News
At Milwaukee church, refugees find welcome from a less suspicious time
By Bob Smietana — January 10, 2022
(RNS) — At a diverse multi-ethnic church, refugees and immigrants find a home at a time when many evangelicals view newcomers with suspicion.
Rev. Al Sharpton calls for justice in police killing of Valentina Orellana Peralta
By Alejandra Molina — January 10, 2022
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — Sharpton eulogized 14-year-old Valentina Orellana Peralta at her open-casket funeral.
Muslims in interfaith bonds are proliferating. Imams willing to marry them are not.
By Sara Badilini — January 10, 2022
(RNS) — One out of five Muslims is in an interfaith relationship, surveys suggest. But few imams are willing to conform the traditional Muslim wedding ceremony to their needs, couples say.
Amid tensions, Bosnian Serbs celebrate outlawed holiday
By By Radul Radovanovic — January 10, 2022
(AP) — As part of the celebrations, a special police unit sang about defending the Orthodox Christian cross and “the shiny new Serb Republic.”
Polish official fired after calling Holocaust law ‘stupid’
By Associated Press — January 10, 2022
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Polish diplomat charged with improving contacts with Jews worldwide has been fired after he criticized his own government’s approach to regulating Holocaust speech, the Foreign Ministry said Monday. Jaroslaw Nowak, the plenipotentiary for contacts with the Jewish diaspora described a Holocaust speech law passed by his country’s ruling party as […]
Israel’s national library sees Arabic site traffic boom
By Ilan Ben Zion — January 10, 2022
(AP) — The Jerusalem library is home to an extensive collection of Islamic and Arabic texts, including thousands of rare books and manuscripts in Arabic, Persian and Turkish ranging from the 9th to the 20th centuries.
Pope Francis hopes ‘reality therapy’ of COVID-19 overcomes ideological opposition to vaccines
By Claire Giangravé — January 10, 2022
(RNS) — In his annual address to the Vatican's diplomatic corps, the pope stressed the individual's responsibility 'to care for ourself and our health, and this translates into respect for the health of those around us.'
Photos of the Week: Orthodox Christmas, Epiphany
By Kit Doyle — January 7, 2022
(RNS) - This first selection of 2022 includes Orthodox Christmas, Epiphany and more.
Reformed Church in America splits as conservative churches form new denomination
By Kathryn Post — January 7, 2022
(RNS) — Some who remain in the RCA are concerned for the small, nearly 400-year-old denomination’s survival.
Orthodox observe Christmas amid virus concerns
By Jim Heintz — January 7, 2022
MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian Orthodox Church, the largest Orthodox congregation, said celebrants must wear masks and observe social distancing at services.
Maranatha Chapel to honor pastor Ray Bentley, who died from COVID-19 complications
By Alejandra Molina — January 7, 2022
(RNS) — ‘We are all in shock and heartbroken. We find comfort in knowing that he is rejoicing in heaven with his beloved Jesus,’ the San Diego church said in a statement.
Was Mary Magdalene really from Magdala? Two scholars examine the evidence
By Yonat Shimron — January 7, 2022
(RNS) — The two scholars suggest Magdalene may well be an honorific from the Hebrew and Aramaic words meaning ‘tower’ or ‘magnify.’
On Jan. 6, vigils recall the insurrection with competing narratives
By Jack Jenkins — January 7, 2022
WASHINGTON (RNS) — From calls to pass voting rights legislation to assertions that those charged in connection with the insurrection are being mistreated, vigils remembered the attack on the U.S. Capitol differently.
Since Jan. 6 attacks, spiritual leaders unify to combat Christian nationalism
By Alejandra Molina — January 7, 2022
(RNS) — The Jan. 6 insurrection of the U.S. Capitol drew recent attention to the phenomenon of Christian nationalism, but religious and spiritual leaders acknowledge its existence long before that.
Ransom freed some missionary hostages in Haiti, workers say
By Peter Smith — January 6, 2022
An unidentified person paid a ransom that freed three missionaries kidnapped by a gang in Haiti under an agreement that was supposed to have led to the release of all 15 remaining captives early last month, workers for their Ohio-based organization have confirmed. The person who made the payment was not affiliated with Ohio-based Christian […]
