Paul O'Donnell
Paul O'Donnell is the editor in chief of Religion News Service.
All Stories by Paul O'Donnell
RNS Morning Report: Empty Pews; Countering Extremism; Sanctions for Turkey
By Paul O'Donnell — August 2, 2018
Why fewer Americans are attending worship. Faith leaders need more than ideas to fight extremism. Trump administration imposes sanctions on Turkish officials to protest an American pastor’s detention.
Police search for motive in shooting at Nevada Mormon church
By Paul O'Donnell — July 23, 2018
FALLON, Nev. (AP) — Police Chief Kevin Gehman said it does not appear that the gunman was targeting the church but that he instead was focused on an individual victim.
Judge: Jewish heritage can be basis for race discrimination
By Paul O'Donnell — July 17, 2018
(AP) — Jewish people are protected by a law against racial discrimination in employment decisions, a federal magistrate judge has concluded in siding with a football coach suing a private Baptist college in Louisiana.
After a fire destroyed his life’s work, an artist renews quest to paint Torah
By Paul O'Donnell — July 5, 2018
MOSHAV BEIT MEIR, Israel (RNS) — After a fire destroyed his life's work two years ago, American-Israeli painter Yoram Raanan finds new inspiration for paintings that depict key scenes from the Torah.
El Al vows to end practice of moving women to accommodate ultra-Orthodox
By Paul O'Donnell — June 26, 2018
JERUSALEM (RNS) — Responding to growing pushback from Israeli feminists and human rights advocates, Israel’s national airline announced that it will no longer ask female passengers to move in deference to ultra-Orthodox men’s religious modesty. Anyone refusing to sit next to other passengers, El Al’s chairman said, will immediately be removed from the aircraft.
Calling on past lives to solve the problems of the present
By Paul O'Donnell — June 22, 2018
(RNS) — Past life regression, in which participants believe they see memories from their former lives, is gaining steam among the spiritual-but-not-religious in Los Angeles.
RNS Morning Report: Baptist soul searching, Presbyterian revival, Jewish divide
By Paul O'Donnell — June 15, 2018
Messengers pray for unity during the first session of the two-day Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas on June 12, 2018. Photo by Adam Covington via Baptist Press
RNS Morning Report: Church Weddings Wane; Jefferson’s Islam; Cross Fire
By Paul O'Donnell — June 8, 2018
The number of traditional church weddings has dropped dramatically in the past decade. Photo courtesy of Pixabay/Creative Commons
RNS Morning Report: A Detainee Speaks; Safe Sacraments; Iftar Invites
By Paul O'Donnell — June 6, 2018
President Donald Trump, left, accompanied by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, back, shakes hands with former North Korean detainees Kim Dong Chul, and Kim Hak Song, right, upon their arrival at Andrews Air Force Base on May 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Unlikely visitor, Rev. Graham campaigns in liberal Berkeley
By Paul O'Donnell — June 1, 2018
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Rev. Franklin Graham says he is coming to Berkeley in peace and in a longshot attempt to sway voters to support evangelical Christian candidates.
RNS Morning Report: Patterson fired; Catholics quit; Trump, the movie
By Paul O'Donnell — June 1, 2018
[slingshot_ad name=”Slingshot Banner Ad”] Paige Patterson preaches at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on Feb. 28, 2017, in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo courtesy of SWBTS [slingshot_ad name=”Slingshot Middle Cube Ad”] [slingshot_ad name=”Slingshot Bottom Cube Ad”]
St. Paul archdiocese to pay $210M to clergy abuse victims
By Paul O'Donnell — May 31, 2018
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced a $210 million settlement Thursday with 450 victims of clergy sexual abuse as part of its plan for bankruptcy reorganization, making this the second-largest payout in the scandal that rocked the nation's Roman Catholic Church.
RNS Morning Report: Christian Europe; ‘rage’ revisited; unrepentant Baptists
By Paul O'Donnell — May 31, 2018
[slingshot_ad name=”Slingshot Banner Ad”] The former church Selexyz Dominicanen has been converted into a bookstore in Maastricht, Netherlands. Photo by Bert Kaufmann/Creative Commons [slingshot_ad name=”Slingshot Middle Cube Ad”] [slingshot_ad name=”Slingshot Bottom Cube Ad”]
Rabbinical court in Israel rejects ‘liberal’ American rabbis
By Paul O'Donnell — May 30, 2018
JERUSALEM (RNS) – Israel’s rabbinical court system no longer recognizes the authority of more than 120 rabbis ordained at a modern-Orthodox rabbinical school in New York, a recently discovered document has revealed.
Some Irish Catholics worried, dismayed after abortion vote
By Paul O'Donnell — May 27, 2018
DUBLIN (AP) — Irish Catholics attending Sunday Mass were disappointed with the result of a referendum in which voters opted to legalize abortion and think it reflects the weakening of the church.
