Rubble from demolished buildings cover a temple in Varanasi, India, on Nov. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Need to know: Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Refurbishing holy site, India’s Modi levels ancient spiritual landscape
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 'dream project' at an 18th-century shrine to Lord Shiva has swept up monasteries, old-age homes and shops that had existed for generations.
Supporters of hospitalized Christian author pool funds to cover medical costs
Friends, family and supporters of prominent Christian author Rachel Held Evans are pooling funds to help cover her medical expenses after she was hospitalized over the weekend and placed into a medically induced coma.
In Mexico, Holy Week penitents continue bloody 16th-century traditions of absolution
The celebration of Holy Week in this colonial town southwest of Mexico City is one of the most dramatic and shocking in the country.
Cohousing communities hope to offer antidote to America’s epidemic of loneliness
In a time of social isolation and loneliness, co-housing communities are on the rise. Residents say life together has challenges but offers many rewards.
World’s oldest marathoner, at 108, is a model of more than simply stamina
The 108-year-old's record-breaking running career traverses key issues like classism, racism, literacy bias, ableism and ageism, writes Simran Jeet Singh.
Angry metro clergy await homosexuality decision from United Methodist Church
Right after a governing body of the United Methodist Church in February approved keeping the denomination’s ban on gay clergy and on any clergy officiating at same-sex weddings, the Rev. Tex Sample of Trinity United Methodist Church in Midtown Kansas City was indignant and defiant.
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Easter Sunday blasts kill at least 207 in Sri Lanka
Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardena described the bombings as a terrorist attack by religious extremists and said seven suspects had been arrested, though there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
At Boston Marathon bombing anniversary, local Muslims host blood drive
Six years after the deadly Boston Marathon bombing, a local mosque continues to host an annual blood drive in honor of those affected by the terror attack.
Wild Church founder Victoria Loorz finds resurrection on Easter and Earth Day
The founder of The Wild Church Network, a loose circle of Christian congregations that meet outdoors, seeks a restored relationship with God through nature.
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The hollowing out of American religion
(RNS) — The traditional pattern of young adults joining churches after they get married and have children has not been holding true.
To Sri Lankan Christians, and all Christian friends: ‘May Christ rise for you’
When Easter Sunday becomes Good Friday, something is terribly wrong, writes Jeffrey Salkin.
Why Easter is called Easter, and other little-known facts about the holiday
(The Conversation) — Among the important disputes settled at the A.D. 325 Council of Nicaea, the church council also resolved that Easter should be fixed on a Sunday, not on the traditional day of the Jewish Passover.
