Author: DALIA NAMMARI

Source: ABC News

Wire Service: AP

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=4047403

Gloom was banished from Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem for the first time in years on Monday as Christian pilgrims from all over the world flocked here to celebrate Jesus' birth in an atmosphere of renewed tranquility.

After Israeli-Palestinian fighting erupted in 2000, nearly all of the...

Author: Michelle Boorstein

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/20/AR2007122002114.html

It's the holidays, a busy time for Santa and shoppers.

And lawyers.

Attorneys who specialize in religious expression say they get a spike in calls in November and December, with people calling about everything from public school choirs singing religious songs...

Author: HOLLY K. HACKER

Source: The Dallas Morning News

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/121507dnmetcreation.2b0d011.html

Texas' debate over teaching evolution is going to college.

The nonprofit Institute for Creation Research in Dallas wants to train future science teachers in Texas and elsewhere using an online curriculum. A state advisory group gave its approval...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Economist

http://economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10311317&CFID=727173&CFTOKEN=101adbcc08e997bb-FCFA6C16-B27C-BB00-0143EC0AF3150320

CHRISTIANS and Muslims have one striking thing in common: they are both “people of the book”. And they both have an obligation to spread the Word—to...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: cnews World Watch

Wire Service: AP

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2007/12/16/4727402-ap.html

A Catholic priest was stabbed in the stomach and hospitalized Sunday in the latest in a series of attacks on Christians in Turkey, officials said.

The priest, Adriano Franchini, was in surgery, Italian Embassy official Antonino Maggiore said. Maggiore had no immediate...

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

Wire Service: AP

http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/2988492

COLUMBUS -- Under an order from Gov. Ted Strickland, Nativity scenes removed from two state parks have been put back up.

The Christmas manger displays in Shawnee State Park in Scioto County and Malabar Farm in Richland County had been taken down after a complaint from a Shawnee visitor. He argued that large figures representing the Hindu and...

Author: Michelle Vu

Source: The Christian Post

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20071213/30488_China_Arrests_270_Underground_Protestant_Pastors.htm

Chinese police forces recently arrested 270 Protestant house church pastors in an eastern province, reported a Chinese Christian human rights organization.

The pastors were gathering in the district of Hedeng in Shandong province when...

Author: LEILA FADEL AND ALI AL-BASRI

Source: Miami Herald

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/341050.html

The Christian archbishop of Basra on Tuesday canceled the celebration of Christmas in that southern city to protest the deaths of a brother and sister, both Christians, as bombings and mayhem struck at cities throughout Iraq.

Archbishop Imad al-Banna said Christians in Basra should still pray to mark Christmas, but...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: San Diego Tribune

Wire Service: AP

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20071211-1702-indonesia-militants.html

An Indonesian court sentenced four Islamic militants Tuesday to sentences of up to 19 years in prison for terrorist acts including the beheadings of three Christian schoolgirls and a deadly market bombing.

The men – Muhammad Basri,...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7136166.stm

All primary schools should hold a nativity play regardless of the religion of their pupils, according to the equality chief Trevor Phillips.

Last week, a Sunday Telegraph poll indicated that only one in five primary schools was planning a nativity play.

Mr Phillips, chairman of the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights, told BBC Radio 4's Today...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7135087.stm

The Archbishop of York has cut up his dog collar and said he will not replace it until Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is out of office.

Dr John Sentamu made the symbolic protest gesture live on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show.

He said Mr Mugabe had "taken people's identity" and "cut it to pieces", prompting him to do the same.

Prime Minister...

Author: ALAYNA DEMARTINI

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/12/06/Nativity_Scene.ART_ART_12-06-07_B1_158MJMO.html?sid=101

The Nativity scene in front of Whitehall's City Hall has sparked some not-so-merry sentiments.

A man drove down Yearling Road and was offended by the display. He called the...

Author: NEELA BANERJEE

Source: The New York Times

Author: Philip Pullella

Source: The Star Online

Wire Service: Reuters

Author: Tom Heneghan

Source: Reuters

http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN540920.html

The Vatican plans to respond positively and very soon to an appeal by Muslim scholars for an unprecedented dialogue between Christianity and Islam, Roman Catholic cardinals and Islam experts say.

The Catholic Church, representing more than half the world's two billion Christians, has not yet officially answered the call made last month and hailed by...