religion

Faith leaders pray with President Trump during a rally for evangelical supporters at the King Jesus International Ministry church in Miami earlier this month.

Trump Defends School Prayer. Critics Say He's Got It All Wrong

7:03pm January 16, 2020

by Franco Ordoñez

The president urged public schools to remember that students have constitutional rights to prayer — but one group says too many schools are promoting prayer in ways that cross the line.

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Behind The Initiatives Announced On National Religious Freedom Day

4:40pm January 16, 2020

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Benjamin P. Marcus, of the Religious Freedom Center at the Freedom Forum Institute, about what President Trump has announced for National Religious Freedom Day.

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Trump To Unveil New Guidance On School Prayer

6:03am January 16, 2020

by Tom Gjelten

President Trump is announcing an initiative to "safeguard" the right of students and teachers to pray in school. Court decisions will limit what he can do.

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Retired Pope Benedict's Book Addresses Priestly Celibacy

6:00am January 14, 2020

by Sylvia Poggioli

Pope Benedict promised to remain out of sight when he retired in 2013. Instead he has ignited a firestorm over the importance of priestly celibacy, an issue Pope Francis is currently weighing.

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The Rev. Randolph Hollerith, dean of the Washington National Cathedral (from left); the Rev. Carl Wright, the Episcopal Church's bishop suffragan for the armed forces; and Maj. Gen. Steven Schaick, the Air Force chief of chaplains, participate in the bles

Space Force Bible Blessing At National Cathedral Sparks Outrage

9:38pm January 13, 2020

by David Welna

The dedication at the Washington National Cathedral of an official Bible of the new U.S. Space Force is being criticized as a violation of laws separating church and state.

Pope Francis (left) talks with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the former Convent Mater Ecclesiae at the Vatican in 2016, three years after Benedict stunned the Catholic Church by resigning to become pope emeritus.

In New Book, Retired Pope Benedict Breaks Silence To Speak Out On Priestly Celibacy

8:00am January 13, 2020

by Scott Neuman

The surprise move is seen as a rebuke to Pope Francis, who is weighing whether to allow older, married men to be ordained in some South American countries, where a shortage of priests is acute.

Religion

Nun Requests A Kiss From Pope Francis. He Obliges

6:45am January 10, 2020

A nun called out to the pope from a crowd in Rome and requested a kiss. He wanted to make sure she wouldn't bite. She promised, and the pope gave her a peck on the cheek.

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Two women who were sexually abused as children say the Jehovah's Witnesses failed to report their abuser to authorities in Montana and instead expelled him from the congregation as punishment until he repented. Pictured, in 2015, is a sign atop the then-w

Montana Court Reverses $35 Million Child Abuse Verdict Against Jehovah's Witnesses

6:11pm January 09, 2020

by Merrit Kennedy

The unanimous Montana Supreme Court decision found that religious institutions are not always obligated to report child sexual abuse to authorities due to an exemption in Montana state law.

After Anti-Semitic Attacks, Jewish Community Learns To Fight Back

2:23pm January 09, 2020

by Matt Katz

After attacks on Jewish communities in the New York area, participation has surged in a nonprofit organization, which trains Jews to protect themselves using traditional self-defense methods.

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Coal Mining Jobs Drop 15 Percent In Eastern Kentucky In First Half Of 2019

Religion

The Split Within The Methodist Church Over LGBTQ Inclusion

1:28pm January 08, 2020

The denomination is set to split over same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ pastors.