Religion/ Spirituality

The New Orleans Saints are adamantly DENYING helping top Catholic church officials in N.O. cover up sex abuse crimes, despite allegations to the contrary ... this according to court docs.

Here's the deal ... more than 20 men are suing the Archdiocese of New Orleans for employing George F. Brignac, a schoolteacher and deacon who allegedly sexually abused several boys.

Despite allegedly knowing about the abuse, the church continued to employ him as a lay minister until 2018.

Several alleged victims are suing the church for keeping him around while knowing he was a danger to kids.

Now, attorneys for the accusers are going after the Saints -- claiming team executives used their official Saints email accounts to help advise the church on how to deal with the crisis.

In fact, the attorneys claim there are HUNDREDS of emails showing an attempted P.R. effort from the Saints and they want a judge to release them to the public, according to the AP, which broke the story.

The attorneys are pointing the finger at the top Saints people -- including owner Gayle Benson and Senior V.P. of Communications Greg Bensel ... suggesting they aided the Archdiocese of New Orleans in its "pattern and practice of concealing its crimes."

What is known is that Saints owner Gayle Benson is a major backer of her local Catholic archdiocese and she’s given millions to the church ... and, she’s buds with Archbishop Gregory Aymond. Gayle inherited the team when Tom Benson died in 2018.

"Obviously, the Saints should not be in the business of assisting the Archdiocese, and the Saints’ public relations team is not in the business of managing the public relations of criminals engaged in pedophilia," the attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote in the court filing. "The Saints realize that if the documents at issue are made public, this professional sports organization also will be smearing itself."

According to the AP, the Saints have strongly denied the allegations in court filings.

The Saints had no immediate comment when we reached out Friday.

Queen Elizabeth doesn't seem to be shedding any tears after cutting the cord with Harry and Meghan, because she showed up with Prince Andrew, smiling and wearing a checkered coat.

And, speaking of checkered ... it's a big show of support for her son, who's smack in the middle of the Jeffrey Epstein pedophile scandal after that disastrous TV interview.

Her appearance comes a day after she 86'd the royal titles of Harry and Meghan. It's apparent ... H&M aren't coming back to England anytime soon, and they may be forever outsiders after their move to Canada.

Shawn Stockman says Smokepurpp is doing the admirable, and rare thing, in show biz -- putting money last to honor Kanye West's desire to keep his music strictly Christian.

First, the backstory ... Smokepurpp and Kanye collaborated on a track dubbed "No Problem" back in 2018 which was supposed to be released on Smoke's debut album, "Deadstar 2."

The record dropped last month, but without Ye's featured track. The problem with "No Problem" is the track's littered with curse words. In short, it's exactly the kinda music Kanye has since denounced -- opting instead to go full gospel.

When we talked to the Boyz II Men singer, he was belting out Smokepurpp's praises ... calling it a respectful move. The rapper has said he pulled it because it just isn't indicative of Kanye's new sound.

Now, there is a catch. Smokepurpp says there's still a chance he'll drop "No Problem" ... but ONLY IF Kanye goes back to doing secular tracks.

Shawn warns Purpp shouldn't hold his breath for that.

The Tennessee Titans might be in trouble this weekend ... 'cause Patrick Mahomes' jersey has made its way to The Holy One before the big AFC Championship Game!!!

It's becoming a trend for Pope Francis to receive NFL QB jerseys -- he received a custom Ravens jersey signed by Lamar Jackson back in December.

The Pontiff's collection just got a nice MVP addition ... with the bishop of the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph gifting it to him in Vatican City on Thursday.

Now, the Pope is an avid soccer fan ... but the dude might start watchin' some good ole American football now that he's got a closet full of jerseys.

We should note ... it may not be necessarily good luck for Mahomes, considering Jackson's Ravens got booted from the playoffs.

But, Pope Francis loved the gesture regardless ... and who knows, maybe he'll check out the game this weekend.

Justin Bieber's hit the stage earlier than expected ... but instead of singing his biggest hits he went full Kanye.

The Biebs hit up Churchome Wednesday night in Beverly Hills ... where part of his worship included grabbing a mic and singing heartfelt gospel.

Justin sang a few tracks, including "Reckless Love," "Good Good Father" and "Sinking Deep." Some of the lyrics -- "Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God. Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found ... I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still. You give yourself away. Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God."

Kanye West has taken his Sunday Service all over North America -- from Coachella to a Houston megachurch to Skid Row and all the way to Jamaica -- but now he wants to head further overseas.

TMZ's learned the rapper plans to go global with his gospel movement in 2020, and has his sights set on locations in Europe and Africa to start. We're told his muse and sole focus in the new year is to bring the word of God to people via his Sunday Service.

Our Kanye sources say he has no interest in traditional touring for his music anymore, but he does plan to keep recording gospel tunes with his choir ... which he continues to fund on his own.

We're told he's got another album in mind with the choir too. As we reported ... he and his Sunday Service choir dropped its anticipated, "Jesus is Born," gospel album just in time for Christmas.

Pope Francis was almost held back in 2019 by an overzealous fan, who grabbed a hold of him and wouldn't let go ... that is, until Francis gave her a swat and a scolding.

The Pontiff was down in Vatican City Tuesday, ready to ring in the new year with a line of adoring fans and worshippers -- many of whom he was happily greeting and shaking hands with along his route. It was all going great, up to the point some woman got handsy.

Check it out ... it's a pretty surreal scene, especially seeing how PF handles it. Kinda feisty!

You see Francis going down the line -- and as he approaches the grabber, she actually ramps up by doing a crucifix blessing on herself in anticipation of making contact. Sure enough, he ends up shaking her hand, but she clamps on to his arm and yanks him back.

It definitely took the Pope by surprise, and not in a good way either. He slaps her hand a couple time and when his handlers finally step in, she releases him. Looks like his Holiness wasn't too pleased either ... walking away with a stern look on his face 😡

Oh, and that wasn't the only incident along the guard rails either. Apparently, some kid fell right in front of the Pope as he was walking along, and Francis was quick to attend to him and give him a pat on the head once he realized he was alright.

Kanye West had a lot to reflect on a year after starting his Sunday Service -- and he did that and then some in a place you might've never thought you'd see him ... Skid Row.

Ye was in DTLA this weekend holding a Sunday Service at the Union Rescue Mission on Skid Row, which is a homeless shelter that offers food and spiritual guidance for the needy. While there with his usual choir, he got on the mic at one point to do some preaching.

He got into a lot of different topics -- including how Sunday Service itself saved him since it began a full year ago. He also talked about the homeless crisis in L.A. and elsewhere ... going on to say he's had a vision for a worldwide solution. That sounds familiar, doesn't it?

At one point, Kanye also ranted a bit about "Devil-approved" and "God-approved" subjects -- and he seemed to allude to T.I.'s highly scrutinized comments from earlier this year about how he once brought his daughter to the gynecologist to make sure she was a virgin.

A man has been arrested in connection with a vicious hate crime against Jews ... and 2 people are now fighting for their lives.

Cops say the suspect entered the home of a rabbi Saturday night to celebrate the 7th day of Hanukkah. The man then pulled out a knife -- which one eyewitness said looked like a broomstick -- and began attacking many of the 100 guests.

Five of the guests were stabbed and 2 are in critical condition. One of the victims was stabbed at least 6 times.

Most of the people who attended the party were Hasidic Jews. The home where the attack occurred is in a New York suburb which has the largest Jewish population per capita in the country.

The rabbi was not about to cower ... after the attack, he continued with the celebration.

It's the latest in a series of violent attacks against Jews.

The wait is over ... Kanye West and his Sunday Service choir have finally dropped its "Jesus is Born" gospel album.

Kanye had everyone waiting with anticipation since he teased the album in an interview back in October. The 19-track album hit all major digital streaming platforms today ... just in time for Christmas. Instead of going with a major label to release his album, Ye chose a New Jersey-based Indie distributor, Vydia.

Some of the track titles include "Count Your Blessings," "That's How the Good Lord Works" and "Satan, We're Gonna Tear Your Kingdom Down." Kanye, of course, dropped his "Jesus is King" album back in October after many delays. That album featured 11 tracks.

Yeezy had a massive album listening event at The Forum in L.A. when that album dropped. Fans were also treated to a screening of his "Jesus is King" IMAX project.

Demi Lovato added new ink on her bod for the holidays ... and like much of her last year, it's inspirational.

Demi spent most of her Monday getting inked up by Alessandro Capozzi at a private studio in downtown L.A. We are told he started on Demi's tattoo around noon and finished around 8 PM. The finished product? An angel representing the rebirth of the spirit.

Capozzi says he and Demi created the image together. The dark wings represent the bad times but the fading wings represent how Demi's moved forward. The light from within represents the inner strength that's necessary for the change in her life ... and the doves pulling her up symbolize the reach of a higher state of consciousness. Deep stuff.

The Royals have had a tough year no doubt, but at least some of them tried to put on a happy face for Xmas.

Prince George and Princess Charlotte clutched the hand of parents William and Kate as they made their way to church. They joined grandpa Prince Charles as they entered the Church of St. Mary Magdalene on the Queen's Sandringham estate, about 100 miles from London.

Prince Louis wasn't there ... he's 18 months old and too young for the festivities. Louis hung out with Kate's parents.

Kanye West brought his city-hopping opera to NYC -- and while much of it was the same -- Yeezy added some Christmas flare to the latest tour stop.

Kanye, his choir and band hit Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall Sunday to perform "Mary." The stage was decked out in plants, over 100 choir members and props to tell the story of Jesus' birth from the eyes of his mother.

The choir belted out songs from Kanye's "Jesus is King" album -- as they normally have -- but there was also a rendition of "The Little Drummer Boy" added to the setlist.

Dave Chappelle, Bradley Cooper and Kim Kardashian West were among the stars in the crowd ... and Kanye voiced much of the show from offstage.

It's been a family affair for the West's in NYC -- we got Kim, Kanye and the kids leaving The Ritz Friday -- North was definitely in a holiday mood.

Kanye West seems ready to switch things up for his second go-around on 'Mary' -- this time, kids are going to be directly involved, as will a big surprise guest ... supposedly.

The rapper's in NYC right now, where he's hours away from his 2nd performance of his latest opera at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall. On Saturday, he was in rehearsals ... and a bunch of tykes were spotted onstage at the David H. Koch Theater across the way -- where we're told everyone was warming up their pipes and getting the cues down.

People on the scene tell us they saw the kids rehearsing their singing too, as we're told it appears they're going to be incorporated into the chorus of adults -- made up of Ye's Sunday Service choir, of course. That's different than what he did at Art Basel 2 weeks ago.