candidate in early 2019 by tweeting that he was "against the practice" of routine infant circumcision.

He later clarified it's not a hard stance -- he just believes it should be a choice left up to parents -- but now he's having to explain himself all over again.

That's because Ben Max, Executive Editor at Gotham Gazette, tweeted that he'd just learned of Yang's anti-circumcision take and joked that it "may not be helpful in a Democratic primary in New York City" .... where, obviously, there is a very large Jewish population.

So, just like in 2019, Yang's trying to cut off the controversy early. He replied, saying he's attended many friends' brises and believes in religious freedom. He then reiterates ... "This is every parent’s personal decision and not a role of government. Happy New Year!"

This is very much in line with what Yang told us back in April 2019, when he made it clear he doesn't mean any disrespect to Jewish people or parents who choose to circumcise their children.

An evangelical Christian singer is coming to COVID-ravaged Los Angeles to spread more than holiday cheer.

It's unbelievable ... as L.A. fast approaches 10,000 COVID deaths and ICUs are filled to the brim, Sean Feucht -- a COVID defier -- plans mass gatherings on skid row and a tent city in Echo Park. The people he's visiting are most at risk, because they're not able to take the same precautions others with greater means have available.

Feucht has been defying health officials and other authorities for months. He threw "Let Us Worship" events over the summer ... open-air concerts around the country as he thumbed his nose at everyone warning people of the dangers. The crowds were packed in like sardines, most of course, not wearing masks. It's the textbook definition of a super-spreader event.

Some skid row activists plan to be on hand when Feucht shows up ... trying to block his efforts.

Feucht has jumped on social media, bragging he's ordered a couple thousand glow sticks for the celebrations.

By the way ... L.A. County is on virtual lockdown with the explosion of coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths.

Just like ol' times in Murdock, Minnesota, where a "whites-only" church just got approval to open its doors.

It's true ... The Asatru Folk Assembly applied and was granted a conditional use permit to preach its pre-Christian messages. The Church, which formed in Northern Europe, operates openly to exclude anyone but white people.

The Murdock City Council approved the permit this month, but not without protest. There's a petition drive opposing the Council's move and it has 50,000 signatures, though clearly not just from the town. Murdock has a population of 280.

Many locals have also protested, saying they support the growing Latino population in the town and favor them over the views of the church.

A neo-Nazi t-shirt is being hawked online, with a message bemoaning that more Jews were not exterminated during the Holocaust.

The shirt is emblazoned with letters and numbers ... "6MWE" -- that's code for 6 million wasn't enough.

It's important to note these do not seem to be Holocaust deniers ... they're actually acknowledging that 6 million Jews were savagely murdered, but they feel like the Nazis could have done more.

The logo has a resemblance to the Proud Boys logo, but it's unclear exactly who's behind this disgusting display.

The moment a crazed gunman was shot to death on the steps of an NYC church was captured on camera -- and the video is absolutely intense.

NYPD officers rushed to St. John the Divine Cathedral Sunday in Harlem, responding to reports of a guy opening fire into the air at an outdoor concert. Fortunately, nobody was hurt and folks were able to either escape outright or take cover inside the cathedral -- but it quickly led to a tense standoff right out front.

A man across the street recorded the fatal moment the gunman was struck by a bullet, which took him down. Prior to that though, he repeatedly dodged several shots from cops by taking cover behind a pillar at the cathedral's front doors.

You can hear cops demanding he drop his gun and surrender ... and at one point the guy screams "kill me" multiple times. NYPD says he was hit in the head, and later pronounced dead at a hospital.

The gunman was the only reported casualty or injury.

A ton of folks who'd taken shelter inside were safely evacuated -- and you can tell they're all rattled. So far, there's no suspected motive for the attempted shooting ... the only thing cops are saying is he came armed with multiple firearms -- including semi-automatic weapons -- some knives, rope, gasoline, wire and a bible in his backpack.

Tommy 'Tiny' Lister's condition in the days before his demise was alarming -- but the guy was confident he'd be taken care of by the man upstairs.

Actor/rapper Chris La Vrar tells TMZ ... he was with Tiny Monday at the 'Friday' star's Marina del Rey home, where Tiny was recording a live stream video session with fans and fielding questions for a Q&A. Part of the convo was posted on social media -- and while you can see Tiny was not well here ... Chris says it was much worse up close in-person.

In the video, you see Tiny struggling to speak and breathe ... much like he had during his interview with Brandon Jay. Only difference here is that Tiny kinda nods off at various points, and his energy and focus are low compared to the rest of the chat room.

Good sport that he was, he did his best to engage with fans as best he could -- but Chris tells us that behind the scenes ... Tiny was startling him. He says the man was coughing nonstop, and when Chris asked if he was okay, 'Tiny' told him he was fine.

We're told Chris pressed to see if he felt like he needed to go to a doctor -- as Chris believed he did -- and Tiny responded ... "No, God's got me." Chris let it go.

BTW, as we reported, Tiny apparently contracted COVID 4 months ago, like many suspected -- Chris tells us it was confirmed, but Tiny believed he'd beaten it and gotten past the symptoms. As we can now see, that was not the case. After hanging out with Tiny for a couple hours and subsequently learning of his death days later -- we're told Chris is now concerned he might have COVID and plans to get tested ASAP.

Elizabeth Taylor didn't make the cut in "The Chanukah Song," but she famously converted to Judaism in 1959, and now ... a couple mementos of her faith are hitting the auction block.

Two menorahs belonging to the iconic "Cleopatra" star will be on display for the upcoming Jewish celebration at the J Greenstein Gallery in New York ... then will go up for grabs in January.

We're told the menorahs were originally purchased after her death at the Julien's of Hollywood estate sale when they sold her property.

The larger one is expected to fetch $15,000 - $20,000 at the auction, with the smaller one expected to go for up to $8k.

If you aren't aware ... Taylor was one of the biggest movie stars in the world when she converted, and not just because she married a Jewish man. She was reportedly very devoted to her faith for decades until she passed in 2011.

She wasn't the only celeb at the time to famously become Jewish either -- Marilyn Monroe and Sammy Davis Jr. did as well.

Here's video which Jake Paul says PROVES he really did suffer a broken nose 3 weeks before the Nate Robinson fight ... and yeah, he looks pretty busted up.

The footage shows Paul in what appears to be a hospital exactly 20 days before the Nov. 28 fight -- bleeding from the bridge of his nose with electrodes on his chest.

Paul also posted a pic of the scar after he was cleaned up.

The 23-year-old says he sustained the injury while meditating -- "I passed out on the concrete" -- and it posed a real threat to his training in those pivotal weeks before the match.

Paul says he couldn't spar for several days -- which is a big deal going into a fight. In fact, Paul says his whole training camp came to a screeching halt for a moment.

But, Paul persevered and dominated in his fight with the ex-NBA player -- ultimately securing a violent KO in the 2nd round.

As for Jake's nose, it didn't look like Nate connected one flush shot to Paul's face during the fight.

Now, Paul says he's looking forward to his next opponent -- which he HOPES is either Conor McGregor or Dillon Danis.

Pope Francis just compared abortion to hiring a hitman ... because he says both acts are designed to get rid of a problem.

The Pope made his comment to Argentinian women who oppose a new, proposed law that would decriminalize abortion. The Argentinian President vowed to sign a law that would make abortion "legal, safe and free" for all citizens.

The Pontiff said abortion was just like "hiring a killer to solve a problem."

Pope Francis, who is from Argentina, told opponents of the bill, "The country is proud to have women like you."

Francis did say as far as he's concerned, women who have had abortions can seek forgiveness and their priests will "absolve them."

The Grammys are going to look very different next year, and not just because of the pandemic ... Kanye's making a big move and Alex Trebek's in the fold.

Nominations for the 2021 Grammys are out, and there's lots of interesting changes to digest. Trevor Noah's hosting and he might have some fun with this -- Kanye is now officially considered a Christian artist.

Yeezy's "Jesus Is King" is up for best contemporary Christian music album ... it's the next stage in Kanye's transformation, which traces roots back to his Sunday Service.

Trebek's also got a shot at posthumous glory ... the late "Jeopardy!" host and TV icon's audiobook is nominated for best spoken word album. Ken Jennings helped Alex narrate the memoir, and would accept the award if the 'Jeopardy' duo wins.

One celeb who won't be taking home any hardware -- The Weeknd. He's shockingly snubbed even though his single, "Blinding Lights," topped the charts and his album, "After Hours," rose to #1.

Guess The Weeknd will have to settle for performing the Super Bowl halftime show a week after the Grammys.

Pope Francis has invited 5 NBA players to his home court -- The Vatican -- for a 1-hour meeting Monday about social justice issues.

The 5-player delegation features Sterling Brown -- the former Milwaukee Bucks star who was the victim of a police brutality incident in 2018 when he was tased by cops at a Walgreens.

The other players ... Kyle Korver, Orlando's Jonathan Isaac, Marco Belinelli and Anthony Tolliver.

Both Brown and Korver were members of the Bucks in the NBA Bubble this year when they boycotted a playoff game to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake. Brown is now a member of the Houston Rockets.

23-year-old Jonathan Isaac was one of the only players to stand during the national anthem during their Bubble. He's also an ordained minister.

Unclear exactly what the players and The Pope will talk about -- but it was reportedly Pope Francis who had a rep reach out to the NBA Players Association to get the ball rolling

Pope Francis reportedly "wanted to learn more about how players had recently brought attention to pressing social justice issues and economic inequality -- and what they planned for the future," according to ESPN.

After the meeting -- which took place in the papal library at the Apostolic Palace -- the players were scheduled to get a tour of St. Peter's Square.