by Alessandro Speciale | Jan 20, 2012 | News
(RNS) “Radical secularism” is gaining ground in American society and poses a “grave threat” to the Catholic Church’s freedom of expression in the public square, Pope Benedict XVI told a group of U.S. bishops on Thursday (Jan. 19). The delegation of bishops from the...
by Brian Kaylor | Jan 20, 2012 | News
Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced Thursday he was suspending his presidential campaign and endorsing former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. The announcement came more than two weeks after Perry finished a distant fifth place in the Iowa caucuses and months after he...
by Tim Townsend | Jan 19, 2012 | News
ST. LOUIS (RNS) At just 27 years old, Asif Umar is the new imam of Daar-ul-Islam mosque, the largest mosque in the metro area. The son of Indian immigrants is devoted to the city’s sports teams, marking the end of Ramadan with a St. Louis Blues hockey game. He also...
by Judith Sudilovsky | Jan 19, 2012 | News
JERUSALEM (RNS/ENInews) Christians have the lowest growth rate among the Israeli population, according to a recent report from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics. According to the Jan. 6 report, the Christian growth rate of 0.9 percent lags behind the Jewish...
by Elizabeth Bryant | Jan 19, 2012 | News
PARIS (RNS) A decade ago, Rene Lebouvier requested that his local Catholic church erase his name from the baptismal register. The church noted his demands on the margins of its records and the chapter was closed. But the clergy abuse scandals rocking Europe, coupled...
by Omar Sacirbey | Jan 18, 2012 | News
(RNS) Growing up in rural parts of the American West, Nadja Adolf’s libertarian streak developed early on. “When you come from a countryside that can kill you,” said Adolf, a Muslim convert in her late 50s, “there is a strong emphasis on individual rights, a strong...
