International
Pope says ‘our hearts are in Bethlehem’ as he presides over the Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s
By Associated Press — January 1, 2024
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Francis, draped in white robes, led the Mass standing at the foot of one of St. Peter’s grand columns.
Revitalization of India’s ancient sacred city of Varanasi leaves some longtime visitors cold
By Richa Karmarkar — December 22, 2023
VARANASI, India (RNS) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to revitalize the city's historic sacred sites have increased domestic religious tourism, but for some foreign spiritual seekers, the shiny new hotels, landmarks and tourist-centered rituals have made the experience of visiting a hollow one.
Activists hope pope’s approval of same-sex blessings could ease anti-LGBTQ+ bias and repression
By Nicole Winfield — December 21, 2023
ROME (AP) —The pope's decision to officially spell out his approval could send a message of tolerance to places where gay rights are far more restricted.
Denmark widens terror investigation that coincides with arrests of alleged Hamas members in Germany
By Jan M. Olsen — December 15, 2023
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish intelligence agency PET on Thursday announced the arrests of three people on suspicion of plotting to carry out “an act of terror."
The pope says he wants to be buried in the Rome basilica, not in the Vatican
By Nicole Winfield — December 13, 2023
ROME (AP) — Francis has already said if he retires, he would want to live outside the Vatican somewhere in Rome in a residence for retired priests.
Holocaust survivors will mark Hanukkah amid worries over war in Israel, global rise of antisemitism
By Kirsten Grieshaber — December 11, 2023
BERLIN (AP) — Survivors can join an online ceremony of a menorah lighting on Monday night to pay tribute to the 6 million European Jews killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust.
Muslim group files religious discrimination complaint against Maryland public schools
By Richa Karmarkar — December 8, 2023
(RNS) — El-Haggan's administrative leave comes at a time when public schools across the country reckon with free speech surrounding the ongoing conflict.
Denmark’s parliament adopts a law making it illegal to burn the Quran or other religious texts
By Jan M. Olsen — December 7, 2023
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — This year alone, activists have staged more than 500 protests, including burnings of the Quran, in front of embassies of Muslim countries, places of worship and in immigrant neighborhoods.
A milestone for Notre Dame: 1 year until cathedral reopens to public after devastating fire
By John Leicester — December 7, 2023
PARIS (AP) — The restoration of Notre Dame hits a milestone Friday: one year until the cathedral reopens its huge doors to the public, on Dec. 8, 2024.
How the keffiyeh – a practical garment used for protection against the desert sun – became a symbol of Palestinian identity
By Armin Langer — December 5, 2023
(The Conversation) — The keffiyeh’s prominence soared in the 1970s when Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, adopted and popularized the garment.
In US, some Muslim-Jewish interfaith initiatives are strained by Israel-Hamas war
By Mariam Fam and Luis Andres Henao — December 5, 2023
The war and its polarizing reverberations in America are testing and straining some interfaith relationships more than ever.
US prosecutors say plots to assassinate Sikh leaders were part of a campaign of planned killings
By Larry Neumeister — December 1, 2023
NEW YORK (AP) — The attack plans were foiled, prosecutors said, because the hitman was actually an undercover U.S. agent.
What to know about the Sikh independence movement following US accusation that activist was targeted
By Sheikh Saaliq — December 1, 2023
NEW DELHI (AP) — India's Sikh independence movement eventually became a bloody armed insurgency that shook India in the 1970s and 1980s.R
Israel’s mosaic of Jewish ethnic groups is key to understanding the country
By David L. Graizbord — December 1, 2023
(The Conversation) — The diversity of Israel’s Jewish population has been a source of tensions, but also strength, over the decades.
An Indian official plotted to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader in New York, US prosecutors say
By Ashok Sharma and Larry Neumeister — November 29, 2023
NEW YORK (AP) — India had set up a high-level inquiry after U.S. authorities raised concerns with New Delhi that its government may have had knowledge of a plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader on American soil.
