Religion

Maritime chaplain offers support to crew stuck on cargo ships due to shipping delays

1:43pm October 29, 2021

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Samson Shekhar Chauhan of the Lutheran Maritime Ministries about his work assisting crew members unable to leave ships because of COVID restrictions and shipping delays.

Biden continues the tradition of U.S. presidents meeting with the pope

11:12am October 29, 2021

President Biden is beginning his European trip by meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican. These two leaders know each other quite well, and share many of the same concerns.

Pope John XXIII with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who stands at left, during an audience granted in the pontiff's private library in the Vatican Palace on Dec. 6, 1959. Eisenhower was the second U.S. president to meet the pope.

U.S. presidents have met with the pope since 1919. It all started with Woodrow Wilson

7:17am October 29, 2021

by Jaclyn Diaz

President Biden's meeting with the pope is a fairly recent tradition for U.S. presidents. His meeting will mark the 31st time a U.S. president has met with the leader of the Catholic Church.

Pittsburgh community remembers the 11 victims of a synagogue attack

7:26am October 28, 2021

by Julia Zenkevich

Three years ago, a gunman opened fire during services at the Tree of Life Synagogue. Wednesday marked the anniversary of the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history.

Then-Vice President Biden shakes hands with Pope Francis on Capitol Hill in Washington, prior to the pope's address to a joint meeting of Congress in 2015. On Friday, Francis will welcome Biden to the Vatican for the first time since Biden took office, be

Biden's meeting with Pope Francis will be both official and deeply personal

5:00am October 28, 2021

by Scott Detrow

Biden is the second Catholic U.S. president, and his faith is central in his public image. The pastor at a D.C. church where the president worships tells NPR that Biden has felt supported by Francis.

Biden meets with Pope Francis this week while in Europe for 2 summits

7:00am October 27, 2021

by Scott Detrow

President Biden is only the second Catholic to hold the office. We explore how his faith informs his presidency ahead of an expected visit to the Vatican.

Xining's Dongguan Mosque has been a source of community for Chinese Muslims for seven centuries. Here, Hui Muslim men pray in the mosque in 1983.

China is removing domes from mosques as part of a push to make them more 'Chinese'

7:02am October 24, 2021

by Emily Feng

China is removing domes and minarets from thousands of mosques. Authorities are taking down overtly Islamic architecture as part of a "sinicization" push to make them seem more traditionally Chinese.

A girl waits with other earthquake victims for the start of a food distribution in Les Cayes, Haiti, in August, a week after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the area.

Abductions have increased in Haiti, but religious aid groups are still going there

6:12pm October 19, 2021

by Laurel Wamsley

A gang is demanding millions of dollars in ransom for 17 kidnapped missionaries. Faith-based humanitarian groups say their work demands balancing risk with the need to serve the most vulnerable.

Lee Bae-yong, the first woman to officiate a Confucian ceremony in the country's long history with Confucianism, at Museong Seowon, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

A woman takes a lead role in Confucian ceremonies, breaking a new path in South Korea

11:15am October 19, 2021

by Anthony Kuhn

Women's equality has made slow progress in South Korea. Some South Koreans want to bring about change starting at the country's cultural roots by reinterpreting Confucius.

A Kandahar mosque attack exposes the Taliban's security challenges

4:37pm October 15, 2021

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with George Washington University's Andrew Mines on what the suicide blast at a mosque in Afghanistan which killed dozens says about the Taliban's ability to maintain security.