Christianity

Churches Torched By Muslim Mob In Indonesia

January 25, 2010

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Hindu

Wire Service: AP

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article94649.ece

A Muslim mob torched unlicensed churches and priest’s home in western Indonesia last week and security forces have deployed to ensure order, a government spokesman said on Monday.

No one was hurt when hundreds of villagers burned down two Protestant churches on Friday in Sibuhuan...

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Haitians In the US Turn to Religion for Answers

January 24, 2010

Author: Dana Chivvis

Source: AOL News

http://www.sphere.com/nation/article/after-earthquake-haitians-in-the-us-turn-to-religion-for-answers/19328395

Since last week's earthquake, the Rev. Donelson Thevenin, a priest at the Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn, where many of New York's Haitians live, has been helping his congregation deal with the tragedy. He has prayed with them,...

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Church Council Duties Defined

January 24, 2010

Author: Bronislaus B. Kush

Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette

http://www.telegram.com/article/20100124/NEWS/1240408/1101

Delegate members of the Massachusetts Council of Churches were challenged this weekend to continue to seek common ground in addressing the social, economic, and environmental problems racking the world. 

Additionally, they were urged to take a hard look at their own commitments to the ecumenical movement...

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Female Priests Defy Catholic Church, Hope to Change It

January 23, 2010

Author: Katie Balestra

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/22/AR2010012202919.html

Inside a red brick house in Falls Church, Bridget Mary Meehan placed a silver chalice of wine and a plate of flatbread on the coffee table in her living room and prepared to lead a sacred, forbidden ceremony.

"As we gather around this table, this intimate little house church...

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Firm to Remove Bible References From Gun Sights

January 21, 2010

Author: Eric Eckholm

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/us/22guns.html

Bowing to Pentagon concerns and an international outcry, a Michigan arms company said Thursday that it would immediately stop embossing references to New Testament Scriptures on rifle sights it sells the military.

The company, Trijicon Inc., has multimillion-dollar contracts with the Pentagon for advanced telescopic sights that are widely used...

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Voodoo Brings Solace to Grieving Haitians

January 20, 2010

Author: Barbara Bradley Hagerty

Source: NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122770590

Erol Josue lost more than two dozen friends and extended family in Haiti's devastating earthquake. The Voodoo priest, who lives in New York, says he has spent the past week saying traditional Voodoo prayers.

"We thank God that we are still alive," he says, "but we also pray to give a good route, to give a good path for the...

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Kyrgyzstan Keeps a Tight Grip On Religion

January 19, 2010

Author: Martin Vennard

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8446662.stm

Bolot, a young evangelical preacher in Kyrgyzstan, says he has already been arrested twice since setting up a new church.

He says he is the victim of a new law on religion, which critics say severely restricts religious freedoms and is forcing some groups underground.

Under the law, new religious groups have to have at least 200 members before...

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Christian-Muslim Mayhem In Nigeria Kills Dozens

January 19, 2010

Author: Adam Nossiter

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/world/africa/20nigeria.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Armed with guns, machetes, torches, and bows and arrows, Christian and Muslim antagonists in central Nigeria’s religiously volatile city of Jos have been fighting for three days in sporadic clashes that have left dozens dead, witnesses and local news a...

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Modern-Day Pilgrims Find Interfaith Bond In Ancient Syrian Monastery

January 18, 2010

Author: Robert F. Worth

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/world/middleeast/19syria.html

As darkness falls over the vast Syrian desert and the first winter stars emerge, a trail of modern-day pilgrims is slowly climbing the stone steps of this remote cliff-top monastery.

They are a motley crew of religious seekers and backpackers from a dozen countries, some hoping for divine wisdom, others merely...

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Pope Tries to Soothe Tensions With Jews

January 17, 2010

Author: Rachel Donadio

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/world/europe/18pope.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Pope Benedict XVI, in a visit to Rome’s main synagogue, sought to soothe tensions between Catholics and Jews on Sunday, though he and Jewish leaders aired one main point of contention: whether the church did enough against the Holocaust.

At least one prominent Italian rabbi...

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Local Coptic Christians Protest Persecution

January 17, 2010

Author: Kevin Wiatrowski

Source: Tampa Bay Online

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jan/17/na-local-coptic-christians-protest-persecution/

A fatal shooting last week in southern Egypt drew hundreds of Coptic Christians to the streets of Tampa in protest Saturday afternoon.

Members of Coptic churches from Clearwater, Tampa and Sarasota attended the rally. People waved posters...

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As Lives And Houses Shattered In Haiti Quake, So Did Some Religious Differences

January 17, 2010

Author: Manuel Roig-Franzia

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/16/AR2010011603140.html

At night, voices rise in the street. Sweet, joyful, musical voices in lyric Creole. A symphony of hope in a landscape of despair.

"It doesn't mean anything if Satan hates me, because God loves me," sing the women at Jeremy Square, their faces almost invisible in the...

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