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Catholic League drops out of St. Patrick’s Day parade over row about gays
NEW YORK (RNS) After organizers agreed to allow a gay and lesbian group to march, William Donohue of the Catholic League announced that his organization would not take part in next year’s popular...
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BLOG: Let’s play 20 questions
As I’ve said many times before, I’m here to learn. I understand your compassion (though I think it’s misguided). I can see your reluctance to fight to protect even the innocent (though what will it...
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Vatican: Pope Francis not under threat from Islamic State militants
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Francis faces no specific threat from Islamic State militants and will not be adding extra security measures on his one-day trip to Albania next week, the Vatican said Monday...
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Why Chris Christie and Jeb Bush were snubbed by social conservative leaders
(RNS) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush were not invited to a major gathering of social conservatives in Washington last weekend in what was viewed as a serious snub of...
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Media often ill-equipped to cover religion news, expert says
Imagine a day in the life of a typical American news reporter. They might cover a city council meeting in the morning, a car accident a few hours later, then a controversy over signs that mysteriously...
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BLOG: Champions of tolerance are now the intolerant ones
The freedom of association with others who have common interests and beliefs has a long history of respect in Anglo-American Law. It takes many forms. There were the Medieval Guilds. The Magna Carta...
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Supreme Court allows gay marriage to expand to 30 states
WASHINGTON (RNS) The Supreme Court refused to get involved in the national debate over same-sex marriage on Monday (Oct. 6), leaving intact lower court rulings that will legalize the practice in 11...
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Pro-life groups to turn former abortion clinic into a memorial
An iconic Toledo abortion clinic that was forced to close after 30 years of operation has been purchased by a local Christian ministry that plans to turn the property into a memorial for the unborn....
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Project Peace builds hope of a world without war
It is not at all unusual to hear of requests by our president for increased military aid to a familiar country, or to increased deployments of U.S. troops and armed drones to various countries. How...
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COMMENTARY: America isn’t a ‘Christian nation’ and never has been
(RNS) Right-wing Christians and the politicians who pander to them like to say that the United States was, is and always should be a “Christian nation.” Why, then, are they so obsessed about money and...
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Conservative Christians packed an electoral punch, but can they do it again...
(RNS) Conservative Christians are taking credit for the Republican sweep of the U.S. Senate and GOP victories farther down the ticket in Tuesday’s midterm elections, and they predict they will prevail...
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Canada bill would ban polygamy, other ‘barbaric cultural practices’
TORONTO (RNS) Canadian lawmakers are weighing legislation that would ban arranged marriages of minors and make polygamy grounds for deportation. The “Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices...
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Book on apostasy in Islam earns writer the moniker ‘Somalia’s Salman Rushdie’
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) A Somali scholar is stoking Muslim anger after he published a book questioning the concept of the death penalty for apostasy in Islam. Now, he is being branded as “Somalia’s Salman...
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U.S. Catholic bishops grapple with adapting their agenda to Pope Francis’...
BALTIMORE (RNS) With a controversial Vatican summit on family life just concluded and a papal visit to the U.S. expected in less than a year, the nation’s Catholic bishops on Monday (Nov. 10) began...
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Court rejects atheists’ demand to end tax-exempt clergy housing
(RNS) A federal court of appeals rejected a case brought by an atheist organization that would have made tax-exempt clergy housing allowances – often a large chunk of a pastor’s compensation – illegal....
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Four killed in Jerusalem synagogue terror attack
JERUSALEM (RNS) At least four worshipers, three of them U.S.-born, were killed in an attack on a west Jerusalem synagogue Tuesday (Nov. 18) by two Palestinians wielding a gun, an ax and a meat cleaver,...
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Boston grieves rabbi killed in Jerusalem synagogue
SWAMPSCOTT, Mass. (RNS) When word spread that Boston native Moshe Twersky was among four Jewish men murdered Tuesday (Nov. 18) in a Jerusalem synagogue attack, local Jews grieved not only a native son...
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Austrian bill would ban foreign funding for mosques, imams
VIENNA (RNS) Austria’s Muslim community is incensed over the government’s plans to amend the country’s century-old law on Islam. The new bill, championed by Minister for Foreign Affairs and Integration...
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Slaying the Keystone XL Pipeline dragon
From the Eastern church comes the legend of St. Michael, the slayer of dragons. As with many legends there are several versions of his story, but the main element in all is the presence of an...
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COMMENTARY: Sorry, Mr. President, you’re wrong on Exodus and immigration
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (RNS) President Obama is drawing on Exodus 23:9 to make his case for shielding millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation: “You shall not oppress a stranger; you know the...
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