NEW YORK (RNS) In an effort to continue interfaith cooperation and prevent backlash against Muslims, Jews and Muslims are coming together here to memorialize the Jewish victims of the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. Imam Mohammed Shamsi Ali and Rabbi Marc Schneier, who recently appeared together in Manhattan during...
NEW YORK - Theological conservatives upset by liberal views of U.S. Episcopalians and Canadian Anglicans formed a rival North American province Wednesday, in a long-developing rift over the Bible that erupted when Episcopalians consecrated the first openly gay bishop. The announcement represents a new challenge to the already splintering, 77-million-member...
PARIS - An international doctors' panel appointed by the Roman Catholic Church says it's getting out of the "miracle" business at Lourdes. The panel will no longer judge whether pilgrims to the French shrine could have benefited from "miracle" healing - a huge shift from the centuries-old way of deciding...
Vatican City - In the 24 years since the U.S. and the Holy See established full diplomatic ties, relations have never been closer or warmer than during the administration of President George W. Bush. The two sides broke over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, but Bush's personal esteem...
New York - Pledges of money and mitzvot (good deeds) have poured into a Web site set up by the New York-based Chabad-Lubavitch movement in the wake of the massacre in Mumbai, India, that claimed six victims at Mumbai's Chabad House. Chabad, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish outreach program that aims to...
Frankfort, Ky. - A group of atheists filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to remove part of a state anti-terrorism law that requires Kentucky's Office of Homeland Security to acknowledge it can't keep the state safe without God's help. American Atheists Inc. sued in state court over a 2002 law that...
Jerusalem - "Mommy, mommy, mommy!" wailed little Moshe at a tearful memorial for his parents in Mumbai on Monday, before a plane carrying him, his caretaker and the bodies of the six Jewish victims of the Chabad House hostage siege took off for Israel - a place the curly-haired 2-year-old...
New York - African drums boomed and pipe organ music swelled as the Cathedral of St. John the Divine opened for worship Sunday after years of cleanup from a fire that struck the world's largest Gothic cathedral in 2001. The cathedral's 98-year-old Skinner organ was played for the first time...
Washington - Marking World AIDS Day, President George W. Bush said Monday that his presidential initiative on the deadly disease already has met its goal of treating 2 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. When the administration launched the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief in 2003, the goal was to...
TRAPPIST, Ky. -- Around the country for the next few weeks, many Roman Catholics will remember and honor the life of Trappist monk Thomas Merton, who died 40 years ago on Dec. 10, 1968, in a freak electrocution accident. Merton, who influenced generations of believers with both his monastic lifestyle...
SIDHBARI, India - Give the magnetic personality and hunky good looks of a rock star to a Tibetan Buddhist monk, and the result might be Gyalwang Karmapa, the third-highest lama in the Tibetan religious firmament. The Karmapa, as he is known, is getting more than his share of attention these...
NEWARK, N.J. -- The perfect man for Aparna Kachalia, who was born to Hindu parents from Bombay, will be one who loves the 20-year-old sophomore at Dartmouth College and treats her well. If he happens to be Hindu, great. If not, no problem. "A lot of people in my generation...
SAN ANGELO, Texas - Child welfare authorities want a judge to order a teenage member of a polygamist sect to let them collect a DNA sample from her newborn so they can identify the father and determine if he's an adult. The girl is a minor and Child Protective Services...
JERUSALEM (RNS) Regularly attending religious services may significantly reduce the risk of death, according to a comprehensive study by researchers at Yeshiva University and its medical school, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Findings of the study were published in Psychology and Health, the official journal of...
MIAMI - A judge on Tuesday overturned a strict Florida law that blocks gay people from adopting children, declaring there was no legal or scientific reason for sexual orientation alone to prohibit anyone from adopting. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman said the 31-year-old law violates equal protection rights for the...
DHARMSALA, India - The Dalai Lama warned that the decadeslong dream of a free Tibet would be in danger if exiled leaders weren't careful, after they said they might push for independence if China refuses to grant autonomy soon to the Himalayan region. The Buddhist spiritual leader also called for...
DALLAS - A Muslim charity and five of its former leaders were convicted Monday of funneling millions of dollars to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, finally handing the government a signature victory in its fight against terrorism funding. U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis announced the guilty verdicts on all...
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky - A lawsuit against the Vatican alleging top church officials should have warned the public or authorities of known or suspected sexual abuse of children by priests here can go ahead, a federal appeals court ruled Monday. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave the go-ahead for...
WASHINGTON (RNS) A federal court has ruled that the Arizona License Plate Commission must approve an anti-abortion group's "Choose Life" specialty license plate. The Arizona Life Coalition applied for the specialty license plate in 2002, but the Arizona License Plate Commission, which oversees the requests, rejected its application. Attorneys with...
NEW YORK (RNS) A New York City Police Department report that characterizes young Muslim men as susceptible to Islamic extremism and "jihadization" is biased and unfair, a Muslim civil rights group said Thursday (Nov. 20). The Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition, created last year in response to a NYPD analysis...
POTSDAM, Germany - Germany is dropping its pursuit of a ban on Scientology after finding insufficient evidence of illegal activity, security officials said Friday. Domestic intelligence services will continue to monitor the group, officials said. The German branch of the Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology has been under observation by...
Baltimore - Recognized widely for his catchphrase - "the family that prays together stays together" - the late Rev. Patrick Peyton spread his message to millions by radio and later television, using Hollywood stars to emphasize prayer and moral values. Now, the man known as the "Rosary Priest" for his...
The online match-making site eHarmony has agreed to launch a same-sex matching service next March after settling allegations that the company violated New Jersey's anti-discrimination law by excluding gays and lesbians. A New Jersey gay man filed a complaint with the state in 2005, saying that eHarmony violated his rights...
Jerusalem - Archaeologists who have analyzed artifacts discovered at Herodium, an ancient Judean palace built by King Herod, are more convinced than ever that the famed monarch was buried high atop the complex outside Jerusalem. Herod, who served as the king of Judea from 37 to 4 BC, built such...
WASHINGTON (RNS) Washington National Cathedral announced dramatic cuts to its budget, programs and staff on Wednesday (Nov. 19) as the faltering economy continues to hit religious institutions nationwide. The landmark cathedral, which welcomes nearly 700,000 visitors a year and has hosted the state funerals of three presidents, will slash its...
Frederick Douglass once worshiped in the fifth pew on the 16th Street side of Metropolitan AME Church. President Bill Clinton prayed in the front pew before both of his inaugurations. Come January, members hope President-elect Barack Obama and his family pick a pew at the historic black church located walking...
A last-minute Bush administration plan to grant sweeping new protections to health care providers who oppose abortion and other procedures on religious or moral grounds has provoked a torrent of objections, including a strenuous protest from the government agency that enforces job-discrimination laws. The proposed rule would prohibit recipients of...
Washington - Clergy and congregants from more than 40 states gathered in front of the Department of Treasury on Tuesday (Nov. 18) to pray for Secretary Henry Paulson and members of Congress to put an end to the home foreclosure crisis. PICO, a network of faith-based community organizations that helps...
The Colorado-based Focus on the Family will reduce its staff by about 200 positions, citing economic conditions. "There's still a great demand for the resources we offer," said Focus spokesman Gary Schneeberger on Tuesday (Nov. 18). "It's simply a fact that the economy is affecting our donors and, therefore, affecting...
Los Angeles - The wildfires that have burned approximately 40,000 acres and hundreds of homes in Southern California have also destroyed a historic Episcopal monastery set on a hill in Santa Barbara. Nancy Bullock, guesthouse director for the Mount Calvary Monastery and Guesthouse, said because the 20,000-square-foot Spanish-style home was...
DHARMSALA, India - Tibetan exile leaders opened weeklong discussions Monday over the direction of their movement to win autonomy from China, after the Dalai Lama, the region's exiled spiritual leader, expressed frustration over years of fruitless talks with Beijing. The meeting in northern India, called by the Dalai Lama, follows...
(RNS) The Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, became the fourth to secede from the Episcopal Church Saturday (Nov. 15), when delegates voted to align with a more conservative branch of the Anglican Communion. Nearly 80 percent of clergy and lay delegates from the North Texas diocese voted to join the...
NEW YORK (RNS) Famous -- and infamous -- American Jews associated with the election season and the ongoing problems in the kosher meat industry dominated The Forward newspaper's list of 50 influential Jews this year. The Forward, the largest national Jewish weekly in America, published its "Forward 50" on Nov....
WASHINGTON -- A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest who had warned Barack Obama voters not to take Communion without first confessing their sin said Friday (Nov. 14) he will not deny the sacrament based on "political opinions or choices." But the Rev. Jay Scott Newman of St. Mary's Catholic Church...
(UNDATED) Stories about love, lust and the undead may not seem like the best vehicle for teaching teens about faith and morality. But for Stephenie Meyer, who has been called "the Mormon Anne Rice," her best-selling "Twilight" books and upcoming movie contain plenty of teachable moments. Meyer, a wife and...
ALBANY, Georgia - A Georgia priest facing excommunication for supporting the ordination of women said Friday he plans to visit the Vatican with a contingent of fellow priests and a bishop to appeal the decision. Roy Bourgeois, 69, a Maryknoll priest and nationally known peace activist, ran afoul of Vatican...
Washington - Hundreds of people rallied outside the White House on Wednesday (Nov. 12) as religious leaders from a number of faiths met with members of Congress while also urging President-elect Barack Obama to sign an executive order banning torture. The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT)'s "Day of Witness"...
Waltham, Mass. - The dozens of independent Jewish prayer groups cropping up all over the country in the past decade have mostly attracted worshipers with traditional roots, rather than converts or secular Jews, a new study reports. Based on a 2007 survey of 747 members of independent minyans, or lay-led...
New York - Carrying signs reading "Love not H8" and "Did you cast a ballot or a stone?", a large crowd of gay-marriage supporters gathered outside a Mormon temple to protest the church's endorsement of a same-sex marriage ban in California. The rally Wednesday night outside The Church of Jesus...
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court warily confronted a case Wednesday that mixes limits on free speech with issues of church-state separation. The justices engaged in lively arguments over a small religious group's efforts to place a monument in a public park that already is home to a Ten Commandments display....
Supporters of gay marriage, frustrated over a ballot-box defeat in California, have channeled much of their anger toward the towering white spires of Mormon temples. For months, the Mormon church sought to portray itself as just one member of a coalition of Catholics, evangelicals, black Protestants and others supporting Proposition...
RATANPUR, Nepal - The teenage boy revered by many as a reincarnation of Buddha sat silently in the jungle as he blessed his devotees Wednesday with a light tap on the head, which they consider the touch of the divine. His face was still, his long hair spilled over his...
Vatican City - Roman Catholic Church officials are sending messages to U.S. president-elect Barack Obama, saying they will oppose any changes in U.S. policies on embryonic stem cell research. Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, the pope's health minister, on Tuesday reiterated the Vatican's opposition to using embryos for research purposes. President...
Washington - A survey shows religious Americans are less worried about the economy than they are about a "spiritual recession." The Faithbook on Facebook poll released Tuesday found nearly 72 percent of respondents said such a spiritual recession was more of a concern to them than a downturn in the...
Salt Lake City - Gay-rights activists see opportunities for their cause in Utah thanks to Mormon church officials, who strongly supported California's proposition denying same-sex couples the right to marry but said they did not object to granting those couples certain other rights. The advocacy group Equality Utah is asking...
A Chinese official Monday called on the Dalai Lama to "correct his mistakes" and move closer to the central government." China's government officials provided more details Monday of their meeting last week with the spiritual leader's representatives, Xinhua reported. "We hope that (the Dalai Lama) could correct his mistakes and...
BALTIMORE - The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, opening a national church meeting Monday, said that continued support for abortion rights will undermine any advances in social justice that come from a new president and Congress. Chicago Cardinal Francis George said "we must all rejoice" that an...
OAKLAND -- Hundreds of protesters angry about last week's voter passage of a ban on same-sex marriages in California gathered on the streets and sidewalks in front of the Mormon Temple, prompting officials to shut down nearby freeway off-ramps for 3 1/2 hours. "The time has come to take it...
STAMFORD, Conn. -- The Reform, Conservative and Orthodox streams of Judaism each have their particular responses to issues facing American Jews, but there's no reason they can't work to address those challenges together, the heads of the flagship educational institutions for all three movements said Thursday (Nov. 6). While the...
NEW YORK - The barrier-crossing election of Barack Obama did little to bridge the deep racial divide in American churches. In fact, some clergy say it has only served to underscore their differences. While nonwhite Christians voted overwhelmingly for Obama, most white Christians backed John McCain, according to exit polls....
LOS ANGELES - Outside the gates of a Mormon temple, Kai Cross joined more than 2,000 gay-rights advocates in a chorus of criticism of the church's role in a new California-wide ban on same-sex marriage. Once a devout Mormon who graduated from the church's Brigham Young University, the 41-year-old Cross...
Nashville, Tenn. - Ruth Graham knows firsthand how life can be filled with heartache. The third of evangelist Billy Graham's five children, she has dealt with a daughter's teen pregnancies, another's bulimia and a son's drug use. She also struggled with suicidal thoughts after learning that her first husband had...
Washington - Last November, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops overwhelmingly approved a set of guidelines for Catholics to consider before they went to the voting booth. Only four bishops voted against the 36-page document, called "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship." Then came the 2008 election. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and...
After months of balancing their support for the presidential candidate with concerns that their allegiance could do more harm than good, millions of relieved American Muslims cheered the election of the son of a Muslim immigrant whose middle name is Hussein. Record numbers of U.S. Muslims had cast their votes,...
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Barack Obama may not have been the Catholic hierarchy's favored candidate in the U.S. presidential race because of his support for abortion rights, but the Vatican on Wednesday (Nov. 5) hailed his election as a "choice that unites." "America...is truly the country where everything can happen," said...
BANNING, California - Marilyn Ferguson, whose best-selling book "The Aquarian Conspiracy" helped establish the New Age movement by tying together its disparate threads, has died. She was 70. Ferguson died Oct. 19 at her home in western Riverside County. She is believed to have died of a heart attack, her...
LOS ANGELES - Voters put a stop to same-sex marriage in California, dealing a crushing defeat to gay-rights activists in a state they hoped would be a vanguard, and putting in doubt as many as 18,000 same-sex marriages conducted since a court ruling made them legal this year. The gay-rights...
In life, the approximately 900 people who followed the Rev. Jim Jones to build a utopian commune in the South American jungle in 1977 were relatively anonymous. But in death, the Jonestown pilgrims became front-page news when they died a year later after following Jones' order to drink punch laced...
The Dalai Lama said Monday that his approach to Tibet's greater autonomy has so far failed, and that Tibetans should decide for themselves the future direction the region should take. "My trust in the Chinese government has become thinner, thinner, thinner," he said. Speaking to a packed room at the...
Vatican City - The Vatican is hosting a three-day Catholic-Muslim forum meant to improve relations strained by a speech made two years ago by Pope Benedict XVI that angered many in the Islamic world. The meetings will culminate in a papal audience and is intended to help the two faiths...
California voters remain hotly divided over a proposed constitutional amendment that would require minors to notify their parents before getting an abortion. A recent Public Policy Institute poll found supporters of Proposition 4 -- Sarah's Law -- slightly in the lead, with 46 percent of likely voters approving the amendment...
ORANGE, Calif. - A Southern California county will allow jailed Muslim women to wear headscarves after settling a lawsuit with a woman who claims that deputies violated her religious freedom by making her remove her hijab. The settlement agreement signed by the county last week and released Monday specifies that...
CLEVELAND -- The preacher's voice rises to a booming pitch. Near the end of his sermon, the Rev. David Cobb Jr. runs down a list of politicians in mesmerizing, rapid-fire rhythm: "You don't really need Bush. You don't really need Cheney. You don't really need Palin. You don't really need...
WASHINGTON (RNS) Democrat Kay Hagan filed a defamation suit Thursday (Oct. 30) against Sen. Elizabeth Dole's re-election campaign, saying her opponent for a Senate seat from North Carolina inaccurately accused her of having ties to an atheist political action committee. "A leader of the Godless Americans PAC recently held a...
NEW ORLEANS - It's Halloween, and Anne Rice has a new book - a memoir in fact - that's climbing best-seller lists. Everything is normal, then. Normal if it were 1994 - the height of Rice's megaselling fame as a queen of Southern Gothic pulp. For those who haven't been...
HIRBET QEIYAFA, Israel - An Israeli archaeologist has discovered what he believes is the oldest known Hebrew inscription on a 3,000-year-old pottery shard - a find that suggests Biblical accounts of the ancient Israelite kingdom of David could have been based on written texts. A teenage volunteer discovered the curved...
Vatican City - A Jewish leader says Pope Benedict XVI is considering a request to freeze the sainthood process for wartime Pope Pius XII, who critics say did not speak out enough during World War II to save Jews amid Hitler's extermination campaign. Rabbi Ravid Rosen says the pope was...
Utah's polygamous groups are once again circulating a voters' guide that ranks political candidates and their views on issues important to fundamentalist communities. This year's ratings were based on responses or actions related to campaign ethics and civil rights. Among questions candidates were asked: "Should polygamous people have the same...
On Friday (Oct. 31), no one will be surprised to see ghosts and goblins on the loose. But for some Americans, ghosts -- along with extraterrestrials, Bigfoot and UFOs -- aren't the stuff of seasonal sightings or tabloid teasers. They're real -- as real as a resurrected Jesus and a...
(UNDATED) Naomi Gonzalez grew up poor in Chicago, bouncing among nine foster homes while her father served time in prison. The single mother of four believes Barack Obama understands her struggle. "He's come from poverty, he comes from a single mother, he's experienced racism," said Gonzalez, 30, "A lot of...
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - On a recent Sunday, the Rev. Richard Mahan scrapped a sermon on forgiveness. He felt compelled instead to address the economic turmoil battering the nation. "Everybody's facing hard times," he told worshippers at St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Charleston. "If you're not, you're going to." Include churches...
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) The hottest campaign in Michigan this fall features no candidate, but an embryo. In the fight over Proposal 2, advocates and opponents are spending millions to shape voter opinion on a proposal to loosen current restrictions on embryonic stem cell research in the state. In West...
When she was director of religious outreach for John Kerry's Democratic presidential campaign four years ago, Mara Vanderslice could hardly have seemed lower on the campaign totem pole. "I had one unpaid intern who didn't have a phone," she said. "We didn't have a budget, and they never let me...
Vatican City - The Vatican is appealing for an end to religious violence in India, seeking to halt anti-Christian rampages by Hindu extremists. The Vatican used its annual message for the Hindu Diwali festival of light, praising the father of Indian independence Mahatma Gandhi as a model of nonviolence. The...
By most counts, several times more people live in New York City than practice Buddhism nationwide. So American Buddhists aren't likely to become a political machine or a crucial swing vote any time soon. But as the religion born in the East carves its place in the West, many Buddhists...
Leesburg, Virginia - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin told a cheering crowd Monday that Democrats would raise taxes and "punish hard work" if Virginia voters break a 44-year preference for Republican presidents and help send Barack Obama to the White House. Palin, Republican John McCain's running mate, also tried...
Washington - Fordham University's plan to give an award to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has drawn criticism from alumni and the leader of the Catholic church in New York over Breyer's support for abortion rights. Cardinal Edward Egan has spoken to the Catholic university's leaders to ensure "that a...
Dharmsala, India - The Dalai Lama said Saturday he has given up on efforts to convince Beijing to allow greater autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule. The Tibetan spiritual leader said he would now ask the Tibetan people to decide how to take the dialogue forward. China has repeatedly accused...
JERUSALEM - The German government on Thursday handed Israel's national Holocaust memorial the personal details of 600,000 Jewish residents of Nazi Germany, the most comprehensive record to date of German-Jewish life during the Nazi era. German Culture Minister Bernd Neumann presented the directory during a ceremony at the Yad Vashem...
(RNS) New York state's high court ruled Thursday (Oct. 23) that the Episcopal Church and Diocese of Rochester are entitled to keep the property of a parish that has seceded and joined another branch of the Anglican Communion. All Saints Protestant Episcopal Church agreed to abide by the rules of...
California's battle to define marriage as between a man and a woman is getting personal and nasty -- especially for Mormons on both sides of the political debate. Opponents of Proposition 8, a ballot measure to thwart gay marriage, have picketed LDS services in Northern California and threatened to protest...
Washington - Six in 10 Americans think the U.S. is "uniquely blessed" by God, but a higher percentage -- almost eight in 10 -- think the country sometimes does more harm than good when it relates to the rest of the world, according to a new study on religion and...
Washington - The U.S. Justice Department recently disclosed a 2007 ruling by its Office of Legal Counsel that permitted the relief agency World Vision to keep a $1.5 million grant despite its policy of hiring only Christians. World Vision successfully sought an exemption from a statute that requires grant recipients...
Washington - The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday renewed its push for the Vatican to open its archives for Europe's Holocaust period, saying it would allow historical conclusions to be based on fact and not rhetoric. The call comes amid growing controversy over plans by the Vatican to...
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (RNS) Roman Catholics in North America and Britain are calling for a series of YouTube videos showing a Canadian teenager destroying Communion hosts to be removed from the Internet. The Quebec teenager named Dominique, who tags himself "fsmdude," has posted more than 40 videos featuring him desecrating...
DENVER - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin describes herself as a "hard-core pro-lifer" and expresses confidence that in spite of disheartening polls, "putting this in God's hands, that the right thing for America will be done at the end of the day on Nov. 4." In an interview with...
(UNDATED) "It took Jesus a thousand years to die. Images of his corpse did not appear in churches until the tenth century." Those are the provocative opening sentences of the new book, "Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire" (Beacon Press), by Protestant scholars...
Lori Lipman Brown has had her fill of God-talk. "It's a very frustrating time," said Brown, director of the Washington-based Secular Coalition for America, the first lobbying organization devoted to secular issues. "All of us have been very hopeful that at the end of the Bush administration, we would stop...
More than eight in 10 white Americans would vote for a racial minority for president, but fewer whites who take the Bible literally or who worship in an all-white congregation would do the same, according to a recent survey. Research from Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion found that...
Pastor Jim Garlow is fasting and praying at his megachurch in La Mesa, Calif., to encourage fellow California evangelicals to vote for Proposition 8, which would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Jan Garbosky, meanwhile, married her lesbian partner of 20 years on Oct. 4 at their Unitarian...
SALT LAKE CITY - Brigham Young University has yanked the diploma of a man who created a calendar featuring shirtless Mormon missionaries and was later excommunicated from the church. Chad Hardy of Las Vegas attended graduation ceremonies Aug. 15 after finishing up his last four units of study online in...
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