Author: Daniela Altimari

Source: The Hartford Courant

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-same-sex-battle0421.artapr21,0,7143658.story

Six months after the state Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in Connecticut, opponents are opening a new front in the contentious battle.

Through a high-profile campaign that includes robocalls, TV spots, newspaper ads and messages from the pulpit, the Roman...

Author: Adelle M. Banks

Source: Religion News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=17939

Every year between 2001 and 2008, former President Bush's calendar was cleared on the first Thursday in May to mark the National Day of Prayer in the White House East Room with prominent evangelicals.

Now the Obama White House is facing questions of inside-the-Beltway etiquette: Should Obama maintain the open door to conservative critics...

Author: Joshua Boak

Source: The Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-amish20-2009apr20,0,5794881.story

The Amish are defined by their religious beliefs, shunning automobiles, insurance and electricity in their homes.

But some in hard-hit northern Indiana realize they can no longer avoid one modern idea: unemployment checks.

The Amish church frowns on government...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Catholic News Agency

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15715

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious is being investigated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith because of the “tenor and doctrinal content” of various addresses at the organization’s annual assemblies since 2001. One such address described “moving beyond the Church, even beyond Jesus” as “the...

Author: Yu Miao

Source: Religion News Service

http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnstext/chinese_students_find_new_home_and_new_faith_in_us/

The baptismal pool at the Boulder Chinese Baptist Church was filled with water as a small woman dressed in a white robe, inched down the stairs.

“This is Sister Wang Shuang,” Pastor William Fu, a Taiwan native, said in Mandarin to his...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The National

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090416/FOREIGN/371299798/1011/NEWS

The dedication of the the World Baptist Alliance’s new baptism centre at Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan last month was more than just an ordinary religious celebration.

For many of the country’s nearly 10,000 evangelicals, it was seen as a step towards governmental recognition of them as a Christian...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Washington Times

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/15/pro-earth-messages-urged/

As Earth Day approaches, many in the faith community are working with the Earth Day Network and other eco-organizations to "honor God's creation" in religious services this weekend.

"We have had an overwhelmingly positive response again to our outreach to thousands of Catholic priests asking them to...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7998797.stm

Police in Nigeria say they have made 120 arrests following clashes when Muslim youths allegedly attacked a Christian procession on Easter Monday.

Sectarian violence erupted in the towns of Gwada and Minna in the state of Niger when Christians were attacked and churches set on fire.

Scores of people were reportedly taken to hospital with injuries.
...

Author: Chris Morris

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7996827.stm

Hundreds of people have gathered in the darkness in the town of Raikia.

Candlelight flickers across their faces as they sit quietly on the floor. They chant and pray as a priest leads them in worship.

For Christians, Easter is a time of hope. But in Kandhamal, deep in the interior in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, hope is in short supply....

Author: Jacqueline L. Salmon

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/11/AR2009041101004.html?sub=AR

With its stately tower topped with a gold-hued cross, the elegant brick Chinese Community Church anchors the northeast corner of Chinatown as if it had been there for its entire 74-year existence.

Actually, the church has bounced from location to location...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: AFP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jKfAjvqfnBEVbEP3Z9N9fsOw1n2A

Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church has for the first time issued a certificate of conversion to a Muslim-born Christian, his lawyer said, in a country where religious conversion is highly sensitive.

Maher al-Gohari, who is seeking to change his religion on his official documents from Muslim to Christian...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The New York Times

Wire Service: Reuters

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/11/world/europe/11briefs-brfVATICAN.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

A campaign promoting atheism on London buses this year ultimately “served God’s cause” by reminding people of the importance of faith, especially to those who suffer, a papal preacher said Friday. The...

Author: Stuart Laidlaw

Source: The Star

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/616530

It's not just Christians who flock to houses of worship at Easter.

Muslims do it, too.

"In Canada, Easter has become the third Muslim holiday, after the two Eids," says Nadir Shirazi, a Toronto multi-faith co-ordinator at the University of Toronto.

Friday is the traditional big day for Muslims to attend afternoon prayers, but the North...

Author: Aamer Madhani

Source: USA TODAY

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-04-09-insideiraqchristians_N.htm

Salma Younan remembers the day when an al-Qaeda fighter came to her home and demanded she renounce Christianity and convert to Islam.

She told him she would rather die than turn her back on her faith. "My blood is not as precious as my savior's," she recalls saying.

Security in her Baghdad...

Author: Jacqueline L. Salmon

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/09/AR2009040904063.html?hpid=topnews

Faith organizations and individuals who view homosexuality as sinful and refuse to provide services to gay people are losing a growing number of legal battles that they say are costing them their religious freedom.

The lawsuits have resulted...