News
Pope Francis sends financial aid to Haiti, Bangladesh and Vietnam
By Claire Giangravé — August 24, 2021
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Church officials also appealed to political leaders ‘to act according to conscience,’ in addressing the plight of Afghan refugees.
Thomas McKenzie, Nashville Anglican pastor, and eldest child killed in car crash
By Bob Smietana — August 23, 2021
(RNS) — The Rev. Thomas McKenzie was on his first day of sabbatical, taking his 22-year-old to college in New Mexico.
Tom Flynn, Free Inquiry editor, author and secular humanist leader, dies at 66
By Bob Smietana — August 23, 2021
(RNS) — A prolific writer, Flynn was known for his passion for big ideas and his sense of humor.
Proud Boys leader sentenced to five months for burning church banner
By Jack Jenkins — August 23, 2021
(RNS) — Superior Court Judge Harold Cushenberry Jr. sentenced Tarrio to 155 days in jail after concluding that he ‘did not credibly express genuine remorse.’
Nadia Bolz-Weber installed as ELCA’s first pastor of public witness
By Emily McFarlan Miller — August 23, 2021
(RNS) — 'We are acknowledging that Nadia has a ministry that goes far beyond the walls of any one church,' the installing bishop told RNS.
‘Our work changed really overnight’: Community groups aid SIV hopefuls awaiting evacuation
By Renée Roden — August 23, 2021
(RNS) — Community sponsor programs and resettlement programs rush to help Afghans overcome the bureaucratic barriers to obtaining SIVs.
Haitians return to quake-damaged churches, gangs offer aid
By Evens Sanon and Marko Alvarez — August 23, 2021
LES CAYES, Haiti (AP) — Haitians resumed services in or outside damaged churches on Sunday. The country's Civil Protection Agency also raised toll of dead to 2,207.
With black flags, Sri Lanka Christians protest bombing probe
By Associated Press — August 23, 2021
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s Christian community hoisted black flags on Saturday to protest the investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bomb attacks, which killed 269 people.
For atheists, the idea of aliens seems real. Religious people doubt it.
By Bob Smietana — August 23, 2021
(RNS) — A new study finds that atheists think there just might be aliens out there. Evangelicals are not so sure.
Montenegrins protest inauguration of new Serbian church head
By Predrag Milic — August 23, 2021
CETINJE, Montenegro (AP) — Several thousand people demonstrated Sunday in Montenegro over the planned inauguration of the new head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the small Balkan state. Ethic tensions have soared over the scheduled ceremony for Metropolitan Bishop Joanikije II. The protesters in Montenegro’s former capital, Cetinje, where the Sept. 5 inauguration is […]
Jesse Jackson and wife Jacqueline hospitalized with COVID-19
By Jack Jenkins — August 22, 2021
(RNS) — The civil rights activist, who was vaccinated in January, has been a fixture at voting rights demonstrations in recent months.
Cardinal Burke off ventilator, still hospitalized with COVID
By Associated Press — August 22, 2021
(RNS) — Burke, 73, one of the Catholic Church’s most outspoken conservatives and a vaccine skeptic, had been sedated and on a ventilator after his tweet Aug. 10 that he had contracted the coronavirus.
Franklin Graham calls for a day of prayer for people of Afghanistan
By Yonat Shimron — August 20, 2021
(RNS) — Graham has been sharply critical of President Biden’s pullout from Afghanistan, saying, "the blood of this nation' will be on his hands."
As vulnerable Afghans flee Kabul, US faith groups prepare to aid them
By Jack Jenkins — August 20, 2021
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Faith-based refugee resettlement groups are mobilizing to help Afghans as they arrive — and from afar.
How Orthodox Jews became a streaming-TV hit
By Yonat Shimron — August 20, 2021
(RNS) — Streaming services have begun to take a chance on programs about Haredi Jews, but scholars say those narratives are nothing new.
