Religion News on the Web
Selected religion-related news from around the Web
August 25, 2012
- The New York Times
NYT: Radical Islamic attacks in a moderate region unnerve the Kremlin
A string of violent attacks by Islamic militants has shattered this city’s reputation as a citadel of religious tolerance and unnerved federal officials in Moscow, who have worked for decades to prevent the spread of radical Islam out of the southern borderlands and into places like this city 500 miles east of Moscow.
August 16, 2012
- Reuters
Reuters: Russian church leader rejects criticism over state ties
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, who has called President Vladimir Putin's rule a "miracle of God", defended its close ties with the state on Friday against criticism fuelled by the trial of three members of the Pussy Riot punk band.
August 09, 2012
- The Washington Post
Wash. Post: Tensions flare in France over veil ban
Though it was almost midnight, streets were full of Muslim families taking a stroll after breaking the Ramadan fast with a late dinner. As two police officers drove by a storefront recycled as the Grand Sunna Mosque, they noticed a woman wearing flowing black robes and a full-face veil.
August 08, 2012
- New York Times
NYT: Punk band’s Moscow trial offers platform for Orthodox protesters
With the gold domes of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior glittering just across the Moscow River, members of three Russian Orthodox groups that espouse a fervent blend of nationalism and religiosity set fire on Wednesday to a poster of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot and also put a match to a poster of the pop star Madonna.
July 31, 2012
- The New York Times
NYT: Observance of Ramadan poses challenges to Muslim athletes
With nearly three million Muslims living in Britain, the observance of Ramadan here is not generally a notable occurrence. Shops are open, businessmen go to work at the regular times and, to outsiders, life seems ordinary enough, save for the absence of eating or drinking from dawn until sunset.
July 29, 2012
- USA Today
USA Today: Opinion: Olympics' religious roots
When the Summer Olympics opened in London last Friday, there was a version of a religious ritual in the Olympic oath, procession of athletes and lighting of the flame.
July 02, 2012
- The Associated Press
AP: Pope taps German theologian to head orthodoxy post
The pope named Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller to head the Vatican's all-important orthodoxy office Monday, tapping a German theologian like himself to head the congregation he presided over for nearly a quarter-century enforcing Catholic doctrine.
June 27, 2012
- Agence France-Presse
AFP: German circumcision ruling slammed
Agence France-Presse
AFP: German circumcision ruling slammed
Staff
2012-06-27
A key German Muslim association on Wednesday sharply criticised a court ruling that said circumcising boys on religious grounds amounted to grievous bodily harm.
"The Cologne ruling is a serious attack on religious freedom,
June 24, 2012
- The New York Times
NYT: Fox News reporter hired as Vatican media adviser
In an effort to shore up its communications strategy amid a widening leaks scandal in a troubled papacy, the Vatican has hired the Fox News correspondent in Rome as a senior communications adviser.
June 23, 2012
- The Associated Press
AP: Palestinians push Nativity church as Heritage site
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is becoming the church of contention, with a bid by the Palestinians to use their position as the newest members of the U.N.'s cultural arm to obtain World Heritage status for the iconic Christian site — and perhaps boost their own campaign for legitimacy.
June 19, 2012
- Reuters
Reuters: Vatican accuses media of "imitating Dan Brown"
The Vatican 's number 2 accused the media on Monday of trying "to imitate Dan Brown " in their coverage of the VatiLeaks scandal and said the Roman Catholic Church 's latest travails were part of the Devil's attempt to destabilize it.
June 17, 2012
- The Associated Press
AP: Pope to Irish: Child abuse by clergy 'a mystery'
Pope Benedict XVI told Irish Catholics on Sunday it is a mystery why priests and other church officials abused children entrusted in their care, undermining faith in the church "in an appalling way."