RNS Morning Report: Julián Castro’s Catholicism; SBC Minister List; Krishnamurti Foundation

Julián Castro speaks at the start of the general session at the Texas Democratic Convention in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Need to know: Friday, February 15, 2019

Julián Castro opens his presidential bid with a Catholicism aimed at Latino vote

'I wanted my announcement to present to the American people who I am, and my family and I have been Catholic for generations,' Castro said.

Southern Baptist minister list included sex offenders

'Names can be removed from a list, but the hurt victims deal with is more indelible,' said a spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.

As Americans disengage from religion, a California institution encourages questioning

For three decades, seekers have been drawn to this city's Krishnamurti Foundation center to question the teachings of the religions they've grown up with.

Julián Castro: Catholicism ‘has never been far from my life’

'What has always attracted me to the Catholic faith is the social justice aspect of it,' Castro said.

Witchcraft becomes a political stance — and a booming business

Once a fringe spiritual practice, witchcraft has become to a key, and increasingly popular, component of feminist political resistance, writes Tara Isabella Burton.

Gospel glamour: how Nigeria’s pastors wield political power

With days to go before the presidential election, Chris Okotie, a 1980s pop star turned pentecostal pastor and four-time presidential candidate, insists he is the man for the top job.

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Report: ‘No evidence’ of racist statements by Covington Catholic students

The same report also conceded that some students from Covington Catholic High School responded to a Native American man drumming and singing by performing the 'tomahawk chop.'

Why some young Muslim women are leaning into arranged marriages

Halal dating apps are gaining traction among young Muslims. But dating often comes with its own set of headaches, so many young Muslim women say they are bypassing the drama by leaning into their family’s traditions of arranged marriage.

A flourishing United Methodist church considers a way out

Mt. Horeb, a conservative evangelical church in the heart of South Carolina, is one of many congregations considering cutting the cord if the denomination relaxes its LGBT rules.

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A year after Parkland, we are all numb

On this first yahrzeit of Parkland -- God, instill within us the capacity for outrage.

Meet Sadaf Jaffer, America’s first female Muslim mayor

(RNS) — 'I hope my example helps provide a different vision of what it means to be a Muslim woman in America today,' she says.

Absent an imam, Domineque Ray’s execution by Alabama disenfranchises Muslims

The American legal system's anti-Islam problem might be more accurately seen as a pro-Christianity problem, writes Megan Goodwin.