Author: Staff Writer

Source: International Herald Tribune

Wire Service: AP

https://religionnews.com/2009/02/03/rare-public-criticism-heard-at-vatican/

Criticism of Pope Benedict XVI has come...

Author: Susan Kinzie

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/02/AR2009020203289.html

Crosses used in an antiabortion demonstration at George Washington University were defaced last week, and the school's College Democrats organization has apologized for the vandalism.

The crosses had been stored in a locked office shared by College Republicans and College...

Author: Nirmala Carvalho

Source: Spero News

http://www.speroforum.com/a/17973/Hindus-attack-Christians-on-Indian-island

It was supposed to be a day of celebration, but instead it turned into the latest example of violence by Hindu radicals against Christians and the conversion of tribals. Hundreds of Catholic faithful were beaten, humiliated, mocked, and driven away.

On January 24, a few hundred Catholics crossed the...

Author: Kim Gamel

Source: The Associated Press

[google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iGDzglMzQnftT6gvmsFlzmYulxNgD962CIG82]

Iraqi Christians still reeling from a string of murders last fall find themselves caught in the middle of a power struggle between Kurds and Sunni Arabs that was fueled by this weekend's elections.

The minority community has faced years of violence and intimidation from al-Qaida in Iraq and other Islamic extremists. In the northern city of Mosul and surrounding areas,...

Author: Jason Buckland

Source: CNEWS

[cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2009/01/31/8215376-sun.html]

A provocative and highly controversial religious ad set to debut today is being welcomed by church groups who say it encourages open discussion about the validity of God.

In response to a popular British billboard that will appear soon on the TTC, the United Church of Canada has launched the ad in today's Globe and Mail.

The original ad, featured on buses in the U.K., declared: "There's...

Author: Eric Gorski

Source: CNEWS

Wire Service: AP

[cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2009/01/31/8212561-ap.html]

The Vatican has begun a first-ever comprehensive study of women's religious orders in the United States, four decades into a steep decline in the number of Roman Catholic sisters and nuns in the country.

The study, ordered by a Vatican congregation in December and announced Friday in Washington, will examine "the quality of the life" of 59,000 members...

Author: Gregg Krupa

Source: The Detroit News

[detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090130/LIFESTYLE04/901300353/1041]

Muslims and interfaith leaders in Metro Detroit are asking a local radio station owner to discontinue broadcasts in which, they say, a Coptic priest has repeatedly defamed the Prophet Muhammad over the past year.

In an Arabic-language broadcast Wednesday on WNZK 680/690 AM, the Rev. Zakariah Boutros said the Muslim prophet Muhammad had engaged in necrophilia and gay sex,...

Author: Denis D. Gray

Source: The Associated Press

[journalgazette.net/article/20090128/NEWS0402/901289983/-1/NEWS09]

The Chin people, Christians living in the remote mountains of northwestern Myanmar, are subject to forced labor, torture, extrajudicial killings and religious persecution by the country's military regime, a human rights group said today.

The New York-based Human Right Watch said as many as 100,000 people have fled the Chin homeland into neighboring India, where they face abuse...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Catholic News Agency

[catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14909]

Writers Dinesh D’Souza and Christopher Hitchens brought their polemics on religion and atheism to a debate Monday evening at the University of Colorado at Boulder before a sold-out crowd of 2,050 in the campus’ Macky Auditorium.

D’Souza, a Catholic and author of the book “What’s So Great about Christianity,” argued that Christianity is the foundation for many common values such as scientific inquiry and...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: AFP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gx82ftet4H2W9CQ3S1gj8arJnmSA

ran has arrested six adherents of the banned Bahai faith and a Christian for alleged propaganda against the Islamic republic and insulting Islam, the judiciary spokesman said on Tuesday.

"These people were not arrested for their faith. The six Bahais are accused of insulting religious sanctities and...

Author: Martin E. Marty

Source: Ponderings On a Faith Journey

http://pastorbobcornwall.blogspot.com/2009/01/inaugural-jesus-sightings.html

The apostle Paul claimed that Jesus, in the form of "Christ crucified," was "a stumbling block [skandalon=scandal=offence] to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles." (I Corinthians 1:23) Jews+Gentiles=pretty much everybody. You may ask, "What is Jesus doing in Sightings," given this column's...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7852446.stm

A Devon council has voted to continue saying prayers at the start of one of its monthly meetings following a debate over whether to scrap the tradition.

The vote was taken by Dartmouth Town Council after Councillor Brian Boughton, who is an atheist, wore his iPod earphones during prayers.

He denies playing his iPod at the time but says the...

Author: Jane Macartney

Source: The Times Online

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5587017.ece

A secret meeting between Chinese officials and leaders of the banned underground Protestant Church has marked the first significant step towards reconciliation in decades.

The discussions, which were held in an office in Beijing, were the first time that members of the Government and stalwarts of the outlawed...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: United Press International

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/01/26/Pastors_say_China_easing_up_on_churches/UPI-98991232990027/

Protestant pastors in China say they are negotiating a reconciliation with the government that would allow "house churches" to operate openly.

Recent meetings between government officials and leaders of banned underground Protestant house...

Author: Marti Maguire

Source: The News...