Author: Megan K. Stack

Source: The Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/features/religion/la-me-alexei6-2008dec06,0,2456000.story

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II, the iconic religious leader who restored the church from a post-Soviet shell to an institution of privilege and power, died at his Moscow home Friday. He was 79.

The imposing, white-bearded Alexei had reigned in the Russian Orthodox Church's...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Associated Press

http://www.examiner.com/a-1728471~Groups_counter_ads_questioning_belief_in_God.html

Metro officials say two groups have purchased advertisements to counter an ad campaign that asks "Why believe in a god?"

The ads by the American Humanist Association began appearing on buses last month. They proclaim "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake."
...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Economist

http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12724903

The Katako market was still smouldering five days after it was razed to the ground by a mob of Christian youths. The bodies of ten people trapped in the fires that destroyed it had already been taken away and buried. Muslim men kicked up plumes of dust as they shuffled through the ashes of their...

Author: Ise-Oluwa Ige

Source: All Africa

http://allafrica.com/stories/200812040459.html

Religious leaders across the nation yesterday met in Abuja behind closed doors in search of peace for the crisis-ridden Jos, the capital of Plateau State.

The leaders who gathered under the name and style of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council of Nigeria, (NIREC) said the latest Jos mayhem which claimed hundreds of lives and property worth several millions of...

Author: Brittney Bain

Source: Religion News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=17075

Church leaders from around the globe met Wednesday (Dec. 3) in Washington to discuss their hopes for an Obama administration and their wish for a new style of leadership in the Oval Office.

Leaders from U.S. churches gathered for a three-day summit convened by the Geneva-based World Council of Churches' U.S. division.

The Rev. John...

Author: Jeff Diamant

Source: Religion News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=17073

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit on behalf of a New Jersey prison inmate who was ordained behind bars eight years ago and now contends his religious freedoms were violated when prison officials forbade him from preaching.

Howard N. Thompson Jr., convicted of murder in 1985 and sentenced to 30 years to life in prison, was...

Author: James Rosen

Source: The Seattle Times

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008462123_center03.html

Protests by conservative lawmakers led architects to promise to add "In God We Trust" as the national motto and to engrave the Pledge of Allegiance in the new $621 million Capitol Visitor Center.

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., had threatened to delay Tuesday's opening of the marble-and-stone center that...

Author: Maggie Michael

Source: The Star Tribune

Wire Service: AP

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/faith/35472899.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DU2EPaL_V_9E7ODiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

Early in the morning two Sundays ago, hundreds of Christian Egyptians quietly slipped into a former underwear factory where they had discreetly set up a church and held their first service. Bells...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Independent Online

Author: Joseph Mayton

Source: Middle East Times

http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/11/27/christians_muslims_clash_when_copts_open_church_opposite_mosque/2348/

Fears of growing sectarianism in Egypt were again realized this week after clashes between Christians and Muslims saw at least eight people arrested in the Ain Shams neighborhood of Cairo. Coptic Pope Shenouda III called...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: United Press International

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2008/11/26/Florida_university_bans_Christmas_decor/UPI-47131227682548/

A Florida university has annoyed many of its employees and students by ordering a complete ban on Christmas decorations in public areas.

That means Florida Gulf Coast University is not holding its greeting card contest this year, the Fort...

Author: Richard Owen

Source: The Times Online

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5231385.ece

The Vatican has said that a statement by Pope Benedict XVI on the "impossibility" of religious dialogue has been misinterpreted, and does "not put in doubt the Pope's inter-religious commitment."

In a preface to a book by Marcello Pera, a centre-Right Italian senator, entitled Why We Must Call Ourselves Christians,...

Author: Dennis D. Gray

Source: Daily Press

Wire Service: AP

http://www.dailypress.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-ml-iraq-christian-flight,0,2304619.story

Young Christian women in tight jeans mingle easily with Arab matrons draped in black, head-to-toe robes. Both church spires and mosque minarets rise above the low-slung houses. Violence is rare.

"The people here look out...

Author: Lilly Fowler

Source: Religion News Service

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

For more than 60 years, Mount Calvary Monastery sat as a patch of holy ground high atop the Santa Barbara hills, home to seven Benedictine Anglican monks whose only jobs in life were prayer and welcoming pilgrims.
...

Author: Rachel Donadio

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/world/europe/24pope.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

In comments on Sunday that could have broad implications in a period of intense religious conflict, Pope Benedict XVI cast doubt on the possibility of interfaith dialogue but called for more discussion of the practical consequences of religious differences.

The pope’s...