Following the death of their 27-year-old son to suicide, Rick and Kay Warren have launched a petition in an effort to raise awareness about mental illness.

Matthew was just one of about 11.4 million American adults that suffered from severe mental illness in the past year. In fact, one in five Americans experiences some sort of mental illness. Join Kay and I, and the Saddleback Family, in our effort to urge educators, lawmakers, healthcare professionals, and church congregations to raise the awareness and lower the stigma of mental illness… and support the families that deal with mental illness on a daily basis.

The youngest son of the best-selling author and pastor took his own life on April 5, after a lifelong battle with depression and mental illness. The family is also establishing a mental health foundation in his name … Discuss

Newly elected Pope Francis, who has become known for his emphasis on financial humility, has now canceled bonuses for Vatican officials. Traditionally, select members of Vatican leadership receive bonus checks when a new Pope is elected—this year, they were due to get about $2,000 apiece. Instead of the bonuses, the Pope has told officials to draw funds from his personal charity budget, and make a donation to several charitable organizations. According to a Vatican spokesperson, the move is “a sign of the church’s attention for the many people who are suffering” … Discuss

In a move that one church historian has called the “most important step in the history of the church for the past 10 centuries", Pope Francis has set up a panel of eight advisors that will help him run the Catholic Church. The members of the group are known for their positions on church reform issues, including a "zero tolerance" policy for sex abuse cases, and a desire for financial oversight at the Vatican bank.

The formation of the panel aligns with recent statements by the newly-elected Pope, which emphasized integrity among church leaders and ending hypocrisy. On Saturday, Pope Francis gave a message in which he said, "Inconsistency on the part of pastors and the faithful between what they say and what they do, between word and manner of life, is undermining the Church's credibility" … Discuss

In an interview with the Huffington Post, evangelical leader and Sojourners founder Jim Wallis said that he now supports the legalization of same-sex marriage. This marks a change in position for Wallis, who in a 2008 interview with Christianity Today said, “I don't think the sacrament of marriage should be changed … marriage is all through the Bible, and it's not gender-neutral.” A spokesperson for Sojourners told The Christian Post that Wallis’s new position on the issue represents a "civil legal perspective", not necessarily a theological one.

In the Huffington Post interview, Wallis said, “I want a deeper commitment to marriage that is more and more inclusive, and that's where I think the country is going." Wallis also said that he does not think that Christians who oppose gay marriage should be labeled as bigoted, saying, “I don't think they should be called 'bigots' if they are struggling with what the Bible says about this, or might we lose marriage because of this. ... But calling each other names, we've got to stop doing that” … Discuss

Mega-church pastor Joel Osteen was the victim of an elaborate hoax that led some to believe he was leaving his Houston congregation. Last week, a fake website (that was made to look like Osteen’s real ministry homepage) posted a made-up “letter” from the evangelist in which he said he no longer believed the Bible, was renouncing his faith and leaving his church. The people behind the site, also set up a fake Twitter account they used to perpetuate the lies. Though Osteen hasn’t ruled out taking some sort of legal action, in an interview with ABC News, he seemed to take it all in stride. “I’m really not angry. I don’t feel like a victim” …

Update: In an email exchange with NPR, the person claiming to be behind the hoax said that his motivation was not to defame Joel Osteen, but to rather “stage, for a moment, a plausible scenario of his hypothetical resignation". He said that he has received an enormous amount of email through an address provided on the fake site. “About 60 percent of literally thousands of comments and emails have been positive, affirming messages from Christians praying for me." He said the rest of the feedback was either from "very angry, upset Christians" or "atheists and freethinkers and 'back slid' Christians". Another motivation for the prank: “to somehow appear on The Daily Show so I can make one of my good friends jealous." Discuss