Religion News Service staff
Church groups cheer food stamp funding: Senate panel votes against cuts
Religious groups are claiming victory in the fight to preserve funding for food stamps after a key Senate panel voted to keep $574 million for the program.
...Synod affirms priestly celibacy, other rules: Catholic bishops embrace traditional teaching
As more than 250 bishops filed into St....
Canadian churches accept ruling on Indian sex-abuse claims: Churches will pay 25 percent of compensation to victims
Canada’s two largest Protestant denominations say they are satisfied with a decision by the country’s Supreme Court that stipulates how religious groups and the federal government should divide the...
Miers's beliefs, identity were in dispute before nomination was dropped: Episcopal ties overlooked
As U.S. senators and other political leaders pressured the White House for more written evidence of U.S....
Campaign opposes 'intelligent design' DefCon mobilizes: DefCon mobilizes
Hundreds of clergy, scientists and academics have launched a grassroots campaign to oppose religious conservatives, beginning with concerted opposition to the teaching of “intelligent design” in pu...
Episcopal leaders nix Mideast divestment: Positive investment and corporate engagement instead
The Episcopal Church has flatly rejected a church-based movement to pull investments from Israel, instead choosing a strategy of “positive investment” among Palestinians and “corporate engagement” ...
Mennonite manager resigns after his bankruptcy surfaces: Presidency lasts just eight weeks
Less than a week before he was announced as the new president of Mennonite Mutual Aid, Terry “Skip” Nagelvoort filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, unbeknownst to those who selected him for the position...
Churches play vital role after storms: A no-red-tape response
While some traditional disaster responders have been faulted for their slow pace in reacting to Hurricane Katrina, many religious organizations quickly welcomed, clothed and fed thousands of storm ...
Grand jury report censures two former Philadelphia prelates: Report says cardinals "excused and enabled" sexual abuse
Philadelphia’s two most recent cardinals came under blistering criticism in a grand jury report released last month, but prosecutors said limitations in state law prohibit the filing of charges.
...Rarely Rosh Hashanah, Ramadan coincide: Once every 33 years
Everybody knows that there are 365 days in the solar year. But how many know the number of days in a lunar year? The answer is 354, 11 days fewer than in the solar calendar....
Argentine was challenger to Benedict: Unclear why Bergoglio's candidacy faltered
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina received enough votes during the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI to have blocked the pontiff’s election, according to a detailed report published...
Federal court finds pledge illegal—again: Newdow case refiled
A federal judge in California has ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional, deciding a case that had been refiled by an atheist whose previous challenge to the phrase “under God” rea...
Religion majors on the rise: Total enrollment in religion classes also growing
As a teenager in a Catholic high school and church, Lauren McCormick of Toms River, New Jersey, was taught to look at the world in ways that revolved around Jesus....
Muslim groups set $10 million aid goal: Domestic hurricane relief
A coalition of U.S. Muslim groups has pledged to raise $10 million in humanitarian relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
...Vatican, Israel end spat over terrorism: Sharon calls Benedict "friend of Israel"
The Vatican and Israel have agreed to end a public feud over terrorism, with Israeli prime minster Ariel Sharon calling Pope Benedict XVI “a true friend of Israel.”
...Reed, BYU ranked as most secular, religious: Reed strong on academics, weak on religion
If you are about to spend $40,000 a year to send your offspring to Reed College in Portland, Oregon, you can rest assured that he or she will get the nation’s top-ranked overall academic experience...
Zimbabwean churches form coalition to aid demolition victims: Government campaign has driven out 700,000
An alliance of church groups in Zimbabwe is forming a coalition to aid victims of the government’s “drive out trash” campaign that the United Nations estimates has cost 700,000 Zimbabweans their ho...
Adventists apologize for failures during Nazi era: German and Austrian leaders issue statement
German and Austrian leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church have issued a statement of apology for any support of or role in Nazi activities during World War II....
Poll: Teach evolution and creationism: Two-thirds support teaching both
Nearly two-thirds of Americans support teaching creationism alongside evolution in public schools, according to a new poll, but there is far less agreement over who gets to decide what is taught....