Religion

Faith leaders remembered by the communities they served. 78 people are remembered here. Light a candle, read their story, and add a memory of your own.

• 
  Pope Francis

  1936 – 2025 · Pope

  Who am I to judge?

  261 candles · 11 tributes
• 
  Pope John Paul II

  1920 – 2005 · Pope

  Be not afraid.

  225 candles · 11 tributes
• 
  Mother Teresa

  1910 – 1997 · Catholic nun and missionary

  Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.

  221 candles · 13 tributes
• 
  Desmond Tutu

  1931 – 2021 · Archbishop and anti-apartheid activist

  If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

  166 candles · 14 tributes
• 
  Pedro Rodríguez García

  1933 – 2026 · Roman Catholic priest (Opus Dei)

  Priest-theologian who found Trent's catechism manuscript and served Vatican II's reception.

  78 candles · 5 tributes
• 
  Stanislaw Malkowski

  1944 – 2026 · Roman Catholic priest

  Chaplain of Solidarity and friend of Father Jerzy Popieluszko. He stood for a free and just Poland.

  76 candles · 9 tributes
• 
  Enzo Bianchi

  1943 – 2026 · Catholic lay monk

  Founder of Bose who kept teaching the Gospel after exile.

  71 candles · 9 tributes
• 
  Fr. Dominic Monti

  1943 – 2026 · Franciscan friar (OFM)

  Franciscan scholar and teacher who bridged history, theology and fraternity.

  62 candles · 6 tributes
• 
  Joseph Arnaouti

  1936 – 2026 · Armenian Catholic bishop

  Syrian Armenian Catholic shepherd who stayed with Damascus through war.

  46 candles · 7 tributes
• 
  Ludmila Javorová

  1932 – 2026 · Roman Catholic theologian

  Underground church organiser who claimed a priestly vocation under communist persecution.

  31 candles · 10 tributes
• 
  Dario Silva Silva

  1938 – 2026 · Protestant pastor

  From Huila newsrooms to the pulpit, he taught Colombia to build its house upon the rock.

  31 candles · 6 tributes
• 
  Dadeus Grings

  1936 – 2026 · Roman Catholic archbishop

  Porto Alegre archbishop who kept the name Dadeus as a vocation to give God.

  10 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Moses Tay

  1938 – 2026 · Anglican bishop

  Physician-bishop who led Singapore Anglicans and helped found a Global South province.

  9 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Ricardo Centellas

  1962 – 2026 · Roman Catholic archbishop

  Archbishop of Sucre and former president of Bolivia's Episcopal Conference.

  9 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Maurice de Germiny

  1939 – 2026 · Roman Catholic bishop

  Bishop of Blois who joined Chartist archive craft to pastoral reform.

  9 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Albert S. Axelrad

  1938 – 2026 · Reform rabbi

  Brandeis Hillel rabbi who lived pluralism and taught moral courage by example.

  9 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Allison DeFoor

  1953 – 2026 · Lawyer

  Judge, sheriff, priest and steward of Florida's wild places.

  8 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Paolo Romeo

  1938 – 2026 · Italian Catholic cardinal

  Diplomat of the Holy See on four continents and shepherd of Palermo. Caritas omnia sustinet: love bears all things.

  8 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Charles Albert Hammond

  1949 – 2026 · Roman Catholic priest

  A bilingual priest who carried the Mass to migrant workers in Michigan's Thumb.

  8 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Calvin Schofield Jr.

  1933 – 2026 · Episcopal bishop

  Southeast Florida's people's bishop who opened the diocese to Latino and Haitian ministry.

  8 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Jim Bakker

  1940 – 2026 · Televangelist

  A pioneer of Christian television who rose, fell and came back to preach grace. "Jim finished his race with faith."

  8 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Robert Rivas

  1946 – 2026 · Roman Catholic archbishop

  Dominican shepherd who founded Kingstown and guided Castries with mercy

  8 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Dom Dadeus Grings

  1936 – 2026 · Roman Catholic prelate

  Archbishop Emeritus of Porto Alegre who kept the name Dadeus to give God, led with the motto that the truth sets free.

  8 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Hadassah Carlebach

  1928 – 2026 · Holocaust survivor

  Holocaust survivor and Carlebach Shul matriarch who helped rescue Jewish children in France

  8 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Javier Giraldo

  1944 – 2026 · Colombian Jesuit priest and human rights defender

  A Jesuit who made sure the victims of Colombia's war were named and remembered.

  8 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Frank J. Dewane

  1950 – 2026 · Catholic bishop

  A Wisconsin farm boy turned Vatican diplomat who shepherded Southwest Florida's Catholics for 20 years under Justice, Peace, Joy.

  7 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Stanislas Lalanne

  1948 – 2026 · French Roman Catholic bishop

  A bishop and communicator who gave the French Church a clear and patient public voice.

  7 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Tulio Ramírez Padilla

  1960 – 2026 · Catholic bishop

  Bishop of Guarenas and patient champion of the cause of José Gregorio Hernández.

  7 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Marcellino Daiji Tani

  1953 – 2026 · Catholic bishop

  Japanese bishop who built a church for migrants and refugees and walked with Okinawa for peace.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Rabbi Israel (Eliezer HaLevi) Rubin

  1948 – 2026 · Rabbi and Chabad Lubavitch emissary to Albany

  For 52 years he brought Torah, warmth and invention to Jewish life in Albany.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Keith B. McMullin

  1941 – 2026 · Church leader and business executive

  LDS general authority and Deseret Management CEO remembered for duty, humility, and quiet mentorship.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Donald Bergagård

  1936 – 2026 · Singer

  Swedish Maranata evangelist and accordion singer of Där rosor aldrig dör.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  David Ring

  1953 – 2026 · Evangelist

  Evangelist who turned cerebral palsy into a challenge: what's your problem?

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Peter Tyoakaa Orshi

  † 2026 · Pastor

  A devoted pastor, husband and father of the Orshi family of Benue State.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Ibrahim Al Madani

  1976 – 2026 · Muezzin of Masjid al-Haram

  Madinan-trained muezzin whose dawn call from the Grand Mosque reached the world.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Mousa Shubairi Zanjani

  1928 – 2026 · Twelver Shia marja

  A Qom marja whose life was spent on rijal, fiqh, and the quiet work of teaching.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Mordechai Auerbach

  1942 – 2026 · Rabbi

  Abir Yaakov rav of Tel Aviv; a guide to many paths under one Torah.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Neville Callam

  1951 – 2026 · Baptist minister and theologian

  Jamaican pastor and theologian who became the first Black leader of the Baptist World Alliance.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Joni Lamb

  1960 – 2026 · Christian broadcaster

  Co-founder of Daystar and host of Joni Table Talk, who carried the gospel from one small station to the nations.

  6 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Father Joseph Long Nguyen

  1964 – 2026 · Roman Catholic priest

  Vietnamese-born priest who waited years for ordination and gave South Florida's Vietnamese Catholics a home.

  5 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Maria Prean

  1939 – 2026 · Christian missionary and author

  Austrian missionary who began her life's work at sixty and built schools for thousands of Ugandan children.

  5 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Saeed-ur-Rahman Azmi Nadvi

  1934 – 2026 · Islamic scholar

  Seven decades at Nadwa, he carried India's Islamic scholarship to the Arab world in his own Arabic pen.

  5 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Jakub S. Trojan

  1927 – 2026 · Protestant theologian

  The pastor who buried Jan Palach, signed Charter 77 and taught that to believe is to be responsible.

  5 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Mario Eusebio Mestril Vega

  1940 – 2026 · Roman Catholic bishop

  First bishop of Ciego de Ávila; shepherd whose motto was Psalm 23.

  5 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Fr John Noronha

  1944 – 2026 · Catholic priest

  Mangalore diocese priest who served coastal Karnataka parishes for over four decades.

  5 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Zosima Ostapenko

  1950 – 2026 · Russian Orthodox archbishop

  Russian Orthodox archbishop who rebuilt church life in Kalmykia and later led Solikamsk.

  5 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Abraham Mar Julios

  1945 – 2026 · Syro-Malankara Catholic metropolitan bishop

  Biblical scholar and Muvattupuzha metropolitan who built Pushpagiri and formed priests.

  5 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Chanmyay Sayadaw

  1928 – 2026 · Theravada Buddhist monk

  Mahasi-lineage sayadaw who carried Vipassana from Yangon to the world.

  5 candles · 1 tributes