Religion

Faith Leaders Discuss How The Coronavirus Is Impacting Work

5:25pm March 22, 2020

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with three faith leaders about coronavirus and how it's impacted their congregations and work: Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, Imam Rizwan Ali and Pastor Thomas McKenzie.

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Religion

Outbreak Voices: A Pastor On Finding Grace In Solitude

7:44am March 21, 2020

Lynn Bryson, who will livestream services to his congregants at Twin Falls Adventist Church in Twin Falls, Idaho, says there is value in embracing this experience of being alone, quiet and still.

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Religion

Clergy Relay How Their Congregations Are Processing Life Under Coronavirus

6:03pm March 20, 2020

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks to a rabbi, an imam and a Episcopal bishop about what they've been hearing from their congregants, and what words of comfort they are offering.

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Muslim Communities Around The World Halt Public Friday Prayers — But Not In Pakistan

4:29pm March 20, 2020

by Diaa Hadid

Communal Friday prayer is a touchstone of life for Muslims. But African and Arab communities have halted those prayers to prevent spread of the coronavirus. In Pakistan, clerics are defiant.

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A government worker disinfects the Kılıç Ali Pasa mosque in Istanbul last week. Turkey is just one of a host of countries across the Muslim world where Friday prayers have been banned or curtailed to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Coronavirus Fears Derail Friday Prayers For Muslims Across The World

3:22pm March 19, 2020

by Colin Dwyer

"Islam doesn't permit practices that would put human life in danger," said the head of religious affairs in Turkey, one of a host of Muslim-majority countries to curtail gatherings at mosques.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, shown here at a ceremony in January, has ordered churches around the world to halt services until at least the end of the month.

Eastern Orthodox Church To Halt Services Until End Of March

2:38pm March 19, 2020

by Joanna Kakissis

"This trial, too, shall pass," Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I said. "But our lives will have changed forever." He asked parishioners to stay home for their own safety and the safety of others.

An authentic 2,000-year-old scroll fragment found at Qumran near the Dead Sea.

Museum's Collection Of Purported Dead Sea Scroll Fragments Are Fakes, Experts Say

4:00pm March 17, 2020

by Scott Neuman

Using advanced techniques such as scanning electron microscopes, a team of researchers concluded that all 16 scroll fragments at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., are modern forgeries.

Religion

7 Years Of The First Non-European Pope

4:50pm March 16, 2020

by Sylvia Poggioli

Seven years after Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio became Pope Francis, the first non-European pontiff is under attack from traditionalists who think he's leading Catholics astray.

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Church Officials Weigh Canceling Services Amid COVID-19

5:00am March 16, 2020

by Tom Gjelten

A political division is apparent in church responses to the coronavirus. Many are canceling services but some with a pro-Trump leaning are resisting.

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Coronavirus: Congregational Response

5:19pm March 15, 2020

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Tom Pruski, director of Wesley Theological Seminary's Heal the Sick Initiative, about how congregations should respond to the coronavirus pandemic.