Jerome Socolovsky
Jerome Socolovsky is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Jerome Socolovsky
The Slingshot: Berlin manhunt; Vatileaks pardon; Zoning issues
By Kimberly Winston and Jerome Socolovsky — December 21, 2016
Police search for suspect in Christmas market massacre. Pope frees Spanish priest. Mosques increasingly blocked by local ordinances.
Suspect in Christmas market massacre was meant to be deported
By Jerome Socolovsky — December 21, 2016
BERLIN (USA Today) — A massive manhunt is underway Wednesday for the driver of a truck that was intentionally crashed into a Berlin Christmas market, leaving 12 people dead and 48 injured.
Berlin attack piles pressure on Germany’s Merkel over refugees
By Jerome Socolovsky — December 20, 2016
BERLIN (USA Today) Merkel has faced sharp criticism over her decision to allow nearly 1 million asylum seekers to enter Germany from conflict zones in the Middle East and North Africa.
Amid Middle East gloom, Christmas brings some cheer in Bethlehem
By Jerome Socolovsky — December 19, 2016
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) - This Christmas, for once, Bethlehem really can boast again that there is no room at the inn, as relative calm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank brings pilgrims and tourists flocking to the town of Jesus's birth.
A depressing year of religion news
By Jerome Socolovsky — December 15, 2016
(RNS) Religion gave billions of people meaning in their lives and inspired good deeds this year, but in news coverage it was linked to bloodshed and blamed for fueling bigotry.
The Slingshot: Rex Tillerson; Coptic mourning; Rethinking the hijab
By Kimberly Winston and Jerome Socolovsky — December 13, 2016
Social conservatives may reject latest cabinet pick. Catholic pope sends message to Coptic pope. Doffing the hijab to be safe in Trump’s America
The Slingshot: Freed Assyrians; Burqa ban in Germany; Charleston trial
By Kimberly Winston and Jerome Socolovsky — December 7, 2016
Bishop works secretly to free Christian hostages in Syria. Angela Merkel proposes a ban on the full-face veil. Opening arguments begin in the Mother Emanuel church shooting trial.
Turkey post-coup crackdown also targets US Protestants
By Jerome Socolovsky — December 4, 2016
ISTANBUL (RNS) Analysts say President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has been targeting American Christians in retaliation for United States’ failure to extradite cleric Fethullah Gulen, as demanded by the Turkish government.
The Slingshot: Trump cabinet. Hate chronicle. Creative fundraising
By Kimberly Winston and Jerome Socolovsky — November 30, 2016
Cabinet appointees and their records on faith issues. The Gray Lady launches “This Week in Hate.” Norwegian Catholic church creates fake memberships.
Three California mosques receive hateful letters mentioning Trump
By Jerome Socolovsky — November 27, 2016
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hateful letters sent anonymously to three mosques in California with a warning that President-elect Donald Trump would "cleanse" the United States of Muslims have stirred fears among congregants, a community leader said.
Yazidis risk all to flee Islamic State
By Jerome Socolovsky — November 27, 2016
DUHOK, Iraq (Reuters) - Mass Yazidi graves have been found since Kurdish forces retook areas north of Sinjar in December 2014, and the town itself in November 2015, but Islamic State had already transferred many Yazidis to other areas, including Tal Afar.
Fidel Castro, Jesuit-influenced Marxist revolutionary
By Jerome Socolovsky — November 26, 2016
(RNS) “I believe Karl Marx could have subscribed to the Sermon on the Mount,” Castro once said.
White house condemns attack on Iranian Shiite pilgrims in Iraq
By Jerome Socolovsky — November 25, 2016
WASHINGTON - The target of the attack appears to have been a bus carrying Iranians returning from southern Iraq after participating in Arbaeen, a Shiite pilgrimage that is even larger than the Haj.
Charleston church shooting suspect found competent to stand trial
By Jerome Socolovsky — November 25, 2016
CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - Accused white supremacist Dylann Roof is mentally competent to stand trial for the shooting deaths of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church last year, a federal judge rules.
What is behind the turkey pardoning ritual?
By Jerome Socolovsky — November 24, 2016
Drawing on the long traditions of forgiveness in the world’s religions, this very public act of pardoning reminds us about the important role rituals themselves play in society.
