Coronavirus

Martin Luther King Jr. faith events continue in time of COVID-19 and Capitol chaos

By Adelle M. Banks, Alejandra Molina — January 15, 2021

(RNS) — Many online gatherings that mark King’s birthday and the holiday in his honor will apply his messages to the current crises the country is facing.

2021 might be unpredictable, but don’t ditch your datebook. Planning can be a spiritual exercise

By Emily McFarlan Miller — January 15, 2021

Israel hopes to vaccinate Holocaust survivors to save and repay ‘treasured’ population

By Michele Chabin — January 14, 2021

LA clergy look to hold city officials responsible for allowing Sean Feucht’s Skid Row event

By Alejandra Molina — January 14, 2021

(RNS) — On Wednesday (Jan. 13), Clergy for Black Lives hosted a virtual news conference on Zoom to condemn the ‘white supremacist violence and heretical Christian prophecy’ in the nation’s capital and in downtown LA.

On his way to prison, Catholic activist advocates for COVID-19 prisoner release

By Yonat Shimron — January 12, 2021

(RNS) — Patrick O’Neill will report to a federal prison Thursday for breaking into a nuclear submarine base to protest nuclear arms. Now he’s advocating for prisoner safety during a pandemic.

What four strangers of different faiths learned while living together during a pandemic

By Alejandra Molina — January 12, 2021

LOS ANGELES (RNS) — Hadar Cohen, Ala’ Khan, Maya Mansour and Jonathan Simcosky were chosen as fellows for an interfaith experiment known as the Abrahamic House. They come from different faiths: Baha’i, Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

Samaritan’s Purse field hospitals much in demand as COVID case counts rise

By Yonat Shimron — January 11, 2021

LENOIR, N.C. (RNS) — The evangelical humanitarian relief organization has trained healthcare workers or treated COVID-19 patients in 30 countries. Its latest field hospital is in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Pope Francis’ personal doctor has died of COVID-19

By Claire Giangravé — January 11, 2021

(RNS) — Soccorsi was being treated for cancer at a Rome hospital when he contracted COVID-19, according to reports.

Anti-abortion faith leaders support use of COVID-19 vaccines

By David Crary — January 10, 2021

(AP) — One outspoken foe of abortion based in Dallas, Southern Baptist megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, has called the vaccines a “present from God.”

Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors helps launch #PrayforLA to honor COVID-19 deaths

By Alejandra Molina — January 4, 2021

LOS ANGELES (RNS) — Cullors is encouraging people to share photos, artwork, a prayer or meditation of loved ones lost to COVID-19, even as the virus continues to spread and fill up hospital beds across Los Angeles County.

Israel’s recognition of Utah marriages gives hope to ineligible couples

By Michele Chabin — January 4, 2021

(RNS) — Mixed-faith, LGBTQ and nonreligious couples have had to travel abroad and obtain a civil marriage certificate.

RNS reporters on the big stories they expect to cover in 2021

By RNS staff — January 1, 2021

(RNS) — How will America’s religious landscape recover from 2020 and who will lead faith issues in new directions in the new year?

Samaritan’s Purse to open a North Carolina field hospital for COVID-19 patients

By Yonat Shimron — December 31, 2020

(RNS) — The evangelical humanitarian relief organization headed by Franklin Graham will open a 30-bed field hospital to help five small hospitals in the western part of the state.

LA’s Skid Row doesn’t need Sean Feucht’s ‘revival’

By Shane Claiborne, David Gibbons, Stephen Cue Jn-Marie — December 31, 2020

(RNS) — If Feucht really cared about the people on Skid Row, he would support efforts to contain the virus instead of holding a maskless concert in a tent city.

What to expect on the religious scene in 2021: Experts cast their sights on the year ahead