Author: Rachel Donadio

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/09/world/middleeast/09jordan.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Arriving in Jordan on his first trip to the Holy Land as pope, Benedict XVI on Friday expressed his “deep respect” for Muslims and his desire for the Roman Catholic Church to play a major role in fostering peace in the Middle East.

Benedict was greeted...

Author: Beck Vass

Source: The New Zealand Herald

Author: Oralandar Brand-Williams

Source: The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090507/LIFESTYLE04/905070467/1041/LIFESTYLE04/Ford-workers-offer-prayers-for-automaker-at-National-Day-of-Prayer-service

Employees of Ford Motor Co. lifted the automaker and its workers up in prayer Thursday as part of an ecumenical service to mark the National...

Author: Hamil R. Harris

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/06/AR2009050601513.html

The John A. Wilson Building was filled with prayers, gospel music and clergy from across the area as D.C. Council members hosted a welcome reception for the Rev. Joshua Dubois, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

"You are...

Author: Andrew Edwards

Source: The Sun

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_12319138

Mayor Pat Morris and local spiritual leaders celebrated the city's religious diversity during the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast on Thursday.

"Adonai. Allah. Spirit. Yeshua. Savior. Mother Earth. Lord God. We use different names, but each implies a recognition that there is something beyond us, a higher power," said Rabbi Hillel Cohn of Temple Emanu El while delivering the invocation...

Author: Bob Smietana

Source: The Tennessean

http://www.tennessean.com/article/D4/20090507/NEWS01/90507020/Non-Christians+feel+left+out+on+Day+of+Prayer

Growing up in South Korea, the Rev. David Choi learned at an early age that prayer was serious business. As a child, he used to get up before dawn for a 4 a.m. prayer service.

Choi and other believers will join elected officials...

Author: Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy

Source: Interfaith Alliance

http://interfaithalliance.org/news/291-interfaith-alliance-praises-presidents-national-day-of-prayer-proclamation

Interfaith Alliance President Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy issued the following statement in response to the proclamation issued this afternoon by President Obama for the National Day of Prayer:

President Obama...

Author: Adam Sitte

Source: GALLUP

http://www.gallup.com/poll/118273/Canada-Show-Interfaith-Cohesion-Europe.aspx

In its first annual report on the state of faith relations in countries spanning four continents, Gallup and the Coexist Foundation find Americans and Canadians are more likely than European respondents surveyed to be classified as "integrated."

Other key findings from The Gallup Coexist Index 2009: A...

Author: Ann Rodgers

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09127/968315-51.stm

On this National Day of Prayer, a survey finds that Jehovah's Witnesses are the most likely Americans to pray daily, Catholics are just below average and 5 percent of atheists claim to pray daily.

"It's more likely [atheists] enjoy messing with the people doing the survey," said Stuart Bechman, president of the Atheist Alliance...

Author: Angie El Sherif

Source: InFocus News

http://www.infocusnews.net/content/view/34427/135/

For 14-year-old Sarah Rafiqi, a freshman at Valencia High School in Placentia, Calif., taking part in the Bridging Communities program was a way to learn about others in neighboring communities. “I wanted to join because I think it is a good idea for kids of different ethnicities and races to come together and form a bond and a friendship,”...

Author: Dan Gilgoff

Source: US News and World Report

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/religion/2009/05/06/many-americans-are-saying-goodbye-to-religion-but-not-faith.html

Signs abound that more Americans are leaving Christianity and embracing a secular worldview. The cover of Newsweek recently proclaimed "The End of Christian America." Books like The God Delusion and God Is Not...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Hindu American Foundation

http://www.hinduamericanfoundation.org/?q=node/247

The Hindu American Foundation joined hands with the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC) to send the following letter to Facebook:

Facebook Elliot Schrage, Esq., Vice President of Communications and Public Policy 156 University Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94301-1605

May 6, 2009

Dear Mr....

Author: Ryan J. Foley

Source: Examiner.com

Wire Service: AP

http://www.examiner.com/a-2000823~Obama_defends__curtails_National_Day_of_Prayer.html

President Barack Obama is scaling back White House plans for Thursday's National Day of Prayer even as his administration defends the tradition in federal court in Wisconsin.

Obama's position has disappointed Christian conservatives...

Author: Ben Hubbard and Ibrahim Barzak

Source: The New York Times

Wire Service: AP

Author: Manya A. Brachear

Source: The Chicago Tribune/The Boston Herald

http://www.freep.com/article/20090506/NEWS15/90505108

After a standing invitation to the White House during the Bush administration, evangelical Christian organizers of National Day of Prayer activities have not been invited to attend White House ceremonies on Thursday.

In fact, it’s unclear whether there will be ceremonies in the White House at all.
...