Author: Staff Writer

Source: ZENIT

http://www.zenit.org/article-22014?l=english

The peaceful coexistence of various religions is the rock upon which civilization depends, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said when inaugurating the first Catholic Church in Azerbaijan.

The Pope's secretary of state said this Friday in Baku at the dedication ceremony of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, an event he said is "rich in meaning," and "will leave its mark...

Author: NEELA BANERJEE

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/08/us/08chapel.html?

On Sundays at the Naval Academy Chapel, at a few minutes past 11 a.m., the choir stops singing and a color guard carrying the academy flag and the American flag strides up the aisle.

Below a cobalt blue stained-glass window of Jesus, one midshipman dips the academy flag before the altar cross, and the other dips the American flag.
...

Author: Rich Barlow

Source: The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/03/08/rabbi_praises_interfaith_mobility/

If Rabbi David Gordis is right, when it comes to improving relations among Christians, Jews, and Muslims, the words of the prophets are written not on church or temple or mosque walls, but in the hearts of the congregants.

In a talk at Merrimack College this week, Gordis,...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The TImes of India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Gujarat_to_withdraw_Freedom_of_Religion_Amendment_Bill/articleshow/2848531.cms

The Gujarat government has decided to withdraw the controversial Freedom of Religion Amendment Bill 2006 after Governor Nawal Kishor Sharma returned it to the Assembly for reconsideration.

The bill will be...

Author: Amy Kotlarz

Source: Catholic Courier

http://catholiccourier.com/tmp1.cfm?nid=78&articleid=100198

The keys to religious harmony in a religiously diverse world are appreciation, humility and respect for others, said Rabbi Brad Hirschfield of New York City and author of You Don’t Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism, which was published in January.

Rabbi Hirschfield spoke about religious...

Author: Mark Sappenfield

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0307/p04s01-wogn.html

Sakena Yacoobi well knows the hardships of Afghan women, caught between a war and the hopelessness of poverty and illiteracy.

Yet on International Women's Day Saturday, the Afghan educator will not ask the world to help Afghan women. Instead, she will ask Afghan women to help the world.

In a time of growing conflict...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Star Tribune

Wire Service: AP

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/faith/16335451.html

Representatives of five non-Christian faiths will meet with Pope Benedict XVI during his first U.S. visit as pontiff next month.

The 45-minute event on April 17 at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington will include a papal address, greetings from the faith leaders and a...

Author: Kim Murphy

Source: Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/features/religion/la-fg-blasphemy6mar06,1,5881357.story

A funny thing happened in November when Britain launched a righteous protest over Sudan's arrest of a British schoolteacher accused of insulting Islam by letting her students name a class teddy bear Muhammad.

The Sudanese ambassador was summoned; Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a protest....

Author: David Dishneau

Source: San Mateo County Times

Wire Service: AP

http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/localnews/ci_8473414

He has met with two U.S. presidents, lectured on Islam in scores of countries and appeared on global television. So Imam Yahya Hendi could be forgiven for declining engagements in the sticks.

But on successive days last month, Hendi drove from his...

Author: Sam Dagher

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0306/p01s05-wogn.html

The bullets lay on the desk amid Bibles and rosaries. They're for two pistols owned by Father Ayman Danna.

"The only solution left for our people is to bear arms. We either live or die. We must be strong," says the Syriac Catholic priest at the Church of Saint George in Bartella, a northern Iraqi town in a swath of fertile land...

Author: Jibril Adan

Source: allAfrica/The East Africa Standard

http://allafrica.com/stories/200803041134.html

ODM nominated MP and Muslim preacher, Sheikh Mohamed Dor, will become the first Imam in Kenya's Parliament.

Dor and Ms Safia Abdi were selected by the National Muslim Leaders Forum (Namlef) for the ODM nominations and would be sworn-in on Thursday.

Dor told The Standard yesterday in Mombasa that he would continue his work as...

Author: Ray Long, Jeffrey Meitrodt and Stephanie Banchero

Source: Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-moment-of-silence-both_05mar05,0,4162376.story

Most legislators thought it was a terrific idea last fall when they required students in Illinois schools to have a moment of silence to pray or reflect, but House lawmakers now think they could have used a few more moments for reflection themselves...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Dawn

http://www.dawn.com/2008/03/06/int10.htm

The Vatican and Muslim leaders agreed on Wednesday to establish a permanent official dialogue to improve often difficult relations and heal wounds still open from a controversial papal speech in 2006.

A joint statement said the first meeting of “The Catholic-Muslim Forum” will take place from Nov 4 to 6 in Rome with 24 religious leaders and scholars from each side....

Author: Felix Corley

Source: Forum 18

http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1096

The Presidential Administration has rejected for now a harsh new Decree which would have brought in sweeping controls on religious activity. But Kanat Murzakhalilov, Deputy Head of the State Agency for Religious Affairs, told Forum 18 News Service that his agency hopes to present a final draft of a controversial new Religion Law to the government...

Author: Ahmad Pathoni

Source: The Boston Globe

Wire Service: Reuters

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2008/03/03/malaysian_churches_break_taboo_on_politics/

Malaysian churches have waded into the nation's charged politics, openly urging Christians to support candidates who back religious freedom in this weekend's election.

Race and religious...