World
The pope urges Indonesia to live up to its promise of ‘harmony in diversity’
By Edna Tarigan and Nicole Winfield — September 6, 2024
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Pope Francis compared Indonesia's human diversity to the archipelago’s 17,000 islands. He said each one contributes something specific to form “a magnificent mosaic, in which each tile is an irreplaceable element in creating a great original and precious work.”
Members of shuttered Rwandan churches gather in homes as leaders quietly protest
By Tonny Onyulo — September 5, 2024
7 years after genocide, plight of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is exacerbated by camp violence
By Nasir Uddin — September 4, 2024
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A Pakistani religious leader is tried in his absence for allegedly threatening Geert Wilders
By Mike Corder — September 4, 2024
SCHIPHOL, Netherlands (AP) — “Every day you get up and leave for work in armored cars, often with sirens on, and you are always aware somewhere in the back of your mind that this could be your last day,” Geert Wilders, leader of the party that won last year's general election in the Netherlands, told the court.
At Quaker World Plenary, Americans are seen as key to building peace
By Bridget Moix — September 4, 2024
(RNS) — An informal survey showed how U.S. policy impacts communities around the globe.
What is the Shroud of Turin and why is there so much controversy around it?
By Eric Vanden Eykel — September 4, 2024
(The Conversation) — Many believe the Shroud of Turin to be the cloth used to bury Jesus after his crucifixion. Scientists have investigated the claim and here’s what they found.
What to know about the rescued hostage’s Bedouin community in Israel
By Mariam Fam — September 3, 2024
(AP) — One significant long-running source of tensions is that tens of thousands or so Bedouins in the Negev eke out an existence in villages that the Israeli authorities don’t recognize. The villages are largely cut off from basic services and the government wants to tear them down.
In new book, journalist Joshua Leifer offers a scathing take on American Judaism
By Yonat Shimron — August 30, 2024
(RNS) — 'Tablets Shattered' is a sweeping historical account of a fractured and contentious religious establishment — much of it hampered by its embrace of Zionism.
Ancient tombs with vibrant wall paintings open to public in southern Israel
By Melanie Lidman and Ohad Zwigenberg — August 30, 2024
ASHKELON, Israel (AP) — The tombs, located a few hundred meters from the beach, were likely the burial place for aristocratic Romans some 1,700 years ago, when Ashkelon was a Roman city, according to archaeologists.
Study: Citizens around the globe want leaders who stand up for religious believers
By Genevieve Charles — August 29, 2024
(RNS) — In the U.S., two-thirds of respondents say that it is important to have a leader at the national level who stands up for people with religious beliefs. Less than half of respondents believe that it is essential for their leader to have strong religious beliefs or have religious beliefs that are the same as their own.
Bangladesh’s Hindu-Buddhist-Christian council pushes for secular state
By Rishabh Jain — August 29, 2024
(RNS) — Amid a government shake-up and rising violence against minorities, an interfaith council is pushing for the country to remove Islam as the state religion.
Taliban reject UN concerns over laws banning women’s voices and bare faces in public
By Associated Press — August 29, 2024
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on Wednesday issued the country’s first set of laws to discourage vice and promote virtue. They include a requirement for a woman to conceal her face, body and voice outside the home. They also ban images of living beings, such as photographs.
AME Church delegates name six new bishops while retaining same-sex marriage ban
By Adelle M. Banks — August 28, 2024
(RNS) — In a joint address, AME bishops called for the creation of ‘accountability measures for every elected and appointed leader within our church.’
Once a beacon of the Yiddish speaking world, Lithuania’s Jews work to keep it alive
By David I. Klein — August 28, 2024
VILNIUS, Lithuania (RNS) — If one city could be said to be the home of Yiddish, the traditional language of Ashkenazi Jewry, many would point to Vilnius, the capital of modern-day Lithuania, where a program hopes to preserve and expand it.
Israeli Cabinet minister draws rebuke for saying he would build a synagogue at holy site
By Michele Chabin — August 28, 2024
JERUSALEM (RNS) — The far-right minister’s latest remarks have sparked outrage from Muslim authorities, concern from the U.S. State Department, and Israeli assurances that the ‘status quo’ will remain.
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