Religion News on the Web
Selected religion-related news from around the Web
March 03, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: Catholics ponder future with new pope
Faithful attending Sunday Mass on five continents for the first
time since Pope Benedict XVI's retirement had different ideas about who
should next lead the Roman Catholic Church, with people suggesting
everything from a Latin American pope to one more like the conservative,
Polish-born John Paul II.
February 28, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: Thailand, Muslim militants agree to peace talks
Thailand's government signed a breakthrough deal with Muslim insurgents for the first time ever Thursday, agreeing to hold talks to ease nearly a decade of violence in the country's southern provinces that has killed more than 5,000 people.
February 25, 2013
- Reuters
Reuters: U.N. told atheists face discrimination around globe
Atheists, humanists and freethinkers face widespread discrimination around the world with expression of their views criminalized and subject in some countries to capital punishment, the United Nations was told on Monday.
February 24, 2013
- The Korea Herald
Korea Herald: Could the next pope be from Asia?
Vatican watchers are abuzz about who will succeed Pope Benedict XVI when he officially steps down at 8:00 p.m. on Feb. 28, including the very real possibility that a cardinal from outside Europe could lead the Roman Catholic Church for the first time ever.
February 24, 2013
- The Washington Post
Wash. Post: For China’s Catholics, new pope brings hope
Of the long list of problems the next pope will inherit once the white smoke rises in Rome, few on the diplomatic front can rival the bitter, intractable relationship between the Vatican and the Chinese government.
February 22, 2013
- The Australian
Australian: Religion to lose protected status
RELIGIOUS organisations running schools, health and aged-care services face losing key exemptions to Labor's new anti-discrimination laws under recommendations that could see them sued by people who disagree with church ethos.
February 10, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: Filipino extremists face new foe: fellow rebels
After years of fighting the government from hidden jungle bases in the southern Philippines, an Al-Qaida-linked militant group is facing a new adversary: fellow Muslim insurgents who can match their guerrilla battle tactics and are eager to regain their lost stature by fighting the widely condemned terrorist group.
January 25, 2013
- The Times of India
Times of India: For atheist China, religion is no longer a poison
Worried about the rise in people's interest in spiritualism six decades after the early Communists declared it to be evil, China's atheist government is calling for use of religion as a patriotic tool to rejuvenate the nation.
January 18, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: As Tibet burns, China makes arrests, seizes TVs
Chinese authorities are responding to an intensified wave of Tibetan self-immolation protests against Chinese rule by clamping down even harder — criminalizing the suicides, arresting protesters' friends and even confiscating thousands of satellite TV dishes.
January 03, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: Philippines contraception law points to Catholic church's waning power
Twenty-six years after Roman Catholic leaders helped his mother marshal millions of Filipinos in an uprising that ousted a dictator, President Benigno Aquino III has picked a fight with the church over contraceptives and won a victory that bared the bishops' worst nightmare: They no longer sway the masses.
December 18, 2012
- The New York Times
NYT: Monks lose relevance as Thailand grows richer
The monks of this northern Thai village no longer perform one of the defining rituals of Buddhism, the early-morning walk through the community to collect food. Instead, the temple’s abbot dials a local restaurant and has takeout delivered.