Religion

Indian police take protesters into custody during widespread demonstrations over two women entering the Sabarimala temple in the southern India state of Kerala earlier this week.

3rd Woman Enters Sacred Hindu Temple In Southern India Amid Protests

11:53am January 04, 2019

by Matthew S. Schwartz

A Sri Lankan becomes the third woman this week to enter the Sabarimala temple, which doesn't allow women of menstruating age, in India's Kerala state. The Supreme Court calls the ban discriminatory.

Religion

Pope Tells U.S. Bishops To Unify As Church Deals With Clergy Sex Abuse Scandals

5:55am January 04, 2019

Rachel Martin talks to Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and a senior analyst at Religion News Service, about Pope Francis' letter to U.S. Bishops about the sexual abuse crisis within the Catholic Church.

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The new Congress is more Christian than the U.S. population in general, according to a new survey from Pew Research.

The New Congress: Fewer Christians But Still Religious

5:13pm January 03, 2019

by Tom Gjelten

Pew Research finds that more than 99 percent of the Republican members of Congress identify as Christian, as opposed to 78 percent of the Democrats. Only one member identifies as unaffiliated.

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A skull-like stone carving and a stone trunk depicting the Flayed Lord, a pre-Hispanic fertility god depicted as a skinned human corpse.

Mexican Archaeologists Discover Pre-Hispanic Temple of 'The Flayed Lord'

7:20pm January 02, 2019

by Richard Gonzales

Stone carvings dating back 1,000 years suggest gruesome rituals tied to beliefs about fertility and long life.

Protesters in Kerala's capital city of Thiruvananthapuram block traffic and shout slogans reacting to reports of two women of menstruating age entering the Sabarimala temple, one of the world's largest Hindu pilgrimage sites, on Wednesday.

Protests Erupt In Southern India After Women Defy Centuries-Old Temple Ban

7:37am January 02, 2019

by Matthew S. Schwartz

Protests raged throughout the India state of Kerala after two women entered the Sabarimala temple. Women of menstruating age were banned from the temple until last year.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with a delegation of U.S. evangelical Christian leaders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in November.

Evangelicals Seek Detente With Mideast Muslim Leaders As Critics Doubt Motives

7:09am January 02, 2019

by Jerome Socolovsky

Evangelical leaders say their trips to the Middle East are about promoting religious freedom in the region, but critics say the true motives are rooted in "end times" theology.

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After Synagogue Shooting, Pittsburgh Rabbi Is Still Hopeful

7:43am January 01, 2019

Noel King talks to Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who was leading the Tree of Life Synagogue community in prayer when a gunman opened fire, killing 11 people. He says hate will not close his synagogue.

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A menorah is installed outside the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh on the first night of Hanukkah.The synagogue was the site of a mass shooting in October. It was one of a number of tragedies and revelations that made 2018 a difficult year for the ci

For Pittsburgh, A Difficult Year Reveals Long-Buried Problems

3:56pm December 28, 2018

by Larkin Page-Jacobs

A string of shootings and revelations about clergy abuse has made 2018 a hard year for the people of Pittsburgh. But some are finding new activism and hope within tragedy.

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Religion

2018 Put Pope Francis To The Test

5:40pm December 27, 2018

by Sylvia Poggioli

It was not a good year for Pope Francis. He got off to a bad start, defending a Chilean bishop accused of covering up sex abuse, and then struggled to prove the Church's commitment to reform.

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Tilko, a refugee from Iraq (at center with her back to the camera), at a Hanukkah celebration on Dec. 4 with the Jewish volunteers who helped her resettle in America.

After Pittsburgh Shooting, Jewish Congregations Vow To Keep Helping Refugees

2:48pm December 27, 2018

by Jerome Socolovsky

A gunman killed 11 worshippers at a synagogue because it supports a Jewish aid group that resettles refugees in the U.S. But volunteers refuse to be deterred. "That is who we are," says one.

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