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Religion

Jury tries again for a verdict in Detroit synagogue leader’s murder

Jurors again are trying to reach a verdict in the trial of a man charged with killing a Detroit synagogue leader.

Alabama set to execute man for fatal shooting of a delivery driver during a 1998 robbery attempt

Dominican activists protest against a new criminal code that would maintain a total abortion ban

Beloved priest Abbe Pierre was the conscience of France. Several women now accuse him of assault

Shiite Muslims in Lebanon and Iraq commemorate Ashoura, marking the death of Imam Hussein

Israel’s military will begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men on Sunday. It could rattle the government

The Israeli military will begin sending draft notices to Jewish ultra-Orthodox men on Sunday. The step could destabilize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Iran’s Shiite Muslims commemorate the mourning day of Ashoura with processions

Iranian Shiite Muslims are commemorating Ashoura, a remembrance of the 7th century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein, that gave birth to their faith.

Pope urges religious orders to pray for new priests and nuns as their numbers continue to fall

Pope Francis is urging leaders of religious orders to work and pray harder for new priests and nuns to join.

Pastors see a wariness among Black men to talk abortion politics as Biden works to shore up base

Pastors see a wariness among Black men to discuss abortion restrictions, which have become a key issue in the 2024 presidential campaign.

Seven decades after her death, Frida Kahlo’s take on spirituality remains a source of admiration

Frida Kahlo had no religious affiliation. Why, then, did the Mexican artist depicted several religious symbols in the paintings she produced until her death on July 13, 1954?

Who is the Buddhist nun who built a global charity from a tiny apartment in rural Taiwan?

In 1966, Cheng Yen, a Buddhist nun living in eastern Taiwan, asked local housewives to contribute 50 cents a month to fund her charity.

A Taiwan-based Buddhist charity attempts to take the founding nun’s message of compassion global

Tzu Chi is an international Buddhist organization led by the Venerable Cheng Yen, an 87-year-old nun living in Taiwan.

Judge rejects effort by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson to get records from Catholic church

A Washington state judge said Friday that Attorney General Bob Ferguson is not entitled to enforce a subpoena seeking decades of records from the Seattle Archdiocese.

Alabama agrees to forgo autopsy of Muslim inmate scheduled to be executed next week

Alabama has agreed to forgo an autopsy of a Muslim inmate who is scheduled to be executed Thursday. Keith Edmund Gavin said the post-mortem procedure would violate his religious beliefs.

The gods must be angry: Mexico ‘cancels’ statue of Greek god Poseidon after dispute with local deity

Mexican authorities have slapped a “closure” order on a 10-foot tall aquatic statue of the Greek god of the sea Poseidon that was erected in May in the Gulf of Mexico just off the beach in the town of Progreso, Yucatan.

The GOP platform calls for ‘universal school choice.’ What would that mean for students?

National Republicans are poised to take up a platform next week that includes “universal school choice.”

Knights of Columbus will cover up mosaics by ex-Jesuit artist accused of abusing women

An influential Catholic charitable organization says it will cover up mosaics made by a famous ex-Jesuit artist accused of abusing women.

He was orphaned in the Holocaust and never met any family. Now he has cousins, thanks to DNA tests

An Israeli man orphaned during the Holocaust thought he would never meet any of his relatives. But through modern DNA science, Shalom Korai has been able to hug his second cousin in Charleston, South Carolina.

Small fire in towering spire of medieval cathedral in French city of Rouen is under control

A small fire broke out in the spire of the medieval cathedral in Rouen, a major landmark in northern France that was under renovation.

In swing-state Pennsylvania, a Latino-majority city embraces a chance to sway the 2024 election

READING, Pa. (AP) — Religion and politics frequently overlap in Reading, an old industrial city in one of the most pivotal swing states of this year’s presidential election.

Tehran police close Turkish Airlines office after its employees defy Iran’s headscarf law

Police have shut down the Turkish Airlines office in the Iranian capital after female employees there apparently refused to wear the mandatory headscarf, or hijab, in an act of defiance of the country’s laws.

The Camino, a Catholic pilgrimage, increasingly draws the spiritual but not religious

(RNS) — In her early 30s, Rachael Sanborn found herself in a bad relationship and dreaming of an escape to the Camino de Santiago in Spain, a pilgrimage her father had undertaken that had profoundly changed his life.

Spain’s church to compensate victims whose abusers have died. Victims say the plan lacks guarantees

Spain’s Catholic bishops have approved a plan to compensate the victims of sexual abuse inside the Church whose alleged aggressors have died or whose possible crimes have been proscribed, an initiative the government and victims’ associations called lacking in real guarantees.

Vatican will prepare a document on the role of women in leadership in the Catholic Church

The Vatican says its doctrine office will be preparing a document on women in leadership roles in the Catholic Church, as part of a new initiative to respond to longstanding demands by women to have a greater say in the church’s life.

Pope begs for new peace efforts after latest attacks in Ukraine, Gaza

Pope Francis is appealing for concrete new measures to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. The appeal came after attacks targeted a children’s hospital in Kyiv and a school in Gaza.

Australia appoints special envoy to confront a rise in antisemitism across the country

The Australian government has named a special envoy to confront a rise in antisemitism across the country since the Israel-Hamas war began.

Opponents of Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law want judge to block it before new school year starts

Parents challenging a new Louisiana law requiring that the Ten Commandments be posted in public school classrooms are asking a federal court to block implementation of it while their lawsuit progresses — and before the new school year starts.

Chief prosecutor defends Vatican’s legal system after recent criticism of pope’s absolute power

The Vatican’s chief prosecutor has strongly defended the integrity and fairness of the city state’s justice system.

3 Columbia University officials lose posts over texts that ‘touched on ancient antisemitic tropes’

Columbia University has removed three administrators from their positions and will keep them on indefinite leave after finding that text messages they exchanged during a campus discussion about Jewish life “touched on ancient antisemitic tropes.”

Israel’s Holocaust memorial opens a conservation facility to store artifacts, photos and more

Israel’s Holocaust museum is opening a conservation facility in Jerusalem that will preserve, restore and store its more than 45,000 artifacts and artworks.

Families of stampede victims in India ponder future without loved ones

Deadly stampedes are relatively common at Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with shoddy infrastructure and few safety measures.

Back in the day, church bells sent many different messages. That lost art is being revived in Spain

The sound of church bells is a quaint bit of automated background noise for most people. But before newspapers, radio, telephones, television and the internet, it was bellringing that transmitted important information and knit together communities across Europe.

Hundreds of mostly exiled Tibetans celebrate the Dalai Lama’s 89th birthday in India’s Dharamshala

DHARAMSHALA, India (AP) — Hundreds of mostly exiled Tibetans gathered in India’s hillside town of Dharamshala to celebrate the birthday of the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, who turned 89 on Saturday.

Nigeria claims it has degraded extremists. New suicide bombings suggest they remain potent

Recent suicide bombings in northeastern Nigeria have raised questions about the country’s claim that it has degraded extremists whose insurgency since 2009 has killed more than 35,000 people directly and displaced more than 2 million.

In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Beryl nearly erased the smallest inhabited island from the map

Mayreu is one of the smallest inhabited islands of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Hurricane Beryl razed it, ripping up the roofs of schools, destroying homes and stripping trees of almost every leaf along the 1.2 square kilometers of this island of about 360 people.