Christianity - Page 49

A leading church figure in the Middle East said Monday Christians across the region were facing a “tragedy,” and accused the international community of failing to act.

MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian Orthodox Church is expanding its influence in what was once an officially godless state — and President Vladimir Putin appears eager to harness that resurgent power of faith to promote his own agenda. Long consigned

A new study by the Pew Research Center found that worldwide, Jews have the most years of formal education, followed by Christians, with atheists, Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus trailing behind.

A Texas school board has ignored the advice of the state attorney general and voted to back the ban on a Charlie Brown Christmas display because it contains the word “Christ.”

A Texas school district is standing by its decision to remove a Charlie Brown Christmas display from a classroom.

An anti-Christian group has criticized a recent decision by the Air Force Academy not to punish an assistant football coach for posting Bible verses on Twitter, a report says.

For decades, the Immaculate Conception Church in Qaraqosh was the heart of Iraq’s largest Christian town. After two years under Islamic State rule, it lies scarred and desecrated.

A Brexit settlement which focuses only on economic considerations and fails to meet the needs of people will lead only to “division and despair”, the Archbishop of Canterbury has warned.

In an odd twist, the Catholic Archbishop of Kampala, Uganda, has admonished women to refrain from beating their husbands, saying they “should love and respect them” rather than take out their frustrations physically upon them.

Christians and other faith groups should have a conscience clause enshrined in law within a Bill of Rights as a way of protecting fundamental rights, an independent think tank has advised.

The Prime Minister has been told not to “abuse her position to promote Christianity” after mentioning her faith as a factor which has shaped her outlook, during a wide-ranging interview.

The BBC is failing in its duty as a public service broadcaster because it doesn’t take religion seriously, a prominent presenter with the corporation has said.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the Catholic Church should be begging forgiveness from women for its “hard line” opposition to abortion, rather than offering forgiveness to women who have aborted their children.

Pakistan has sentenced five people to death in the gruesome 2014 murder of a Christian couple at the hands of a Muslim mob, tortured and burnt to death in the brick kiln they worked at.

In a video interview to close the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis pulled no punches in his condemnation of abortion, calling it a “very grave sin” and a “horrendous crime.” Asked to recall especially memorable moments from the Year

“In God’s heart there are no enemies,” Francis said Saturday. “God only has sons and daughters. We are the ones who raise walls, build barriers and label people.”

Protestant churches that practice conservative theology are growing faster than those that embrace liberalism, an academic study has found. The Canadian research found that congregations at growing churches tend to read the bible more regularly, believe in the literal truth

Leaders from the minority Christian community in the Middle East have commended Republican President-elect Donald Trump on his victory last week, saying they are hopeful the new American leader will strengthen and support the ethno-religious minority groups in Iraq and Syria victimized by the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).

They were threatened, forced to spit on a crucifix or convert to Islam, but a handful of Iraqi Christians miraculously survived more than two years under Islamic State group rule.

The BBC is determined to press ahead with plans to increase its coverage of more religions, and could even broadcast the Muslim call to Friday prayers, thanks to concerns from within the corporation that its religious broadcasting is too biased towards Christianity.

Celebrated evangelical pastor Franklin Graham has declared that the best choice for President in Tuesday’s elections “isn’t difficult to figure out if you are a Christian,” in evident reference to Republican candidate Donald Trump.

The niece of a top Palestinian official who recently told Israeli TV that she loves Israel to the point of having tattooed Israeli symbols on her body has been disowned by her Palestinian family.

During the papal press conference on the return flight from Sweden to Rome Tuesday, Pope Francis confirmed that the Church’s longstanding ban on women priests is final and not subject to change.

Leading conservative intellectual Michael Novak has defined Hillary Clinton as “unvotable” for Catholics in the upcoming presidential elections because she and her party oppose everything that Catholics hold most dear.

A church in Israel built where Christians believe the transfiguration of Jesus took place has been vandalised, with chalices stolen, icons damaged and a donation box robbed, an official said Tuesday.

Two psychologists in Finland have concluded that religious believers are bad at math and physics, have poor mechanical abilities and don’t have a good sense of the physical and biological world.

On the eve of UNESCO’s Wednesday vote in Paris to ratify a resolution denying Jewish ties to Judaism’s holiest site, Temple Mount Sifting Project co-founder and archeologist Dr. Gabriel Barkay dismissed the ballot as an affront to science and history.

The Vatican has published new guidelines regarding Catholic burial and cremation just in time for Halloween and the beginning of November—the “month of the dead.”

A leading American prelate has urged voters to “be wary” of Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Kaine, a “cafeteria Catholic” who picks and chooses from Church teaching according to its political expediency.

Despite the rising demand for exorcists in Italy, younger priests are not applying for the job, which they claim to find “too scary” for their level of experience.

On Sunday, Pope Francis canonized seven saints, including Brother Salomon Leclercq, who was beheaded by the anticlerical revolutionary forces during the French Revolution in the 18th century.

President Barack Obama ridiculed Republicans — particularly Christians — who said they forgave Donald Trump after a 2005 video was leaked featuring him making lewd comments about women.

The Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York is exhibiting a naked, feminized statue of Christ’s crucified body, which the bishop has defended as an appropriate work to hang “over our altar.”

Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty joined SiriusXM host Alex Marlow on Friday’s Breitbart News Daily to talk about his film, Torchbearer, premiering in select theaters on October 7, to be followed by a release on various digital and VOD platforms.

In the most powerful election statement by any Catholic prelate to date, Denver Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila has told Catholics that life issues—and especially opposition to abortion—must take absolute precedence in deciding whom to vote for in November’s elections.

Vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine’s habit of showcasing his faith credentials is proving to be a two-edged sword, as more and more Catholics find his ambiguous relationship with Church teaching to be deeply problematic.