Next papal selection could bring first non-European pope
Some historians see Pope Benedict XVI's resignation as an opportunity for change in the Catholic Church, specifically for it to embrace the rise of Latin America and Africa in the church.According to a...
View ArticleTunisian Jews seek religious tolerance after the revolution
Tunisia's 2011 revolution and the fall of former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was followed by a new constitution and democratic elections.A self-described moderate Islamic Party, Ennahda,...
View ArticleSpanish priest commissions graffiti work to brighten up his church
A priest in Spain recently let a bunch of graffiti artists go to town on his church.Specifically, on the dome ceiling above the main altar. You know, the space Michelangelo liked to paint.The Santa...
View ArticleAmerican rabbi elected to Israeli Knesset with hopes of bridging sectarian...
The first American-born emigrant elected to the Israeli parliament in a generation is in a unique position to contribute to the defining issue in Israeli politics.Dov Lipman, a 41 year-old rabbi from...
View ArticleBulgaria chooses new religious leader -- with complex past
In what should have been a solemn occasion, Bulgarian Church officials this past weekend picked a new leader. In a special election, the Bulgarian Holy Synod had made a choice.“For the first time in...
View ArticleCatholic Church unveils Pope Francis as next leader
The Roman Catholic Church's 115 cardinals Wednesday evening chose a new pope, the body's 266th leader.Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, an Argentinian who was practically forgotten in the discussions...
View ArticleArgentina's Dirty War revisited after new pope is elected
The new leader of the Catholic Church, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, is a precedent breaker in many ways.Pope Francis is the Vatican's first Jesuit leader and the first pope...
View ArticleLatino Catholics in the U.S. embrace Catholic Church's new Argentinian pope
As word spread about the new pope, many Latino Catholics in the United States celebrated the historic choice of a pontiff from Argentina.But it is also clear that, just like in Latin America, the...
View ArticleNew book seeks to guide Orthodox Jewish newly weds in sexual intimacy
Sex is a touchy subject. Especially in one of the world’s most cloistered societies — Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.That community places a high value on modesty, which means sex education...
View ArticleNew Pope Francis gets less than warm greeting from Venezuela
The election of the first Latin American Pope sparked celebrations across the region, home to 40 percent of the world’s Catholics.But many Latin American governments now lean to the left. And they’ve...
View ArticleYangon Muslims watch nervously as violence spreads in Myanmar
At a cemetery north of Yangon, a crowd roars with grief, as the watch the arrival of the bodies of 13 boys.They died in their sleep last week, when a fire broke out in their Islamic boarding school in...
View Article'I am a Mormon' campaign launches in London, in response to play's debut
Since January, advertisements have appeared across London promoting “The Book of Mormon,” the wildly successful Broadway musical recently transferred to London’s West End theaters.This month the Church...
View ArticleAmong Myanmar's large Buddhist population, monks, monasteries play important...
Somewhere around 85 percent of Myanmar’s 50 million people are Buddhist — the third-highest concentration in the world after Thailand and Cambodia, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public...
View ArticleCatholic priests in Philippines bring Mass to shopping malls to meet the people
Early on a Sunday morning, people are already streaming into a massive shopping mall in Manila.The seven-story Robinsons Place is a temple of consumerism. It houses about 350 stores, including gun...
View ArticleTurkey's Creationist TV channel uses women described as 'Barbie-like' to...
Turkey’s Islamic creationist guru Adnan Oktar is a regular fixture on his TV channel A9 — for hours and hours, day after day.On one recent day, as he often does, Oktar was talking about one of his many...
View ArticleAncient Hellenes religion makes comeback in Greece
The summer solstice, June 21, is one of the most important dates in the calendar for many followers of ancient religions, and it's a special time for people in Greece who worship the country's...
View ArticleAbuse victims demand newly discovered Catholic Church funds
Among the information in new documents released by the Milwaukee Archdiocese is evidence that Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, put $57 million in a trust fund for cemeteries out of concern it...
View ArticleJerusalem shopping mall at center of culture war in Israel
One of the biggest conflicts in Israel doesn’t involve the Palestinians.It’s over a shopping mall in a Jerusalem suburb of Ramot that’s at the center of a culture war. But the saga started even before...
View ArticleChanging Myanmar means new dynamic between monks, government
Hardline Buddhist monks fomenting against Muslims; dozens of monks on the frontlines of ongoing protests against a Chinese-run copper mine — these are the latest reminders of the powerful role Buddhist...
View ArticlePope Francis on gays: 'Who am I to judge?'
Though Catholics remain divided on their opinions of homosexuality, Pope Francis expressed his support for gay people to a team of reporters aboard the papal aircraft on a flight from Brazil to the...
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