The biggest star at this World Cup wasn't Messi, Ronaldo, or Neymar. How St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow’s Red Square became the symbol of #Russia2018
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A number of religious gurus in India have been recently convicted of sexual crimes. But what explains their continued influence over millions of followers?
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Nathan DiCamillo reflects on his time as a freelancer for The Capital Gazette. He freelanced for the paper while he was in school from 2014 to 2016 and says the staff there taught him the basics of journalism and helped him to launch his career.
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Thanks to the organizing efforts of Muslim and Christian community leaders, living conditions are slowly improving for some of the poorest people in Indonesia.
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The bizarre, cultish group that made headlines for recruiting women to be “slaves” and “masters” has closed after its leader, Keith Raniere, was denied bail after appealing in court. Raniere’s cult, NXIVM, caught the public’s attention last fall when the New York Times published a detailed exposé that included graphic details about branding of female followers, coerced sexual acts and blackmail.
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Amid large increases in religious persecution, Muslims in Indonesia are organizing massive defensive measures to protect Indonesian religious groups.
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Historically, Indonesian Muslims have worn loosely wrapped, somewhat transparent, colorful scarves. Now, the most common covering is the jilbab, an opaque square scarf which is tightly wrapped and pinned under the chin, and typically does not show any hair. For Muslims who do not wear one, it is enough to “cover their hearts.” But for *Aya and many other Muslim women, the ritual of physically covering her body is also important, as it puts the religious principle into practice — an external expression of an internal disposition.
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Wearing a full and graying beard, khaki trousers and a woolen vest, 66-year-old Ya’cub ibn Yusuf, puttered around his little shop. Sufi-inspired sounds played by an Israeli musician piped from the speakers above. “Spiritual Books for Sale,” read the sign outside the door.
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Thirty-four Chilean bishops are waiting Pope Francis' decision regarding their future after the recent scandal of concealment of sexual abuse. Many parishioners and church leaders in the region say the Chilean church is at its worst.
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Why has a letter by the Archbishop of Delhi to all the Parish priests and religious institutions in the Archdiocese of Delhi with the subject ‘Prayer for our nation’ created a firestorm in India? The media suddenly is abuzz after several different voices across the political spectrum cry foul that the letter is meant to divide the nation on communal lines. Notably, the right wing Hindu organization’s ideologue called it a "direct attack on secularism and democracy."
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Can a broadcaster be a saint? Can a priest also be a broadcaster? These are just two of the many fascinating questions that come to the fore when the name Patrick Peyton comes up. Peyton coined the now-famous slogan: “The family that prays together stays together!” Before fake news, there indeed was faith news.
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People living along the Gaza Strip face the constant reality and accompanying anxiety of not knowing when the red alert — a blaring siren giving a 10-second notice that a rocket launched by Hamas fighters, Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalists — will make landfall, destroying everything in its path.
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Since the beginning of the Internet, traditional media has tried to adapt to new technologies and business models. Newspaper sales are declining and online media adds pressure as they compete for reader’s attention. Journalism in Argentina is now facing economic crisis. Our biggest newspapers, La Nación and Clarín, are reducing their staff while others close their doors. This is not only a newspaper problem, it is known that radio & TV stations are firing journalists, as well.
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If Jesus were to suddenly appear at one of the Israeli checkpoints that separates this Palestinian area from Israel, what would He think? That is a question that bedeviled the Reverend Munther Isaac, a Palestinian Christian who is the academic dean at Bethlehem Bible College.
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There’s a ladder in the Old City of Jerusalem that’s perched on a stone ledge beneath the second floor window at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified and resurrected. Known as the “immovable ladder”, it symbolizes the complications that arise when six different Christian denominations occupy one of the holiest sites in their theology. No one knows who left it there in the mid-19th century but it sits there, on a ledge above the sturdy wooden doors, a reminder of the contested ground beneath it.
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Megan Kelly discusses her family, career, and Catholic upbringing at the event, “TV Bares Soul: An Intimate Evening of Conversation with Megyn Kelly” hosted by Father Edward L. Beck, religion commentator for CNN.
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Tall, built and gangly, Mazen Kenan, a 46-year-old Palestinian, towers above everyone in just about any setting. But his height is particularly commanding in the tightly packed streets of Jerusalem’s Old City, where he maneuvers easily despite the five foot-long, 50-pound wooden cross he bears on his shoulder.
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Massive protests have rocked India over the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in the remote Rasana village near the Indo-Pak border in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It appears the motive was to dislodge Muslim nomads from a Hindu-dominated area. Two ministers who backed supporters of the accused have since resigned.
Guy Consolmagno has a profound love for studying space, reading and watching science-fiction as well as Jesus and the Gospels. As director of the Vatican Observatory, he is embraced by both the scientific and the religious communities, and is in the business of shattering myths about the compatibility between science and religion.
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The Ottoman empire is gone, and Turkey is now a secular state with official freedom of religion. Bells are hardly heard these days at all, though in smaller numbers the ancient Christian communities remain.
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