Religion News on the Web
Selected religion-related news from around the Web
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 12, 2013
- The Wall Street Journal
WSJ: Europe remains challenge for church
As Pope Benedict XVI prepares to relinquish his office, church leaders planning for a new pontiff are sure to deliberate over one of his longtime goals: replenishing Europe's deserted pews.
February 11, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: Pope's bombshell sends troubled church scrambling
With a few words in Latin, Pope Benedict XVI did what no pope has done in more than half a millennium, stunning the world by announcing his resignation Monday and leaving the already troubled Catholic Church to replace the leader of its 1 billion followers by Easter.
February 05, 2013
- The New York Times
NYT: British House of Commons approves gay marriage
The House of Commons voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to approve a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in Britain, indicating that the bill is assured of passage as it moves through further legislative stages.
February 04, 2013
- The New York Times
NYT: New Archbishop of Canterbury takes office
On the eve of a divisive vote in Parliament on the legalization of same-sex marriage, Justin Welby, the former bishop of Durham, on Monday took over formally as the 105th archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the world’s 77 million Anglicans, saying he shares the Church of England’s opposition to marriage among people of the same gender.
January 24, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: Pope on social networking: the virtual is real
Pope Benedict XVI put church leaders on notice Thursday, saying social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter aren't a virtual world they can ignore, but rather a very real world they must engage if they want to spread the faith to the next generation.
January 15, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: Court: BA discriminated against Christian staffer
Religious freedom is a right but not an absolute one, Europe's top court said Tuesday, ruling that British Airways discriminated against a devoutly Christian employee by making her remove her crucifix, but backing a U.K. charity that fired a marriage counselor who refused to give sex therapy to gay couples.
January 10, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: Poll: Most of Ireland favors wider abortion access
Most people in Ireland want lawmakers to give women wider access to abortion, a poll revealed Thursday as senior clerics testified before a parliamentary committee investigating Ireland's ban on the practice.
January 09, 2013
- The New York Times
NYT: At once Catholic and secular, France debates gay marriage
Frigide Barjot has made a career of mocking the establishment of France, dressing in fluorescent pink sweaters, playing in a band called the Dead Pompidous and hosting a philosophy soirée at which she handed out T-shirts with the logo, “Kierkegaard is my homeboy.”
December 26, 2012
- The Wall Street Journal
WSJ: Greek church fields calls to do more
In the basement of St. Varvaras church, Rev. Theodoros Georgiou issued instructions on a recent morning to volunteers preparing hundreds of packages of food for local families, as two phones on his desk buzzed with more calls about supplies for Greece's growing ranks of the needy.