JERUSALEM (RNS) — The secretive sale by the church, the country’s second largest landowner, to a group of investors has outraged residents and church members alike.

When did it become OK to generalize about the Jews?

ATHENS, Greece (RNS) — Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew’s decision to recognize an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church has led to fears of a schism among Orthodox Christians.

(AP) — Ukraine’s president on Saturday signed a bill that orders the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to change its name to reflect its ties to Moscow.

JERUSALEM (RNS) — In Israel, several prominent rabbis have signed a document that reads, “Whoever isn’t vaccinated is a murderer.”

(RNS) — The political significance of the decision was immediately clear. ‘The (Russian) empire is losing one of the last levers of influence on its former colony,’ Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian Orthodox Church warned Friday that it would sever ties with the leader of the worldwide Orthodox community if he grants autonomy to Ukraine’s Orthodox Church.

JERUSALEM (RNS) — After a lawsuit was filed, the station began permitting women to speak during limited hours, “and only on stereotypically female topics like recipes or education,” said an activist. 

LONDON (AP) — The Russian hackers indicted by the U.S. special prosecutor last month have spent years trying to steal the private correspondence of some of the world’s most senior Orthodox Christian figures, The Associated Press has found.

JERUSALEM (RNS) — The demands for representation from a growing number of religious women come amid a seismic shift in Israeli ultra-Orthodox society in which more religious women are entering the professions.

NEW YORK (AP) — Complaints that some schools run by the city’s strictly observant Hasidic Jews barely teach English, math, science or social studies have fueled a movement to demand stricter oversight by state and local educational authorities.

(RNS) — Daniel Lehmann, an Orthodox rabbi and the president of Hebrew College in Newton Centre, Mass., was picked to lead the Northern California consortium that includes graduate and doctoral degree offerings in Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu traditions.

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.

ERMIONI, Greece (AP) — The tradition dates back centuries in some places. In the Greek town of Ermioni, it has been observed the past 25 years.

KIEV, Ukraine (RNS) — The church’s ties with Moscow, which date back to the 17th century when Ukraine became part of the Russian Empire, started to cause problems in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea.