Religion News

LONDON - A senior Church of England bishop has angered gay-rights campaigners by saying homosexuals should repent.

WASHINGTON - Defying some of his fellow conservative Christian critics, one of the most prominent religious leaders in the country told several thousand American Muslims on Saturday that "the two largest faiths on the planet" must work together to combat stereotypes and solve global problems.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has urged G-8 leaders meeting in Italy next week to rewrite global financial rules and defend the world's poor from the effects of the economic downturn, the Vatican said Saturday.

ROME (AFP) - US President Barack Obama said in an interview published Friday he thought Pope Benedict XVI would "share my approach" on policy in the Middle East.

VATICAN CITY - Cardinal John Henry Newman, an influential 19th-century Anglican theologian who converted to Roman Catholicism, moved a step closer to possible sainthood Friday after the pope approved a miracle attributed to his intercession.

VATICAN CITY (AFP) - The Vatican newspaper Friday praised influential French Protestant John Calvin, a critic of the Roman Catholic Church, hailing him an "extraordinary" figure.

NEW YORK - Moneeb Hassan remembers having to choose between a final exam in American history or celebrating the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha. In the end, he chose both.

MEDWAY, Mass. - Lightning has struck a historic eastern Massachusetts church, damaging its roof and destroying its steeple.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says he gets a prayer every morning on his BlackBerry.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says he is taking his time picking a church because his choice will undergo political scrutiny.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - In a quiet act of defiance, gay and lesbian Mennonites dressed in bright pink gathered outside the church's official convention in Columbus on Thursday and criticized its leaders for trying to push them out.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Catholic Church should not fear scientific progress and possibly repeat the mistake it made when it condemned astronomer Galileo in the 17th century, a Vatican official said on Thursday in a rare self-criticism.

SALT LAKE CITY - The Rev. Peter Morales of Colorado has been elected as the first Latino president of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

NEW YORK - Sayyid Syeed remembers an interfaith event several years ago when a Jewish leader went to embrace him, saw someone snapping a photo, then suddenly pulled back.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US envoy tasked with reaching out to Muslims around the world said she expects to go beyond criticism of Washington's foreign policy, outlining an ambitious program of reconciliation.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of U.S. senators urged Vietnam's president on Wednesday to free a Catholic priest as human rights groups said his imprisonment justified putting Hanoi on a U.S. religious freedom blacklist.

WASHINGTON - The defeat of incumbent Norm Coleman in the drawn-out Minnesota Senate race leaves Republicans without a Jewish senator for the first time in half a century.

FERNDALE, Mich. - When the bride and groom arrive at the Mandaean Association, the Middle Eastern salad is ready and flower petals are lightly strewn across the floor.